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G4APL > NEWS 09.09.19 20:01l 268 Lines 12907 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 11 Aug 2019
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Sent: 190811/0919Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:15505 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G4APL@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To : NEWS@EU
GB2RS Main News for Sunday 11th August 2019
The news headlines:
* Record numbers visit NRC
* YOTA 2019 in Bulgaria
* ILLW next weekend
The RSGB?s National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park experienced record
numbers of visitors in July. Before last month, the highest number of
visitors was 10,713 in August 2018. July 2019 saw 10,860 visitors to
the NRC, with several days seeing over 500 visitors through the door.
If you?re interested in becoming an NRC volunteer you should be
passionate about meeting people, feel confident explaining the hobby,
as well as operating the NRC?s radio station, GB3RS. You should be a
licensed amateur, an RSGB Member and be prepared to work a minimum of
one (preferably two) days per month. You will be joining a team of
enthusiastic, friendly and dedicated volunteers and full training
will be given. Travel expenses are paid to volunteers living within
reasonable travelling distance and NRC volunteers enjoy numerous
benefits associated with volunteering at Bletchley Park. Please email
nrc.support<at>rsgb.org.uk for further information.
Up to 80 young radio amateurs, primarily from IARU Region 1 but
including participants from other parts of the world, will gather in
Bulgaria from today, the 11th of August for the ninth annual
Youngsters on the Air Summer Camp. Special callsign LZ19YOTA will be
on the air during the week-long event, hosted by the Bulgarian
Federation of Radio Amateurs. Activities will include kit building
and an opportunity to visit the surrounding region, including the
Acom amplifier factory. QSL LZ19YOTA via the bureau to LZ1BJ. You can
read about the experiences of the British team at
www.rsgb.org/yota2019.
The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend runs from 0001UTC
on Saturday the 17th August to 2359UTC on the 18th. The event came
into being in 1998 as the Scottish Northern Lights Award, run by the
Ayr Amateur Radio Group. ILLW now attracts over 500 lighthouse
entries located in over 40 countries. To see a list of this year?s
special event stations, go to https://illw.net/ and this week?s
propagation report has details on which lighthouses you are likely to
be able to hear and work.
The RSGB Convention takes place in Milton Keynes from the 11th to the
13th of October. Dave Sumner, K1ZZ will open the convention with his
talk on Our Global Amateur Radio Community. Dave is the Secretary for
the IARU and has recently written a very thought-provoking article in
the ITU?s magazine on the value of radio amateurs around the world,
see https://tinyurl.com/rsgb-itunews. Nobby Styles, G0VJG will speak
about his DXpedition to Wallis Island and RSGB Members can read a
brief account of this in the September RadCom. To book weekend
packages or day tickets and to read more about the RSGB Convention,
go to www.rsgb.org/convention. The Early Bird discounts have been
extended until the 1st of September.
Region 1, Scotland South and Western Isles, has a number of vacancies
for Deputy Regional Representatives. District 13, Ayrshire, Dumfries
and Galloway, District 16, the Borders, and District 17, Stirling,
Falkirk and Clackmannanshire, are all vacant. If you would like to
know more about the role and what it entails, contact the Regional
manager for Region 1, Tony Miles, MM0TMZ by email to
rr1<at>rsgb.org.uk.
The DXCC Most Wanted entities list has been updated on Club Log. The
complete list contains 340 entities, with the top five most wanted
being North Korea, Bouvet Island, Crozet Island, Scarborough Reef and
San Felix Islands. The list is available at
https://secure.clublog.org/mostwanted.php
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, the 11th sees the Flight Refuelling ARS Hamfest take place at
Cobham Sports and Social Club Ground, Merley, near Wimborne, Dorset
BH21 3DA. A talk-in station will be on S22. There is car parking on
site and doors are open from 10am to 4.30pm. Admission is GBP4, which
includes parking. There will be trade stands with indoor and field
pitches and a car boot area. Lectures will take place during the day.
No dogs are allowed, except Guide dogs, which is a condition set by
the landowner. More from Tony Baker, G3PFM on 0774 347 5018.
Next Sunday, the 18th of August, the Rugby ARS Rally will take place
at Princethorpe College, Princethorpe, Rugby CV23 9PY. Admission is
GBP3 and the NGR for sat navs is SP395710. Doors open from 10am to 4pm,
with traders having access from 8.30am. There is a car boot area.
Catering is available on site. Details from Steve, G8LYB on
07956 855816.
Now is the time to let us know your rally and event plans for 2020.
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
the earlier you tell us the better. We need to know four months in
advance to get your info into RadCom, and do our best to give you
free publicity for as many months as possible.
And now the DX news from 425 DX News and other sources
A group of mainly German amateurs will activate TO5M from the St
Pierre and Miquelon Islands, IOTA reference NA-032, until the 18th of
August. They will be on all bands from 160 to 6m on SSB, CW and FT8.
QSL via Club Log OQRS.
A team of ZS operators will activate Robben Island, AF-064, from the
15th to the 20th of August. They will use the callsign ZS9V. Look for
them mainly on 10, 15 and 20m SSB. Robben Island is where Nelson
Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. QSL manager is M0OXO.
Gil, IZ2DLV is active as 8Q7GB from Nika Island, AS-013, until the
18th of August. Activity is holiday style on the 40, 30, 20, 17 and
15m bands using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via Logbook of The World or
ClubLog.
