Saturday is the heart of Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet, running October 16 to 18 under the theme A Peaceful and Inclusive World, and Scouts are on the air today. At Pacificon in San Ramon, California, the Golden Gate Area Council and the Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club are running a JOTA-JOTI station at the San Ramon Marriott from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. today, while Pacificon, the ARRL Pacific Division Convention, is in its second day. Across the country, Hamfest Chattanooga wraps up today, October 17, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern at the Catoosa County Colonnade in Ringgold, Georgia.
The week's most practical news for anyone who buys or sells gear came from ARRL on October 16. eBay has imposed new restrictions on listings of radio transmitting equipment in response to new FCC rules that took effect October 13, but eBay confirmed to ARRL that the policy will not apply to gear that operates exclusively on amateur radio frequencies. Those devices do not require FCC equipment authorization, so no FCC ID is needed for their listings, eBay said. Gear that does require authorization must now have its FCC ID posted with the listing, and VHF and UHF equipment capable of operating outside the amateur bands cannot be sold in the United States without FCC certification. Exemptions cover listings already online, small sellers, and used equipment.
DXers get a fresh target today. The S9R DXpedition to Sao Tome and Principe begins operations today, October 17, and runs through October 31 from Tamarindos. The team plans three stations on 160 through 6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, and FT8, with activity via the QO-100 satellite planned. Contesters have a full card: the New York QSO Party and the 902 MHz and Up Fall Sprint run today, the JARL WW RTTY Contest, the Stew Perry Topband Challenge, and the Worked All Germany Contest run through the weekend, and the Illinois QSO Party follows on Sunday. The ARRL School Club Roundup runs October 19 to 23.
ARRL also reported on October 16 that amateur radio operators from Florida's Santa Rosa, Nassau, Lake, Pinellas, and Leon counties played an important role in supporting emergency communications during Hurricane Isaias, which made landfall near Destin on October 9. It is a fitting reminder on a JOTA weekend: the volunteers who help a Scout make a first contact are the same operators who answer when a storm takes out the phones. Two regulatory deadlines are now days away, with comments due October 21 on the Department of Health and Human Services RF exposure inquiry and October 22 on the FCC proceeding. The ARRL Online Auction remains open through October 22.
For Saturday operating, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center offers a kind forecast. Solar activity reached moderate levels on Friday when Region 4551 produced an M1.3 flare at 1542 UTC, an R1 minor radio blackout, and Regions 4551 and 4557 accounted for most C-class activity, with no Earth-directed coronal mass ejections observed. SWPC expects low solar activity through October 19, with a 20 percent chance of another M-class flare, mainly from Region 4551, and a 20 percent chance of R1 to R2 blackouts. The greatest Kp index was 4, active conditions early today should fade to mostly quiet, quiet conditions are likely on October 18 and 19, and no G1 or greater storms are expected. Solar wind speeds held near 450 kilometers per second and are trending back toward background levels. It is a good weekend to get on the air, and to help a Scout do the same.