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G4APL > NEWS 16.09.18 09:26l 281 Lines 13194 Bytes #999 (0) @ GBR
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 16 Sep 2018
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Sent: 180916/0231Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:38404 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G4APL@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To : NEWS@GBR
GB2RS Main News for Sunday 16th September 2018
The news headlines:
* Amateurs prepare for Hurricane Florence
* IARU plan for the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference
* Details on more RSGB Convention lectures
CNN reports the American Radio Relay League has sent seven amateur
radio kits to South Carolina to assist with emergency communication
ahead of Hurricane Florence. The group used the same kits in Puerto
Rico last September when Hurricane Maria knocked out power to most of
the island. Short wave radio was key to communicating in Puerto Rico.
The ARRL 2018-Hurricanes page provides information and news
summarising the preparations and response by amateur radio volunteers
who are supporting emergency communications at
www.arrl.org/2018-Hurricanes
The Administrative Council of the International Amateur Radio Union
held its annual in-person meeting on the 8th and 9th of September in
Seoul, Republic of Korea. With the 2019 World Radiocommunication
Conference of the ITU now little more than a year away, the efforts
of two dozen IARU volunteers to defend amateur radio's frequency
allocations against commercial pressures and to seek worldwide
harmonisation of the 50 to 54MHz band are reaching a critical stage.
With these challenges in mind the Council reviewed its strategic plan
to develop support for amateur spectrum allocations and approved the
action plan for implementation during the remainder of 2018 and 2019.
Full information on the meting at www.iaru-r1.org
The RSGB Convention takes place from the 12th to the 14th of October
at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes.
Our thanks to the principal sponsor, Martin Lynch & Sons. Saturday
and Sunday is packed with a diverse range of lectures for all levels
of expertise and interest. Magnetic Loop Antennas offer the amateur
radio enthusiast a compelling option for chasing DX and having access
to all the HF band's when restricted by size and height of antenna
system at your QTH says Rael Paster, M0RTP. He will give construction
tips, tricks and traps and how to automatically tune a magnetic loop
along with a look at FT8 and WSPR performance achieved with Magnetic
Loop antennas in the last year. Dick Harms, PA2DW will describe the
enormous restoration project of the Dwingeloo Radio Telescope and the
subsequent amateur radio activities. You can see the whole Convention
lecture programme at www.rsgb.org/convention
The IARU Region 1 Monitoring System reports that two long-time
broadcast intruders on the 40m band are gone. Radio Hargeisa in the
Republic of Somaliland on 7.120MHz, and Radio Ethiopia on 7.140MHz,
departed the band during the last week of August.
The RSGB has placed the video of the 2017 Convention lecture ZL7G
DXpedition: Planning, Logistics, Operating and Beer by Chris
Duckling, G3SVL on the Members-only section of the RSGB website. Go
to http://rsgb.org/zl7g
Icom Inc will be holding a D-Star QSO party between 0000UTC on the
22nd of September to 2359UTC on the 24th. The format of the party
will be the same as in previous years with the goal of encouraging
D-Star operators to communicate with as many other operators across
the world via D-Star repeaters. The prizes on offer this year have
not been announced yet, so keep an eye out for the latest updates on
the D-Star QSO Party 2018 website at www.icom.co.jp/world/dqp
The International Amateur Radio Union has announced that the theme
for World Amateur Radio Day, which takes place on the 18th of April.
It will be ‘Celebrating Amateur Radio's Contribution to Society'.
A Buildathon is taking place at the National Hamfest in Newark on the
28th and 29th of September at the George Stephenson Pavilion, Newark
& Nottingham Showground, Lincoln Road, Winthorpe, Newark NG24 2NY. A
place costs only GBP 5, which is refunded as an RSGB book voucher if
you complete the project on the day. Details and tickets from
www.rsgb.org/hamfestbuildathon
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, the 16th, is the second day of the British Amateur Television
Club Convention at the Midlands Air Museum, Coventry Airport, Rowley
Rd, Baginton CV3 4FR. Details at ww.batc.org.uk
Weston super Mare Radio Society is holding its annual rally on Sunday
the 16th of September at the Campus Community Centre in Worle, near
Junction 22 of the M5. There are 58 tables with many of the
well-known traders in attendance. It is open from 10am until 3pm and
tickets are GBP 3 with accompanied under 16s free.
Advance notice now for the Galashields Radio Rally due to take place
on the 21st of October. Held in the Volunteer Hall, St Johns Street,
Galashiels TD13JX, doors open at 11.15am with disabled visitors
gaining access at 11am. There will be traders a Bring & Buy and
refreshments available on site. Admission is GBP 2.50. Our apologies
for missing this information in RadCom.
To get your event into RadCom and GB2RS, please send details as early
as possible to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk
And now the DX news from 425 DX News and other sources
Alex, IW5ELA will operate mainly CW as 7Q7ELA from the 17th to the
26th September. It will be a ‘suitcase operation' while touring
Malawi. All QSOs will be confirmed automatically via the bureau.
Logsearch on Club Log.
Tina, HB0/DL5YL and Fred, HB0/DL5YM will be active from Masescha,
Liechtenstein from the 20th of September to the 6th of October. They
will operate CW, some SSB and RTTY during the CQ WW DX RTTY Contest.
QSL via their home calls, either direct or via the bureau.
Torsten, DL4APJ and Peter, DJ2AX will be active as JW/DL4APJ and
JW/DJ2AX from the JW5E club station in Longyearbyen, Svalbard EU-026,
from the 20th to the 25th of September. QSL via their home calls.
Gabor, HA3JB will be active as 8Q7IP the Maldives, AS-013, from the
19th to the 30th of September. He will operate CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8 on
the 6 ti 80m bands and will participate in the CQ WW RTTY Contest.
