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G4TNU > NEWS 08.05.16 01:49l 255 Lines 11780 Bytes #999 (0) @ GBR
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 08 May 2016
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday 8th May 2016
The news headlines:
* G0FUW appointed RSGB Chairman
* Final ARISS contact on Monday
* Exams Standards Committee report released
The RSGB is pleased to announce that Steve Hartley, G0FUW, has been
appointed as Chairman of the Board for the coming year. Steve has
been an active volunteer for over twenty five years, predominantly in
training, and has served on the Board for two and a half years. He
has led the introduction of the Youth Committee and the UK's
participation in the IARU YOTA activities. Steve is a keen radio
constructor and QRP operator.
The final ARISS Schools contact between Kings School, Ottery St Mary,
Devon and Tim Peake on the International Space Station has now been
confirmed for Monday the 9th of May at 0926UTC, which is 1026BST. It
will be a direct contact using callsign GB1OSM operated by The ARISS
UK Operations team. The downlink should be audible over Western
Europe. Interested parties are invited to listen in on 145.800MHz,
narrowband FM.
The first annual report of the RSGB Examination Standards committee
has been released. It includes details such as committee membership,
results statistics and reports from officers. The report can be found
on RSGB website in the Examination Standards Committee pages under
Minutes, Papers and Reports.
For those with an interest in World War II history, an auction of a
D-Day Museum's storage is due to take place on the 21st and 22nd of
May at the Auction House in Caen, France. Around 800 lots are in the
catalogue with items from British troops to French resistance as well
as US and German troops. Lots 1 to 418 will be auctioned from 2pm on
the 21st, the remaining lots on the 22nd. Public viewing is from the
16th. You'll find a copy of the catalogue online at
tinyurl.com/hdwwgd2
The International Museums Weekends are the 18th and 19th and the 25th
and 26th of June. Registration is now open at
www.radio-amateur-events.org
Sad news now that long-time newsreader George, GM7GMC became silent
key recently. He has been involved with GB2RS news reading for over
25 years, 16 of which he was the sole newsreaders for the Caithness
and Orkney area. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this
difficult time.
The QTT hour idea has the aim of increasing contacts and friendships
between former professional CW operators as well as between the many
CW clubs all over the world. The actual QTT Hour is easily remembered
and determined by the date in UTC. On the 1st of the month it's at
0100Z, on the second at 0200Z and so on. The centre of activity
frequency will be the same number of kHz from lower band edge. So, on
the 17th of the month activity is at 1700Z on 1817, 3517, 7017 and
10117kHz. Full details are at www.vkcw.net/qtt-hour
Today, the 8th of May, there will be no 7127kHz news broadcast from
Germany, as both readers are unavailable. News broadcasts will be
back to normal on the 15th.
Radio amateurs have been asked to listen out for the SamSat-218D
CubeSat in a post on the Hackaday website. The satellite was launched
on the 28th of April. SamSat-218D has a Morse beacon on 145.870MHz,
which transmits ‘SamSat-218D'. Full details are online at
tinyurl.com/hhl9lw8, which also includes details of where to send any
reception reports.
CERN's Large Hadron Collider went into standby mode after an
electrical transformer suffered a short circuit at the end of April.
A small wild animal, believed to be a weasel, had been gnawing on a
power cable. Sadly, the weasel did not survive the event, but the LHC
should be back online soon. The power outage came just as the LHC was
preparing to resume collecting data.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
The 35th Lough Erne Amateur Radio Rally takes place today, the 8th of
May, at the SHARE Centre, Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
BT92 0EQ. Doors open from 11.15am to 4pm, with disabled visitors
gaining access 15 minutes earlier. There will be trade stands, a
Bring & Buy, car boot area, flea market, special interest groups and
an RSGB bookstall. A licensed bar and catering will be available on
site. Lectures will form part of the day's activities and there will
be a prize draw during the day. Camping is available. More
information from Michael, MI5MTC on 0286 862 1436.
Next Sunday, the 15th, LAMFEST takes place at Elescar Heritage
Centre, Wath Road, Elsecar, Barnsley S74 8HJ. Doors open for traders
at 7am. Public access is at 10am and admission is GBP 2. All monies
raised will be donated to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Further
details from Ian, M0IOD on 0191 604 0255.
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 group of three German operators will be on the air from Jericho in
Palestine from the 8th to the 15th of May. They will use the callsign
E44QX and be on the 10 to 80m bands, mainly on CW, but also some SSB
and RTTY. QSLs will be handled by DF8DX.
Gerd, DL7VOG will be active as FM/DL7VOG on the island of Martinique,
NA-107, until the 6th of June. He will make a side trip St Lucia,
NA-108, from the 12th to the 22nd, where he has applied for the
callsign J68GU. Operation from both locations will be mainly CW and
RTTY on all bands from 6 to 80m. QSLs can be applied for via Club Log
OQRS.
