The CYØS team of DXpeditioners will be returning to Sable Island in 2026. The operators announced in a press release that Parks Canada - Sable Island has invited them to return next March and has approved their plans for a 10- to 12-day DXpedition. As they set up to operate on this remote island in Atlantic Canada, they'll have some welcome company: operators from the CY9C DXpedition team who had activated St. Paul Island in 2024. The CY9C operators knew that year that their successful activation on St. Paul was likely to be the last for a long time on that challenging, environmentally sensitive landscape. Like Sable Island, St. Paul Island is considered one of the more difficult DXpedition destinations in North America. Windswept Sable Island is perhaps best known for its population of wild horses.
Team leaders for Sable Island will be Murray WA4DAN and Glenn WØGJ. A website has already been set up at CYØS.com by webmaster Chaz W4GKF.
FCC PROPOSES $25,000 FINE AGAINST CB OPERATOR
An Illinois man faces a $25,000 penalty from the FCC for unauthorized operation of a Citizens Band radio. The agency announced its decision on May 30th, 2025, two years to the day after it issued a Notice of Apparent Liability against Jayme John Leon. The agency's Enforcement Bureau said that he repeatedly voided his operating authority by sending [quote] "nonverbal, indecipherable sound effects over long periods" [endquote], causing malicious interference and engaging in one-way transmissions. According to the FCC document, Leon did not file a response to the 2023 Notice of Liability.
Citizens Band radio is not a licensed service in the United States. Operators retain the privilege of using CB by agreeing to comply with relevant regulations stipulated in the Communications Act of 1934.
NASA's 'SPOT THE STATION' WEBSITE BEING DISCONTINUED
If you like to keep tabs on the International Space Station and you’ve been doing so via NASA's Spot the Station website, you will need to change your space-station viewing strategy starting the 12th of June. NASA will be discontinuing the website as of that date and will no longer display opportunities for sightings on their site. Subscribed users who have been receiving text and email notifications linking them to the website will no longer have this option either.
The announcement on the website now directs ISS watchers to instead download NASA’s official “Spot the Station” mobile app onto their Apple or Android smartphones. The “Spot the Station” app expands notification of viewing opportunities in the United States and across the globe, as well as providing additional capabilities to improve user experiences.
BROADCAST HONORS ARMSTRONG'S DEMO OF FM RADIO
The callsign W2XMN is etched in cement atop the doorway of the small brick transmitter building in New Jersey, not far from the radio tower where history's first FM broadcasts began in 1938. Those steady transmissions became a reality only three years after engineer and inventor Edwin Armstrong had given a public demonstration at an engineering conference, showing that frequency modulation radio could deliver static-free sound, graced with a remarkable fidelity that was previously unheard of.
FM broadcasting will return temporarily to W2XMN's original VHF low-band frequency, 42.8 MHz, beginning at noon on Thursday the 19th of June. The northern New Jersey tower once used by W2XMN will broadcast a repeat of programming first aired in 2005 to commemorate Armstrong's successful FM demonstration in 1935. The content includes interviews wth Armstrong's niece, Jeanne Hammond, and with Tom Lewis, author of the book, "Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio."
According to a report on the RadioWorld.com website, a restored Phasitron transmitter will be running 250 watts of power into a vertical antenna.
The structure known as the Alpine Tower is still in use today. Radio station WFDU, the public radio station licensed to Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, is on the air at 89.1 -- FM, of course.
LEADERSHIP CHANGE FOR 13 COLONIES SPECIAL EVENT
One of the season's most popular HF operating events here in the US is honoring its founder as he steps away from 16 years at its helm. Mark Abramowicz NT3V has the details…
If you haven’t heard of the 13 Colonies Special Event or heard stations calling in the annual activity between July 1 and July 8, you have missed a unique opportunity to celebrate the history of the US and mark the American Revolution.
Ken Villone, KU2US, who conceived the idea of activating stations in the 13 original colonies, is going into semi-retirement.
Villone is passing on the responsibility for event coordination to Tony James N4ATJ, of McAdenville, North Carolina, long-time 13 Colonies coordinator for his home state's K2J station, Villone will remain involved as the New York state coordinator for K2A.
Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, who joined Villone more than a dozen years ago in his passion to promote American history via an amateur radio special event, is helping to ensure a smooth transition.
Josuweit is coordinator for WM3PEN, a bonus station that recognizes Philadelphia’s role as the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence.
Josuweit said that in its first year, the event recorded some 12,000 QSOs. That grew to a breathtaking 292,426 contacts in 2024. It also attracted operators who now run bonus stations in Great Britain GB13COL and France TM13COL, recognizing the role the two countries played in America's war for independence.
This year’s 13 Colonies certificate will recognize the work Villone has done to make the event so popular. Villone, however, shared a different perspective on why the event is such a success. In an email sent recently to all hams involved, he wrote: “I just only started this event and I tried to keep it going. But it was you folks who also through your participation and dedication managing your states and special bonus stations (Philadelphia, England and France) that made this whole thing work!”
JUNE IS AMATEUR RADIO MONTH IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
It has been a productive year so far for amateur radio operators in New Hampshire. A memorandum of understanding between the state and New Hampshire-ARES has designated emergency operators as the sole providers of ham radio communication support to the state's Department of Safety, Division of Emergency Services and Communication. Ham radio's important role to the community has since been underscored by a recent proclamation from the governor's office declaring June as Amateur Radio Month in New Hampshire. New Hampshire joins Hawaii in this formal gesture of appreciation for the hams in their state.
KOSOVO DXPEDITION DID NOT GO UN-"HERD"
Anne OH2YL and Marko OH2LG were finally ready for that long-awaited 10 days of intense operating deep in the Balkans as Z68YL and Z68OM, respectively. The contacts came in exhilarating waves as the pair operated from May 20th through to the 30th. Then, just days before the big finish, the two operators were confronted with a pileup like no other:
Cows. A herd of at least 50 of them, rampaging through the antennas and messing with the guy wires. A blog post written by Jari OH6BG, said that [quote] "The guy wires were given the ride of their life," [endquote] As for the feedlines, well, the cows' teeth took the word "feedline" quite literally. The feedlines for the end-fed half-wave wire antenna and the 6-metre dipole were both chewed through.
With some repair work and a new vertical antenna, the operators were soon back in business. By the time they went QRT, despite high winds, QRM and bovine intervention, they managed to work their way to a total of just fewer than 10,000 QSOs.
Resilient, determined and resourceful, they would not be cowed.....in Kow-sovo.
PRIME TIME TV IS BACK ON BOARD THE ISS
Never mind what prime-time TV has to offer - hams who have been missing a chance to make contacts through HamTV will have something to celebrate soon. HamTV was the Digital Amateur Television transmitter operating on the Columbus module of the ISS until failure took it out of service in 2019.
Its repairs here on earth were completed and the newly invigorated HamTV was returned to the ISS via SpaceX CRS-30 in March of 2024. ARISS reports that astronauts will complete its reinstallation in late June in preparation for more contacts with schools around the world. HamTV uses the DVB-S protocol in the 13 cm band to transmit digital video and audio in MPG2 format.
ARISS has high hopes that HamTV will become a long-running series -- without having to resort to re-runs.
JUNE IS 'AMATEUR RADIO MONTH' IN HAWAII
Every year, hams in the US and Canada observe the fourth full weekend in June as Field Day, considered the most important amateur radio weekend of the year. In Hawaii, however, amateur radio recognition will be going on a little longer: the state's governor, Josh Green, has proclaimed all of June to be Amateur Radio Month, in recognition of the 3400 hams operating in the Pacific region.The state has ties to wireless that go back more than 100 years, however. In 1914, its island of Oahu became home to a Marconi wireless telegraphy station. In 1916, the first transmissions were successfully sent to Japan from the US territory, marking the start of wireless communication between the two nations.
PROJECT EYES HAM RADIO ON GEOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITE
AMSAT-DL has sent a Request for Expression of Interest to various other AMSAT organisations and amateur radio associations for a proposed ham radio-focused project known as "futureGEO," operating from a geosynchronous satellite.
