Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2521 for Friday, February 20th, 2026

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2521 with a release date of Friday, February 20th, 2026 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Chilean hams respond to an Andes Mountain tragedy. RACES hams show a robust response to a weather emergency -- and Bunkers on the Air makes its debut in the US. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2521 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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CHILEAN HAMS RESPOND TO AN ANDES MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY

PAUL/ANCHOR: An annual occasion that celebrates strength, courage and pride in a free homeland ended in tragedy in the Andes Mountains even as amateur radio operators mobilized to help with their best efforts. Graham Kemp VK4BB brings us that story.

GRAHAM: Riding horseback across the mountains each year recalls a defining moment of independence for South American nations. This year's 209th anniversary ride of the Crossing of the Andes under Jose de San Martin and the Army of the Andes, led to an emergency evacuation of one rider in early February. As the mounted expedition began its return trip home through Chile in early evening, the woman suffered a serious fall from her horse.

Writing in the Forums section of QRZ.com, Carlos Almir≤n, LU7DSY, said that the San Felipe Provincial Radio Club, CE2REU, sent out a call for emergency assistance through the Chilean ham radio network. The Los Molinos Radio Club of Villa Alemana, CE2CQ, provided GPS coordinates for the mountains' La Vega section. As ground resources and a helicopter were dispatched, the Los Molinos hams continued their coordination with the expeditioners through a link with the San Felipe Provincial Radio Club. The rescue teams arrived, performed CPR followed by an evacuation. It was later reported that the rider had died from her injuries while being treated at the hospital.

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.

(QRZ.COM FORUMS, BRITTANICA)

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ROBUST TEAM OF RACES HAMS ACTIVATE IN HAWAII

PAUL/ANCHOR: In December of 2025, AR Newsline reported on the dismantling of the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services, or RACES, in Vermont in preference to a different operations model, a movement that has been taking place in other states as well. Hawaii, however, is going in a different direction. They are recruiting new members and, as we hear from Randy Sly W4XJ, recently responded well to sudden, severe weather.

RANDY: Hawaii's recent statewide call for hams to get more involved in RACES could not have been better timed:

RACES hams were activated on February 8th and 9th, as severe weather brought high winds, heavy rainfall, flash flooding, power outages, and hazardous surf conditions across Honolulu and the State of Hawaii. Both Governor Josh Green and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi issued emergency proclamations to mobilize resources and protect public safety.

According to Michael Miller, KH6ML, deputy director of RACES and Assistant Section Manager, Pacific Section for the ARRL, RACES amateur radio operators were activated inside the Emergency Operations Center in support of the Department of Emergency Management, City and County of Honolulu. Additional amateur radio activity also took place through ARES and CERT activations in the field.

As trained, licensed, amateur radio volunteers, RACES hams are involved in a government-activated amateur radio service used during official emergencies, operating under local, state, or federal emergency management authorities. In Hawaii, RACES operators are a part of the states Emergency Management Reserve Corps, helping to keep information moving between the Emergency Operations Center and field sites.

This is Randy Sly, W4XJ.

(MICHAEL MILLER, KH6ML)

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PRESENTERS NEEDED FOR VHF SOCIETY CONFERENCE

PAUL/ANCHOR: Presenters and papers are needed for a VHF Society Conference in Georgia. Sel Embee KB3TZD gives us those details.

SEL: Hams with a strong interest and some expertise in weak-signal operating on VHF, UHF and microwave are being invited to submit papers and propose presentations for the Southeastern VHF Society's next conference. Any subjects are welcome relative to RF power amplifiers, beacons, SDR, satellites, transverters, transmitters and construction projects - and that's just for starters. In general, the conference is not interested in presentations related to non-weak signal topics unless there is also some relevance to amateurs using weak signals.

Presentations can be submitted in Microsoft Word format to the email address listed in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org. [DO NOT READ: SVHFS@downeastmicrowave.com ]

The conference is taking place from the 17th through to the 19th in Macon, Georgia. Deadline for presenters' submissions is the 2nd of March. Presentations and papers are being handled by Don Woodward KD4APP.

This is Sel Embee KB3TZD.

(SOUTHEASTERN VHF SOCIETY)

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CREW 12 ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION

PAUL/ANCHOR: Crew 12 has arrived aboard the International Space Station and amateur radio operators, as usual, are part of the group. Travis Lisk N3ILS brings us up to date.

