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PY2BIL > ARNR 24.06.26 07:11l 356 Lines 15641 Bytes #300 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2538 for Friday, Jun
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2538 for Friday, June 19th, 2026
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2538 with a release date of Friday,
June 19th, 2026 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. A prototype radio telescope has a milestone moment.
Hams in India help bring a troubled young mother back home -- and a typhoon
ends the flight of a well-traveled pico balloon. All this and more as
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2538 comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
MILESTONE MOMENT FOR PROTOTYPE RADIO TELESCOPE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Radio astronomers are celebrating a milestone: the first
capture of signals by a prototype radio telescope in New Mexico that
will eventually succeed the Very Large Array of the US National Science
Foundation. Kent Peterson KCØDGY has those details.
KENT: A proposed new antenna array being developed will be massive, consisting
of 244 antennas and stretching more than 8,045 kilometers, or 5 thousand
miles. Tests of its prototype recently attracted attention for another
reason: the new next-generation Very Large Array radio antenna gathered
signals for the first time - a key moment for a design that is expected
to provide higher sensitivity and spatial resolution than the current
system. Working alongside the 27 antennas of the VLA, it tracked the
Crab Nebula and the sun and it observed the bright galactic nucleus known
as Perseus A.
The National Science Foundation's National Radio Astronomy Observatory
sees promise in its ability to go beyond the capacity of the current
Very Large Array. The test in the New Mexico desert was conducted in
collaboration with the current VLA, which was built starting in the 1970s.
Its encouraging results mark the prototype system's transition from being
a project under construction to a tool capable of making independent
observations and conducting astronomical testing. It is expected to form
the basis for the eventual 244-antenna array.
This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.
(UNIVERSE TODAY, IEEE SPECTRUM)
**
ANTENNA INSTALLATION ADDS TO TEXAS GROUP'S REACH
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: An antenna installation is always filled with promise,
especially for any group involved in providing emergency communication
or support for community events. There's a new antenna going up in Angelina
County, Texas, and Ralph Squillace KK6ITB tells us what's going to happen
next.
RALPH: Members of the Deep East Texas Amateur Radio Club have been serving
the community since the club's creation in 1978. They have passed crucial
emergency traffic to the Angelina County Emergency Operations Center
and from there to the state operations center in Austin. In one of the
group's most high profile activations, hams provided support during the
recovery efforts after the Columbia Space Shuttle broke apart upon re-entry
in 2003.
According to local media reports, operations are about to improve for
the radio volunteers as a new antenna gets installed on the center's
tower to provide local, regional and statewide communications with new
VHF, UHF and HF capabilities.
In addition to providing on-site support for major community events such
as festivals and bike races, the club and its members will now be even
more prepared for whatever kind of need comes its way.
This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.
(KTRE)
**
TOUR DE FRANCE IS A TOUR DE CALLSIGNS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Sure, the cyclists of this year's Tour de France are
fast but what's even faster than these elite athletes? HF signals being
sent by numerous clubs and groups wishing the competitors well as they
pass through their region, starting on the 4th of July. Jeremy Boot G4NJH
has those details.
JEREMY: The route of this year's Tour de France cycling race passes through
37 towns and cities - 10 of them are new to this legendary race that
has endured since 1903. Through it all, from the start in Barcelona to
the finish line on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, cyclists will be making
contact with local people who will watch and cheer them on.
Even if you're not near the route, you can still cheer them on by contacting
any number of special-event stations organised by Réseau des Émetteurs
Français. Whether the cyclists are crossing a hilly or a flat region,
propagation is expected to enable contact with TM00TFR, TM40TFR, TM42TFR
and similar stations in many of the regions. For details on these stations,
their operating modes and diplomas available, visit the QRZ.com page
for TM00TFR.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
(AMATEUR RADIO DAILY, QRZ.COM)
**
NASA DECLARES MARS 'MAVEN' MISSION OVER
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Six months after it sent its last signal, NASA's Mars
MAVEN spacecraft has ended its run in space. Travis Lisk N3ILS has that
story.
TRAVIS: Since 2013, the project known as MAVEN - for Mars Atmosphere
and Volatile Evolution - was on a mission to study that planet's upper
atmosphere, ionosphere and its interactions with the Sun. The spacecraft's
signal was lost on the 6th of December after a pass behind the red planet,
prompting NASA to immediately begin a review of what actions the agency
would take next. At a media teleconference earlier this month, officials
declared MAVEN to be no long useful and said there will be no attempts
at recovering it.
