Today on the Bands — Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Wednesday brings a nice balance of the practical and the celestial: a POTA activation that rescued a rough morning, a balloon-tracking call for help over the Northeast, and antenna projects worth getting your hands dirty for. Meanwhile the sun stays quiet, so temper those DX expectations and enjoy the homebrew.
- 01 KB2PIZ: A Rough Start Turns Into an Easy POTA Activation
Mark proves that a bad activation day is often just a warm-up, turning three morning hours into a satisfying park run before work.
Read at source ↗ - 02 Kopernik Observatory Seeks Amateur Radio Operators to Track August 19 Balloon Flight
Hams in western New York and the Northeast can put their skills to real educational use tracking today's Kopernik Observatory balloon flight.
Read at source ↗ - 03 Time for antenna work.
A Hustler 4BTV owner tackles the vertical's radial-fastening weak spot with a DX Engineering radial plate, a familiar upgrade for grounded-radial fans.
Read at source ↗ - 04 A Few Words from Momobeam about the Mechanical Design of Its HF Directional Antennas
Fresh from a hard-to-miss Hamvention booth, Momobeam explains the mechanical engineering behind its HF beams for anyone eyeing a serious directional array.
Read at source ↗ - 05 Shortwave music and library tickets
Imaginary Stations returns with this week's WRMI schedule, including a WHFM show on 9395 kHz, for shortwave listeners who like their programming quirky.
Read at source ↗ - 06 The ARRL Solar Update
Solar activity held at very low to low with no significant flares, so plan your HF outings around a sleepy sun this week.
Read at source ↗
The HamDaily digest — five minutes, the whole band.