TRAVIS: The ISS is back to its customary occupancy of seven people, following the arrival on Saturday, February 14th, of Crew 12. They are NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway, KJ5NIV and Jessica Meir, as well as European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot KJ5LTN, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

In addition to the expected schedule of ARISS contacts, Crew-12 will be kept busy with a variety of studies, including how physical characteristics have an impact on blood flow during spaceflight -- as well as a look at on-demand intravenous fluid generation for space missions to follow.

This is Travis Lisk N3ILS.

(NBC NEWS, NASA.GOV)

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TECHCON 2026 HIGHLIGHTS NEXT-GEN DIGITAL NARROWBAND

PAUL/ANCHOR: Get ready to talk tech at Techcon 2026 in Florida. The focus, naturally, is innovation in amateur radio, as we hear from Jack Parker W8ISH.

JACK; Techcon 2026 is a one-day conference sponsored by the ARRL West Central Florida Section on February 28th. The forums will cover a variety of amateur radio technologies including NXDN, or next-generation digital narrowband. This is the newest digital mode for amateur radio and its use is gaining momentum within SKYWARN.

Paul Toth, NB9X, one of the keynote speakers, told Newsline that NXDN, created jointly by Icom and Kenwood, is used for short text, GPS and amateur digital communication.

PAUL TOTH: [sound clip]: Its primary purpose was to create a technology for ultra-narrow banding for Part 90, Land Mobile Radio.

JACK: Toth says this use of bandwidth is a perfect fit for digital amateur radio technology, using 6.24K per channel, a 4800 baud data rate and FDMA modulation. He said it provides audio that is cleaner and more distortion free.

PAUL TOTH: [sound clip] "You dont have any snap, crackle because you're decoding zeroes and ones."

JACK: Most Florida West Coast counties are using NXDN for SKYWARN activities. They have a weekly net and SKYWARN reports go directly to the National Weather Service as needed during severe weather. Other areas developing NXDN are Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of Canada.

The conference is being held at the Hillsborough County Public Service Operations Center. For details, follow the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

[DO NOT READ: arrlwcf.org, search for 12th Annual Techcon]

This is Jack Parker W8ISH

(TECHCON 2026)

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DEADLINE APPROACHES FOR AMATEUR RADIO SOFTWARE AWARD

PAUL/ANCHOR: Developers of open-source projects for amateur radio have a chance to be recognized for their efforts again this year with the Amateur Radio Software Award. Stephen Kinford N8WB tells us how to nominate a project before the deadline this month.

STEPHEN: The Amateur Radio Software Award is a global award encouraging innovative problem-solving that leads to sharing within the ham radio community. To qualify for the award, the software must be available for free download and use. It must also be free of malicious hidden codes and capable of being improved in collaboration with others.

Last year, the award committee chose Sebastian Delmont, KI2D [KAY EYE TWO DEE], author of the popular Ham2K Portable Logger that is widely used by POTA activators. A monetary award accompanies the honor.

Nominations are being accepted through to the 28th of February. You can find an online nomination form by following the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

[DO NOT READ: arsaward.com/award-nominations.html ]

This is Stephen Kinford N8WB.

(AMATEUR RADIO DAILY, AMATEUR RADIO SOFTWARE AWARD)

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BREAK HERE

Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world including the ZS╪MOT repeater in Middelburg South Africa on Wednesdays at 1900 local time.

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SCIENCE FESTIVAL SHOWCASES HAM RADIO IN ASSAM

PAUL/ANCHOR: Visitors with little or no awareness of amateur radio got to watch some QSOs as they happened at a recent science festival in India. Jason Daniels VK2LAW explains the importance of this exhibit.

JASON: Amateur radio's emerging popularity in the Indian state of Assam was evident recently at the North East Science Fair & Innovation Festival, where visitors watched as two operators from the Assam Amateur Radio Foundation made contacts on HF and 2-metres.

Saquib VU3HZW and Pradyumna VU33SF had QSOs with hams in Bangladesh on HF and contacted hams on 2 metres throughout the Assamese city of Guwahati where VHF is slowly becoming increasingly popular.

The event was held at the National Science Centre in Guwahati from the 11th through to the 14th of February. Many of the visitors who stopped to watch the hams operate from the exhibition floor had been unaware of ham radio's potential for vital communications in emergencies and as a resource for experimentation and learning. Amateur radio took a prominent place among the other exhibits and demonstrations, including AI & Robotics, Rocketry, Skywatching with a Telescope and Meet-the-Scientist sessions.

This is Jason Daniels VK2LAW.

