The biggest weekend in HF contesting is under way. The 2026 CQ World Wide DX Contest, SSB, started at 0000 UTC on Saturday, October 24, and runs through 2359 UTC on Sunday, October 25, on six bands only: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters. The objective is to contact as many other amateurs in as many CQ zones and countries as possible, and the exchange is simple, an RS report plus the CQ Zone number of the transmitter location, for example 59 05. Stations may be contacted once on each band. A few hours on the air is a fine way to add new zones and countries to a log. Web upload is the only method of log submission, and logs are due no later than 2359 UTC on Tuesday, October 27.
Band conditions should cooperate. In its 3-day forecast issued at 0030 UTC on October 24, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center reported the greatest observed Kp over the past 24 hours was 4, and the greatest expected Kp for October 24 through 26 is 3.67, both below storm levels. No G1 or greater storms are expected. No radio blackouts were observed, and the forecast gives a 15 percent chance of isolated R1-R2 blackouts each day through October 26. The discussion said solar activity stayed low, with the largest flare a C3.3 from Region 4560 and no new Earth-directed coronal mass ejections observed, and is expected to remain low through October 26.
Operators who step away from the contest bands have a signal from space to copy. The ARISS Slow Scan Television event, Expedition 75 Series 34, is in progress with images about ARISS Hardware. AMSAT-UK reports it began Thursday, October 22, around 15:10 UTC and, after an extension, ends Monday, October 26, at 17:45 UTC. Transmissions come from the ISS Service Module on 437.550 MHz FM, plus or minus about 10 kHz of Doppler shift, in Robot 36 mode, 36 seconds on with a two-minute gap, under the callsign RS0ISS.
Saturday also carries one of the year's most unusual transmissions. SAQ Grimeton in Sweden is scheduled to air its United Nations Day message today, promoting peace, unity and global partnerships, on VLF 17.2 kHz CW from its Alexanderson alternator. The YouTube broadcast begins at 12:20 UTC, startup at 12:30 UTC, the VVV de SAQ call at 12:45 UTC, and the message itself at 13:00 UTC. Amateur station SK6SAQ is also planned on HF during the day. Earlier today, the HAARP campaign for the INFUSE-II and DUST-III rocket missions from Poker Flat reached its final session, after transmitting daily October 20 through 24, 0530 to 0930 UTC, between 2.8 and 10 MHz.
Many stations crowding the contest bands are DX in their own right. S9R from Sao Tome Island, IOTA AF-023, is on the air October 17 through 31 on HF, with QO-100 activity also planned; DX World reported the team in good flow on FT8, SSB and CW with almost 18,000 contacts logged. Contest entries are also planned from Dominica as J75A, Aruba as P40L, and Bonaire as PJ4Y, alongside JD1BQP from Ogasawara through November 2. Whether the goal is a serious score, new countries, a picture from the space station, or a VLF message from a historic alternator, Saturday offers more ways to be on the air than anyone can use at once. Good luck, and get those logs in by Tuesday.