Although MAVEN's original mission was to last only a year, it proved
useful for more than a decade beyond that period as it continued to transmit
data, even serving as an antenna during the delivery of the Perseverance
rover to Mars in 2020.
Preliminary findings of MAVEN's failure determined that its batteries
may have drained, shutting down its communications system, when it emerged
from its orbit behind Mars. A review board is studying the mission to
discover the cause while NASA decommissions the MAVEN program and archives
its data.
This is Travis Lisk N3ILS.
(NASA.GOV, NBC NEWS)
**
INDIAN HAMS HELP FAMILY FIND TROUBLED YOUNG MOTHER
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In India, a 30-year-old mother of two boys whose life
has been marked by family tragedy since childhood, has been returned
to her village with the intervention of amateur radio operators. We hear
her story from Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.
JIM MEACHEN: Already traumatised by a number of tragic deaths in her
family - a young woman suffering from mental trauma has been returned
to the home village in Uttar Pradish that she had wandered away from
five months ago in apparent confusion and grief. According to media reports,
the woman, Usha Devi, had stopped talking coherently shortly before her
disappearance. Usha had been troubled for most of her life by a series
of deaths in her family, beginning with the incident in which her father
was hit by a passing train - a death that she witnessed. Relatives told
police that the recent death of her husband this year preceded her disappearance
by several weeks. Like her father, her husband was fatally struck by
a train in an incident she also witnessed.
The hams had been told by police that the woman had been found in the
care of a shelter home for her mental trauma where she was taken after
having wandered on the streets of West Bengal for some time.
The hams connected with their contacts in Hindi-speaking regions and
across several states, reaching out through numerous amateur radio networks
until relatives could be located. Usha recognised family members during
a video call arranged by the club.
The club's secretary, Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2FJA told Newsline in a
text message that Usha returned to her village on Friday the 12th of
June.
This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.
(TIMES OF INDIA, MSN)
**
RADIO CLUB OF AMERICA SEEKS NOMINATIONS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The Radio Club of America would like to recognize outstanding
achievers in the fields of radio and wireless technology and the deadline
for nominations is the 30th of June and it is approaching fast. If you
know of someone devoted to preserving the history of wireless, consider
sending in their name for the Ralph Batcher Memorial Award. If you would
like to honor someone whose contributions to the field have advanced
electronic communications, submit their name for the Sarnoff Citation.
The club will also be presenting the Wireless Innovation Award to someone
who has developed a groundbreaking product or concept.
There are also two business-related awards. The Excellence in Sales and
Marketing Award and the Wireless Small Business Award.
Visit the website radioclubofamerica dot org, that's radioclubofamerica
- one word - dot org for more details (radioclubofamerica.org)
(RADIO CLUB OF AMERICA)
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur
Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including
the AH6LE repeater in Beavercreek and Wilsonville, Oregon, on Sundays
at 6 p.m. local time.
**
TEXAS AMATEURS TO RUN OPEN-SOURCE VERSION OF HAM.LIVE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Ham radio operators in Texas have adopted an open-source
service that has gained popularity among many hams running or checking
into nets. Kevin Trotman N5PRE tells us what's happening and how you
can get involved.
KEVIN: It was a race against the calendar to keep the service known as
Ham.Live [pron: Ham Dot Live] on the air while it made the transition
to an open-source model at the end of this month. With so many amateur
radio net participants relying on it for net logging and realtime chat,
the June 30th deadline loomed large. Now it has been picked up as an
open-source service by the Sachse Amateur Radio Club N5SAC, which is
asking fellow hams to help beta test its operation on a new server.
Keeping communications going under challenging circumstances is a specialty
of this group, which comprises both the Sachse RACES and ARES teams.
To help with the effort in testing Ham.Live, visit their website at sachseraces.org
- that's spelled s a c h s e r a c e s dot org.
Other clubs or individuals wanting to develop and run Ham.Live for their
own activities can visit the link on Github that appears in the text
version of this week's script at arnewsline.org.
[DO NOT READ: https://github.com/Constant-Digital-Holdings-LLC/hamlive-oss
]
This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
(AMATEUR NEWS DAILY)
**
TYPHOON OVER JAPAN DESTROYS FLORIDA STUDENTS' PICO BALLOON
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: When you are a world traveler, making your way across
53 countries in more than 6 laps around the globe, there's no shame in
meeting your match - and your demise - at the hands of a typhoon in Japan.
Jim Davis W2JKD explains.
JIM DAVIS: The little Sky Tracker pico balloon enjoyed a triumphant launch
by Sky Academy students and the Englewood Amateur Radio Society in February.
