A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Bangladesh on Friday the 27th at 07h52 UTC and at a depth of about 10km below ground, in the Khulna area. About 5000 people were exposed to severe shaking, and the humanitarian impact is expected to be at a medium level. 180000 people live within a 10km radius of the epicentre. At the time of writing no casualty figures were available.
theguardian.com in Australia says that the population will soon receive intrusive alerts on their smartphones to warn of impending emergencies as governments overhaul warning systems for natural disasters and other serious events.
The AusAlert system will be rolled out through a series of trials from June, replacing state-based text messaging systems which often struggle because of demand in major emergencies. Alerts will be sent for bushfires, floods, biosecurity threats and public safety incidents like shootings. The messages will link users to more information from official sources online.
Instead of text messages, AusAlert will appear as a home screen message on phones in designated geographic areas. The alerts will have the capability to be targeted down to individual streets, with the highest-level threat alert accompanied by a loud, intrusive tone.
Alerts will be received by anyone with a phone in the specific location inside a specific time range, for between 10 minutes and 24 hours.
A national test, set to send alerts to about 23 million smartphones, is planned for 27th July at 2pm, Eastern Time. As many as 90% of phones in Australia are expected to receive them.
The system is designed to work for most phones released since 2019. Testing is being conducted for interactions between the system and smartwatches, car-play systems and other devices.
Users will not be able to opt out of the highest-level threat alert. Opt-out functionality will be available for lower level threats, known as priority alerts.
AusAlert is expected to be fully operational by October, before the 2026-27 high-risk weather season. Existing state-based emergency text alert systems will be decommissioned by July 2027.
Thanks to theguardian.com for these paragraphs.
In an interesting article from Cuba, published on Friday, a father-and-son radio amateur pair was able to help a doctor help his patient. On the 18th February, a doctor from a council polyclinic attempted to contact the integrated Medical Emergencies System, because he had a 12 year old patient with abdominal pain and fever, and suspected appendicitis.
Unfortunately, due to a fuel shortage and major power failure they were experiencing in Cuba at the time, the telephone base system was dead. Without a coordinated ambulance or operational conventional channels, the doctor went to the home of the amateur radio operators.
Although their devices also had no battery due to the blackout caused by the fuel shortage, they managed to activate the radios, thanks to a battery from a motorcycle borrowed from a neighbour.
The general call was received from Santiago de Cuba by CL8YDY, who was able to connect with the emergency system.
In less than an hour, arrangements were made for the patient’s transfer to the hospital, where the girl underwent successful surgery.
The article in the periodical notes that the performance of father and son once again demonstrates the value of amateur radio in critical situations and the commitment of citizens who take the initiative to provide what should have been guaranteed by state institutions.
Thanks to cibercuba.com for the story.
Hamsci.org has announced the 9th annual Ham SCI Workshop, which will take place on 14th and 15th March, at Central Connecticut State University, and in conjunction with the ARRL.
This year’s theme, “Discovering Science through Ham Radio“, celebrates the community’s achievements, including Personal Space Weather Station deployments, meteor scatter propagation studies and the promotion of WSPR as a propagation sensing tool. The workshop is expected to feature more than 50 poster and oral presentations, plus invited tutorials, and a banquet with a keynote address by a prominent member of the community.
The program will focus on the latest findings, strategies, and best practices in ionospheric science. It has been designed to bring together the amateur radio and professional science communities. Anyone with an interest in these subjects is welcome to attend. Most speakers and attendees will participate in person. However, a virtual option will also be available.
Radio amateurs in Cape Town were kept occupied yesterday in two different fields.
Saturday the 28th of February saw the inaugural Blind Navigator’s Rally for the 2026 season hosted by the Table View Lions and the Sea Point Lions. The event was run from the WPMC Clubhouse at the Killarney race track and saw 34 volunteer drivers with their blind or partially sighted navigators take on a two hour route that took them all the way to Atlantis and the surrounding areas before returning to the Clubhouse at Killarney.
The event is an annual highlight for the navigators as the championship trophy for the previous year is also awarded here. This year’s route was particularly challenging due to the road quality and end-of-month traffic congesting the roads. Eventually all of the participants made their way back to the Clubhouse where a fish-and-chips lunch was served and the results were announced.
The winning team was made up of a first-time driver and his veteran blind navigator – the first time in the 59 years of the BNR that a new driver went home with the honours.
The BNR organising committee also noted the sad passing of the cornerstone of rallying, namely Roger Manton ZR1AKK last year, and their consequent restructuring of the committee to fill the humongous shoes now left empty.
Many thanks to Davy ZR1FR who manned the control radio, Johann ZS1JM who performed sweep duties, and Jannie ZS1JFK who provided radio assistance to the zero car during the event.
Please do consider assisting with future BNRs as these are a great, selfless way to assist with the safety and success of these wonderful outings. The next BNR will be held in Tulbagh on Saturday 21 March 2026.
Thank you Jannie ZS1JFK for providing the report so soon after the race.
The other event yesterday was the annual Mega-Fleamarket held at the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre clubhouse in Rondebosch in the morning. As is usually the case, sellers are amateurs selling either their surplus stuff, or sometimes kits or modules for inclusion in homebrew activities undertaken by the buyers.
Curious would-be purchasers came from all clubs in the Cape, and it was a good excuse to greet old friends again, and enjoy light refreshments sold by the club. Luckily the weather played the game, and a good time was had by all. Thank you to the CTARC for hosting the event, and to the workers from the club who made it all happen.
This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.