Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2559 for Friday, November 13th, 2026

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2559 with a release date of Friday, November 13th, 2026 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. Goodbye, Swift Observatory. A Florida repeater's future is in question -- and hams re-enact a message to Mars. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2559 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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CRASH ON EARTH ENDS SWIFT OBSERVATORY'S 22-YEAR RUN

NEIL/ANCHOR: We begin this week by saying goodbye to the Swift Observatory. Earlier this month, its fall from orbit ended in a crash landing that, after more than two decades of useful life, seemed rather.....swift. Travis Lisk N3ILS gives us the details.

TRAVIS: Almost exactly 22 years since it was sent into low-earth orbit by NASA, the space telescope known as the Swift Observatory has crashed, following failed efforts earlier this year to extend its time in space.

Tracking by NASA and the US Space Force showed the 1.5-ton telescope re-entering the Earth's atmosphere over Indonesia on Wednesday, November 4th. Several reports said that it burned up over Sumatra.

Since November of 2004, the observatory has focused on finding gamma-ray bursts, supernovas and other galactic explosions. With three telescopes on board, the orbiting observatory was capable of observing these events across various wavelengths, including X-ray, optical and ultraviolet light.

Though its mission was to have lasted for only two years, it was still sending observations until late October, when NASA shut down its systems.

Solar activity was considered the cause of Swift's declining orbit. After the failure of a robotic rescue mission in July, scientists resigned themselves to the fact that its long-running mission would end soon.

This is Travis Lisk N3ILS.

(CBSNEWS.COM, SPACE.COM)

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RECREATING HISTORIC CW 'MESSAGE TO MARS' 100 YEARS LATER

NEIL/ANCHOR: The historic Rugby Radio Station may no longer be standing in Warwickshire [pron: WOR-ick-shuh] but one pivotal moment remains foremost when people remember the government long-wave wireless station and its powerful transmitter that was tasked, in its earliest years, with sending telegrams worldwide and, apparently, beyond. Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us more.

JEREMY: It was a curious private telegram, a love letter of sorts sent by Mansfield Robinson, a lawyer from London. The Morse Code message said [quote] "Love from Earth to Mars" [endquote]. The government Post Office's Rugby Radio Station transmitted it in the direction of the red planet on the 24th of October - almost 100 years ago. It goes without saying - the Martians the lawyer had tried to reach sent no reply.

Marking the station's centenary, on the same date this year, hams of The Rugby Amateur Transmitting Society beamed an antenna toward Mars and sent a greeting three times over 20 minutes, on 144.011 MHz. The society's Steve Jones M1CIZ, told the Warwickshire World website that each outgoing message takes about seven minutes to reach Mars and another seven for any reply. Yes, there were several replies -- but as he told the website, [quote] "I knew that they could not be from Mars." [endquote]

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(EHAM.NET, WARWICKSHIRE WORLD)

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VOYAGER PROBE TO REACH MILESTONE DISTANCE FROM EARTH

NEIL/ANCHOR: Mark the date, Wednesday, November 18th, on your calendar. That is the day NASA's interstellar space probe, Voyager 1, reaches a milestone, achieving a distance from Earth of one light-day. Simply put, that's how far a photon can travel in a single day. The big moment is expected to happen at 5:18 a.m. US Eastern Time. So if you're planning to send a radio signal from your shack to Voyager 1 in the hopes of a QSO, have patience: Your message will take 24 hours to get there - and another 24 hours for the QSL to arrive back home.

(POPULAR SCIENCE)
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LIGHTNING DAMAGE IMPERILS FUTURE OF FLORIDA REPEATER

NEIL/ANCHOR: Hams in one part of Florida are worried that storm damage to their repeater may signal the end of having any repeater at all. Jack Parker W8ISH tells us what's next.

JACK: The future of the regional 2-metre repeater of the Nature Coast Amateur Radio Society K4NCA in Florida looks bleak, according to various reports by the club on social media. The repeater, which is hosted by the county, had its antenna hit recently by lightning.

The county removed most of its equipment as well since, according to the social media posts, officials do not have the budget to cover the cost of repairs, which will require the service of professional tower crews. The club said members will be talking to the county to pin down a more definite estimate of what the cost would be to complete the repairs to get the repeater back on at 147.330 MHz again.

Nature Coast ended its message by saying: [quote] "It's not looking too good for the future of 330. If enough could be gathered by the community, then we may be able to keep this repeater on the air." [endquote]

This is Jack Parker W8ISH.