It carried the callsign N4EAR-1 and a lot of hope and ambition as it
soared, communicating via APRS -- that is, until it met the Category
1 storm known as Jangmi over Japan on the 2nd of June. Its journey of
153,468 miles or 24,689 kilometres, ended there, 103 days and 14 hours
after it had first begun.
There was loss, yes, but no grief.
As club president Bill Reed K7WWR wrote in an email to Newsline: [quote]
"It was a great weak-signal learning experience and a great kickoff of
our STEM support of Sky Academy and a great learning experience for the
students." [endquote]
The flight of the little balloon not only launched the school's STEM
program but the partnership with the amateur radio society.
This is Jim Davis W2JKD.
(BILL REED K7WWR)
**
WORLD OF DX
In the World of DX, special event callsign DQ40CNP is on the air through
to the 11th of July, marking the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear
Power Plant disaster. The special activation reminds the public that
during that challenging time, hams in what was known as the German Democratic
Republic, or East Germany, were able to use their stations to assist
with public-health needs during the crisis.
Members of the Emirates Amateur Radio Society are on the air as A6ØPC
through to the 30th of June. Other stations will be active as A6ØPC/Ø,
A6ØPC/1 and so on. The special event represents pride and loyalty to
the UAE and its humanitarian values.
To mark the 90 th anniversary of Akashvani [UH-KAHSH-VAH-NEE], also known
as All India
Radio, the state-owned public radio broadcaster in India, VU3YBH is active
as
AT9ØVANI until the 16 th of August. The station is operating using FT8
and SSB on the 20,
15, 12 and 10m bands.
Listen for Sarath, VU2RS, operating as VU4R from Port Blair in the Andaman
Islands, IOTA Number AS-001, in July. Sarath will be active from the
22nd through to the 27th of July and will participate in the RSGB Islands
on the Air contest. Listen for him at other times on 40-10 metres where
he will be doing mainly SSB.
For QSL information and other details, see the pages on QRZ.com for each
of these callsigns.
(425 DX BULLETIN)
**
KICKER: IN CANADA, RADIO HAS A "SENIOR MOMENT" TO REMEMBER
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our final story takes us to Canada, where a broadcast
radio station celebrated its 100th birthday by helping out on the amateur
side of the radio spectrum. John Williams VK2JJW tells us how it happened.
JOHN: The newest centenarian in town at the Lethbridge Senior Citizens
Organization in Alberta, Canada is attracting a lot of attention. The
organisation, which serves adults age 55 and older, focuses on recreation,
well-being, nutrition and education as well as providing support to older
area residents in their homes.
The new 100-year-old newcomer will be reaching out to the community -
if not the world.
Radio Station CJOC, 94.1 FM, is marking its centennial year on the air
by forming a partnership with the senior group's amateur radio club,
honouring radio's roots in the years before the birth of its broadcast
counterpart. The result of that partnership is the newly renamed CJOC
Amateur Radio Club and Radio Room, which the commercial station has pledged
to support. The ham club has the callsign VE6LSC.
The club predates its partnership with the broadcaster: It was established
under a different name in the 1970s inside the senior centre. Its shack
is a museum of sorts displaying vintage equipment that provides a visual
narrative of radio history.
This new effort, in the digital age, is anything but backward-looking:
It has a promise from the commercial station that it will promote the
hams' activities through its social media channels and on-the-air coverage.
CJOC-FM is also supporting training efforts to involve more people in
broadcasting as well as amateur radio - as its second century of radio
begins.
This is John Williams VK4JJW.
(LETHBRIDGE HERALD, WIA)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily, AMSAT News; Bill Reed, K7WWR; David
Behar, K7DB; 425DX News; IEEE Spectrum; KTRE; Lethbridge Herald; MSN;
NASA.gov; NBC News; QRZ.com; shortwaveradio.de; Times of India; Universe
Today; Wireless Institute of Australia; and you our listeners, that's
all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. We remind our listeners that Amateur
Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that incurs
expenses for its continued operation. If you wish to support us, please
visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you all.
We also remind our listeners that if you like our newscast, please leave
us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us.
For now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and
our news team worldwide, I'm Stephen Kinford N8WB in Wadsworth Ohio saying
73. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm)
is Copyright 2026. Amateur Radio Newsline retains ownership of its material
even when retransmitted elsewhere. All rights are reserved.
73 de Bill, PY2BIL
PY2BIL@PY2BIL.SP.BRA.SOAM
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