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G4TNU > NEWS 13.03.16 02:05l 293 Lines 13953 Bytes #999 (0) @ GBR
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 13 Mar 2016
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday 13th March 2016
The news headlines:
* Belgium gets WRC15 5 MHz allocation and 4m extension
* Convention video available
* Kenwood award for 2 and 6m
The Belgian telecoms regulator, IBPT, has issued a decision
permitting access to the new WRC15 60m allocation for all Belgian
Class A amateur licensees. The allocation is from 5351.5 to 5366.5kHz
on a Secondary basis with a maximum power of 15W EIRP. All modes are
permitted. Belgian amateurs also now have wider access to 4m. The
band 70.1125 to 70.4125MHz has now been made available with a maximum
power from the transmitter output of 50W. Secondary status with all
modes is available for all Belgian Class A licensees.
Several of the presentations at the RSGB Convention in 2015 were
videoed and they are being made available via the RSGB website. The
first talk is on Engineering the Gemini range of VHF UHF power
amplifiers by Chris Bartam, GW4DGU. Go to the video archives section
on the RSGB website.
Kenwood UK has launched a VHF Challenge. The aim is to work as many
large locator squares during 2016 on 2m and 6m as possible. For
example, one point for a QSO with JO01 and one point for IO91 and so
on. All modes are allowed but not the use of repeaters, satellites or
other relaying. Provide a simple list of your QSOs with station
worked, band, time and locator squares in either a Word, Text or
Spreadsheet file to Mark Haynes, M0DXR by email to
mark.haynes<at>uk.jvckenwood.com by the 14th of January 2017. There
will be a trophy and prize for the winner.
The MB6IRH wires-x simplex gateway located in Northwich, Cheshire is
now live. Located at IO83SG on 431.150MHz simplex, more details can
be found by email to g0sph<at>g0sph.tv
The Arfon Repeater Group has announced an upgrade to their 70cm
repeater, GB3AN. It is located on the north east coast of Anglesey
near the town of Amlwch. The repeater has a change of operation with
the recent installation of a Yaesu DR-1X Fusion repeater system, and
following an NoV, it became operational in dual mode. Digital voice
mode of C4FM together with normal FM is now available. The operating
channel is RB08, an output frequency of 433.2000MHzRX and receive
frequency of 434.8000MHz with a CTCSS access tone of 110.9Hz. Report
on the coverage would be very welcomed via the website at
www.arfon.info .
Stephen Purser, G4SHF has indicated that he wishes to stand down as
Chair of the Planning Advisory Committee and the RSGB is looking for
his successor. The successful applicant will have experience of the
planning process, preferably in a professional capacity, and will
head up a small team of advisers. The post will not involve the
preparing planning applications for members, only advising members on
their preparation. If you are interested in applying for this post,
please contact Len, GM0ONXat gm0onx<at>rsgb.org.uk.
Coming up at the end of March is an opportunity to work the 6th
most-wanted DXCC entity according to the Club Log DXCC Most Wanted
List. Juan de Nova is a small island located between Mozambique and
Madagascar with the IOTA reference AF-012. It was last activated in
2003 but FT4JA should be on the air starting on the 29th of March.
Leading up to the DXpedition, two of its operators, F2DX and F6BEE,
will head to Mayotte Island, AF-027, which is northeast of Juan de
Nova, and be active as FH/ using their home callsigns from the 18th
to 24th of March, when they will focus on the 6 to 40m bands. The
other eight FT4JA operators will join them later.
The first UK amateur radio contact on the 241 GHz band took place on
the 19th of February at 1500UTC between Roger, G8CUB and Chris,
G0FDZ. The distance was 30 metres and the CW signals were 559 and
589. The transmit power at each end was in the order of one microwatt
and the antennas used were 250mm and 300mm dishes. This contact has
been made on the highest frequency allocation available to amateurs
in the UK.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
The Dover Radio Rally takes place today, the 13th, 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 today, the 13th, 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.
Next Saturday, the 19th, Laugharne Radio Rally will take place in the
Millennium Memorial Hall, Clifton St, Laugharne SA33 4QG. Doors open
from 10am to 2pm and admission is free. Disabled visitors can gain
access at 9.30am. There will be a raffle and light refreshments on
the day. Details from Matthew, GW6KOA on 01994 427 581.
Also on the 19th, the 41st Dutch National Radio Flea Market will be
held at Autotron, Rosmalen (Den Bosch), in The Netherlands. The
Autotron has its own exit with signs on the A59 motorway. Doors open
from 9am to 3.30pm. There are more than 330 stands booked at the
event.
Next Sunday, the 20th the 31st Wythall RC Rally will take place at
the Wythall Radio Club HQ, Wythall Park, Silver St, Wythall B47 6LZ.
The venue has car parking as well as disabled facilities. Doors open
at 9.30/10am and admission is GBP 3.50. There will be trade stands as
well as a licensed bar and catering facilities. Details from Mike on
07976 744 479.
On Sunday the 20th the Devon & Cornwall Repeater Group and Callington
ARS Rally will be held on Callington Town Hall, New Road, Callington
PL17 7BD. Doors open at 10.30am and admission is GBP 2. More
information from Roger by email to 2e0rph<at>gmail.com.
Finally for next weekend, the Causeway Coast Glens AC Radio Rally
will be held on the 20th at Bushmills Community Centre, 14 Dunluce
Road, Bushmills, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland BT57 8QG. The venue has
disabled access and suitable car parking on site. Doors open from
11am to 4pm and admission is GBP 3. There will be trade stands, a
Bring & Buy as well as an RSGB bookstall. Catering facilities are on
site and there will be a raffle taking place during the day. More
details from MN0CCG on 0754 492 3956.