Members of the DX Punta Maya Group will be active as T45FM from the
Punta Maya Lighthouse, NA-105, in Cuba from the 15th to the 19th of
August. Activity will be on the 160 to 10m bands using CW, SSB and
the digital modes. An emphasis will be on the International
Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. QSL via RW6HS.
Now the special event news
Advance notice now for British Inland Waterways on the Air 2019. This
annual event takes place over the August bank holiday, the 24th to
26th of August. The event is open to all amateurs who are boaters,
cyclists or who otherwise use the canals, rivers, towpaths or
riverbanks for work or recreation. Many clubs and individual amateurs
who are on or near the UK inland waterways obtain Special Event
Station callsigns. Others operate mobile or portable stations using
their own callsigns. If you are interested in registering your
station for the event or for more information, please visit
www.nharg.org.uk/biwota˙
Bushvalley ARC is taking part in the lighthouse on the air event this
year from Rathlin Island. The club has eight members travelling to
the island to activate the three lighthouses there. The event runs
from the 17th to the 18th of August. For live updates and frequencies
please keep an eye on their Facebook page.
The FT8 Digital Mode Club is commemorating its 2nd anniversary and
eight special event stations will be on air in a number of countries
until the 24th of August. An FTDMC Anniversary Award can be earned,
with various levels to the award. Full details of the participating
stations, and the awards, are at www.ft8dmc.eu
The bicentennial commemoration of the Peterloo Massacre incident in
Manchester that happened on the 16th of August 1819 has two local
clubs marking the event. South Manchester Radio Club is running
GB200PLM for the next three weeks with information on
www.smrcc.org.uk. Oldham ARC are organising a special event to take
place during a picnic and unveiling of a memorial stone using GB2PL
on UHF, VHF and some HF from the park?s Rotary Club Wheel area from
about 11am on the 18th of August. QSL via the bureau and eQSL.
Please send special event details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk as early
as possible so we can give you free publicity. It is a licensing
condition that stations using a UK special event callsign must be
open to the public.
Now the contest news
Just a reminder that August is the month of the traditional summer
holiday, so there are no RSGB HF contests this month.
Today, the 11th, the 5th 70MHz Cumulative Contest runs from 1400 to
1600UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
The WAE DX CW contest runs for 48 hours over this weekend ending at
2359UTC on the 11th. It?s CW only on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands. The
exchange is signal report and serial number, but EU stations must
only work non-EU stations to count.
On Tuesday the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC,
using FM only. It is immediately followed by the all-mode 432MHz UK
Activity Contest from 1900 to 2130UTC. The exchange for both contests
is signal report, serial number and locator.
On Thursday the 70MHz UK Activity Contest takes place from 1900 to
2130UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 9th of August.
Matter from a solar coronal hole hit the Earth last week as
predicted. However, we got the date wrong, as it actually impacted us
on Monday and not Sunday, as it was moving slightly slower than we
thought. This sent the Kp index up to five as the Earth?s geomagnetic
field was disturbed and where it stayed for four consecutive Kp
sessions, or 12 hours in total. There were reports of a pre-auroral
enhancement on 10 metres, but overall HF conditions were down as a
result.
Tuesday was characterised by reduced maximum usable frequencies, but
by Wednesday the solar wind stream had calmed down and the ionosphere
soon got back to its normal sunspot minimum doldrums. There was DX to
be chased though, with the CY9C St Paul Island DXpedition off Nova
Scotia being workable on the lower HF bands, especially 20m, and
being very audible in the UK.
Next week NOAA predicts a calm Sun with a solar flux index of 67 and
zero sunspots. After potentially unsettled geomagnetic conditions
this weekend due to a coronal hole, the rest of the week should be
fine, with a maximum Kp index of two or three.
Don?t forget that it is International Lighthouse and Lightship
Weekend on the 17th and 18th, which should attract more than 500
lighthouse entries located in over 40 countries. A full list can be
found at illw.net, but please note that with ionospheric conditions
the way they are you may struggle to work nearby UK lighthouses on
40m due to the low critical frequency, and 80m may be closed from
mid-morning until late afternoon due to D-layer absorption. But feel
free to try for the European stations and those further afield on 40
and 20m.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
The next week or so is looking decidedly unlike summer with a
tendency for low pressure, especially in the north. Wind, rain,
thunder and no Tropo is hard to sell, but there are usually some
positives even in bad weather! Let's start with a strong positive,
which is a good jet stream pattern for Sporadic-E. In this case a
marked upper trough crosses the country with segments of strong jet
stream winds over the UK and near continent. In the closing weeks of
the Sporadic-E season, a strong jet stream is a real bonus, so pursue
the usual summer operating rules and check the 10m and 6m bands late
morning and late afternoon.
Another positive is that the Perseids meteor shower is approaching
its peak, so expect excellent meteor scatter conditions over the
coming days. The broad peak of the 11th to the 13th of August may
cause meteor ionisation, which is an important component in the
formation of Sporadic-E.
Now the bad news. There is pretty much a total absence of high
pressure, so it's unlikely that Tropo will feature much, if at all.
Strong winds will remind us to check the antennas are in good shape
for winter. Trying to end on a positive note, thunderstorms are
useful if you are into GHz bands rain scatter from the large
cumulonimbus clouds.
Moon declination is at its minimum, most negative, today, so the Moon
will be very low in the sky at its zenith. Losses are still
increasing as we approach apogee on Saturday, so it?s a poor 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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