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G4APL > NEWS 27.05.18 03:34l 263 Lines 12107 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 27 May 2018
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Sent: 180527/0231Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:21348 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G4APL@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To : NEWS@EU
GB2RS Main News for Sunday 27th May 2018
The news headlines:
* Opt in to GB2RS emails
* Marconi's Elettra on the air
* NRC D-Star repeater back again
If you receive the GB2RS weekly email you will have seen that you
need to opt in to keep receiving it in future. This is so that the
RSGB complies with the new General Data Protection Act. The RSGB is
delighted that a large number of people have done so already and they
will receive the GB2RS email this week. If you are a Member and
haven't yet subscribed, go to www.rsgb.org/gb2rs-subscribe and fill
in a few details so that the RSGB can confirm your membership and
send you future GB2RS emails.
Marconi's floating laboratory Elettra will be put on the air next
weekend as part of the Museum Ships Weekend. Using the callsign
II4AMP and sponsored by the Guglielmo Marconi Foundation, this is the
sixth time the yacht has been activated in this way. For more
information on Museum Ships Weekend see www.nj2bb.org/
GB7BP, the D-Star repeater in the RSGB National Radio Centre at
Bletchley Park, has recently come back on the air. It had been
inactive due to equipment problems. Many local amateurs have already
used the repeater since it was reactivated and everyone is invited to
listen in. RSGB Members can download a voucher from www.RSGB.org that
permits free entry to Bletchley Park and thus the National Radio
Centre. Amateur radio facilities at the NRC are in the process of
being improved and if you bring a copy of your licence, you can try
operating the world-class station GB3RS.
A formation of two satellites was launched on Monday on a lunar orbit
mission. The 47kg microsatellites each carry two SDR VHF/UHF
transceivers to provide command, telemetry, image transmission and a
GMSK-JT4 repeater. The project is led by Harbin Institute of
Technology and has low frequency radio astronomy, amateur radio and
educational goals. More information and further links are on the
amsat-uk.org website.
Darenth Valley Radio Society will be holding a Foundation Course on
the 9th and 16th of June at the Crockehill Village Hall, Swanley,
Kent. The cost of the course will be GBP 55 including the exam fee.
More details can be obtained by emailing
training<at>darenthvalleyrs.org as soon as possible.
Ashhar Farhan, VU2ESE was inducted into the CQ magazine Hall of Fame
at the Hamvention in Xenia, USA last weekend. He is the only living
Indian amateur in the elite group. He was recognised for his work
designing and popularising the Bit-X low power, open-source
transceiver semi-kits. He estimates that at least 15,000 of these
exist around the world. Their low cost and simple construction opened
up the world of amateur radio to a large number of people in a very
affordable way. Congratulations to Ashhar Farhan on his induction.
The only other Indian in the CQ Hall of Fame was Kalpana Chawla. In
1997 she became the first Indian woman in space, but sadly died in
the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Due to the ongoing serious illness of a key staff member, it has
again not been possible to prepare Local News this week. We are
taking steps to cover their absence and restore the full GB2RS
service as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who has sent in
club calendar information, which we will include in RadCom as normal.
However, we are running significantly late on acknowledging those
contributions.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, Sunday, the Durham District ARS Radio Rally is at Bowburn
Community Centre, Durham Road, Bowburn, Co. Durham DH6 5AT. Doors
open from 10.10am, with disabled visitors gaining access at 10am.
Admittance is GBP 2. There will be a Bring & Buy sale, trade stands,
special interest groups and an RSGB bookstall, plus catering and a
licensed bar on site. Contact Michael Wright, G7TWX, on
0782 692 4192, or email dadars<at>gmx.com.
The big rally news this week is the Ham Radio Show in
Friedrichshafen, which takes place from Friday the 1st to Sunday the
3rd of June. The huge show will be the usual mix of trade stands,
large flea market, special interest groups, a large RSGB book stall,
stands from other IARU Member Societies plus lectures in various
languages, and much more. Details are at
www.hamradio-friedrichshafen.de.
Next Sunday the Spalding DARS annual rally takes place. It is at a
new venue, Holbeach Community Sports Academy, Pennyhill Lane,
Holbeach PE12 7PR. There is easy access off the A17, a large area for
boot traders, and a modern hall for indoor traders. Doors open
9.30am, with admittance GBP 2.50. There's a car boot sale, catering,
plus a flea market, RSGB book stall, special interest groups, trade
stands and a prize draw. Contact Graham, G8NWC, 0775 461 9701,
rallysecretary<at>sdars.org.uk.
To get your rally or event information into GB2RS News, RadCom and on
the RSGB website, email details as early as possible to
radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk.
And now the DX news compiled from 425 DX News and other sources
S9ZZ goes on the air next Friday from Sao Tome Island, IOTA reference
AF-023. David, EB7DX will be active on 40 to 6m SSB, RTTY, FT8 and CW
until the 9th of June. QSL via his home call.
The JW8DW Svalbard Islands operation, EU-026 ends on Monday. Operator
LA8DW is on HF CW and SSB and you can QSL via Logbook of the World
or bureau.
Kevin, K6TOP will be active again from Tortola Island, British Virgin
Islands, IOTA reference NA-023, until the 1st of June. Calling as
VP2V/K6TOP, he is running CW on 40, 30, 20 and 17m. QSL via NR6M
direct or Logbook of the World.
Armin, DK9PY will be active as 6Y6N from Jamaica, NA-097, until the
2nd of June. He will operate on 160 to 10m from the station of 6Y5WJ
station. QSL via his home call.
