Week 42, 2026: the week in amateur radio

Preparing for the amateur radio exam? NMHH has published study aids and sample questions

Rádióamatőr-vizsgára készülsz? Az NMHH segédleteket és néhány mintafeladatot tett közzé!

Hungary's regulator NMHH has published study aids for amateur radio exam candidates, including guides on how the exam works and its subject areas, plus sample papers for HAREC and Novice levels, downloadable as PDFs or one ZIP.

Skeljanes meeting on Thursday 22 October

SKELJANESI Á FIMMTUDAG 22. OKTÓBER

ÍRA's winter lecture series continues on Thursday 22 October at Skeljanes, where TF1OL presents his summer trip through Europe and beyond. He describes operating abroad, including as ZC4OL from the UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus, plus several other Mediterranean locations.

HA5MK – HA7A Péter Gyenes, Silent Key

HA5MK – HA7A Gyenes Péter Sk.

Hungarian CW specialist Péter Gyenes, HA5MK and contest callsign HA7A, died on 27 September 2026 at age 71. A multiple national and world champion in telegraphy events, he is remembered by his club; the funeral is on 4 November in Budapest.

QSL card ready for TF8ØIRA

QSL KORT TILBÚIÐ FYRIR TF8ØIRA.

The Icelandic society ÍRA has finished designing a QSL card for its special event callsign TF8ØIRA, which marks the club's 80th anniversary. About 8,000 contacts have been made since August 20 on HF and via QO-100.

Closing of JOTA-JOTI 2026 in Banten: ORARI Strengthens Amateur Radio Education for Scouts

Penutupan JOTA-JOTI 2026 Kwarda Banten, ORARI Perkuat Edukasi Radio Amatir bagi Pramuka*

JOTA-JOTI 2026 for the Banten Scout region closed on October 18 in Serang after three days with thousands of Scouts. ORARI Banten provided instruction on amateur radio, communication and the use of radio frequencies for social and disaster-related work.

18-Oct-2026 IRTS President Attends 2026 RSGB Convention — HAREC Online Training Class Commencing October 29th — Shannon Basin Radio Club Hosting the IRTS AGM Weekend 2027 — HF…

The Irish Radio Transmitters Society's weekly news roundup mentions its president attending the 2026 RSGB Convention, an online HAREC training class starting October 29th, and Shannon Basin Radio Club hosting the 2027 AGM weekend.

CQ WW DX SSB Contest 2026

CQ WW DX SSB KEPPNIN 2026.

The Icelandic Radio Amateurs society notes that the SSB leg of the CQ World-Wide DX Contest runs from 24 to 25 October on 160 to 10 metres. The club station TF3W will be active, and partial participation is allowed.

Aceh Tamiang Regent Attends Amateur Radio Exam for 116 Candidates, Hears Guidance from ORARI Aceh Chair

Dihadiri Bupati Aceh Tamiang, 116 Calon Amatir Radio Ikuti UNAR dan Dengar Arahan Ketua ORARI Daerah Aceh

In Aceh Tamiang, Indonesia, 116 candidates sat a computer-based national amateur radio exam on October 17, organised by the Banda Aceh spectrum monitoring office with ORARI Aceh. The regent backed forming a local ORARI chapter, citing disaster communications.

Propagation News – Week 43 2026

Propagatienieuws – week 43 2026

The weekly VERON propagation report for week 43 covers stable HF conditions, moderate tropo over the North Sea and Baltic, an Orionid meteor scatter peak on October 21–22, possible early-evening aurora, and EME path conditions.

CQ SLAVONIA – Meeting of Slavonian Radio Clubs with the HRS President

CQ SLAVONIA – sastanak predstavnika slavonskih radioklubova s predsjednikom HRS-a

On 17 October 2026 in Karanac, about thirty representatives of Slavonian radio clubs met HRS president Mato Botica, 9A4M, who chairs the WRTC 2030 organising committee. They discussed local involvement in the July 2030 championship in Croatia.

Autumn Awards Gathering at Skeljanes

UPPSKERUHÁTÍÐ Í SKELJANESI.

