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G4TNU > NEWS 06.03.16 08:03l 260 Lines 12353 Bytes #999 (0) @ GBR
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 06 Mar 2016
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday 6th March 2016
The news headlines:
* Learn to write exam questions
* Longstanding Newsreader retires
* Short Callsigns from the RSGB
Would you like to learn how the Examiners set questions and be able
to take these skills back to your club? Club trainers are constantly
challenged with the task of preparing practice questions which meet
the needs of the syllabus and their students. Members of the Exam
Group, led by the Chief Examiner, Alan Betts, will be holding a one
day seminar at the Martin Lynch and Sons Ham Radio Training Academy
in Staines on Saturday the 12th of March. A short presentation will
be followed by informal work in small groups to develop skills and
generate novel ideas for future development. For further details
please email question.workshop<at>rsgb.org.uk
Trevor Harris, G2KF has decided to retire from reading GB2RS news due
to ill health. The RSGB would like to thank Trevor for his service to
GB2RS and the amateur community. If anyone would like to be a news
reader in the South West please contact Ken, G3VBA by email to
gb2rs.manager<at>rsgb.org.uk. Readers for other parts of the country
would also be most welcome.
As of the 29th of February, the RSGB has taken over the
responsibility for administering and distributing Special Contest
Callsigns on behalf of Ofcom. The criteria for the issuing of a SCC
have also been reduced. Full details and an application form are
available from rsgb.org/scc and you can also find a list of
currently-issued Special Contest Callsigns linked from that page.
A review is ongoing of the syllabus for all three levels of Radio
Communications exams. This is being done by the Examinations Group
and the Syllabus Review Working Group. The intention is to better
align the Advanced with HAREC and to smooth out the steps more evenly
between the different levels of exam. Also, the syllabus will be
refreshed to include more recent technologies and practices currently
in use. Later this year an advanced draft of the new syllabus is
expected to be available, and there will be consultation with the
training community. No changes will be implemented before January
2018 and at least 12 months notice will be given between the formal
release of the new syllabus and the start of the corresponding
updated exams.
During last year's President's Review of Contesting, some work was
carried out on alternative scoring systems for VHF contests, with the
aim of making the scoring evenly balanced across the country. This
activity wasn't completed and a commitment was made to come back to
the subject in 2016. Volunteers who would like to get involved with
this analysis would be welcome. The task will involve analysis of the
open logs that are now being generated, along with other publicly
available data, so the ability to manipulate and analyse large
datasets will be very helpful. If you'd like more information, or
just want to offer your help, please contact Andy Cook, G4PIQ, via
email to vhfcc.chair<at>rsgb.org.uk
The Early Days of MFJ will be the topic as MFJ Founder Martin Jue,
K5FLU, keynotes the 31st annual Dayton DX Dinner, sponsored by the
SouthWest Ohio DX Association. Held in conjunction with the 2016
Dayton Hamvention®, the dinner will be on Friday, the 20th of May at
the Marriott Hotel, 1414 S Patterson Boulevard, Dayton.
The MSF 60kHz time and frequency signal broadcast from Anthorn Radio
Station will be shut down on Thursday the 10th of March from 1000 to
1400UTC. The interruption to the transmission is required to allow
maintenance work to be carried out in safety. More information is
online at www.npl.co.uk/time
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
The Exeter Radio & Electronics Rally takes place today, the 6th, at
America Hall, De La Rue Way, Pinhoe, Exeter EX4 8PW. Doors open at
10.30am, or 10.15 for disabled visitors and anyone booking items into
the Bring & Buy. Admission is GBP 2. There will be the usual range of
traders, and catering is available on site. Details from Pete, G3ZVI,
on 07714 198 374.
The Dover Radio Rally takes place next Sunday at the Whitfield
Village Hall, Sandwich Road, Whitfield, Dover CT163LY. There will be
a talk-in station. Doors open from 10am to 2pm with disabled visitors
having access from 9.30am. Admission is GBP 2. Highlights include
trade stands, an auction, a Bring & Buy, special interest groups and
an RSGB bookstall. There is catering available. Information from
Peter Love, G0KOK on 07850 464 026.
Also next Sunday, the Grantham ARC Radio and Electronics Rally takes
place at Earlesfield Community Centre, Trent Road, Grantham NG31 7XW.
The venue has free car parking and disabled facilities. Doors open at
9.30am and admission is GBP 3. There will be trade stands and a flea
market as well as a Bring & Buy stall. Specialist interest groups
will be in attendance and there will be an RSGB bookstall. A raffle
will be held on the day. More information on 0751 0271 577.
If you have any rally or event information you'd like to appear in
future editions of GB2RS News, in RadCom and on the RSGB website,
please email details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk.
And now the DX news compiled from 425 DX News and other sources
UA4CC and LY2IJ will be on the air from Swaziland from the 9th to
15th of March, where the callsigns will be 3DA0CC and 3DA0IJ. On each
occasion they will operate the HF bands, with a focus on the low
bands. QSLs will be via Club Log OQRS and Logbook of the World.
Kenneth, LA7GIA is on the air as 3C7GIA from Malabo on Bioko Island,
IOTA AF-010, until the 13th of March. Activity is on the 80 to 10m
bands using CW and SSB. QSL direct to his home callsign.
Michel, F6GWV and Gildas, F6HMQ will be in Guadeloupe, NA-102, until
the 14th of March. They will use FG/homecall and in addition will use
the special callsign TO66R.
