Monday, October 19, 2026, opens a busy week on the bands, led by the ARRL School Club Roundup. The fall session runs October 19 through 23, beginning at 1300 UTC Monday and ending at 2359 UTC Friday. School clubs from elementary school through university exchange contact information with each other and with any other station, and individuals and non-school clubs are encouraged to take part. A station may operate no more than six hours in any 24 hours and 24 hours total, so give young operators a contact when you hear them.
The value of that training showed again in Florida, where ARRL reported on October 16 that operators from Santa Rosa, Nassau, Lake, Pinellas, and Leon Counties supported emergency communications during and after Hurricane Isaias. In Santa Rosa County, volunteers staffed the Emergency Operations Center and the Milton Community Center shelter, linking the shelter to the EOC, while operators elsewhere supported auxiliary communications to the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee. Arc Thames, W4CPD, Santa Rosa County CERT and ARES program manager and ARRL Northern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator, said amateur radio remains a dependable auxiliary resource and another layer of resiliency for communities.
For operators who buy and sell gear online, Amateur Radio Newsline led its latest report with new FCC rules for online marketplaces. Sellers must make the FCC ID of listed wireless devices visible to buyers, and eBay has warned that listings without the IDs may be blocked from United States customers ahead of deadlines in 2027. Newsline reported that eBay assured ARRL this will not require an FCC ID for ham equipment capable of operating only on authorized amateur frequencies. Certification would be needed, however, for two-way VHF and UHF radios capable of operating outside the amateur bands. GMRS sellers should watch for the same requirements, since GMRS radios are among the devices that carry FCC certification.
The 21st annual ARRL Online Auction runs October 16 through 22 with more than 200 items, including QST product review gear, vintage books, and four mystery boxes from the ARRL Lab. Featured items include an Icom IC-PW2 amplifier and an Elecraft KH1 QRP transceiver, and proceeds benefit ARRL education programs. In space, AMSAT News Service bulletin ANS-291, dated October 18, leads with symposium highlights and marks 65 years of amateur radio satellites, while This Week in Amateur Radio reports that NASA and ARISS have signed a new four-year agreement supporting amateur radio aboard the International Space Station.
The headline contest arrives this weekend. The CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB, runs from 0000 UTC Saturday, October 24, to 2359 UTC Sunday, October 25, on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters. The exchange is a signal report plus your CQ zone, and logs are due October 27. Newer contesters can catch ARRL On the Air Live on Tuesday, October 27, at 8 PM Eastern, when Wayne Greene, KB4DSF, introduces contesting for beginners.
Space weather may stir the bands early in the week. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center forecast, issued October 19 at 0030 UTC, said the greatest observed Kp over the previous 24 hours was 2, while the greatest expected Kp for October 19 through 21 is 4.67, reaching G1 minor storm level. Periods of G1 storming are likely October 19 and 20 due to coronal hole high-speed stream influences, No radio blackouts were observed in the previous 24 hours, though SWPC put the chance of R1 to R2 blackouts at 25 percent each day. The latest Penticton noon flux reported by SWPC was 137 solar flux units, so expect changeable HF conditions and check the bands often.