The Icelandic Radio Amateur Society held its autumn gathering at its Skeljanes clubhouse on 15 October, presenting awards for the 2026 spring, summer and field-day operating events. A proposal to move the field-day event to mid-summer was also discussed.

NNV: participation at Science Day 2026

The UBA's NNV section plans to take part in Science Day 2026 on 15 November, described as the largest yearly science event in Flanders and Brussels.

SAQ Grimeton on the air for UN Day

SAQ Grimeton QRV på FN-dagen.

On United Nations Day, 24 October 2026, the Grimeton station SAQ plans a CW peace message on 17.2 kHz from its Alexanderson alternator, with transmission around 13:00 UTC and a YouTube livestream. SK6SAQ will also be active.

Short amateur radio news – week 42, 2026

Kort radioamateurnieuws – week 42, 2026

VERON's weekly Dutch news roundup covers 2027 group magazine subscriptions, three German PocketQubes now in orbit, an APRS Connect app for iPhone, a September monitoring report, Ham Radio Ireland magazine, a radio market and a piece on clean power supplies versus noise sources.

500 Scouts Join JOTA-JOTI 2026 in Banten, Learning Radio Communication for Disaster Preparedness

500 Pramuka Ikuti JOTA-JOTI 2026 di Banten, Belajar Komunikasi Radio untuk Kesiapsiagaan Bencana

About 500 Scouts in Banten, Indonesia, take part in JOTA-JOTI 2026 from 16 to 18 October, working with ORARI. They learn radio basics, Morse code and 2 m and 40 m band operation, and how amateur radio supports disaster communication.

eBay Restricts Listings of Radio Equipment, but Exempts Ham-Band-Only Gear

eBay is limiting listings of radio transmitting equipment following new FCC equipment authorization rules. The company told ARRL that gear operating only on amateur radio frequencies falls outside the new policy.

Florida Hams Provide Communications Support During Hurricane Isaias

Amateur radio operators in several Florida counties, including Santa Rosa, Nassau, Lake, Pinellas and Leon, supported emergency communications during and after Hurricane Isaias. In Santa Rosa County, volunteers staffed the Emergency Operations Center.

Leap Second to Be Abolished

Schaltsekunde wird abgeschafft

The international metrology conference has decided that UTC will run without leap seconds from 20 May 2027. The DARC item notes that FT8, WSJT-X and similar modes need only roughly tenth-of-a-second timing, which PTB or NTP servers easily meet.

KH8A: American Samoa

KH8A : American Samoa

A group of German operators plans to activate American Samoa (IOTA OC-045) as KH8A from 30 October to 12 November 2026. Operation covers 160 to 6 metres on CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. QSL goes via DL4SVA.

ADRASEC 02 – Resilience Day (13.10.26)

ADRASEC 02 – Journée de la résilience (13.10.26)

ADRASEC volunteers joined the army, gendarmerie, firefighters and medical services at a public safety fair in Aisne, held for France's national resilience day. Each organisation presented its role and equipment at stands.

Invitation to the Worked All Germany (WAG) Contest

Einladung zum Worked All Germany (WAG) Contest

DARC invites operators to the Worked All Germany Contest, running from 17 October 15:00 UTC to 18 October 14:59 UTC. Stations outside Germany work only German stations. Logs are due 25 October 2026.

JOTA-JOTI 2026 Banyumas On the Air: Scouting Worldwide, ORARI Prepares a Capable Generation

JOTA-JOTI 2026 Banyumas Mengudara! Pramuka Mendunia, ORARI Siapkan Generasi Unggul

Scouts in Banyumas, Indonesia, run Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet from 16 to 18 October 2026 with ORARI's local chapter. Three special station permits with callsigns YH2ACJA, YH2ACJB and YH2ACJC support the activity.

GB2RS News Script for 18 October 2026

RSGB publishes the GB2RS news script for the week of 18 October 2026 as a downloadable Word document.

When Rain Radar Detects Moths: The Great Bogong Migration and the Mystery of Radar Echoes

The Wireless Institute of Australia looks at how weather radar picks up echoes from Bogong moths during their mass seasonal migration, and why such non-weather returns puzzle observers.

