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G4APL > NEWS 24.02.19 05:03l 254 Lines 11812 Bytes #999 (0) @ GBR
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 24 Feb 2019
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<XE1FH<VE2PKT<PI8CDR<PI8LAP<GB7YEW<GB7COW<GB7CIP
Sent: 190224/0331Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:60255 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G4APL@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To : NEWS@GBR
GB2RS Main News for Sunday 24th February 2019
The news headlines:
* IARU active at WRC-19 preparation
* Enter the Club of the Year competition
* Could you be RSGB Company Secretary?
The ITU Conference Preparation Meeting for WRC-19 has been running
this week and will continue into next week. Taking place in Geneva,
the IARU has been present for Agenda Items on 50MHz, Wireless Power
and other matters of importance to amateur radio.
There is still time to put in an entry for the RSGB Club of the Year
competition. Entries are welcome from all RSGB affiliated groups, and
there is just one size category this year so the size of your club
doesn't matter. The theme is ‘Meeting RSGB Strategy 2022'. Entries
must be received by the 28th of February. Clubs should read the rules
at www.rsgb.org/main/clubs/national-club-of-the-year/ and send
entries to their Regional Representative. The RSGB would like to
thank Waters & Stanton for their continued sponsorship of this
competition.
The RSGB looking to recruit an RSGB Member to the voluntary position
of Company Secretary. The position plays a key role in the Society's
governance and provides vital support in the running of Board
meetings and the Annual General Meeting. For full information on the
role, please go to www.rsgb.org/volunteers. If you feel you have the
necessary skills to fulfil this important role, or would like more
information, email the Chairman of the Board via
chairman<at>rsgb.org.uk and if you are applying for the position,
please include a current CV.
For the first couple of days after KickSat-2 was deployed last
November, nothing was heard from the satellite. But in February,
Nico, PA0DLO reported receiving several short and weak telemetry
bursts on 437.5077MHz. KickSat-2 was scheduled to deploy up to 104
tiny Sprite satellites into low Earth orbit. The Sprites then would
transmit on 437.240MHz at 10mW. The Sprites, which are less than 2
square inches, are expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere within
weeks. There is no news on whether these Sprites will be deployed.
Provisional results for the last IARU Region 1 50 to 70MHz Contest
are now available on the IARU Region 1 website, www.iaru-r1.org.
Several UK stations are in the top ten in various categories. The 6
hour 50MHz category saw G4ZAP/P achieving 4th place and G0VHF/P got
10th place. In the multi-operator 50MHz section, the GJ8P stations
achieved 5th place.
The ARRL has released version 11.7 of the Logbook of the World
configuration file. This has added the ability to confirm QSOs made
through the JO-97, FO-99 and QO-100 satellites. Users should receive
a prompt to update their configuration file when opening recent
versions of TQSL. The file can also be downloaded from
https://lotw.arrl.org/lotwuser/config.tq6
The RSGB has changed the way it hosts the online version of RadCom.
This uses HTML5 to display the pages and no longer requires Flash to
be installed. Pages will also load faster. All this year's editions
are now available to Members in the new format at www.rsgb.org/radcom
and we will be converting back issues from previous years in due
course.
Car parking charges will be waived for The West of England Radio
Rally on 16 June at Frome's Cheese and Grain. Last year, Mendip
District Council introduced Sunday charges in a number of car parks
across Frome, including the exhibitors' site. According to BBC News,
the council has announced it will stop charging for the duration of
the event.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, the 24th, the Rainham Radio Rally takes place at The Victory
Academy, Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5JB. Doors open 10am to
4pm and it's GBP 2.50 for adults, with free entry for children. There
will be local and national traders, the BRATS kitchen, a BRATS
Interactive Zone for Kids, BRATS Junk and a Talk-in Station on
145.550MHz using GB4RRR.
Also today, the 24th, the Red Rose Rally will be held at St Josephs
Hall, Chapel Street, Leigh WN7 2PQ. Doors open at 11am. There will be
trade, individual and club stands, including an RSGB bookstall, as
well as a Bring & Buy. Catering will be available on site. Details
are at www.wmrc.co.uk.
Next Sunday, the 3rd of March, the Exeter Radio & Electronics Rally
takes place at America Hall, De la Rue Way, Pinhoe, Exeter EX4 8PW.
Doors open at 10.30am, with disabled customers gaining access at
10.15am. Admission is GBP 2, with under 16s free. There will be trade
stands, a Bring & Buy, and catering will be available on site.
Details from Pete, G3ZVI on 0771 419 8374.
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
George, W2AIV will be on holiday in Belize as V31GF until the 2nd of
March. He will be on the 40, 20, 15 and 10m bands using SSB but will
also try some slow CW. Logs will be uploaded to Logbook of The World.
Willy, ON4AVT will be active as 6W7/ON4AVT from Senegal until the
30th of March. He will operate PSK, CW, SSB and possibly FT8 on
various bands including 60m. QSL via his home call, bureau preferred.
