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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2523 for Friday, March 6th, 20
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2523 for Friday, March 6th, 2026
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2523 with a release date of Friday,
March 6th, 2026 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Hams in Cuba assist a critically ill child. Canada is
silencing its national weather radio -- and students in Germany plan for a
QSO with Antarctica. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report
Number 2523 comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
HAMS HELP SUMMON GIRL'S EMERGENCY CARE IN CUBAN BLACKOUT
SKEETER/ANCHOR: Quick-thinking by hams in the midst of a power outage in Cuba
are being credited with connecting a critically ill child with urgent medical
care. We have the details of that story from the newest member of the
Newsline team, Dave Lee M7TLB.
DAVE: As an outage swept through several communities in the municipality of
Rio Cauto in eastern Cuba, disabling electric power and the telephone
service, a 6-year-old girl lay feverish and in pain - her 12th hour of
suffering.
The doctor treating her at the family home in Granma Province suspected
appendicitis requiring emergency transport. An outage resulting from a power-
grid failure prevented him from directly contacting an ambulance. The
physician turned to a father-son team of amateur radio operators, Jorge
[HORE-HAY] Bonilla [BONE-EEE-YUH] Mainegra and his son, Edgar Bonilla
Mainegra. The hams, however, found that their own radios were also without
backup power because of the fuel shortage -- that is, until a neighbour let
them make use of the battery from his motorcycle.
The general call was received by Santiago de Cuba by station CL8 YDY, who was
able to connect with the emergency system. The station is listed on QRZ.com
as being in Santiago de Cuba. The callsign holder is Yoendrys García
Rodríguez.
According to various media reports, surgery was performed at the hospital and
was a success.
This is Dave Lee M7TLB.
(CIBERCUBA, QRZ.COM)
**
FCC REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON 6TH YEAR OF PIRATE ACT
SKEETER/ANCHOR: Wrapping up another year of action taken against unlicensed
radio broadcasters, in the United States the FCC recently submitted a report
to federal lawmakers summing up its enforcement activities in the fiscal year
2025. We have those details from Kent Peterson KCØDGY.
KENT: Since Congress enacted the PIRATE Act - an acronym for Preventing
Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement - the Federal Communications
Commission has been responsible for reporting its annual activities with the
enhanced power it was given through the January 2020 legislation. Its most
recent report covers the government's fiscal year for 2025, which ran from
the 1st of October 2024 through to the 30th of September 2025.
According to the report, the FCC issued 28 notices to property owners or
managers for permitting illegal broadcasts from their premises. Seventeen of
those were directly related to one of the so-called "pirate sweeps" the FCC
conducts concentrating on five markets found to have the most pirate
stations.
In the same period, the FCC went directly after the radio operators
themselves, issuing six forfeiture orders and 10 notices of apparent
liability for forfeiture. Separately, it entered into three consent decree
agreements with radio pirates. Each agreement contained a 20-year compliance
plan.
It is not known what the total monetary penalties will ultimately be for any
of the violations issued, even though the amounts specified in the original
PIRATE Act have increased over the years. Adjusted for inflation, the
penalties now carry a maximum of 022,661 in US dollars per day - and a US
dollar maximum of ,453,218.
Although the FCC is responsible for these enforcement actions, the agency
does not collect the amounts. That task is given to the US Department of
Justice.
This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.
(FCC)
**
STUDENT QSO WITH ANTARCTICA PART OF FAMILY SPACE DAY
SKEETER/ANCHOR: Is there anyone who would turn down a chance for a contact
with Antarctica? A group of students will get their chance this month in
Germany. With more of those details, here's Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
JEREMY: All eyes will be on the project known as futureGEO to be presented
at Bochum Observatory’s Bochum Space Day to be hosted by AMSAT-DL. The
programme is taking place on 28th March in conjunction with Germany's Space
Day and Day of Astronomy. Much anticipation surrounds the proposed
geostationary amateur radio payload, which is to succeed the QO-100
satellite, providing access for Europe and parts of North America.