Rallies and Events News – 18 October 2026

The RSGB lists upcoming UK rallies, including a Galashiels rally and open day on 25 October with a bring-and-buy sale, traders and refreshments. Entry costs £3, and doors open at 11.15am.

Special Events News – 18 October 2026

Special event stations include GB80CV, run by Cray Valley Radio Society for its 80th anniversary until 28 October, with an award and LoTW QSLs. The Araucaria DX Group is using ZW50B through October.

DX News – 18 October 2026

Current DX activity includes AE5X as ZA/AE5X from Albania on CW until 30 October, and a C5R team in The Gambia until 4 November, including the CQ WW DX SSB Contest. H44MS is also active from the Solomon Islands.

Contest News – 18 October 2026

Upcoming contests include the RSGB 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest on 20 October and the IRTS 80m Evening Counties Contest on 21 October, with times and exchanges listed.

What were your RSGB 2026 Convention highlights?

The RSGB thanks the attendees who joined its 2026 Convention in person and the many more who watched the livestream. It is collecting feedback and highlights from participants.

New RSGB Youth newsletter launched

The RSGB Youth Committee starts a newsletter for members aged 25 and under. It covers school and university club news, young operators' achievements, and what a licence makes possible.

JOTA stations on the RSGB website

Jamboree on the Air takes place this weekend, linking Scouts worldwide by amateur radio. The RSGB Youth Champion for Scouts has put together a list of participating Scout groups and published it on the society's website.

3D print models for amateur radio at 3DSearch

Druckmodelle für Amateurfunk bei 3DSearch

The 3D-printing search engine 3DSearch.net now has a dedicated amateur radio section covering items such as Morse keys, antenna parts and callsign signs. Users can also share collections, including one for DARC.

JOTA-JOTI 2026 – Peace and Inclusivity

JOTA-JOTI 2026 – Pace e inclusività

Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet bring together over a million Scouts and Guides worldwide for radio and online contact. The 2026 theme is peace and inclusivity.

Finnish Amateur Radio League office bulletin 40/2026, 17 October 2026

Suomen Radioamatööriliiton toimiston tiedote 40/2026, 17.10.2026

The Finnish amateur radio society's bulletin covers its autumn meeting in Tampere on 21 November, board election nominations, continued exam sessions, JOTA-JOTI weekend, and contest and DX news.

Amateur radio taster day at BG/BRG Wieselburg

Amateurfunk-Schnuppertag am BG/BRG Wieselburg

Members of the Austrian society ÖVSV ran a radio taster day at the BG/BRG Wieselburg school on 16 October 2026. Students tried CW, SSB, 2m FM and QO-100, and the organisers report that coordinating with physics teachers mattered most.

S9R: Sao Tome & Principe

S9R : Sao Tome & Principe

A team of operators plans to be active from São Tomé and Príncipe (IOTA AF-023) as S9R between 17 and 31 October 2026. They will work 160 to 6 m on CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8, plus QO-100, with direct, bureau and LoTW QSLs.

FunkWX – partly good DX conditions

FunkWX - teils gute DX-Bedingungen

The solar wind is easing but still slightly elevated, and geomagnetic conditions should mostly stay quiet with occasional unsettled spells. Three active regions face Earth, and flare risk remains low.

AMSAT Space Symposium 2026 in Jacksonville (USA)

AMSAT Space Symposium 2026 in Jacksonville (VS)

The 44th AMSAT Space Symposium and annual members' meeting took place in Jacksonville, Florida, on 8 to 11 October 2026. Amateur satellite operators and builders met to discuss satellite communications and space technology.

100th anniversary of the Lviv Shortwave Club.

The Lviv Shortwave Club, founded in 1926 and often called the cradle of Polish amateur radio, turns 100. It joined the IARU in 1928, published an early ham magazine and ran contests and expeditions before the war.

IBT LoRa Satellite Tracking Network

IBT LoRa Satelliten Tracking Network

A talk by Kurt, OE1KBC explains how satellite tracking networks work and how to join one. It also covers the hardware needed for a tracking station and how a club station can take part.