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
A Polish Team of operators, working as 5J0P from San Luis, San Andres
Island, will be operating until the 21st of March, using CW, SSB and
RTTY on the 6 to 160m bands. QSL via the Club Log's OQRS tools for
Bureau and direct requests. No QSL cards please. The QSL Manager is
SP6IXF.
Bob, G3PJT will be back in Grenada as J34G until the 24th of March.
This will be a holiday style operation with activity mainly on CW on
80m to 10m.
A group of 10 German operators will be in Sri Lanka until the 18th of
March. Callsigns to look for are 4S7GWG and 4S7RTG. They will operate
on the 6 to 40m bands and QSLs are via Club Log OQRS.
Noel, F6BGC will be operating holiday style on Thulhagiri Island
until the 22nd. The IOTA reference is AS-013. Using the callsign
8Q7NC, he will operate SSB, CW and RTTY on the 6 to 40m bands. QSL
via F6BGC either direct or via the bureau, Logbook of the World or
Club Log.
John, GW4SKA plans to operate as GD4SKA from the Isle of Man, EU-116,
from IO74QB from the 15th to the 23rd. He will be on the 10 to 80m
bands using RTTY and PSK, including an entry in the BARTG RTTY
Contest using the callsign GD0A. Logs will be put to Club Log daily,
QSL via M0OXO.
Bert/DK2BR will be active holiday-style until the 26th from Con Son
Island, AS-130. Operating as 3W2BR on the 10 to 40m bands he will be
using SSB, RTTY, and PSK31 running 100W and verticals. QSL via DK2BR
direct.
Now the special event news
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.
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, the 15th and 16th,
Mid-Somerset Amateur Radio Club will be operating a special event
station GB4BSC for British Science Week at the Blue School in Wells,
Somerset. Operation will mainly be on 40m from around 9am to 5pm each
day. If you hear them please give them a call as the students will be
taking part in greetings messages. A special QSL card will be
available and QSLs should be via the QSL manager Brian, G0FZI.
Orchard County DX Club will be operating a station, MN0OCG, for St
Patrick's Day on the 17th of March from 1am to 11.59pm. It is an
official station for the St Patrick Day Award. Contact Alex Simpson,
MI0MVP, on 0283 898 7505.
Now the contest news
The Worked All Britain 3.5 MHz Phone Contest takes place today, 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 Sunday the 13th, the 2nd 70MHz Cumulative contest runs from 1000
to 1200UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
The Commonwealth Contest ends its 24 hours runs at 1000UTC today, the
13th. Using CW only on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands, the exchange is signal
report and serial number.
On Tuesday the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC.
Using all modes the exchange is signal report, serial number and
locator.
On Wednesday it's the CW leg of the 80m Club Championships from 2000
to 2130UTC. The exchange is the usual signal report and serial number.
For 24 hours over the weekend of the 19th and 20th the Russian DX
Contest takes place. There are numerous entry categories, for single-
and multi-band, single- and multi-mode, multi-op, various power
levels, clubs, and so on. An interesting aspect of this event is the
possibility of submitting two single-band entries, for example 15m
and 80m. Work everyone and send a signal report and serial number,
but expect Russian stations to send you a signal report and a
2-letter Oblast code.
The BARTG HF RTTY contest runs from 0200 on the 19th to 0200UTC on
the 21st. Operating on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands the exchange is signal
report, serial number and time.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G4BAO and G3YLA
on Friday 11th March.
Last week we said that a geo-effective solar coronal hole looked like
it might threaten the Earth, and we were right. Its open magnetic
field allowed plasma to escape, impacting the earth on Monday and
sending the K index up to six. This also sparked visible aurora,
which were seen in southern UK.
This didn't bode well for the HF bands, which continued to suffer all
week as the K index struggled to recover. Having said that, DX was
workable at times. The TX7EU DXpedition in French Polynesia, for
example, has been worked from the UK by some better-equipped stations.
This week NOAA predicts the solar flux index will be in the range
90-95. Geomagnetic conditions may be quieter at the beginning of the
week, but storm conditions may return with a vengeance from Wednesday
onwards.
Make the most of the slightly more settled conditions this weekend
when the CW-only Commonwealth Contest should give you a great
opportunity to work some rare DX entities with little competition
from the rest of the world.
The K index is predicted to hit four again on Wednesday and five for
the rest of the week. So we can expect noisy band conditions, with
lower maximum usable frequencies plus visible and radio aurora.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
This may be a good week to look for DX on the multimode part of the
bands. At last, we have the prospect of some longer lived Tropo as
high pressure over Scandinavia links up across the UK with the high
near the Azores.
Throughout the week, high pressure will always be nearby, ending up
over the North Sea or Scandinavia.
High pressure areas tend to develop temperature inversions in the
lower atmosphere with the effect of changing the refractive index of
the air over a short vertical distance.
In the right conditions, this can form a duct whereby VHF/UHF signals
can travel over much longer distances than normal. These Spring
systems are not usually as good as the Autumn ones, since the air
below the inversion is often cold and dry, reducing the refractive
index change.
The western side of Britain may have low pressure to deal with by the
end of the week, but eastern areas across to Scandinavia and northern
Europe should yield some results through to the following weekend.
This is another quiet week for meteor activity, and for EME operators
the Moon reaches maximum declination on Wednesday. This gives long
moon windows, albeit with increasing losses as the moon heads out to
Apogee.
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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