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G4APL > NEWS 19.08.18 03:40l 317 Lines 15795 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 19 Aug 2018
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Sent: 180819/0231Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:34295 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G4APL@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To : NEWS@EU
GB2RS Main News for Sunday 19th August 2018
[Note to Newsreaders: a query arose recently over whether or not
Newsreaders should correct obvious mistakes such as typographical
errors when reading GB2RS. The answer is emphatically yes. We do try
our best to get the GB2RS script right but despite it normally being
read by two or three people, some things do get through. If you spot
something obvious, such as a spelling mistake, a clear grammatical
error or a missing letter, please correct it on-the-fly. Furthermore,
it is generally accepted practice that Newsreaders may omit the last
one or two Main News stories if (and only if) it appears to them that
the Main News, plus their region's Local News, would over-run their
allotted time slot. With such a diverse range of coverage between
different Newsreaders and differing amounts of regional news there is
no one-size-fits-all editorial solution to this, so Newsreaders are
relied upon to use their good sense and judgement. Likewise, as per
the note at the start of Local News, use your judgement about what
Local News to read or omit. Apart from these issues, the original
direction of ‘don't make changes' does still stand; we leave it to
Newsreaders to apply this guidance sensibly. We hope to rationalise
the Tops and Tails and other guidance in due course, however it
hasn't been possible to do this yet. Meanwhile, please remember to
tell listeners that the address for all news items for GB2RS (and
RadCom) is radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk. Many thanks.]
The news headlines:
* Norway gets 1kW on 6m and other bands
* Train the Trainers in Wolverhampton
* Share your VHF NFD experiences
On the 8th of August, Norway got an updated amateur licence, allowing
all Norwegian amateurs access to 50 to 52MHz with a power of 1kW.
Other new privileges include permission for non-amateurs to operate
an amateur station, under supervision of a licenced amateur, for
training and educational purposes. On higher bands, amateurs received
permission to use 1kW for EME and meteor scatter on 69.9 to 70.5MHz,
144 to 146MHz, 432 to 438MHz and 1240 to 1300MHz, all without any
additional regulatory application.
The next RSGB Train the Trainers will be held on Saturday the first
of September, from 9.30am to 5pm. It takes place at Wolverhampton
Electricity Sports and Social Club, St Marks Road, Chapel Ash,
Wolverhampton WV3 0QH. This venue is the HQ of Wolverhampton ARS. For
more information, or to book a place, please contact Ron Wellsted by
email to ron<at>wellsted.org.uk
RSGB VHF National Field Day weekend took place on the 7th and 8th of
July, and a feature is planned in the next edition of RadCom. If your
club participated in the event then it's still not too late to send
your contribution for the article. It's a great way to promote your
club's activity. Please email your words, remembering that succinct
is always good, plus some publishable pictures – the higher
resolution the better – to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk The deadline for
the article is this Thursday, the 23rd of August. For information on
sending suitable photos for publication, please see
tinyurl.com/RadComPix
The RSGB Convention is at Kents Hill Park Training & Conference
Centre, MK7 6BZ, from the 12th to the 14th of October. There will be
a vast array of talks and demos, and the chance to rub shoulders with
the giants of amateur radio. Early Bird discounts for the RSGB
Convention have just been extended to the 31st of August. So you
still have a few days left to get your packages for this flagship
event at a lower price. Details, including a provisional Programme,
are at www.rsgb.org/convention – and don't forget, under 21's get
free admission.
The YOTA 2018 UK team have been very busy at this year's
international youth event in South Africa. They are sharing their
amateur radio activities on social media and on the RSGB website.
Take a look at their blog at www.rsgb.org/yota2018 and follow them
via <at>theRSGByouth on Twitter. They're working on a video summary
that the RSGB will release when they are back, and there will also be
a feature in a forthcoming RadCom.
The National Hamfest is coming ever closer. This 10th anniversary
event takes place on the 28th and 29th of September and is the UK's
largest exhibition and gathering of amateur radio enthusiasts. Among
all the usual rally attractions like a big RSGB bookstall, traders,
flea market and Bring and Buy, the winners of the National Club of
the Year 2017, sponsored by Waters and Stanton, will be announced.
You can get full details of the event and Fast Track advance entry
tickets at www.nationalhamfest.org.uk
Due to essential maintenance work on the aerial mast at the National
Radio Centre at Bletchley Park, D-Star repeater GB7BP will likely be
off air from Tuesday the 28th to Thursday the 30th of August. The
maintenance work is weather dependant, so there may be a change to
the date. If there is a change we will try to publicise it via the
RSGB website and other online means. We apologise for any
inconvenience this may cause.