NRRL's Telefonitest November 21–22 – Save the dates

NRRLs Telefonitest 21.–22. november! – Hold av datoene

The Norwegian Amateur Radio League announces its traditional NRRL Telefonitest for Saturday November 21 and Sunday November 22, 2026, and asks operators to reserve the dates early.

JOTA-JOTI: scouting connects the world via radio

JOTA-JOTI: scouting verbindt de wereld via de radio

VERON looks at the history of Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet, which began in 1958 when British amateur Les Mitchell, G3BHK, proposed using radio to connect scouts in different countries.

22nd HST World Champs

The South African Radio League carries an item on the 22nd HST World Championships, a high-speed telegraphy competition.

Local amateur radio contest season in Croatia successfully concluded for 2026

Uspješno privedena kraju sezona lokalnih radioamaterskih natjecanja u 2026. godini

The Croatian Amateur Radio Union closes the 2026 local contest season, with final results and the Super Cup standings online. Awards go out at the April 2027 HRS conference in Varaždin. The 9A DX Contest in December counts toward qualifying for WRTC 2030 in Croatia.

Official results of the Adriatic Cup

Službeni rezultati Kupa Jadrana

Official results of the Adriatic Cup are published on the HF robot site. Slightly more logs were received than last year, with a somewhat higher total number of contacts.

Germany Bulletin 41/2026, Week 42

Deutschland-Rundspruch 41/2026, 42. KW

The DARC weekly news bulletin for week 42 covers the Parlez vous QSO language project, RSGB Convention talks on YouTube, Wavelog@DARC bugfixes, and easier 44Net access from ARDC. It also includes events, contests and propagation.

RSGB Convention 2026: Learning, Innovation and the Future of Amateur Radio

The Wireless Institute of Australia carries a piece on the RSGB Convention 2026, covering its themes of learning, innovation and the future of amateur radio.

Nominations for the League's board election remain open for another week

Liiton hallitusvaalien ehdokasasettelu auki vielä viikon!

Nominations are still open for two board seats at the Finnish Amateur Radio League, to be filled at the 21 November 2026 autumn meeting. Proposals are due by 22 October 2026, preferably by email.

V63SC: Pohnpei, Micronesia

V63SC : Pohnpei Micronesia

Masa, JM1LBO, plans to operate as V63SC from Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (IOTA OC-010), on 22–26 October 2026. Operation covers 80 to 2 m on FT8 and SSB, with QSL via LoTW, eQSL or direct.

Minutes of the National Board meeting, 14 September 2026

Verbale riunione C.D.N. 14 settembre 2026

ARI makes the minutes of its national board meeting of 14 September 2026 available in the board's reserved members area.

TZ4AM: Mali

TZ4AM : Mali

Jeff, TZ4AM, is active again from Mali from 17 September to 2 November 2026. Operation is on 80 to 6 m using CW and SSB, with QSL via KX4R.

Minutes of the National Board meeting, 9 September 2026

Verbale riunione C.D.N. 9 settembre 2026

ARI makes the minutes of its national board meeting of 9 September 2026 available in the board's reserved members area.

Interview call: profile for the RA and Kopsa magazines

Haastattelukutsu: henkilökuva RA- ja Kopsa-lehteen

The Finnish amateur radio society and the Kopsa family magazine plan a profile of a radio amateur surnamed Koponen. It would also cover the Koponen award, first given in 1960 in memory of OH5NF. The editors are looking for a candidate.

Šlītere repeater begins operation

Darbu uzsācis Šlīteres repīters

A new 70 cm FM repeater, YL3RNO, is on air at the Šlītere lighthouse, covering part of northern Kurzeme. It transmits on 438.700 MHz and receives on 431.100 MHz, with no tone needed to open it. Locator KO17DP.

End of the ARG season, races in Zadar

Završetak ARG sezone, utrke u Zadru

The Croatian Radio Amateur Union and RK Novi Bokanjac hold the final ARG national league races in Zadar on 24–25 October. The program includes foxoring and classic 2 m and 80 m hunts, with registration closing on 21 October.

