This Week at KE2YK — October 11, 2026

Catch up on two new KE2YK articles and six Daily Briefs, then look ahead at the DX activity announced for the coming week.

This KE2YK weekly ham radio roundup uses two date windows. Parts 1 and 2 cover Monday, October 5, at 00:01 UTC through Saturday, October 10, at 23:59 UTC. Part 3 looks ahead from Monday, October 12, at 00:01 UTC through Saturday, October 17, at 23:59 UTC.

Part 1: KE2YK Posts From the Past Week

Thursday, October 8 — OrbitDeck: iPhone iPad Satellite App for Ham Radio

OrbitDeck brings pass planning, Doppler help, station control, logging, SSTV decoding, and radio calculators together on an iPhone or iPad. The article looks at what the app offers and why it may make busy satellite passes easier to manage.

Saturday, October 10 — Portable Power Wiring: How to Stop Voltage Drop

This practical guide explains how to find and prevent voltage loss between a battery and a portable radio. It covers wire size, fuses, connectors, measurements under load, and the small problems that can make a rig restart when the operator presses PTT.

Part 2: The Daily Brief — October 5–10 in Review

Here is the completed Monday-through-Saturday news record. Each item links to the source used in that day’s Daily Brief.

Monday, October 5 — Satellites, Small POTA Radios, and Micronesia

AO-73 switched from normal transponder service to higher-power telemetry, with regular service expected to return October 12. A field test at Tims Ford State Park compared compact QRP equipment, including the simple CW-only CFT1 and a QMX digital setup. Operators also had a final chance to watch for V61GSE from Micronesia.

Tuesday, October 6 — POTACAT, USB-C QRP, and Arctic DX

POTACAT combines POTA, SOTA, DX, spotting, and radio control in one free program for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Raspberry Pi systems. A tiny QMX digital station showed how USB-C Power Delivery can reduce portable-station weight and wiring. The brief also previewed JW6VM and related calls from Svalbard.

Wednesday, October 7 — JTTY Support and Better Field Protection

N1MM Logger+ version 1.0.11462 added more support for the experimental JTTY mode. A field-oriented look at Elecraft KX2 side rails raised the broader question of protecting expensive portable radios. ChronAlert offered a locally run dashboard combining propagation, POTA, weather, emergency alerts, and optional RTL-SDR reception.

Thursday, October 8 — Emergency Radio and Offline SDR

Amateur-radio teams prepared for hurricane communications, reminding other operators to keep emergency net frequencies clear. OFFgrid-SDR showed how a compatible USB receiver and one local HTML file can create an offline SDR station. The brief also looked ahead to the S9R São Tomé and Príncipe DXpedition.

Friday, October 9 — Changing Propagation and New SDR Software

K4SWL explained how QRP and POTA operators can adjust as Solar Cycle 25 changes, with 30, 40, and 80 meters becoming more important. The Oceania DX CW Contest offered a Pacific operating target and a QRP category. OnAirintroduced open-source SDR software for digital television, DAB radio, FM, and experimental signal decoding.

Saturday, October 10 — Mobile DX Tools and Portable CW

Club Log’s mobile app added DX-World news and a DXpedition calendar. The H49A team began operating from the Solomon Islands on CW, SSB, and FT8. Meanwhile, ZA/AE5X combined CW, QRP, and POTA from Albania with an Elecraft KX2.

Part 3: DX Activity for October 12–17

These announced operations overlap the coming Monday-through-Saturday window. Dates are plans, not promises of nonstop activity. Travel, setup, propagation, and local conditions can change a schedule.

• 3D2HM — Fiji: Planned through October 22 from Nadi, using SSB and FT8 on HF.
• 3DA0GY — Eswatini: Planned to begin October 15 on 40 through 10 meters using CW and SSB.
• 5W0AF — Samoa: Scheduled through October 12, mainly SSB on 40 through 10 meters with possible 80-meter activity.
• 6O2M — Somalia: Spare-time CW and SSB activity is planned on 40 through 10 meters.
• 7P8GE — Lesotho: A team operation is planned to begin October 16 on HF, including 60 meters.
• C5R — The Gambia: The longer HF operation remains scheduled throughout the week.
• FW1P — Wallis and Futuna: Planned through October 17 on 80, 60, and 40 meters using SSB, RTTY, FT8, and FT4.
• H44MS — Solomon Islands: Planned on 80 through 10 meters, mainly FT8 with some SSB.
• H49A — Solomon Islands: Planned through October 21 on HF and 6 meters using CW, SSB, and FT8.
• JD1BQP — Ogasawara: Planned to begin October 17 on 160 through 6 meters.
• S21HRG — Bangladesh: A multi-operator effort is planned from October 16 on 80 through 10 meters using SSB, FT8, and CW.
• S9R — São Tomé and Príncipe: Planned to begin October 17 on 160 through 6 meters, including 60 meters, using CW, SSB, RTTY, and FT8.
• V47FWX — St. Kitts and Nevis: Holiday-style HF activity is planned from October 13.
• VP2MAW and team calls — Montserrat: Planned on HF using CW, SSB, FT8, and RTTY through October 20.
• YJ1JXZ — Vanuatu: Planned through October 16 on 80 through 6 meters, mainly after 5 p.m. local time on weekdays.
• ZA/AE5X — Albania: Ten-watt CW activity is planned on 20 through 10 meters, including portable and POTA operations.

For late changes, QSL details, and operator updates, check the NG3K Announced DX Operations list. Thanks for reading, good luck with the week’s DX, and enjoy your time on the air. 73!

KE2YK posts and Daily Brief topics cover October 5–10. DX schedules were checked October 11, 2026, against NG3K and the linked operator or team pages. Plans, software, event details, and propagation can change.