An International Space Station school contact has been planned for
Alexander Gerst, KF5ONO with a school in Germany on Wednesday the
22nd of August at approximately 0915UTC. The conversation will be
conducted in German and will be direct, operated by DC1RSN. The
downlink signals will be audible in many parts of Europe.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, the 19th, the Rugby Amateur Radio Society Rally will be held
at Princethorpe College, Princethorpe, Rugby CV23 9PY. Doors open
from 10am to 4pm and at 8.30am for sellers. Admission is GBP 3. There
is a car boot sale and catering is available on site. Contact Steve,
G8LYB, on 0795 685 5816.
Next weekend, on the 25th and 26th, the Montrose Amateur Radio &
Aviation Rally will take place at Montrose Air Station Heritage
Centre, DD10 9BD. Doors are open from 10am on both days and entry is
free. If you want a table, which cost GBP 5, contact Martin, 2M0KAU,
on 0776 370 8933 as soon as possible. CQ Scotland.com, part of the
Mid Lanark Amateur Radio Society, will run a Buildathon on the
Sunday. Spaces are limited, so please email your interest to David,
MM0HQD, via info<at>cqscotland.com
On Sunday the 26th the Torbay ARS Annual Communications Fair will be
held The Racecourse, Newton Road, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 3AF. It's
an indoor event with free parking and disabled facilities, and is
accessible by public transport. There will be a Bring & Buy sale,
RSGB Book Stall, special interest groups and trade stands. Catering
is available on site. Contact Mike, G1TUU on 01803 557 941.
Also on the 26th, Milton Keynes ARS is holding its 60th anniversary
rally at the Irish Centre, Manor Field, Bletchley, Milton Keynes
MK2 2HZ. Doors open at 9.30am and admission is GBP 3. Hot & cold food
will be available. Contact Francis Hennigan, 2E0FMK, via email to
rally<at>mkars.org.uk
On the 27th, Bank Holiday Monday, the Huntingdonshire ARS annual
rally will take place at the Ernulf Academy, Barford Rd, St Neots
PE19 2SH. Talk-in with GX0HSR will be on 145.550MHz. There's free
parking and admission is GBP 3. Doors open 9am, or 7am for traders.
There will be an RSGB Book Stall as well as a Bring & Buy, Hot meals
and drinks are available on site and there will be an ice cream van.
Contact M0OLG on 01480 214 282.
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
Four operators will be active as C4II from Agios, Georgios Island,
IOTA reference AS-120, on the 25th to the 27th of August. They plan
to operate CW, SSB and FT8 on the 80 to 10m bands, and possibly on
6m.
Duby, 9A6DR is on the air as 9A6DR/P from Kolocep Island, EU-016,
until around the 20th of October. In his spare time he is on the 40,
20, 10 and 6 metre bands. QSL via home call, direct or bureau.
A large multinational team of YL operators will be active as TM64YL
from Noirmoutier Island, EU-064, from the 25th to the 31st of August.
They will operate SSB, CW, RTTY and FT8. QSL via F4GDI, direct or
bureau.
Jacques, F6HMJ will be active as SV8/F6HMJ from Ios Island, EU-067,
from the 27th of August to the 6th of September. He will operate CW
and some SSB on the 40 to 10 metre bands. QSL via his home call.
Wey, K8EAB will be on the air as K4G from St George Island, NA-085,
from the 20th to the 25th of August. QSL via Club Log for electronic
IOTA credit (preferred), or direct to K8EAB.
Now the special event news
The International Lighthouse and Lightships Weekend ends today, the
19th. More than 400 lighthouse and lightship activations in 40
countries will take part in this 25th anniversary of the event. The
very first Northern Lighthouse Weekend was organised in 1993 by the
Ayr Amateur Radio Group, with activity from 10 lighthouses in
Scotland and the Isle of Man. Wigtownshire Amateur Radio Club were
one of the original 10 clubs involved and are back at the Mull of
Galloway Lighthouse with their original callsign of GB2LG. Colchester
Radio Amateurs are taking to the air from The Naze Car Park, Old Hall
Lane, Walton CO14 8LE. Bushvalley ARC will be participating from
Rathlin East, West and Rue Point Lighthouses. Loughton and Epping
Forest ARS will be on the air as GB0TBW for Trinity Buoy Wharf.
Carrickfergus ARG will be operating from the car park at Larne
Leisure Centre. Harwich Amateur Radio Interest Group will be taking
part from inside the Harwich High Light using the callsign GB4HLH.
For a full list of stations go to www.illw.net
GB100RAF is operating from Saturday the 18th to Friday the 24th of
August from RAF Syerston, as part of the RAF Air Cadets Aerospace
Camp, RAFAC, and in conjunction with the RAF 100 celebrations. Cadets
will be mainly on 40m around 7.155MHz, ±QRM. All QSLs via G8FC
please.
