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 KC0DGY 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 KC0DGY.

(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-�lys?(c)es in Paris,
cyclists will be making contact with local people who will watch and
cheer themon.

Even if you're not near the route, you can still cheer them on by
contacting any number of special-event stations organised by R?(c)seau
des �metteurs Fran�ais. 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
thatstory.

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
ofJune.

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 A60PC
through to the 30th of June. Other stations will be active as A60PC/0,
A60PC/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 AT90VANI 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.



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