Roman, UT7UA is active as EM1UA and/or EM1U from the Ukrainian
Research Station located on Galindez Island, AN-006, Antarctica. His
licence is valid until 1 February 2020. QSL for both callsigns via
UT7UA.
Gildas and Michel will be active as FG/F6HMQ and FG/F6GWV
respectively from Guadeloupe, NA-102, until the 10th of March. QSL
via their home calls. In the ARRL DX SSB Contest they'll call TO3Z.
QSL via F6HMQ.
Arnaud, JG1XMV will be on the air as FK/JG1XMV from New Caledonia
until the 10th of March. He will operate SSB on the 40 to 15m bands
from the main island, Grande Terre, OC-032. Updates will be posted on
QRZ.com under FK/JG1XMV. QSL via JG1XMV either direct or the bureau,
Logbook of The World and eQSL.
Now the special event news
H31A is being used to commemorate 500 years of the foundation of
Panama City, Panama. The station will be on the air at various times
until the 15th of August. They will be operating on the 80 to 10m
bands, particularly using digital modes, RTTY, PSK31 and FT8, and
some SSB. For more information, please refer to QRZ.com. The QSL
manager is HP1AVS.
Please send special event details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk, as early
as possible, for free publicity on GB2RS, in RadCom and online.
Remember that UK stations with special event callsigns must be open
to the public, so our free publicity can help make your efforts more
widely known.
Now the contest news
Today, the 24th, the First 70MHz Cumulative Contest runs from 1000 to
1200UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
The CW World Wide 160m DX contest ends its 48 hour run at 2200UTC
today, the 24th. Using SSB on the 1.8MHz band only, the exchange is
signal report and CQ Zone, which for the UK is 14. American and
Canadian stations will also send their State or Province.
The REF Contest ends today at 1800UTC. Using SSB only on the 3.5 to
28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number.
French stations also send their département number or overseas
prefix.
On Tuesday the SHF UK Activity Contest runs from 1930 to 2230UTC.
Using all modes on the 2.3 to 10GHz bands, the exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
On Wednesday the UK and Ireland Contest Club 80m contest runs from
2000 to 2100UTC. This is a CW leg and the exchange is your
4-character locator.
On Thursday the 80m Club Championships also has its CW leg between
2000 and 2130UTC. The exchange this time is signal report and serial
number.
Next weekend, the 144/432MHz contest runs for 24 hours from 1400UTC
on the 2nd to 1400UTC on the 3rd. Using all modes on both bands, the
exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
The ARRL International DX contest runs for 48 hours next weekend from
0000UTC on the 2nd to 2359UTC on the 3rd. Using the 1.8 to 28MHz
contest bands, the exchange is signal report and transmit power.
American and Canadian stations also give their State or Province.
On Sunday the 3rd, the UK Microwave Group's Low Band Contest runs
from 1000 to 1600UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the
exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
Now the propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on
Friday the 22nd of February
The Sun played ball this week and matched our predictions. The Kp
index soared to four on Thursday the 21st, thanks to ongoing coronal
hole activity, but it was otherwise settled. There had been good
conditions earlier in the week. The ARRL International DX Contest
gave people contacts into nearly all the US states over the weekend
of the 16th and 17th. Meanwhile, Chris, G0DWV worked a host of west
coast US stations, including some in Oregon and Washington, via 40m
long path late afternoon on Wednesday the 20th, although his beam
helped a lot. This may have also been due to a pre-auroral
enhancement, as the Kp index surged upwards later that evening.
Next week we can expect more of the same, with NOAA predicting the
solar flux index at 68 to 70 again. Geomagnetic conditions will be
settled to start with, but expect the Kp index to rise again from
around the 27th due to recurrent coronal hole activity. We may expect
the Kp index to hit four or five between the 27th of February and the
2nd of March, so expect subdued maximum usable frequencies after the
potential for enhanced conditions before the geomagnetic storm bites.
As we head into March we can start to kiss goodbye to the long nights
that have brought good 160m conditions. It's time to say hello to
better HF conditions, with excellent north-south paths, especially
around noon and early afternoon. Eighty metres may also start to
continue to be open to the UK after dark, with the critical frequency
just managing to cover the whole band at times this week.
And now the VHF and up propagation news
The large area of high pressure nearby to the east and south of
Britain will continue to provide good Tropo conditions during the
first part of the coming week. This long run of Tropo weather, pretty
much since the start of the month, is typical of slow-moving winter
highs, but eventually the Atlantic lows and their frontal systems
will always break through. This time it seems the changeover starts
from mid-week, as the pressure falls, and the quality of the lift
conditions fade. It's still too early to talk of Sporadic-E
propagation, so that leaves the cupboard bare for other
weather-related modes this week, but keep watch in case the odd
aurora chances by.
Es'hailSat continues to surprise and activity is high, with reports
of people copying narrowband signals with just an LNB pointed at the
satellite and no dish! A 45cm Sky dish seems to give acceptable
results receiving the narrowband transponder.
Moon declination is negative and falling this week so the Moon will
be at low elevation for a short period each day and losses are
increasing as we go towards apogee a week tomorrow.
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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