Pontefract & District ARS the club will be operating GB250CC to mark
Captain Cook's First Voyage in Endeavour, starting on the 23rd of
August. The big day will be the 25th, the actual day Cook sailed.
This station will continue until September, although not every day.
GB4RNF will be on the air on the Friday the 24th of August from
Boston Central Park, Lincolnshire.
The British Inland Waterways on the Air event takes place over the
August Bank Holiday weekend, the 25th to 27th. Paul, MI1AIB and
Sharon, 2I0SHZ will be active with GB8BRM from Ballyronan Marina on
the shores of Lough Neagh. This is WAB square H98. Activity will
mostly be holiday style. QSL via MI1AIB. For more details of other
stations go to www.nharg.org.uk/biwota
Spalding ARS is putting on a Special Event Station on the 24th of
August for the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fisherman.
Operating from Boston Central Park, there will be other events taking
place as well as the amateur station.
In 1918 a group of enthusiasts interested in the new hobby of amateur
radio formed a group in Guildford and named it the Guildford Wireless
Alliance and there has been at least one amateur radio society in
Guildford ever since. Now, 100 years later, Guildford & District
Radio Society, Wey Valley Amateur Radio Group and the Guildford
Repeater Group are pleased to celebrate 100 years of Amateur Radio in
Guildford. A special event station will be on the air from the 25th
to the 27th of August on HF, VHF and digital modes. The venue is the
Guildford Model Engineers HQ, London Road, Guildford, Surrey
GU1 1TU. Further details from Timothy Dabbs, G7JYQ, by email to
sec.gdrs<at>virginmedia.com.
If you're planning a special event station, please remember to send
publicity information well in advance to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk – we
are very happy to help publicise your event, for free, on GB2RS, in
RadCom and on the RSGB website, but can't help you unless you tell us
what you're doing! As a rule of thumb, please send details for RadCom
at least three months in advance.
Now the contest news
There are no RSGB HF contests in the month of August.
On Tuesday at 1900 to 2130UTC the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest takes
place with the exchange of signal report, serial number and locator.
Next Sunday, the 26th, the UK Microwave Group contest runs from 0600
to 1800UTC on the 5.7 and 10GHz bands. The exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 17th of August.
Matter from a solar coronal hole sent the K index to four on two
occasions last week. This adversely affected the ionosphere and on
Thursday morning the maximum usable frequency over 3,000 kilometres
was struggling to get much above 10MHz. Earlier in the week
conditions had been much better. In fact, there were signs we are now
moving towards more equinox-like HF conditions and away from the
summer doldrums. Chris, G0DWV reports working a number of Japanese
stations on 17 metres last week, while Andy, M0NKR worked as far west
as Montana in the USA. Checking the bands before retiring on
Wednesday evening, Steve, G0KYA was surprised to hear a loud XQ3SK in
Chile at the bottom end of 20 metres at 2230UTC. This does bode well
for HF over the coming weeks, as long as geomagnetic conditions can
remain quiet.
There was one tiny visible sunspot group last week, which pushed the
sunspot number to 12, but there are no signs of any others coming
around the sun's limb. Consequently, next week NOAA predicts the
solar flux index will be around 68-70 again, with minimal or zero
sunspots. It also predicts unsettled geomagnetic conditions on the
20th and 21st due to a high-speed solar wind stream from a coronal
hole. Conditions should be more settled after that, so we may expect
better HF conditions from Thursday onwards.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
This weekend a weak low over the country may lead to some short sharp
scattered showers, setting up conditions for rain scatter on the
microwave bands. The many weather radars available online will allow
you to follow these large highly-reflective cumulonimbus clouds to
set up those longer-range microwave paths.
Subsequently, southern Britain will have a ridge of high pressure
pushing in from the Azores high and this will re-introduce the
prospects of some Tropo, especially to the south into the continent
and across Biscay to Spain or even beyond, as we've seen this last
week. There will, however, be a tendency for lower pressure to the
north of Scotland, keeping winds stronger and curtailing the chance
of Tropo.
Lastly, Sporadic-E has been looking a bit thin recently, although a
few openings were seen at the end of last week. Unfortunately, any
favourable placements of jet streams this weekend will soon be
displaced and the next week is showing only limited potential with a
very weak upper air flow over Europe for much of this week.
The Moon is at minimum declination on Wednesday and is at its apogee
of 405,700km on Thursday. This means the worst EME conditions of the
lunar month this week, with highest path losses and very short,
low-elevation moon visibility windows.
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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