When infrastructure fails, amateur radio does what it's always done. That's exactly what's playing out in Colombia right now, and it's worth every operator's attention.

ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio®, reports that amateur radio operators across Colombia are providing significant communications support in the aftermath of the major earthquake and aftershocks that struck the country on 10th August 2026. The death toll has reportedly passed 200, with many more still unaccounted for, and widespread damage has been reported to buildings and infrastructure.

GMRS has exploded in popularity over the last few years, but a Georgia-based network at the centre of that growth has just landed itself in trouble with the FCC.

The Commission has taken action against the operator of a GMRS repeater network covering Georgia and Tennessee, saying his internet-linked system breached rules that prohibit simultaneously retransmitting the same voice message across multiple repeaters at once.

Every busy events season tests the same weak point: what happens when tens of thousands of phones try to hit the same cell tower at once. This summer in southeastern Pennsylvania, the answer came down to amateur radio.

It's been a packed calendar of sports fixtures, celebrations, and large public gatherings across the region, and the American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania disaster response team found itself calling on more local hams than ever to help keep communications solid throughout. The Philadelphia Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) was there as always, but this time the Red Cross widened the net — and hams from Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks counties answered the call alongside them. On top of that, the effort got a further boost from members of the Red Cross's own Disaster Services Technology team, led by Cliff Hotchkiss, KC3PGT.