(QRZ.COM FORUMS, FACEBOOK)

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INDIANA COMMUNITY PITCHES IN TO RESTORE HAMS' DAMAGED TOWER

NEIL/ANCHOR: In one Indiana county, it was the community's turn to step up and respond to a ham emergency, after a storm destroyed a vital amateur radio tower. Daniel Garcia W2DIY has that story.

DANIEL: March 2025 left an unfortunate legacy for some Indiana residents. The tower used by the Fulton County Amateur Radio Club and for Skywarn's weather spotting service had been destroyed by a storm, hampering vital communication between the county and the surrounding region during severe weather.

The community has its tower back, however, because its restoration wasn't just an amateur radio issue; it became a community project. The county's Highway Department, the Rochester Fire Department and a number of local businesses all donated time and muscle, as did club members Doug Garvison KD9PMT and Tom Murray KB9WSL. This past summer, the 30-foot tower was ready for some serious Skywarn spotting and other ham radio communication.

Club president Brian Johnson, KD9SFY, told Channel 57 TV news [quote]: "If we had a severe weather event like a tornado go through and take out a lot of communications capabilities, we can be up and running here at [the Emergency Management Agency] in a very short time frame and provide those backup services or primary communications if needed."

This is Daniel Garcia W2DIY.

(ABC CHANNEL 57, ROCHESTER SENTINEL)

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FULL LICENSE-HOLDERS IN UK GAIN BROADER 2M USE

NEIL/ANCHOR: Privileges have been extended on 2-metres for some hams in the UK, as Jeremy Boot G4NJH reports.

JEREMY: With the goal of encouraging more experimentation on 2-metres for another year, Ofcom, the UK regulator, has granted a temporary change of privileges to full-licence holders, extending the band from 144 to 146 MHz, to 144 to 147MHz.

Ofcom's action, which favours innovation on digital voice and data modes, came with the support of the Radio Society of Great Britain, which is encouraging eligible amateurs to apply for the Notice of Variation via their website. The new privileges are granted on a non-interference basis and will be available up to and including 31st October 2027. An application can be found at r s g b dot org stroke nov

Meanwhile, John Regnault, G4SWX, the society's VHF manager, is interested in seeing reports from amateurs to monitor their use of the new frequencies.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(RSGB)

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FCC PETITIONED TO EXTEND FM STATIONS' FILING WINDOW

NEIL/ANCHOR: A temporary outage in the FCC's Licensing and Management System reportedly caused a breach making more than 100 confidential applications for noncommercial FM translators publicly visible. According to a report on the Radio World website, the system was restored on Thursday, November 5th, just hours after the disruption on the same day.

The timing of the outage was critical, in another way; noncommercial and community radio stations and the broadcast consultants assisting them have been preparing applications in order to meet the tight filing deadline of November 17th. Citing the outage, high demand among applicants, and a short filing window, the consulting groups have petitioned the FCC to extend the filing window for at least another week, perhaps as late as November 25th.

(RADIOWORLD)

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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 N8VAA repeater, serving parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania and the Potomac Highlands Amateur Radio club from Moorefield, West Virginia on Monday nights at 8.


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FCC CITES OPERATOR FOR INTERFERENCE ON GMRS REPEATER

NEIL/ANCHOR: A California man with two expired GMRS licenses has been sent a notice from the FCC, charging him with disrupting the operation of a local GMRS repeater. Kent Peterson KCODGY has the details.

KENT: Acting on complaints from a General Mobile Radio Service repeater club in southern California, the US Federal Communications Commission has sent a notice of unauthorized operation and harmful interference to a radio operator whose two GMRS licenses have long since expired.

According to the FCC, the licenses WPQM265 and WQHR501 were not valid on July 27 of this year when agents say Jerry Lee Seehaas repeatedly transmitted siren sounds lasting 6 seconds each on the repeater input frequencies of 467.675 MHz and 467.7 MHz. The FCC notice sent to him on the 4th of November said that agents from the FCC's Enforcement Bureau in Los Angeles traced the sirens to handheld radios he had with him inside a vehicle in El Segundo, California.

FCC records show that Seehaas is the holder of an active amateur radio license KG6UMF. He is also listed as the trustee of callsign KG6OPA on QRZ.com, where the callsign is associated with Seacoast REACT, a nonprofit public-service group that provides emergency communications and assistance at community events.