Uli, DJ9XB will operate holiday style as SV9/DJ9XB from the island of
Crete, EU-105, from the 10th to the 20th of May. He will be on all
bands 40m to 6m with the focus on 6m. QSL to the home call.
Guenter, DL3NBI is on the air as IA5/DL3NBI from Isola del Giglio,
IOTA EU-028, until the 13th of May. Activity is holiday style on the
10 to 80m bands. QSL direct to home call.
TG9IIN is on the air as YN3/TG9IIN from Leon in Nicaragua until the
end of July. Activity is on the HF bands using SSB, RTTY, PSK and
JT65. QSL direct to home call.
Now the special event news
Coventry ARS will operate GB8OMB from The Old Mill at Baginton near
Coventry on the 14th and 15th of May for Mills on the Air.
Cambridge & District ARC will operate GB0CMW from 10.30am to 4pm on
the 14th and 14th from Cattell's Windmill, Mill Road, Willingham
CB24 5UU. The Mill has external seating and tea room, the radio
operating location is within the Mill, which is accessed via steps.
Cray Valley Radio Society will put GB6MW on the air from Meopham
Windmill, Wrotham Road, Meopham, Kent DA13 0QA from 10am to 4.30pm on
the 15th.
Leicester Radio Society will operate GB2WWM from 10am to 6pm on the
14th and 15th from Wymondham Windmill, Butt Lane, Wymondham LE14 2BU.
There is a tea room serving snacks and main meals plus assortment of
small shops.
GB1MAC will be on the air on various dates between the 13th of May
and the 9th of June with Merseyside Air Cadets for the 75th
anniversary. The station will be operated by licensed cadets and
staff of Merseyside Wing, Air Training Corps.
Now the contest news
The 432MHz-248GHz Trophy ends its 24 hour run at 1400 today, the 8th.
Using the 432MHz to 248GHz bands the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
The Italian National Society ARI International DX Contest ends its 24
hours at midday today, the 8th. There are sections for Single-op CW,
SSB, RTTY, mixed, and Multi-single. Italians send a signal report and
a 2-letter Province code, while non-Italians send a signal report
plus serial number. Check the rules for scoring.
The UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 0800 to 1400UTC on
the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands today, the 8th. The exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
Also today, the 8th, the IRTS 40m Counties Contest runs from 1200 to
1500UTC. Using CW and SSB only, exchange a signal report and serial
number. EIs and GIs also give their county.
On Tuesday the 432MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC.
Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and
locator.
Wednesday sees the data leg of the 80m Club Championship, which takes
place from 1900 to 2030UTC. The exchange is signal repot and serial
number.
The first of this year's VHF CW Championship events takes place next
Sunday, the 15th. The 70MHz CW contest runs from 0900 to 1200UTC. The
exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and postcode.
The Worked All Britain 7MHz Phone Contest takes place next Sunday,
the 15th of May, from 1000 to 1400UTC. The exchange is signal report,
serial number and WAB square. Entries need to be with the contest
manager by the 5th of June. Full details from the WAB website
www.worked-all-britain.org.uk
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 6th of May.
The solar flux index held steadfast at 90 for most of the week, but
geomagnetic conditions remained unsettled with the K index hitting
five on Bank Holiday Monday. The latter half of the week was a little
more settled, bringing better HF conditions with only a few minor
C-class solar flares.
At the time of writing, a new large sunspot, number 2542, was just
rotating around the sun's limb. This will join the much smaller
sunspot groups that are already visible on the solar disk. As a
result, NOAA is predicting the solar flux index could rise to 110 on
Sunday, before declining to 95 towards the end of the week.
Geomagnetic conditions will remain unsettled, with the K index
forecast to peak at five on Wednesday 11th.
The Propagation Studies Committee is pleased to announce the next
phase of its experimental HF online prediction system is now
available for testing. Codenamed Proppy, it can now provide
point-to-point predictions as well as area coverage maps. The system
uses the new ITURHFProp engine and users can find a link to Proppy at
the bottom of the www.predtest.uk website. The site and software is
experimental and the ultimate goal is to move the system onto the
RSGB website.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
Next week's weather will be driven by low pressure to the south of
Britain and a high over Scandinavia and later near the Faroes. This
could mean a little Tropo from the east coast to Denmark and southern
Sweden, but the rest of the country will be influenced more by low
pressure and hence a rather showery type of weather is expected, with
the chance of some rain scatter on the GHz bands. Later in the week
the low pressure will probably drift east allowing a new high to
build from Greenland towards the Faroes.
As a general rule, as we approach summer, rain scatter tends to
improve due to more intense rain cells at a more helpful height for
propagation.
There have been several separate Sporadic-E openings up to 6m within
Europe recently, with some reachable from the UK. We are hoping for
more this week, but the jet stream pattern is less favourable. More
likely areas for the Sporadic-E are well south over Iberia and the
Mediterranean plus to the north over the Faroes towards Iceland.
For EME operators, the Moon's declination reaches maximum on Monday
and losses are low, so it's another good week with long afternoon and
evening moon windows.
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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