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G4APL > NEWS 23.12.18 05:09l 271 Lines 12133 Bytes #999 (0) @ GBR
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 23 Dec 2018
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Sent: 181223/0331Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:50707 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G4APL@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To : NEWS@GBR
GB2RS Main News for Sunday 23rd December 2018
[Season's greetings from the GB2RS Editorial Team: Elaine Richards,
G4LFM (who compiles the Main News) and Giles Read, G1MFG (who puts
together the Local News section). Our thanks to all who read the
news, whether weekly or on a rota system. There will not be a Main
News script for 30th December; normal service will resume on the 6th
of January 2018. Further to our recent consultation we have prepared
separate Local News sections for today and 30 December; see the Note
to Newsreaders at the start of Local News.]
The news headlines:
* Final GB2RS of the year
* Last chances to work GB18YOTA
* Worked All Britain turns 50
This is the final GB2RS news reading for 2018 and we start with
seasonal greetings to all newsreaders and listeners, both over the
air and via the internet recordings, and not forgetting viewers of
the ATV broadcast, which is available via several repeaters and
kindly streamed via the BATC.TV website, as well as those that get
this news via TX Factor or podcasts. We would like to take this
opportunity to once again thank all those that read the news, in
whatever format, for their tireless dedication to their fellow
amateurs. There will be no formal news reading on the 30th of
December. [Ad-lib here if you are planning a net under your own
callsign]. Normal broadcasts will resume on Sunday the 6th of
January.
Youngsters on the Air month, or YOTA, runs throughout December.
Jamie, M0SDV will operate the station on the 28th and 29th of
December. On the 30th it's the turn of Telford & District ARS from
the 2nd Wellington Scout HQ. If you hear these stations and others
around the world taking part in YOTA month, please take the time to
contact the young people involved.
2019 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Worked All Britain Awards
Group. To mark the occasion, three new awards will be introduced for
2019 only. In conjunction with the new awards, GB50WAB will run
throughout the year, along with a number of other regional special
event stations. This commences on the 1st of January, with GB50WAB
for two weeks from C62 in Northern Ireland, and GB9WAB for four weeks
from SK51 in Leicestershire. For more information, keep an eye on
www.worked-all-britain.org.uk
You can now read online the responses from the RSGB and other
interested groups and individual amateurs to Ofcom's Consultation, UK
preparations for the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019. Go to
https://tinyurl.com/y8pcax46 for details.
As mentioned last week, Sweden's Alexanderson alternator station SAQ
is planning a Christmas Eve transmission on 17.2kHz. Tuning-up will
start around 0730UTC and a message will be transmitted at 0800UTC.
The event will be streamed live on the Alexanderson YouTube channel.
Two amateur radio stations calling SK6SAQ will be active on the 24th
on 7.035 and 14.035MHz CW, and 3.755MHz SSB.
Two more 2018 RSGB Convention videos are now available to Members on
the RSGB website. Popular Convention speaker Jim Bacon, G3YLA deliver
his talk on Sporadic-E revisited – is it any clearer? Roger
Balister, G3KMA speaks about Islands on the Air matters, with the
announcement of the new IOTA groups and the untold IOTA story. Go to
the RSGB website at www.rsgb.org/videos for these and many more.
The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed on
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. It will
also be closed for a private event on Tuesday the 15th of January.
Outside of these times, volunteers look forward to welcoming visitors
seven days a week, especially RSGB Members who can download a free
entry voucher for Bletchley Park from the RSGB website.
RSGB HQ is closed for the Christmas and New Year period from 4.30pm
on Friday the 21st of December. It opens again at 8.30am on Wednesday
the 2nd of January. In the meantime, if you need information about
amateur radio, exams or RadCom you'll find lots of information on the
RSGB website, www.rsgb.org
The IARU has announced the next annual Youngsters On The Air summer
camp, which will take place in Bulgaria, close to the capital city,
Sofia. The Bulgarian Federation of Radioamateurs will be hosting the
event. The RSGB plan to send a team to the event and applications for
the UK team leader and team members will be invited in due course.
Worked all Postcodes is an award scheme announced by radio dealer
Moonraker. Participants need to work as many postcodes as possible
using a maximum of 10W, any mode, on the 70, 144, 430 and 1296MHz
bands. Wednesday will be activity night and awards will be available
for different numbers of postcodes. This all starts on the 2nd of
January 2019 so keep an eye on the Moonraker blog for more
information.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
On the 28th of December the Yeovil ARC Table-Top Rally will take
place in Sparkford Village Hall, Church Road, Sparkford BA22 7JN.
There's off road parking and entry is GBP 2. Doors are open from 10am
to 3pm. Light refreshments will be available on the day. More from
Bob Harris, G8UED, on 01963 440167.
Should you happen to be in India at the end of the year, Hamfest
India runs on the 29th and 30th of December in association with REVA
University, Bangalore. It's the largest gathering and festival of
amateur radio operators in India. For details, see
www.hamfestindia2018.com.
To get your event into RadCom, onto GB2RS and on the RSGB website,
please send details as early as possible to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk –
we need to know about four months in advance for RadCom.
And now the DX news from 425 DX News and other sources
Between the 25th and the 29th of December, 4X19HNY will transmit from
Jerusalem, 4X2XMAS from Capernaum [pronounced k?-PUR-nee-?m],
4X3XMAS from Caesarea [pronounced key-sa-ri-ya] and 4X9XMAS from
Latrun. QSL via Logbook of The World and eQSL only.
