SFARC Members, Friends, and Fans —

Another quiet week ahead with a few call-outs for what’s to come and a special feature below the fold.

CLUB BREAKFAST REMINDER: Awful Annie’s, October 31st, 2026 @ 8 AM
That’s right, not a typo, breakfast has permanently moved to 8 AM with a Fox Hunt to follow at 9:15. Our Fox Tender for this month will be Frank KG9M so it’s bound to be some good fun. If you’ve never had Awful Annie’s, you’re in for a treat, there breakfast is amazing.

SAVE THE DATE: SFARC CHRISTMAS PARTY IS ALMOST HERE
It’s hard to believe that we’re talking about Christmas but we’re a little over 45 days until the annual club holiday party. Never been to one? This year might be one of the biggest and best yet. The RSVP system will open on November 4th.

New Location: Placer County HHS Conference Center
Date: December 12, 2026
Time: 5 PM
What To Expect:

• A Delicious Catered Meal
• The Annual SFARC Year In Review Slideshow
• The “Golden Brick” Award Presentation
• “Photo Submission of the Year” Presentation
• “Putt for the Win” – a putting contest for chance of winning foursome round of golf and cart rental at the Ridge Golf Course.
• Gerry’s Trivia Party
• Current Officer Recognition and the installation of new officers
• And Prizes, Prizes, and More Prizes!!!

Many hands make lite work and we’d love your assistance with setup (early in the day). Keep an eye here and w6ek.org for more information.

NEW FEATURE: HF THIS WEEK WITH A TWIST
We’ve all seen the sun spot numbers and HF conditions but for this week, let’s deliver them like we’re on the radio doing a traffic report.

Good morning, afternoon, and evening, Band-Hoppers! It’s Monday, October 19th, and this is your HF Traffic & Weather on the Sixes, brought to you by the Sun, which still hasn’t sent us an invoice.
Let’s get you to work! 

Conditions overview: “The on-ramp’s busy, folks. The Penticton solar flux came in at 137 at Sunday noon, so the upper bands have plenty of fuel. But we’ve got a coronal hole high-speed stream coming in from the sun-ward side, and it’s due to arrive late today.”

Storm alert: “NOAA has a G1 minor geomagnetic storm watch for late tonight (18–21 UTC, Kp 4.67) running into early Tuesday (03–06 UTC). Expect potholes on polar and high-latitude routes, so Europe–West Coast and Asia-over-the-pole drivers should take surface streets. The north-south lanes, meaning Caribbean, South America and Africa, should keep moving.”

Fender-benders: “We’ve had an R1 radio blackout already, at 0903 UTC this morning. Sunspot regions 4551 and 4557 keep cutting people off, with a 30% chance of more R1–R2 flare blackouts through Wednesday. If daytime 15 meters goes quiet out of nowhere, that’s a flare, not your coax.”

• 10 & 12m (express lanes): “Wide open in daylight with flux this high. Fast DX toward the south and east in the morning, and west in the afternoon. Get on before the storm slows things down tonight.”
• 15 & 17m: “Moving well, and probably your best daytime commute all week.”
• 20m (the interstate): “Busy as always. It’ll be choppy on polar paths tonight and Tuesday morning, then back to normal by midweek.”
• 40m: “Good evening rush, but the storm adds noise and fading tonight. Short-skip and regional traffic gets through fine.”
• 80 & 160m (the back roads): “Fall is coming and nights are longer, so these are getting better. Tonight and Tuesday will be bumpy with noise. Wait for the Thursday–Friday calm if you’re chasing low-band DX.”