Swedish-language brochures uploaded to the SRAL website

Ruotsinkielisiä esitteitä ladattu Liiton verkkosivuille

SRAL has added Swedish-language brochures to its website as print-ready PDFs. Radio clubs can use them freely at fairs and other presentation events, and the office can also supply printed copies.

Congratulations to UR5WA on earning DXCC Challenge 3000

Вітаємо UR5WA з отриманням DXCC Challenge 3000

UR5WA is reported as the first woman to complete DXCC Challenge 3000, with confirmed contacts with 3000 DXCC entities across ten bands from 160 to 6 metres. She also holds a long record in contests and DXCC Honor Roll.

FunkWX - easing fast solar wind

FunkWX - nachlassende schnelle Sonnenwinde

Solar wind speed remains elevated at around 510 km/s from a coronal hole stream but is expected to ease gradually. Geomagnetic activity is quiet to unsettled, flare risk is low, and DX conditions are fair to good.

Four weeks building a SATCOM lookalike with switchable RHCP/LHCP

Vier weken bouwen aan een SATCOM-lookalike met schakelbare RHCP/LHCP

A builder describes a four-week project to make a compact SATCOM-style antenna with switchable RHCP and LHCP polarization. The account covers measuring, mistakes and restarts, ending with first reception via an amateur satellite.

The Radio Spectrum Is Getting Crowded: Radio Astronomy Sounds a Warning for Amateur Radio

The Wireless Institute of Australia reports on radio astronomy's concerns about growing congestion of the radio spectrum and what it could mean for amateur radio.

National 7 MHz Contest

Concurso Nacional de 7 MHz

Radio Club Argentino lists a national 7 MHz contest, aimed at operators active on the 40-meter band.

The 2026 ARRL Online Auction Is Now Open

The 21st annual ARRL Online Auction runs through October 22 with more than 200 items. Lots include gear from QST product reviews, vintage books, pre-owned equipment, signed sketches and mystery boxes from the ARRL Lab team.

Preview the 2026 ARRL Online Auction

The 21st ARRL Online Auction begins October 16, with more than 200 lots open for preview. Items include reviewed gear from QST, vintage books, used equipment, signed sketches by Salty Walt Hudson, K4OGO, and mystery boxes from the ARRL Lab team.

CW Seminar KickOff

A new CW seminar series run by Martin OE3VBU opened with 37 registrations, with participants joining in person at the LV1 classroom and online via Zoom from all nine Austrian states. The turnout shows continued interest in Morse telegraphy.

New WhatsApp group for blind and visually impaired radio amateurs

Neue WhatsApp-Gruppe für blinde und sehbehinderte Funkamateure

The IG Blind HAMs Switzerland interest group opens a WhatsApp group for blind and visually impaired radio amateurs in Switzerland. Sighted hams who want to contribute may also join by emailing one of the two admins.

Technical Culture Week 2026 in Daruvar

TJEDAN TEHNIČKE KULTURE 2026. U DARUVARU

Radio club Jan Hus Daruvar will staff a stand at the Daruvar flower fair on 17 October 2026, 09:00 to 12:00. Radio amateurs are also available for demonstration workshops on 15 October at 18:00 in Daruvar.

Documents for the DARC general meeting are online

Tagungsunterlagen zur DARC-Mitgliederversammlung online

The DARC general meeting takes place on Saturday 14 November in Baunatal, with an open discussion round at 9:00 and the formal session from 11:00. Meeting documents, including the agenda and motions, are online for logged-in members.

A successful Morse Academy Day

Een geslaagde Dag van de Morse Academy

VERON's Morse Academy held its first Morse Academy Day on 12 September 2026 at the Vijvertuinen in Delft. The day combined Morse, radio, technical experiments and socializing outside the regular lessons.

FunkWX - fast solar wind

FunkWX - schneller Sonnenwind

DARC's weather report expects geomagnetic activity to range from quiet to unsettled, with some active spells from a coronal hole and fast solar wind. Flare activity stays low, and DX conditions are usable to good.

October 23 Youth Contest

OKTÓBER 23-i IFJÚSÁGI VERSENY RH

The Mecsek Radio Club organizes a youth contest on 23 October 2026 from 07:00 to 07:59 UT, marking the Hungarian national holiday. It runs in six 10-minute periods, with one contact per station, period and mode.