The group is hoping to receive proposals no later than the 30th of June. AMSAT-DL's request comes two years after the European Space Agency described its vision of having amateur radio on a geosynchronous satellite, designed to cover the north of North America and Europe, and which drew on proposals from AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-UK.
Meanwhile, a new satellite-based FM repeater comes online in June. On board the HADES-ICM satellite it will initially be active on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays .
It has an uplink of 145.875 MHz and a downlink of 436.666 MHz. Another repeater, HADES-R, already operates full time with a 145.925 MHz uplink and a 436.888 MHz downlink.
'QUEENS OF THE MOUNTAINS' EVENT RETURNS
True to its name, the Queens of the Mountains event is a challenge worthy of royalty. Paula K9IR and Amy AG7GP have brought the event back for its second year as YLs activate SOTA summits on June 7th and June 8th - and not only YLs around the world chase the activators; men are also invited to join in this year's chase. Anyone contacting 5 or more YLs on a SOTA summit becomes eligible for a certificate.
The biggest honors will go to the YL activators themselves who will be logging contacts and working toward any or all of six achievement awards, including one for a first-time SOTA activator. A special K1LIZ Memorial Achievement Award will be given to the YL with the highest number of achievement awards. Last year the event crowned Lorene W6LOR with the honor, which bears the callsign of top-achieving activator Liz Burns K1LIZ who became a Silent Key in February of 2022.
HAP HOLLY, KC9RP/SK, RECEIVES FINAL NEWSMAKER AWARD, POSTHUMOUSLY
In 2019, Newsline introduced its Newsmaker of the Year Award in recognition of deserving amateurs who raised the profile of ham radio around the world via conventional media channels. The media universe has changed since then. We now communicate reliably via blogs, videos and other forms of social media with conventional media taking a backseat. Toward that end, we are replacing the Newsmaker award with Newsline's Influencer Award, shining a light on those who have had a measurable, far-reaching and positive impact on amateur radio. That award will be presented at year's end.
Meanwhile, it is fitting that we give our final Newsmaker of the Year Award to Hap Holly, KC9RP. Hap, a member of the Newsline family, left an imprint on the world via his Radio Amateur Information Network, or RAIN report, weekly reports he produced for three decades. Hap, who became blind at the age of 7, was an active and influential amateur for most of his 73 years. He became a Silent Key on February 24th of this year. As we remember him with pride and gratitude, we honor him for being the remarkable newsmaker that he was.
OHIO TRAFFIC NET MARKS 50 YEARS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE
No one can physically see this devoted community but its presence has been felt strongly throughout the Cleveland and North Central Ohio region for a half-century. The Burning River Traffic Net is still passing important traffic as it has done since its founding in 1975 as a 2m simplex net to deliver messages to recipients who lived outside the local telephone exchange, constituting a long-distance call at the time. Those messages include health and welfare updates, congratulations, emergencies and simple greetings. The net has since become repeater-based and meets every Monday, Thursday and Saturday at 9:30 p.m. local time. Members are called up on an as-needed basis on other days.
The Burning River Traffic Net is about to become visible and meet the community it has served for so long. The net, which is part of the ARRL’s National Traffic System, is inviting all hams and anyone interested in learning more about the net to be part of their anniversary celebration. It’s being held on the 21st of June at the Lorain County Metroparks Duck Pond Picnic Area pavilion at 1 p.m. local time. Net manager Keith Cook, KD8GXL, said “this is more than just a celebration of the past - it’s an opportunity to look forward to the next 50 years.”
SOUTH AFRICA LICENSES 48 NEW RADIO AMATEURS
In South Africa, 48 new ham radio operators are celebrating passage of the Radio Amateur Examination that they took in May administered by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.
The RAE, as it is known, has only given exams twice a year. According to various news reports, while 48 candidates passed the exam, 5 others did not.
The next exam is not scheduled until November.