He was given 10 days to respond to the notice.

This is Kent Peterson, KCODGY.

(FCC, QRZ.COM)

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SSTV EVENT CELEBRATES SPACE SHUTTLES' ACHIEVEMENTS

NEIL/ANCHOR: The ISS is hosting a slow-scan TV event this month that pays tribute to NASA's shuttle program. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB tells us how to capture those images.

RALPH: One hundred thirty-five missions in space is something to celebrate. By the time the US space agency NASA concluded its Space Shuttle program, that's how many trips the fleet flew between its first launch on April 12, 1981 to its final touchdown on July 21, 2011.

The shuttle program's three decades of operation helped clear the path for the International Space Station, which is paying tribute to the program's history, challenges and accomplishments in a slow-scan TV event called "Space Memories," beginning November 9th through to the 16th. This is series 35 of the slow-scan TV programs offered by the ISS on amateur radio frequencies. The images will be sent, once again, on 437.550 MHz, plus or minus Doppler shift, using Robot 36 Mode.

Back home on Earth, you can submit all received images to Amateur Radio on the ISS through the online SSTV Gallery.

Images can be uploaded via the website link that appears in the text version in this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

[DO NOT READ: https://ariss-usa.org/ARISS_SSTV/ ]

This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

(NASA)

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WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, listen for Giovanni, IZ2DPX, from Boa Vista, Cape Verde, IOTA Number AF-086, where he will be operating with the callsign D44PX through to the 11th of November on 40 through 6m. Giovanni will be using SSB and FT8/FT4.

Eric, F6ICX, is on Saint Marie island, IOTA Number AF-090 using the callsign 5R8IC until the middle of December. Listen for Eric on 40-10m. He will be focusing on CW but will also operate with some SSB and FT8 in fox-hound mode.

Chuck, KG9N, is operating from Montserrat with the callsign VP2MCV through to the 16th of November. You'll find him on all bands using all modes.

The DXpedition to Alexander Selkirk Island (IOTA Number SA-101) has been postponed until later in November as a result of unfavorable weather conditions. The team has requested an extension of its previously assigned callsign XROZ covering their planned activation from November 11th through to December 23rd. Operators hope to be on the air by the 25th or 26th of November.

For more operating details or QSL information for any of these stations, visit their pages on QRZ.com

(DX WORLD)

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KICKER: SATELLITE IS GAME FOR SOME GAMING

NEIL/ANCHOR: We end this week's report to tell you that, out there in space, there really IS a Doom Satellite. No, this is not a fatal scenario, despite what the name suggests. As Dave Lee M9TLB explains, it's actually rather fun.

DAVE: Are you game for some gaming?

Well, that's essentially what a team of ham radio operators asked an experimental CubeSat earlier this year, transmitting voice commands from their ground station in Oslo, Norway. The response from the small European Space Agency spacecraft, was yes.

The satellite, known as OPS-SAT PRETTY, then fulfilled the request by starting up the video game Doom.

What sounds like a trivial incident, however, marked an important milestone. That moment in July is believed to be the first time a command was transmitted by voice, instead of digital packets, and carried out successfully by a satellite. Using the callsign LA4O, the Oslo Group of the Norwegian Radio Relay League had achieved their success with the help of earlier tests by hams in Poland using the callsigns SQ6RDP and SQ6QV.

Scientists are taking a fresh look recently at this demonstration of machine learning, in which OPS-SAT PRETTY copied the transmitted signal and transcribed the voice command using speech-to-text AI.

It's not clear who actually won the game but Tanagra Space, the machine-learning specialists behind the experiment, believes everyone might come up ahead of the game. That's especially true with regard to distress calls that are on a grand - or global - scale.

The company's founder and principal investigator Georges Labrche, told SpaceNews: [quote] "Maybe this could be turned into a service where suddenly you can point to the air, call out for mayday and then a network of satellites is able to relay that immediately." [endquote]

That hardly sounds like a recipe for Doom.

This is Dave Lee M9TLB.

(GIZMODO, TANAGRA SPACE)

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NEWSCAST CLOSE

With thanks to ABC Channel 57; AMSAT News; Amateur Radio Daily, David Behar, K7DB; DXWorld; FCC; 425 DX Bulletin; Gizmodo; NASA; Popular Science; QRZ.com; Radio Society of Great Britain; Radio World; Rochester Sentinel; Tanagra Space; 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 Neil Rapp WB9VPG in Union Kentucky 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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