Father-And-Son Dxpedition Team Adds An APRS Mission

/
Father-And-Son Dxpedition Team Adds An APRS Mission

An active ham radio operator from Poland has set out with his son on a DXpedition that will take them through a region that includes Uzbekistan and Tajikistan -- but they're also on a special mission to launch new APRS networks.

While providing the gift of DX contacts to people hunting him and his 13-year-old son on the air, Darek SP9DLM, will also be delivering something more: He will be establishing and launching the region's first APRS network, along with APRS LoRaA gateways. Using the callsigns UK/SP9DLM and UK/SN9GM, respectively, Darek and Greg, SN9GM, will be calling QRZ through to the 15th August 2026. Darek told Newsline that he was surprised - and pleased - with Uzbekistan's approval of their license because it is something rare.

Father and son have a busy agenda off the air, too: Once they arrive in Tajikistan, Darek will connect with local radio amateurs and donate equipment to launch an APRS network. Darek told Newsline that he has worked elsewhere with local hams, providing donated equipment -- often paid for from his own finances and with the help of donations. He said that his efforts have launched networks in countries where APRS did not previously exist: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, and Egypt.

Read More

Space Station Logs Historic First ARISS Contact with Kenya

/

There was a historic first contact between Amateur Radio on the International Space Station and the African nation of Kenya.

The voice from space belonged to astronaut Sophie Adenot KJ5LTN, using the callsign OR4ISS. Back here on Earth, the voices were those of students at a school in Nairobi, Kenya, selected earlier this year to be the first in an African country to participate in Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. It was hosted by the Kenya Space Agency on the 5th August 2026 with the help of a telebridge via ON4SS in Belgium. 

The students posed 11 questions, ranging on a variety of topics. 

The event was a big moment, not just for the students but for Kenya's relatively young space agency, established in 2017 to advance that nation's agenda for using space technology to boost socioeconomic development.


UK's Leading Observatory Earmarked for Shutdown

/

The home of the UK's largest radio telescope is facing shutdown after its funding was pulled for a major project.

The Jodrell Bank Observatory, which gathers data about the galaxy from seven radio telescopes across England, has lost government funding for the project and faces closure. The network, known as e-Merlin, is earmarked for shutdown following an announcement by UK Research and Innovation that it was ending financial support for the research and that all scientific work at Jodrell will be halted on the 1st April 2028.

The observatory in Cheshire has also been home for seven decades to the massive 76-metre Lovell radio telescope. Jodrell Bank has been a foremost figure among astronomy centres worldwide and was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.