Today on the Bands — Sunday, September 20, 2026
Sunday's mix leans hands-on, from POTA plans gone sideways to the quiet science of why antennas fail and how a bandpass filter can save an overloaded front end. We've also got AMSAT election results and a fresh symposium call, plus a reminder from AmateurLogic that emergency prep is only tested when the lights go out.
- 01 Four POTA Activations That Didn’t Go According to Plan
K4SWL dispels the myth that a good callsign guarantees easy contacts, sharing four activations that went awry — proof that even seasoned activators fight for their QSOs.
Read at source ↗ - 02 A Bandpass Filter Pulls In The Signals
Living near a big transmitter? [Rfrht]'s homebrew bandpass filter tackles front-end overload, a practical fix for anyone whose receiver gets swamped off-frequency.
Read at source ↗ - 03 ICQPodcast Episode 493 – What makes an Radio Antenna Fail?
The ICQ crew digs into what actually makes antennas fail, a timely listen for anyone who's stared at rising SWR wondering where it all went wrong.
Read at source ↗ - 04 AmateurLogic 221: The Night The Lights Went Out
When a power failure hit mid-production, AmateurLogic's emergency prep kept the show rolling — an unplanned but perfect demonstration of EmComm principles in action.
Read at source ↗ - 05 ANS-263 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
This week's ANS brings AMSAT board election results, the call for 44th Space Symposium presentations, and renewed attention on the venerable AO-7.
Read at source ↗ - 06 Open NEC2 Viewer for Android
This open-source Android app lets you visualize NEC antenna models in 3D from your phone, handy for checking a design's characteristics away from the bench.
Read at source ↗
The HamDaily digest — five minutes, the whole band.