(SAQUIB VU3HZW, FACEBOOK)

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DIRECT-TO-DEVICE SATELLITE SERVICE BEGINNING IN UK

PAUL/ANCHOR: The first satellite connectivity service goes into effect at the end of this month in the UK, as we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: Customers of Virgin Media's O2 mobile phone service are gaining access to direct-to-device satellite communication on the 25th of February. While some direct-to-device has already been approved in other countries, including the US, this is the first such licence variation approved by Ofcom for UK mobile customers. In hard-to-reach regions where there is no cellular service, direct-to-device will allow customers to stay connected via text, phone calls and internet with signals directly to and from smartphones. Virgin Media O2 is making use of Starlink satellites in low earth orbit.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(OFCOM)

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WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, hams in the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia, IOTA Number NA-108, are commemorating its 47th year of independence with special event callsigns that are in effect through to the 23rd of February. Listen for callsigns that begin with "J647" and the one- to three-letter suffix from each ham's personal callsign.

You can continue celebrating World Radio Day by contacting the special-event station 4UNR operated by the VIC Amateur Radio Contest DX Club at United Nations HQ in NY. The station is on the air through to the 28th of February, using CW, SSB and digital modes. Contacts count for Austria as DX and the Vienna International Centre for the CQ DX Marathon.

Mike, VE2XB, will be on the air holiday style as 8P9XB from Barbados, IOTA Number NA-021 from the 21st through to the 28th of February. Mike will be using CW and SSB on 80-10 metres.

Lubo, OM5ZW and Laco, OM4WM, will be in the Maldives, IOTA Number AS-013, operating as 8Q7ZW from the 28th of February to the 12th of March. Be listening on 160-10 metres where they will be using CW, SSB and FT8, with a focus on the low bands.

Chris, WA7RAR, will be operating with the callsign V4/WA7RAR from St. Kitts, IOTA Number NA-104, from the 21st of February to the 7th of March. Chris will be using CW and SSB on 20-10 metres. He will also be activating POTA from a number of sites.

For QSL and other details about these stations, visit their callsigns' pages on QRZ.com

(425 DX BULLETIN)

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KICKER: BUNKERS ON THE AIR PROGRAM EXPANDS TO THE US

PAUL/ANCHOR: The links between amateur radio and history grow stronger every day as hams have discovered from all our special event stations and awards schemes. In the UK, Bunkers on the Air began with Royal Observer Corps bunker sites in 2005 with radio and history education in mind - and now activators in the US are able to call CQ at local bunkers too, as we hear from Ralph Squillace KK6ITB, in this week's final story.

RALPH: The chase is on: US BOTA - that's Bunkers on the Air - is now a part of Worldwide BOTA. The popular awards scheme that began in the UK is now active in 23 countries. The US recently became one of those active nations. Rem O'Donnelley, K6BBQ, the US national coordinator, told Newsline that his POTA activations inspired him to establish a US presence on the BOTA map. He said that many bunkers are inside parks in his part of California -- so activating those bunkers seemed to be the next logical move.

Worldwide BOTA's Jason Dale, 2E╪JIV, told Newsline that, as with other nations, US BOTA is closely modeled after the one in the UK. With some bunker sites still considered sensitive areas, BOTA established an activation zone giving plenty of room for permitted activations without having to infringe on the bunker itself. In the UK and the US and several other countries, that's 1,000 meters from the center of the bunker itself.

The worldwide platform hosts each country's available awards and bunker databases as well as lists of new countries - and newly added bunkers. Specific rules and local maps are available on each country's individual site. Best of all, said Jason, some portable loggers, such as Ham2K, have also gotten into the act and have already added BOTA into their software.

To visit both the new US BOTA website and the site for worldwide BOTA, see the links in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

[DO NOT READ: US program is wwbota.net/usbota/
Worldwide BOTA is wwbota.net )

(REM O'DONNELLEY, K6BBQ; JASON DALE, 2E╪JIV)

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NEWSCAST CLOSE

With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily, AM Radio Software Award; Brittanica; David Behar, K7DB; 425DX Bulletin; Jason Dale, 2E╪JIV; NASA.gov; NBC News; Ofcom; QRZ.com Forums; Rem O'Donnelley, K6BBQ; shortwaveradio.de; Saquib, VU3HZW; Southeastern VHF Society; Techcon2026; Wireless Institute of Australia; Worldwide BOTA; 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 Paul Braun WD9GCO in Valparaiso Indiana 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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