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G4APL > NEWS 08.07.18 03:34l 254 Lines 12073 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 8 July 2018
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<F1OYP<ON0AR<GB7CIP
Sent: 180708/0231Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:28085 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G4APL@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To : NEWS@EU
GB2RS Main News for Sunday 8th July 2018
The news headlines:
* World Radiosport Team Championship looms
* RSGB NRC opens all week during holidays
* Beware scam emails
The World Radiosport Team Championship takes place this week, running
from Thursday the 12th to Monday the 16th. This invitation-only event
pits the world's elite contesters against each other in two-person
teams. To level the playing field, all the contesters use similar
stations with similar antennas, all within a relatively small
geographical operating area to ensure no-one is aided or
disadvantaged by local propagation conditions. We have more details
on how you can take part in the Contests section of this bulletin.
This year's event takes place in Germany and you can find details of
all parts of the event at www.wrtc2018.de
Starting from Tuesday the 17th of July, the RSGB National Radio
Centre will be open seven days a week instead of the usual six. This
is so everyone visiting the Bletchley Park site in the holiday season
has a chance to experience the NRC. This arrangement will continue
until the end of August. Increasing visitor numbers mean there are
now a minimum of three NRC volunteers on duty at all times, thanks to
an increase in the number of volunteers. Members of the RSGB can get
free admission to Bletchley Park by downloading a voucher from the
RSGB website. See www.rsgb.org/bletchley-park-voucher for details.
We understand that a poorly-worded online message has been
circulating, purportedly from the ARRL, seeking donations supposedly
to cover the medical expenses of a poorly child, .Dawn'. The ARRL
has confirmed that this email is a scam, and describes as
"despicable" the attempt to prey on the willingness of amateurs to
help others in need. If the ARRL, RSGB or any other responsible
organisation launches an appeal it will normally be announced on
their websites, which you should NOT access by clicking on a link in
an email.
You may remember that Chertsey Radio Club member James Preece, M0JFP
was planning to take part in the Benidorm or Bust rally challenge.
His 18-year-old Vauxhall Vectra successfully negotiated the 1500 mile
drive. Sporting a large pirate flag in keeping with the car's pirate
radio theme, he carried an HF payload sponsored by Moonaker, and used
car-to-car communication gear sponsored by Retevis. James raised
several hundred pounds for the children's ward in St Peters,
Chertsey. Overall, the event attracted some 200 cars and raised a lot
of money for the Benidorm charity Busy Bees, who help support
battered women and abused children. You can find out more about the
event at www.benidormorbust.co.uk Separately, James was interviewed
by local TV station Get Surrey Talking TV about receiving the
slow-scan TV transmissions from the International Space Station that
we featured in last week's broadcast. You can see a recording of the
interview at https://tinyurl.com/GB2RS-0807A
[Note for Newsreaders: the original URL is
https://chertseyradioclub.blogspot.com/2018/07/james-m0jfp-on-get-surr
ey-tv-talking.html]
A reminder now that an RSGB Train the Trainers course will take place
at Barry Amateur Radio Club from 10am on Saturday the 21st of July.
For more information, and details of how to book a place, contact
Glyn Jones, GW0ANA, via email to rm7<at>rsgb.org.uk
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
The Stockport Radio Society Rally takes place today, the 8th, at
Walthew House, 112 Shaw Heath, Stockport SK2 6SQ. Car parking is
available around the venue and a talk-in station will be on the air.
Doors open at 10am, with disabled visitors gaining access at 9.30am.
Entry is GBP 2. There will be trade stands, special interest groups
and an RSGB book stall. Contact Nigel Roscoe, G0RXA on 0750 690 4422
or email info<at>g8srs.co.uk.
The 22nd Red Rose QRP Festival takes place next Sunday, the 15th, at
St Joseph's Hall, Mather Lane, Leigh, WN7 2PR. There is easy access
from all major motorways plus the A580 and A579 etc. There is car
parking, a Bring and Buy, refreshments, a bar and disabled access.
Doors open 11am, or 8.30am for traders and admission GBP 2.50.
Details from Les, G4HZJ, on 0779 626 4569.
Also next Sunday, the Cornish Radio Amateur Club Rally takes place at
Penair School, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 1TN. Doors open at 10.30am, with
admission GBP 2. There will be traders, Bring & Buy, club stalls and
car parking. Catering is available onsite. Contact Mike, G1NRF on
01209 211 069 for more information.
To get your event into RadCom and GB2RS, send details as early as
possible to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk.
And now the DX news from 425 DX News and other sources
Manfred, DL5FAB will be active as FY/DL5FAB/P from French Guiana
until the 13th of July, operating on HF with CW and FT8. He is
planning also to operate from one of the Salute Islands, IOTA
reference SA-020. QSL via bureau or eQSL.
Bruce, 3W3B will be active as XW4XR from Laos from the 11th to the
22nd. He will operate on 40-10m, and hopefully 6m, CW, RTTY and JT65.
QSL via E21EIC, LotW or direct.
Andre, NJ0F will be active as A25A from Botswana from the 13th to the
20th. He will be on 80 to 1m SSB, CW, RTTY and FT8. QSL via NJ0F
direct, or ClubLog OQRS.
Gayle, K6GO and Mike, NA6MB will be active as ZF2GO and ZF2NA from
Grand Cayman Island, IOTA NA-016, from the 11th to the 15th.
