Club archive
Work in the club station
Operators at the club radio desk — everyday station work that kept Banja Luka on the air.
Club history / 1946 — today
Eight decades on the same frequency.
From the first radio amateurs and post-war courses through decades of contacts, diplomas and club work — a story of people who for eight decades have connected Banja Luka with the world.
Our history
A story that has lasted since 1946.
Radio Club “Nikola Tesla” Banja Luka traces its founding to 1946. An archival recollection describes a founding assembly held in 1947 at the National Theatre — two related milestones that mark the club’s beginnings.
Early organisers promoted radio technology through lectures in schools and workplaces. The club trained young people in radio technology, telegraphy, radio mechanics and communications, and developed technical construction, amateur-radio communications and education.
Over later decades it contributed to the development of amateur radio in Bosanska Krajina. Its activities expanded into VHF/UHF, competitions, computing and today’s digital radio networks.
Club archive
Operator at the radio
A member at the operating position — headphones on, logs open, another contact underway.
Club archive
Portable antenna system ready for the contest
Masts up, beams in place — a portable antenna system staged and ready for competition.
Club archive
Raising the boom
Hands under the boom — the crew lifts a mast and Yagi array into place on open ground.
Club archive
Field tent station
Portable gear ready to work from a field tent.
Club archive
Winter field tents
Field tents and radio gear in winter conditions.
Club archive
Members by the antenna array
Two club members beside a directional Yagi array.
Archival traces
The club through magazines and amateur-radio press.
The callsigns YU4BYZ and X5BYZ left a trail in domestic and international amateur-radio press — through reports, diplomas, contests, technical experiments and records of radio contacts.
Banja Luka / 1969
When our club’s radio links mattered most.
On 27 October 1969 a devastating earthquake struck Banja Luka. Communication became critically important for the city and the surrounding area.
Archival recollections describe the humanitarian contribution of Radio Club Nikola Tesla members. When conventional networks failed, our radio amateurs remained a vital communication force.
- 1969
- Crisis communications
When the networks went silent.
In the first days after the earthquake, amateur radio carried reports that official channels could no longer deliver.
Radio amateurs were crucial in the first days after the earthquake, when the communications infrastructure collapsed. Without their skills and equipment, much of the information from the field would never have reached the emergency services, and help would have been delayed.
On the anniversary of that day the club brought authentic period radios to Krajina Square — equipment that once helped open the first lines of communication.
- Krajina Square
- Restoration
From the Kenwood Trio TS-510 to a museum piece.
The Kenwood Trio TS-510 that carried traffic in 1969 was brought back to full working order — today it stands as an important museum piece of the club’s history.
Club members Siniša Maksimović E73SI and Stevo Antić E73CV restored the Kenwood Trio TS-510 from the earthquake period so it works again: not only as a display object, but as living proof of what the club did when Banja Luka needed communications most.
On Krajina Square the restored Kenwood Trio TS-510 stood beside the archival story — a bridge between the hardest days of 1969 and the club that still keeps that craft alive.
QSL archive
Every card keeps one contact.
QSL cards are material traces of amateur-radio contacts, international links and the history of the club.