All ears, however, will be on the scheduled contact to be made between
students and the Neumayer-III research station, DPØGVN, in Antarctica. The
observatory's director, Thilo Elsner, DJ5YM, will lead that activity.
Youngsters and their families are also being invited to participate in a full
day of activities organised by the European Space Education Resource Office
of the European Space Agency. ESERO Germany was established at Bochum in
2018.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
(AMSAT-DL, AMATEUR RADIO DAILY)
**
HAMS IN THE SPOTLIGHT AT NATIONAL HURRICANE CONFERENCE
SKEETER/ANCHOR: The 2026 National Hurricane Conference, taking place in
Orlando, Florida from March 29 to April 2 will again include amateur radio
workshops. Randy Sly, W4XJ has the details
RANDY: Amateur radio workshops at the National Hurricane Conference will
include presentations by such leaders from the ham community as Rob Macedo,
KD1CY of the VoIP Hurricane Net, Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, ARRL Director of
Emergency Management, Julio Ripoll, WD4R, Assistant Coordinator at WX4NHC,
and Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, Net Manager of the Hurricane Watch Net.
Graves gave Newsline a preview of a new program he will be presenting, built
around the theme “Impact.ö While Category 5 hurricanes may get more attention
from the media, some tropical storms may make a greater real-world impact
than bigger weather events. For amateur radio operators, one report can make
a difference… can make an impact. As Graves said, “Your reports matter.ö
With Julio Ripoll scheduled to step down this year, he may be introducing his
successor at WX4NHC during the workshops as well.
If you can’t attend in person, the forum will be live-streamed on the
Hurricane Watch Net YouTube Channel.
This is Randy Sly, W4XJ
**
CANADA ENDING NATIONWIDE WEATHERADIO SERVICE
SKEETER/ANCHOR: The United States isn't the only country enduring cuts to its
weather-forecasting programs and services: This month marks the end of
Weatheradio,. a service of the Canadian government's environment and climate
agency. John Williams VK4JJW has those details.
JOHN: Canada's national weather centre is ending its Weatheradio service
which has been available on VHF since 1976. In a decision driven by budget
priorities and what the agency called declining usage, the forecasts are
going silent on the 16th of March. Officials are instead encouraging the use
of a free mobile app or an interactive weather map on their website.
Upgraded in 2004 to accommodate digitally encoded signals, the nationwide
system has provided local and regional forecasts in English and French. The
reports have been transmitted on the same frequencies used in the US by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Radio, in the 162
MHz frequency range
Amateur radio operator Michael Iszak VE3HA, who is also a radiocommunications
consultant. told the Toronto Sun that he was concerned about the weather
service's demise. He told the newspaper: [quote] “These stations are often
used by people who travel to areas where there is no cell service, it’s
invaluable for getting updated weather forecasts." [endquote]
This is John Williams VK4JJW.
(TORONTO SUN, CTV, SWLING POST)
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the AA9JR
repeater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Fridays at 6 pm, Saturdays at 10 am and
on Sundays at 8 a.m. via Allstar Link 47970 and Allstar Link 50508 and the
W3QV repeater.
**
ADJUSTMENTS TO AUSTRALIA BAND PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS
SKEETER/ANCHOR: The committee reviewing recommended changes to Australia's
amateur band plan has released a set of new revisions, as we hear from Graham
Kemp VK4BB.
GRAHAM: The Wireless Institute of Australia's Technical Advisory Committee
has fine-tuned its recommendations for changes to the amateur radio band plan
after reviewing more than three dozen submissions. It is now recommending
that the emergency communications channel on 40m be aligned with IARU Region
3 on 7.110 MHz, that the SSB portion of the 6m band be widened and that 1.87
MHz and 3.686 MHz be chosen as the AM centres of activity for 160m and 80m.
The committee's full document, which reaffirms its other original proposals
and clarifies use of the FM Analogue ATV band, has been published online.