QSL via HA3JB.
Steve, G4EDG will be active as ZD9CW from Tristan da Cunha, AF-029,
from the 20th of September to the 22nd of October. He will operate CW
and RTTY with some SSB on the 15 to 40m bands and possibly 80m. QSL
via Logbook of The World or via LZ1JZ.
Now the special event news
Celebrating 100 years of the RAF, GB100RAF will be operating from the
Air Defence Radar Museum at RAF Neatshead in Norfolk on the 22nd and
23rd. QSL cards require an SAE only to RAFARS, RAF Cosford, WV7 3EX.
If you are taking part in the GB100RAF award scheme, GB100RAF will be
worth 25 points.
North Bristol ARC has been invited by Avon Valley Railway to set up a
two stations on the 22nd and 23rd, one station from within an
operational train. The antenna for the moving train will be
challenging due to a maximum vertical clearance from carriage to a
bridge being only 12 inches and the horizontal clearance is only 24
inches due to two way traffic on the line. The main HF station will
be using GB0AVR on the 20, 40 and 80m bands. A portable station will
operate from the train using QRP on 20 and 17m bands as well as via
GB3BS and GB7BS.
Loughton & Epping Forest ARS will be activating GB2RGM for Railways
on the Air operating on the 22nd of September.
Celebrating the 88th Saudi Arabia National Day on the 23rd of
September, the Saudi Amateur Radio Society will be active as HZ88ND,
7Z88ND and 8Z88ND from the 16th to the 30th of September. QSL via
HZ1BF.
We are very happy to publicise your event on GB2RS, in RadCom and on
the RSGB website. Please send details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk as
early as possible. One of the requirements for getting a special
event callsign is that the station must be open to the public, so our
free advance publicity can help make your efforts more widely known.
Now the contest news
The 2018 Africa All Mode International DX Contest ends its 24 hour
run at 1200UTC today, the 16th,. Both single and multi-operator
stations may operate for the entire 24-hour period. There are no
mandated breaks in operating time required.
Today, the 16th, the Second 70MHz contest takes place from 0900 to
1200UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
Also today, the 16th, the UK Microwave Group's contest takes place
from 0900 to 1700UTC. Using all modes on the 24 to 76GHz bands, the
exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
The BARTG Sprint 75 contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC today, the
16th. Using RTTY on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands, the exchange is just your
serial number. On Tuesday the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from
1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
On Wednesday the 80m Autumn Series contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC.
Using CW on the 80m band the exchange is signal report and serial
number.
On Thursday the 70MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1900UTC,
using FM only. It is immediately followed by the all-mode 70MHz UK
Activity Contest from 1900 to 2130UTC. The exchange for both is
signal report, serial number and locator.
Over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd, the UK EI Counties Contest DX
runs from 1200 to 1200UTC. Using SSB on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands the
exchange is signal report, serial number and district code
Next Sunday, the 23rd, the Practical Wireless 70MHz contest runs from
1200 to 1600UTC. Using all modes the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G3SVW, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 14th of September.
Last week started with stable solar conditions, but very low activity.
After 14 days without sunspots, two small, new spots turned up.
Sunspot number 2721 existed for Sunday and Monday, then disappeared
by Tuesday. Sunspot number 2722 popped up on Wednesday and Thursday,
and was gone by Friday. Neither of these spots has disappeared
altogether. They can hide below the visible disc of the Sun and may
reappear before they rotate to the far side.
Warnings of increased geomagnetic activity were announced by the
Space Weather Centre and indeed the A-index and the K-index rose
significantly, to 35 and 6 respectively. These index figures were the
result of a major geomagnetic storm that peaked at 2135UTC on Tuesday
evening.
Solar wind picked up and reached a maximum of 624 kilometres per
second at 0438UTC on Wednesday. The magnetic field carried by the
solar wind disrupted that of the Earth and disturbed propagation
conditions.
Maximum useable frequencies for long-skip distances generally varied
between 15 and 18MHz, with a short burst when it reached 21MHz at
1900UTC on Monday.
Workable DX paths were open, as confirmed by reception of some of the
International Beacon Project transmitters on 14.1MHz. Found on the
frequency were beacons in the Far East, South Africa, Venezuela and
USA. The strongest of the beacons, but admittedly not big DX, was
CS3B in Madeira, whose carrier level was still audible down at the
QRP 100 milliwatt level.
An interesting propagation event to look forward to next weekend is
the equinox on the 23rd of September. This is the time, plus or minus
a few days, for operators to take advantage of greyline propagation
on the low HF bands of 1.8 and 3.5 MHz between the ultimate DX path
– United Kingdom to New Zealand. There isn't time here to explain
greyline working, but many propagation books cover this interesting
topic. Good luck with the DXing.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
The weather patterns this coming week look distinctly autumnal with
some unsettled weather on the charts and some quite strong winds at
times. There are some fleeting periods of high pressure in the south
with the attendant chance of Tropo giving some lift conditions,
especially in the foggy early mornings.
The windier spells may test your antenna guy ropes, with one model
suggesting a small low crossing the country just before mid-week.
Obviously it's too far ahead to be certain which model has called
this correctly, but it shouldn't be a surprise that it's turning
unsettled as we move towards the second half of the month.
With the moon at maximum negative declination early this week, and
Apogee on Wednesday, the Moon will only get low on the Horizon for a
few hours a day and EME path losses will be at their highest.
With the windy conditions predicted, and no major meteor showers it's
probably a week for catching up with some indoor system improvements.
There's always the artificial satellites to keep VHFers interested so
update the prediction software and have a go.
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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