Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2541 for Friday, July 10th, 2026 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2541 with a release date of Friday, July 10th, 2026 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Countdown for a law requiring AM radio in all vehicles sold in the US. Three hams receive top honors for their contributions to CW -- and there are no obstacles to true love, not even antennas. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2541 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** CAMPAIGN HEATS UP FOR MANDATORY AM RADIO IN VEHICLES STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our top story takes us to Washington, D.C., where a proposed federal mandate is moving forward to require AM radio in all new vehicles in the US. Kent Peterson KCØDGY brings us up to date. KENT: A deadline looms for a long-simmering campaign in Washington, D.C., as lawmakers push to make AM radios a mandatory feature in all new cars in the US. The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act has been around in one form or another for a few years and has support of both parties in Congress. This year it faces being wrapped into a larger package of transportation-related bills called the Build America 250 Act, which lawmakers are targeting for passage by the 30th of September. The debate centers on AM radio's traditional role as the medium of choice to carry emergency broadcasts in the case of natural disasters or severe weather. Auto manufacturers, who oppose the measure, say that the advent of electric vehicles has created interference with the AM signal and that makes listening all but futile. They also cite the added cost of continuing to use AM in vehicles. This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY. (THE DRIVE, RADIO WORLD) ** UK WELCOMES WORLD RADIOSPORT TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP STEPHEN/ANCHOR: At long last, the World Radiosport Team Championship weekend - July 11th and 12th - has arrived in England. Jeremy Boot G4NJH gives us some final updates. JEREMY: There has already been plenty of mainstream media coverage for the World Radiosport Team Championship which begins at noon UTC on Saturday the 11th of July and continues until noon UTC on Sunday the 12th of July. BBC Radio Shropshire is covering it with plenty of interviews that give this high-profile event good exposure in the non-amateur radio world. Competitors' special callsigns, revealed towards the end of the opening ceremony on Thursday, 9th July, are being published on the event home page at www dot wrtc2026 dot org (www.wrtc2026.org). Hams worldwide are being encouraged to work the stations in support of the event. There is also daily coverage on YouTube TV, a separate contest livestream and an online scoreboard. See the link in the text version of this newscast for more details about viewing the action. [DO NOT READ: https://www.youtube.com/@WRTC2026/streams ] This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (WRTC) ** MARITIME CW EVENT REMEMBERS STATION'S 1ST WOMAN TELEGRAPHER STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In California, "Night of Nights" is an annual Morse Code tradition that remembers a special maritime radio station that is off the air. This year, the event also remembers one of the station's top operators, as we hear from Ralph Squillace KK6ITB. RALPH: For just a day, Morse Code enthusiasts can forget that the last maritime radio station in the US has gone silent. Every July 12th, on the anniversary of the day that the California station signed off, the Maritime Radio Historical Society, K6KPH, returns the Morse Code tradition to air as KPH/KFS springs back to life. This year the historical society is keeping that tradition while grieving a Silent Key. Denice "DA" Stoops, KI6BBR, had been a vital part of the station's commercial operations and later, was a big supporter of the historical society's effort behind Night of Nights, as the July 12th commemoration is known. In 1979, Denice became the first woman to be hired as a CW operator at KPH. According to the historical society and several social media posts, Denice died within the last few months. The Night of Nights tradition continues. For times, frequencies and QSL information about the event, visit the Maritime Radio Historical Society website at radiomarine.org. This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB. (MARITIME RADIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY) ** TRIO RECOGNIZED FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO CW STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Three devoted CW operators and educators are being recognized for the impact of their work, as we learn from Dave Lee M9TLB. DAVE: Three advocates for the practice of CW have been honoured by CWOps for their contributions. They are Mark Bosma, VK2KI, who created the weekly CW QRS Net more than five years ago. The net is an informal gathering of operators for a six-hour period with an emphasis on courtesy and established procedures. Mark also publishes and emails the weekly CQ QRS RagChew newsletter. Fabian Kurz, DJ5CW, is being recognised for a number of projects that assist operators with CW, including Learn CW Online, CW Club RBN Spotter and the CWOps Awards Tool, which helps operators track the status of their awards. He is also the creator of EBOOKS2CW which converts e-books to CW audio files. CWOps is also recognising Martin Kratoska, OK1RR, widely considered a pioneer in Morse Code teaching and founder of a website that covers a vast number of subjects on CW. The website was created in Czech only. A link can be found in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org. [DO NOT READ: https://telegrafie.cz ] Past winners of the CWOps award have included the K1USN Radio Club, creator of the weekly Slow Speed Test that allows newer operators to improve their skills in a friendly environment; Stephen C. Phillips, author of the free online Morse code trainer used by thousands of CW students and teachers and the Essex CW Club in the UK for its intensive teaching and CW bootcamps. This is Dave Lee M9TLB. . (NZ NET NEWS, CW OPS) ** INDIAN HAMS' NETWORK HELPS HEARING- AND SPEECH-IMPAIRED TEEN STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A network of hams in India has helped a hearing- and speech-impaired teenager find his way back to his family. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF tells us how it happened. JIM: The wide-reaching amateur radio connections of one radio club in West Bengal has helped a speech- and hearing-impaired teenager find his way back to his family in Bihar, more than 500 km, or 310 miles away. An attorney who spotted him in distress on the street had stopped to help, according to the Times of India. The attorney told the Times that the teen had difficulty hearing and speaking, prompting him to alert local authorities on his behalf. He urged police to attempt to identify him and find his family -- but attempts yielded only dead ends. Police referred the teen to a voluntary organisation that could provide safe shelter. Meanwhile, the lawyer contacted the West Bengal Radio Club, which is well-known for using its ham radio network to help track down families of persons who have gone missing. As always, the hams soon had results after conducting its customary outreach, which included distribution of a photograph. Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, the club's secretary, told the newspaper that with the help of other hams, the 18-year-old and his family were soon identified as residents of Bihar. The hams learned from his father and older brother that he had gone missing 14 months ago. The details of his disappearance were not clear. As of July 4th, arrangements were being made to return him to Bihar, where he is enrolled in the local public school. This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF. (TIMES OF INDIA) ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the W8WKY repeater in Doylestown, Ohio on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. local time, right before the weekly SARA net at 8 p.m. ** SILENT KEY: BYLARA'S CAROL ANN HODGES 2E1RBH STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A prominent radio amateur and former chair of the British YL Amateur Radio Association has become a Silent Key. We hear more about her from Jeremy Boot G4NJH. JEREMY: When the International YL Convention came to Milton Keynes in the UK in 2016 in connection with the RSGB Convention, Carol Ann Hodges, 2E1RBH, was at the helm of the British YL Amateur Radio Association. As YLs in the UK prepared for the first time to host this major event, it was a key time for the organisation, as delegates arrived from around the world. Carol and her husband Rob GØRYL, helped pull the event together. On her page on QRZ.com, Carol had referred to the convention as being "seven days of international friendship" among YLs. Carol became a Silent Key on the 10th of May. She was 76. (YL BEAM) ** FCC PREPARES FOR SPECTRUM AUCTION ON UPPER-C BAND STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The US Federal Communications Commission has set its sights on yet another spectrum auction. Daniel Garcia W2DIY has those details. DANIEL: The FCC will meet on the 22nd of July to vote on its plans to auction 160 MHz in the Upper-C band. The auction would be held next for frequencies between 3.98 and 4.2 GHz. The range does not include any frequencies used by amateur radio. The FCC is mandated under the Working Families Tax Cut Act of 2025 to sell off at least 100 MHz of C-band spectrum by July of 2027. The agency aims to create a single band for wireless operations on the C-band through the use of the range between 3.70 and 4.14 GHz. The FCC recently completed a $3.5 billion spectrum auction - its first in four years. Competition bidding ended on the 23rd of June for frequencies that belong to the Advanced Wireless Services, or AWS-3, bands used by major mobile carriers. This is Daniel Garcia W2DIY. (FCC.GOV) ** WORLD OF DX In the World of DX, Holger, DG3FEH will be on the air with the callsign MJ/DG3FEH from Jersey, IOTA Number EU-013, from the 18th through to the 23rd of July. He will be using SSB on 40, 20 and 15 metres and will be calling QRZ via the QO-100 satellite. Giorgio, IZ3KVD, will be operating holiday style as ISØ/IZ3KVD from Budoni, Sardinia Island, IOTA Number EU-024 from the 8th through to the 17th of July. Listen for Nobby, GØVJG, using the callsign VP5G from North Caicos, IOTA Number NA-002 from the 17th through to the 28th of July. Nobby will be operating SSB, CW, and FT8/FT4 on various bands, including 6 metres. Listen for him as well during the RSGB IOTA Contest on the 25th and 26th of July. Takashi JR6HYO will be using the callsign JR6HYO/JD1 from the Ogasawara Islands, IOTA Number AS-031 on the 9th through the 11th of July. He will be using CW and SSB on 40, 20, 15, 10 and 6 metres. For QSL information and other operating details, see each station's page on QRZ.com. (425 DX BULLETIN) ** KICKER: ANTENNAS INTERFERE WITH THEIR LOVE STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We end this week's report with a reminder that if you want to transmit your message well, it's all about the antenna. In the case of one couple with a message in New York City, it was - unfortunately - all about several antennas. Jim Davis W2JKD tells us their story. JIM: The couple who climbed New York City's Empire State Building on July 2nd weren't just about to engage in a publicity stunt - they were also about to get engaged while they were up there, 1,454 feet, or 443 metres, above Manhattan. This path of true love, however, had its obstacles. A number of media accounts were quick to note that the climbers were not authorized to go past the 102nd floor, the building's highest public-access spot. They managed, however, to get beyond there and into the restricted area which involved passing a number of antennas. There was the master antenna used by 15 New York FM stations as well as a separate, smaller antenna used by three other NY FM radio stations. Wearing no harnesses or parachutes, they also had to pass a number of antennas used by TV stations in New York City. You don't need an RF calculator to know there was a lot of energy up there that day - not just nervous energy but RF energy. The broadcasters quickly shifted to backup antennas. The couple, known for their daredevil stunts and profiled in the Netflix documentary, "Skywalkers: A Love Story," said in court after their arrest that they made their climb because they believed in power - in this case, the power of love. No doubt it was radiating from the both of them as the stunt turned into a successful marriage proposal, Before they can say "I do," however, there's the question of saying "we did." The two face felony charges that include reckless endangerment and burglary. This is Jim Davis W2JKD. (RADIO WORLD; WNBC CHANNEL 4) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE With thanks to Amateur Radio Daily, CW Ops' David Behar, K7DB; The Drive; FCC.gov; 425DX News; Maritime Radio Historical Society; NZ Net News; QRZ.com; Radio World; shortwaveradio.de; Times of India; Wireless Institute of Australia; WNBC Channel 4; World Radiosport Team Championship; YLBeam; 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.