The long operation of 6O0X continues in Somalia. Baldur Drobnica is
using 100W on the HF bands with an FD4 antenna. QSL via DJ6SI.
Elsewhere in Africa, David, VE7VR is active as A25VR from Botswana
until the 3rd of June. He will operate on 40, 30, 20m, including
activity in CQ WW WPX CW Contest. QSL via his home call.
VK4DX will be /P on Russell Island, OC-137, from the 1st to the 3rd
of June. He will be on 80 to 20m SSB and CW. QSL direct, Logbook of
the World or online QSL request.
Now the special event news
From the 25th of May until the 8th of June, Radio Club OK1KLV will
activate the special call sign OL90ITALIA to honour the memory of the
adventurous and tragic Polar expedition of the Airship ITALIA that in
1928 crashed near the North Pole. Activity will be on HF on various
modes.
The 90th anniversary of Portishead Radio will be commemorated by
three special event stations from the 1st to the 28th of July. GB0GKA
will be run by Tony, G3ZRJ from near Tiverton. Larry, G4HLN will run
GB0GKB from Burnham-on-Sea, whilst GB0GKC in Weston-super-Mare will
be operated by Pete, G3TJE. All three are ex-GKA Radio Officers and
the special callsigns reference the original Portishead calls.
Many stations will be on the air to mark the FIFA World Cup 2018.
They generally start on the 1st of June and run to the 15th of July,
and have easily-recognised football-related call letters. Examples
include DT18FWC and DT18FIFA in Korea, LX18FIFA in Luxembourg,
OM18FIFA and OM2018FIFA in the Slovak Republic, AO18FWC in Spain,
plus many more. These unusual callsigns are sure to be popular on the
air.
Now the contest news
This weekend's big event is the CQ WW WPX CW contest, which ends at
2359UTC on Sunday the 27th. This CW-only event uses all the HF
contest bands from 1.8-28MHz. Exchange a signal report and serial
number.
Moving to the other end of the spectrum, the UK Microwave Group High
Band contest takes place today from 0600UTC to 1800UTC. Using all
modes on the 5.7 to 10GHz bands, signal report, serial number and
locator should be exchanged.
Finally for this weekend, the 70MHz Cumulative #3 runs from 1400UTC
to 1600UTC. Using all modes on the 4m band, the exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
Next weekend it's CW National Field Day, running from 1500UTC on
Saturday to 1500UTC on Sunday. Using CW only on all the HF contest
bands from 1.8-28MHz, the exchange is signal report and serial number.
Also next weekend, SEANET runs from 1200UTC on Saturday to 1200UTC on
Sunday. Using CW and SSB on the 3.5 to 28MHz contest bands, signal
report and serial number forms the exchange.
Finally for next weekend, the UK Six Metre Group Summer event runs
from 1300UTC on Saturday to 1300UTC on Sunday. All modes can be used
on the 50MHz band; the exchange is signal report, serial number and
UKSMG membership number.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday 25th May.
A glancing blow from a high-speed solar wind stream caused the K
index to rise to three on Wednesday. This was a little unexpected as
it came from a polar coronal hole on the Sun that didn't look like it
would impact the Earth. This brought mixed blessings as an initial
positive phase saw the maximum usable frequency over 3,000km exceed
18MHz. But conditions soon dropped back and 20 metres became the
highest viable band for F-layer propagation.
Sporadic-E has been bringing some good short skip to the higher bands
so do make the most of it, with the peaks generally around
mid-to-late morning and again in the late afternoon and early evening.
The good news is we are seeing some sunspot activity, albeit very
weak. At the time of writing there were two small visible regions and
another coming around the sun's limb. Nevertheless, NOAA predicts the
solar flux will remain around 70.
Geomagnetic conditions are set to be settled this week, at least
until Friday the 1st when NOAA has the K index rising again. This is
due to another coronal hole, which may cause unsettled conditions
over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd with a maximum predicted K index
of six.
So better HF conditions may occur in the first half of the week, but
the weekend might not be the best time for DX. A high-speed solar
wind may also not be conducive to stable Sporadic E cloud formation
either, although this is an area that needs some more research.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
The next week carries on in similar fashion with low pressure close
to southern Britain, offering a chance of rain scatter in any
showers. The north of the country remains close to high pressure over
Scandinavia with a chance of further patches of enhanced Tropo across
the North Sea.
The southern half of the country will be nearer to low pressure over
the continent and will have an enhanced risk of showers, some
thundery. This will make rain scatter a possibility for the microwave
bands.
Sporadic-E is amongst us and hopefully this next week will continue
to provide options. However, since jet streams are often implicated
in the formation of Sporadic-E, the news is not so good in that the
main Atlantic jet stream is displaced well to the north of Europe.
The main operating rules are to check the clusters and beacons for
activity, initially on 10m, but then upwards through 6m to 4m and 2m
as the opening develops. Conditions may only happen for brief
moments, so keep the overs short with report and locator in case the
path fades.
Moon declination is negative this week, and apogee just a week away
so losses are approaching their highest and moon windows will be at
their shortest. This means low antenna elevations and increasing
noise at VHF and UHF.
And that's all from the propagation team this week.
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 radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk to arrive by
10:00 on the Thursday before transmission.
Our thanks to Andy G4TNU for providing this RSGB feed.
--
g4apl@gb7cip.ampr.org g4apl@gb7cip.#32.gbr.euro
http://www.theskywaves.net http://gb7cip.ampr.org
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