October 23 Youth Contest on VHF/UHF

OKTÓBER 23-i IFJÚSÁGI VERSENY URH

A one-hour VHF/UHF youth contest on 23 October commemorates the Hungarian national holiday and gives young operators practice. Six 10-minute periods run from 08:30 to 09:29 UTC, organized by the Mecsek Radio Club.

1956 Polish-Hungarian Memorial Contest and Activity

1956-os lengyel-magyar emlékverseny és aktivitás

Polish amateurs hold a short Hungary 1956 memorial contest on Friday, October 16, 15:00–17:00 UTC, with special callsigns such as HA70KFL and HA2GY featured. A two-week Budapest 1956 activity runs in parallel.

WEDNESDAY at the radio club continues on October 14

STREDA v rádioklube pokračuje 14. októbra

The Czech Radio Club announces that its Wednesday club gathering continues on 14 October.

H49A Solomon Islands DXpedition Hits the Airwaves and Passes 10,000 Contacts in Just 48 Hours

The H49A DXpedition to the Solomon Islands is on the air and has logged more than 10,000 contacts within its first two days of operation.

Report for VERON youth members and other interested readers

Bericht voor VERON jeugdleden en andere belangstellenden

At the IARU 2026 conference, members agreed to set up an IARU Youth Committee chaired by Mario Lerma, EA1JAY. The existing youth working group has already organised several youth events, listed on the IARU Region 1 site.

New receiver connected

NÝJA VIÐTÆKIÐ TENGT.

The new KiwiSDR-2 receiver in Sauðárkróki, Iceland, went online on 13 October and works well. It is reachable over the internet, and ÍRA thanks TF3GZ, TF1A and TF4WD for their help.

7th EMC Level 1 Video Conference 2026

7. EMC-Level 1 Videokonferenz 2026

The USKA EMC group held its seventh Level 1 video conference on 29 September. Topics included IARU conference activities in Vienna, ENAMS 2.0 units under test, an EMC talk, the USKA direction-finder and a BAKOM sheet on heat pumps. The next meeting is 27 October.

New radio amateur club in Sigulda

Jauns radioamatieru pulciņš Siguldā!

LRAL, with the Sigulda municipality and its Digital Centre, opens a free radio amateur club for pupils in grades 6 to 11. Weekly sessions cover operating, electronics, SDR, digital modes, fox hunting and exam preparation, starting 20 October.

"Parlez vous QSO" connects radio amateurs across language barriers

„Parlez vous QSO“ verbindet Funkamateure über Sprachgrenzen

DDØUL maintains and has updated a multilingual set of QSO phrase and country-name lists, now covering 17 languages including new Portuguese and Ukrainian versions. It includes IPA pronunciation, editable LaTeX sources and PDFs, and is hosted on GitHub.

Coltano becomes "Coltano Marconi"

Coltano diventa “Coltano Marconi”

The village of Coltano near Pisa has been officially named in memory of Guglielmo Marconi, who built Italy's first long-wave radiotelegraph station there in 1911. ARI representatives attended the ceremony on 12 October.

RSGB Convention 2026 talks available on YouTube

Vorträge der RSGB Convention 2026 auf YouTube abrufbar

RSGB has put two livestreams from its 2026 Convention, held 9–11 October in Milton Keynes, on YouTube. Talks covered antennas, interference, AI, satellites and propagation, and the Saturday stream includes a discussion among four national and international society presidents.

Radio amateurs' autumn day in Tampere in November

Radioamatöörien syyspäivä Tampereella marraskuussa

The Finnish Amateur Radio League holds its autumn meeting on Saturday 21 November at the Rientola centre in Tampere. Tampereen Radioamatöörit OH3NE organises a program beforehand, including a look at the club's new premises.

League seeks new members for Swedish-language committee

Liitto hakee svenska utskottetiin uusia jäseniä

The Finnish Amateur Radio League is recruiting new members for its Swedish-language committee. The group translates league news into Swedish and can organise activities for Swedish-speaking hams.

Noble Skywave 2026

Noble Skywave 2026.