Paulo, CT1ITE is QRV as D2/CT1ITE until the end of March from Angola.
Activity is in his spare time on 80 to 10 metres, and possibly 160
metres, using CW and SSB. QSL to his home call.
Alan, G3XAQ will be back in Uganda until the 16th of March and will
be found on CW using 5X1XA. His QSL manager is G3SWH.
Members of the ET7L team are QRV from Ethiopia until the 12th of
April. QSL via US0LW.
Mike, UA1QV will be QRV as RI1PA from Kolguev Island until the 19th
of March. Kolguev is located in the Arctic at 69 degrees north and
has a population of just 300. The IOTA reference is EU-085 and QSLs
go via the home call.
Now the special event news
Mid-Somerset Amateur Radio Club will be operating GB4BSC during
British Science Week from the Blue School Wells. Planned days of
operation are Tuesday and Wednesday the 15th and 16th, mainly on 40m.
Pontefract & District ARS will be operating GB4SL on the 12th of
March for 28 days to mark the visit of Apollo 17 commander Gene
Cernan to Pontefract.
Now the contest news
The ARRL International DX contest ends its 48 hour run at 2359UTC
today, the 6th. Using SSB on the 1.8-28MHz contest bands, the
exchange is RS plus Tx power. US stations will also send their State
and Canadians their Province.
The RSGB 144/432MHz contest, a VHF Championship event, ends at
1400UTC today, the 6th. All modes can be used on the 144 and 432MHz
bands, and the exchange is RST, serial number and locator.
Today, the 6th, the YL France team and DARC's YL group are organising
an international YL-Activity day in advance of International Women's
Day, March the 8th. Activity is from 0700 UTC to 1100UTC on 40m and
80m using SSB and CW. Scoring is heavily weighted towards YLs working
YLs; OM to OM contacts score nil. Details are online at
tinyurl.com/YL-comp-2016.
The first UK Microwave Group Low Band contest takes place today from
1000UTC to 1600UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the
exchange is RST, serial number and locator.
On Monday the 80m Club Championships data leg runs from 2000 to
2130UTC with the exchange being signal report and serial number.
On Tuesday the 432MHz UK Activity contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC.
Using all modes the exchange is signal report, serial number and
locator.
The Commonwealth Contest runs for 24 hours from 10am on the 12th.
There should be several Commonwealth countries active that you don't
hear every day and because non-Commonwealth countries don't enter
this contest the pile-ups for the rare ones should be less, making
them easier for the owner of an average station (100 watts and a
doublet) to work. It's CW only and the exchange is signal report and
serial number, although HW stations also send HQ.
The Worked All Britain 3.5 MHz Phone Contest takes place next Sunday,
the 13th, from 1800-2200UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial
number and WAB square. Entries need to be with the contest manager by
the 3rd of April. Full details of the rules and log sheets are on the
WAB website, www.worked-all-britain.org.uk
On the 13th, the 2nd 70MHz Cumulative contest runs from 1000 to
1200UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G4BAO and G3YLA
on Friday 4th March.
Solar activity was at lower levels this week. The Solar Flux Index
declined to 91 on the 29th, before recovering toward the end of the
week. However, it never quite reached 100.
Geomagnetic conditions were reasonably settled, with the A index in
single figures and the K index hovering between one and three. This
was mainly due to a lack of geo-effective coronal holes in the first
half of the week, although at the time of writing this was unlikely
to continue.
On Thursday a solar coronal hole on the sun's equator was pointing
directly at the Earth, threatening unsettled conditions as you are
reading or hearing this report.
Next week, the solar flux index is predicted to be around 100 to 105.
After an unsettled start, geomagnetic conditions may become quieter,
which may lead to better HF conditions later in the week.
Conditions on the lower bands have been very good, with the Medium
Wave Circle reporting good reception of signals from the USA. Forty
metres has also been humming, with strong North American SSB signals
appearing from around 2200 UTC.
HF has also been active with Andy, M0NKR reporting many contacts to
the Caribbean on twenty to twelve metres. This was probably due to
the more settled geomagnetic conditions rather than the lacklustre
sunspot activity.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
It will be another quiet week for VHF and UHF tropo-style
propagation, with low pressure and a cold northerly wind this
weekend. This will last into Monday before a ridge builds from the
west. This ridge is probably not as good as it sounds, since it is
building in fairly cold air and so not very useful for tropo. In any
event, it may only provide temporary enhancement over southern
Britain. A weak trough will bring a collapse of any lift midweek, but
a further ridge of high pressure may restore slightly better
conditions at times over the second half of the week.
The rare 50MHz Sporadic-E opening on the 24th February, as reported
last week, seems to have been caused by a very sharp and moving jet
stream trough moving across western Iberia. This fits in nicely with
the wind shear theory of Sporadic-E whereby turbulence caused in the
jet stream can propagate upwards as gravity waves to cause wind shear
in the E region.
We are still going down the slope of seasonal random meteor rates
until the onset of the April Lyrids, so early morning continues to be
best time for random meteor scatter operation.
The Moon's declination goes positive on Wednesday night so the longer
moon window, combined with perigee where losses are lowest, make it a
good week for EME operation.
And that's all for this week from the propagation team.
And that's the end of the main news for this week prepared by the
Radio Society of Great Britain. Items for inclusion in subsequent
bulletins can be emailed to gb2rs<at>rsgb.org.uk to arrive by
10:00 on the Thursday before transmission.
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