SILENT KEY: DICK JANSSON, KD1K, LONGTIME AMSAT VP FOR ENGINEERING
For years, AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, benefitted from the engineering talents of Dick Jansson, KD1K, whose professional career had included time spent at Sperry Corporation, Martin Marietta, the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory and NACA, the forerunner of the US space agency NASA. In retirement, however, Dick focused his lifetime of skills on a variety of AMSAT spacecraft projects, including OSCARS 10 and 13 and the MICROSAT series. He eventually became AMSAT's vice president of engineering.
Dick became a Silent Key on May 13th.
Dick's longtime work with a variety of AMSAT spacecraft inspired his selection as recipient of the Technical Excellence Award at Dayton Hamvention in 1993. He had been a ham since 1972.
A memorial service is planned for Dick in Florida on June 4th. He was 94.
YASME GRANT WILL FUND RBN NODE ON SOUTH ATLANTIC ISLAND
The world's most isolated settled island is adding an important amateur radio presence: A Reverse Beacon Network node. The node project is being given a supporting grant from the Yasme Foundation and will be hosted by Andy Repetto, ZD9BV, on Tristan da Cunha, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. The Reverse Beacon Network comprises stations in different parts of the world that monitor the bands and send reports of what - and who - they hear. It is an all-volunteer effort.
RECORD ATTENDANCE AT HAMVENTION
If you were among those at Hamvention, like me, in Xenia, Ohio, in May, congratulations! You helped set a record. Organizers report that a record 36,814 amateur radio enthusiasts came to the fairgrounds for the annual forums, exhibits and of course, the flea market. The event was put together with the help of more than 700 volunteers. Plans are now in the works for Hamvention 2026 to be held on May 15th, 16th and 17th.
SOLO DXPEDITIONER HONORED FOR 61,000 QSOs
Congratulations to Marek Lamachou, FH4VVK/F4VVJ, who logged more than 61,000 QSOs as the solo operator during a DXpedition on the island of Grande Glorieuse operating as FT4GL. The island is the largest in the French-controlled Glorioso Islands archipelago in the Indian Ocean and is 7th in the DXCC Most Wanted List.
Marek was honoured at Hamvention by the Southwest Ohio DX Association as DXpeditioner of the Year. The association said that he had [quote] "gone above and beyond the norm to positively affect the DX community." [endquote] The DXpedition took place in May and June of 2024.
FCC EYES GIVING SATELLITES 20,000 MHz MORE OF SPECTRUM
The US communications regulator is hoping to move ahead with the assignment of more than 20,000 MHz of spectrum bandwidth to accommodate expanded satellite-based broadband service. The FCC voted unanimously at its May 22nd open meeting to explore such use across four spectrum bands: the upper portion of the 12 GHz band, starting at 12.7 GHz; the 42 GHz band, the 52 GHz band and four unused sections of the 75-110 GHz W-band totaling 18,000 MHz.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement after the vote that [quote] "each band is a potential game changer." [endquote]. The agency said that the amount of spectrum under consideration is greater than all the spectrum presently available for satellite broadband. He said the additional frequencies were ripe territory for so-called next-generation services.
It was unclear what impact, if any, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would have on the amateur radio service. The move was applauded by the Satellite Industry Association in a statement on its website.
TIME FLOWS ON, THANKS TO 'FOUNTAIN" OF UNPRECEDENTED ACCURACY
Keep your eye on the clock, especially if you've been recording your QSOs like the rest of us, in Coordinated Universal Time. A new atomic clock at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has been operating since April at NIST's Boulder, Colorado offices. It will soon have a bigger job as part of a group of timekeepers around the world that assists with the calibration of UTC. Known as NIST-F4, the clock is still awaiting certification by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures before that can happen.
Until then, its unprecedented precision is already hard at work defining the official time here in the United States.
Its creators call it a "fountain" of precision because the cloud of cesium atoms inside the clock oscillate at a rate of more than 9 billion times per second, rising and falling in the same way water does in a fountain. Its resonant frequency is 9 billion, 192 million, 631 thousand 770 hertz - to be precise. That is the frequency that sets the standards for all other clocks.
If you want to see just how NIST-F4 works, see the link to a YouTube video in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org
Watching it will take only three minutes and three seconds of your time - more or less.