Canadian Armed Forces, allied communicators and radio amateurs take part in the Noble Skywave HF exercise from 20 to 22 October. Teams try to establish long-distance links worldwide, and registration is still open to amateurs.

Târgoviște hosted the European ARDF championships in 2026

Târgoviște verwelkomde de Europese ARDF-top in 2026

The 25th IARU Region 1 ARDF Championships took place 16–22 August 2026 in Târgoviște, Romania. Radio direction finding competitors from across Europe competed for European titles in the various ARDF disciplines.

Radio weather: changeable geomagnetic conditions

FunkWX - wechselhafte Geomagnetik

Fast solar wind from a coronal hole is expected to bring unsettled to slightly stormy geomagnetic conditions, Kp 3–5. Flare risk remains slightly elevated, though current flare activity is low, and HF conditions are rated usable to good.

A better version of FreeDV is out now

FreeDV har en bättre version ute nu.

FreeDV, the open-source digital voice mode for HF, has a new release, version 2.4.0. It now uses the RADE neural speech coder in place of Codec 2, and the free software runs on Windows, Linux and macOS.

Release Candidate October 2026

AREDN opens its October 2026 release candidate process, starting with nightly build 20261012-e3528941, ahead of the 4.26.X.0 stable release. The build fixes a kernel bug that left some Mikrotik IPQ40xx devices unable to reboot.

News from the VRZA board's shack

Uit de Shack van het VRZA Bestuur

The Dutch amateur society VRZA raises the upper age limit for youth membership from 21 to 30 and welcomes PA3WOB back onto the board. It also reports more membership applications since exam fees became reimbursable.

Remote Web Receiver at Sauðárkrókur Out of Service

VIÐTÆKIÐ YFIR NETIÐ Á SAUÐÁRKRÓKI ÚTI.

The WEB-888 web-based receiver installed at Sauðárkrókur about three weeks ago is offline and will be replaced by a KiwiSDR-2. The new unit has been configured by TF1A and is expected to be installed locally soon.

JARL WorldWide RTTY Contest

The Wireless Institute of Australia lists the JARL WorldWide RTTY Contest, a radioteletype operating event organised by the Japan Amateur Radio League.

Talk: Pitfalls of grounding a freestanding antenna mast

Vortrag: Fallstricke bei der Antennenerdung eines freistehenden Antennenmasts

DARC hosts an online talk on Wednesday 14 October at 20:00 on how lightning behaves when it strikes a freestanding antenna mast. DF4KJ, a VDE lightning protection expert, covers metal and fiberglass masts, foundations and shack buildings, with a Q&A afterwards.

80th Anniversary of ARI La Spezia

80° Anniversario di ARI-La Spezia

ARI La Spezia marks its 80th anniversary (1946–2026) with a commemorative radio event on 16–18 October open to hams and SWLs worldwide. Special station II1PM operates on Saturday 17 October, while section station IQ1SP is active all three days.

Report on the annual September field day 2026 of the cooperating local VERON and VRZA branches

Verslag van de jaarlijkse september velddag 2026 van de samenwerkende lokale afdelingen van de VERON en VRZA

A report on the September field day run jointly by the VERON Wageningen and VRZA Zuid-Veluwe local branches. It was a short outing, carried by a core group of regulars plus some visiting club members.

FunkWX - shaken ionosphere

FunkWX - durchgeschüttelte Ionosphäre

After the weekend's geomagnetic storms, CME effects continue and fast solar wind from a coronal hole is expected later. Geomagnetic activity should be mostly quiet with some active spells, flare risk is raised, and DX conditions may stay disturbed in places.

Current contests, week 42/2026

Aktuelle Conteste KW 42/2026

DARC lists the contests for calendar week 42, 12 to 18 October 2026. Highlights include the JARTS WW RTTY Contest, the Worked All Germany Contest and the Stew Perry Topband, alongside many regional and VHF/UHF activity evenings.

HF Kontestimaraton Rules 2027

HF-Kontestimaratonin säännöt 2027

The Finnish amateur radio league's contest committee has released the rules for the 2027 Kontestimaraton, the national HF contest series. The rules document is available for download from the league's site.