Chie, 7L3PFH will be active as KH0TG from Tinian, Mariana Islands,
OC-086, from the 26th of December to the 1st of January. She will
operate CW and SSB on the 160 to 20m bands. QSL direct to JL1UTS.
Look for JI3DST/6, JS6RRR/6 and JL3YWN/6, operating from Tanega
Island, IOTA reference AS-032, from the 26th of December to the 7th
of January. Activity will be on the 80 to 6m bands using SSB, CW,
RTTY, FT8 and FM. QSL via Club Log's OQRS.
Now the special event news
The Canadian National Parks & Historic Sites on the Air scheme
launches on 1st January 2019. Visit www.cnpota.ca for details of
activations and how to participate.
Please send event details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk, as early as
possible, for free publicity on GB2RS, in RadCom and online. UK
special event stations must be open to the public, so our free
publicity can help make your efforts more widely known.
Now the contest news
A large number of contests and activity parties take place over the
next two weeks. Details here will be brief and those taking part
should check the rules for details.
The UK Six Metre Group Winter Marathon runs until the 31st of January
using all modes on the 50MHz band.
Between the 26th and 29th of December the Christmas Cumulatives takes
place on the 50 to 432MHz bands.
The DARC Christmas Contest runs from 0830 to 1100UTC on the 26th
using CW and SSB on 3.5 to 7MHz.
The Worked All Britain Christmas Party runs from the 26th of December
to the 6th of January using all modes on all bands.
Between 1500UTC on the 29th and 1500UTC on the 30th the Stew Perry
Top Band Challenge uses CW only.
New Year's Day sees several contests. The 144MHz FM AC runs from 1900
to 1955UTC; the 144MHz Machine Generated Morse contest runs at the
same time. The 144MHz UK AC follows at 2000 to 2230UTC.
Also on the 1st, the IRTS 80m Counties contest runs from 1500 to
1700UTC, using SSB and CW.
The UKEICC 80m SSB contest is on the 2nd of January from 2000 to
2100UTC.
The ARRL RTTY Roundup starts at 1800UTC on the 5th and runs until
2359UTC on the 6th of January. It's data only on the 3.5 to 28MHz
bands.
The RSGB's CW AFS contest runs from 1300 to 1700UTC on the 5th, using
just the 3.5 and 7MHz bands.
The EUCW 160m CW Party runs from 2000 to 2300UTC on the 5th.
Finally, the EUCW 160m CW Party has its second session from 0400 to
0700UTC on the 6th of January.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 21st of December.
As this report has to take you up until Sunday the 6th of January
2019 we can't guarantee complete accuracy, but we'll try to predict
conditions for the Christmas period.
The solar flux index is pretty easy as it looks like it will remain
at or near sunspot minimum-like conditions. The SFI will be in the
range 69-72 with no real surprises. Geomagnetic conditions will in
general be settled although NOAA predicts an elevated K index due to
coronal holes around the 29th and 30th, and again on the 3rd to the
6th.
We may expect some winter Sporadic-E, with reports of 10m short-skip
openings to Europe being received already. Otherwise, this is the
time for low-band openings, with the winter solstice giving us the
long, dark nights that favour 160 and 80m propagation. Forty metres
can also often throw up some choice DX, especially in the late
afternoon.
We've just heard that OF9X is on from Finland again over Christmas,
featuring three operators aged 18 or under. According to
www.predtest.uk, 20 and 30m may be optimum for a contact during the
day, moving to 80m at night.
And finally, a reminder that Santa Claus and his ham radio elves are
on from Romania and are fielding the largest team of activators in
all the districts of YO. All you have to do is contact at least three
different YP-XMAS callsigns and they will be able to issue an
electronic award directly from Santa Claus. HF propagation to Romania
is optimum on 20 metres during the day, but falls back at night. 40
metres, or more likely 80 metres will be the best bands for contacts
after dark.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
It looks like Tropo for Christmas, all because of a large high that
will develop over the country from Christmas Eve onwards. This will
bring a temperature inversion, which is good for Tropo, and it will
cover a large part of the UK and continent. The temperature inversion
changes the refractive index of the air over a short vertical
distance and leads to a duct forming that can cause signals to travel
long distances with low degradation in signal strength. Unlike
Sporadic-E, which is a rapid transient propagation mode, Tropo is
capable of providing long-lasting openings. So if Santa has brought
you a new VHF/UHF radio for Christmas you could be in for a double
treat with lots of activity to add those new squares into the log
book.
The short but intense Quadrantids meteor shower peaks around 0200hrs
on the 4th of January so you'll need to be a night owl to hit the
peak zenithal hourly rate of 80.
The Moon reaches maximum declination today and perigee on Monday so
it is a good week for EME.
As a matter of interest, there is talk of a possible Sudden
Stratospheric Warming event later this month when the winds in the
stratosphere change dramatically over a day or so. This can lead to
colder weather about two weeks later. Additionally, this change in
the wind regime in the stratosphere may become part of an
out-of-season pattern, which can favour winter Sporadic-E. It's
always worth a check over the Christmas and New Year period for short
skip on 10m and 6m openings.
And that's all from the propagation team this year.
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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