Visit the consultation webpage using the link provided in the text version of
this week's newscast at arnewsline.org
[DO NOT READ: https://www.wia.org.au/members/tac/consultation/ ]
This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.
(WIA)
**
DX INDIA FOUNDATION MAKES NEW TRY ON ARNALA ISLAND
SKEETER/ANCHOR: It's been 20 years since amateur radio had a presence on one
small island in the Arabian Sea off western India's coast. The DX India
Foundation is renewing the attempt it made last year to put the island back
on the ham radio map. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF tells us what to expect next.
JIM: Heavy rainstorms last year cancelled the plans of the DX India
Foundation to activate Arnala Island. The island, one of India's most coveted
sites in the IOTA programme, carries the designation of AS-169. Sarath,
VU2RS, announced recently on the DX World website that he is hoping to bring
a three-day activation there starting on the 1st of May. There has been no
amateur radio activity on the island since 2006.
A successful activation would not only fulfill one of the relatively new
foundation's objectives - to activate rare IOTAs - it would also put Arnala
Island in the logs of eager chasers everywhere.
This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.
(DX WORLD)
**
WORLD OF DX
In the World of DX, Claudio, HB9OAU, will be operating holiday style as D44OA
from Boa Vista, IOTA Number AF-086, Cape Verde, from the 18th through to the
25th of March. He will be operating CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8 in fox-hound mode
on 40-6 metres.
Tom, AA9A, is on the air as PJ7AA from Sint Maarten, IOTA Number NA-105, from
the 8th of March through to the 4th of April. Listen for him on 40-6 metres
where he will be using CW, FT8, FT4 and some SSB.
Listen for the callsign T31TTT. That's the Rebel DX Group on the air from
Central Kiribati starting on the 25th of March. This activation could last as
long as two weeks. Their main modes will be FT8/FT4, MSHV Super Fox and MSHV
multi-stream. There will be several stations on the air and on various HF
bands.
John, W5JON, will be on the air as V47JA from St. Kitts, IOTA Number NA-104,
from the 10th through to the 18th of March, using SSB and FT8 on various
bands.
For QSL information on each of these stations, visit their pages on QRZ.com
(425 DX BULLETIN)
**
KICKER: A TOWERING RESCUE FROM HOT AIR BALLOON
SKEETER/ANCHOR: Ask anyone whose home station includes a tower and they'll
probably tell you that sometimes being all the way "up there" in the clouds
has its drawbacks. The owner of a mobile phone tower in Longview, Texas - and
two passengers in a hot-air balloon - would no doubt agree. Kevin Trotman
N5PRE has our final story for this week.
KEVIN: A hot-air balloon, with two passengers aboard, was blown into a cell
phone tower standing 925 feet, or more than 280 meters, high in Longview, a
city east of Dallas, Texas. The crash on February 28th left the two
passengers dangling near the top of the tower as the balloon became entangled
in its guying cables.
Emergency crews from police and fire departments responded. As rescuers
climbed using several ropes, they battled the same strong winds that had led
to the crash, working for more than an hour to free the passengers in what
was deemed [quote] "a rare, high-risk operation." [endquote] They were
brought down safely.
The scene in Texas was reminiscent of an incident in Albuquerque, New Mexico
in 2024 when a hot-air balloon crashed into the tower of radio station KKOB-
AM. The three passengers on board that balloon were also rescued safely.
This is Kevin Trotman N5PRE.
(CBS NEWS, KSDK-TV. NBC NEWS, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily, AMSAT-DL; AMSAT News Service; Associated
Press; CBS News; CiberCuba; CTV; David Behar, K7DB; DX-World.net; FCC; 425DX
Bulletin; KSDK-TV; NBC News; QRZ.com Forums; Radio Society of Great Britain;
shortwaveradio.de; SWLing Post; Toronto Sun; Wireless Institute of Australia;
Zero Retries; 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 Skeeter Nash N5ASH in Jonesboro Arkansas 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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BBS: PY2BIL - Timed 06-Mar-2026 08:19 E. South America Standard Time
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