Operating on 160 to 6m, they will also take part in the IARU HF
Contest as ZF1A, the CARS HQ Station. QSL via K6GO.
Emil, DL8JJ will be active on HF as IS0/DL8JJ from Sardinia Island,
IOTA EU-024, until the 13th. QSL via home call or LotW.
Now the special event news
FIFA Football World Cup marathon station MB18FIFA will be on the air
on Thursday from the Aberwystwyth and District Radio Society. The
station will be on the HF, 6m, 4m and 2m bands, and also working via
satellites.
On Saturday, the 300th anniversary of the Founding of New Orleans
will be marked by N30, operating FT8 on 40m and 20m from 1400UTC to
2300UTC. For more details see https://therareonesofneworleans.loga.us/
Another interesting call on the air is S590RTVS, celebrating the 90th
anniversary of the Radio and Television Corporation of Slovenia. It
has been on the air since March and concludes at the end of December.
A special QSL is available via the bureau. The log is being uploaded
to LoTW and CLUBLOG on a regular basis.
Next Sunday, Warrington Amateur Radio Club is operating GB2TAC as
part of Hooton Park Craft and Family Fun Day.
If you're planning a special event station, please remember to send
advance publicity to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk . we are very happy to
help publicise your event, for free, but can't help you unless you
tell us about it!
Now the contest news
The RSGB VHF National Field Day is in progress. Running from 1400UTC
on Saturday to 1400UTC on Sunday, all modes can be used on all bands
between 50MHz and 1.3GHz. The exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
Today also sees the 3rd 2m Backpackers contest, running from 1100UTC
to 1500UTC, overlapping the last few hours of VHF NFD. The
Backpackers contest uses all modes on the 2m band and the exchange is
signal report, serial number and locator.
On Tuesday, the FM-only 432MHz FMAC runs from 1800UTC to 1900UTC,
immediately followed by the all-mode 432MHz UKAC, which ends at
2130UTC. The exchange for both is the same, signal report, serial
number and locator.
Similarly, Thursday sees the FM-only 50MHz FMAC from 1800UTC to
1900UTC, immediately followed by the all-mode 50MHz UKAC, ending at
2130UTC. Again, signal report, serial number and locator forms the
exchange.
The IARU HF Championship is the big contest news next weekend.
Running from 1200UTC on Saturday to 1200UTC on Sunday, it's a CW and
SSB event on all the contest bands from 1.8 to 28MHz. The exchange is
signal report and ITU Zone, which is 27 for the UK. Competitors in
the World Radiosport Team Championship will be taking part, and the
organisers invite you to work as many of the teams as you can. In
return, there are awards to be won, along with the respect and thanks
of the organisers. You can track the progress of the Team
Championships via the www.wrtc2018.de website, which also includes
links to live-streaming video, daily reports and an online scorecard.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 6th of July.
The 2018 Baker Island DXpedition has now concluded. As we said last
week, the path from the UK to the Pacific is a difficult one, but
plenty of UK amateurs did manage to make a contact with KH7Z. Twenty
and seventeen metres did indeed prove to be the best bands, but on
the whole it was only better-equipped stations with beams and linear
amplifiers that made it. There were some exceptions . Ian, G4IIY in
Cumbria managed the contact with 100W CW to a quarter wave vertical.
With a solar flux index under 70 and a polar path it was never going
to be easy, but a low K index representing settled geomagnetic
conditions helped a lot.
A small equatorial coronal hole became Earth-facing on Thursday the
5th, so we can expect the possibility of unsettled geomagnetic
conditions on Saturday 7th and Sunday the 8th. Otherwise, NOAA
predicts settled geomagnetic conditions for the rest of the week. The
solar flux index is likely to remain around 68 for the first half of
the week as the sun remains spotless, but is predicted to rise to
around 75 in the latter half.
F2-layer MUFs continue to struggle much above 18MHz on 3,000km paths
during the day, but can remain above 7 and even 10MHz at night. We
can expect to see continued Sporadic-E, which can bring short-skip on
all HF bands at times. Do keep an eye on 10 metres for Sporadic-E
openings, especially the CW beacons that run from about 28.160 to
28.325MHz. And if in doubt, call CQ . you never know who might come
back!
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
It's another week of high pressure, with a few minor adjustments to
the weather maps. This may provide plenty of Tropo during the coming
week, especially around the coast and across sea paths. Remember that
the best time for overland tropo propagation is from sunset, and
overnight until just after sunrise the following morning, so get on
the bands after supper and before breakfast for the best chance of DX
openings.
There will be a few showers in the next week, especially in the south
and west, but these will be fairly well isolated, so any microwave
band rain scatter options will be limited.
Sporadic-E is still available through July into August, and perhaps
early September in some years, although it can be a bit fickle. Using
the clusters and web sites, such as dxmaps.com or ON4KST.com, is a
great way to get a flavour of activity and the paths currently on
offer. The best times are usually late morning and late
afternoon/early evening.
There are no major meteor showers this week, so get on early in the
morning for the best random meteor scatter conditions. It's worth
noting that with tropo, meteor scatter and to some extent Sporadic-E,
DX on VHF and up suits those who have to do a normal working day!
The new lunar month is under way again, with positive and rising
declination and falling losses up to the Moon's perigee on Friday
morning. But be aware that the sun is close to the Moon early on
Friday, so solar noise levels will be high. That said, it is a good
week for EME.
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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