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G4TNU > NEWS 07.05.23 01:35l 285 Lines 13605 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 07 May 2023
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 7th of May 2023
The news headlines:
* RSGB Coronation activities
* RSGB insurance
* Tonight<at>8 webinar
The RSGB has released some updates about its planned Coronation
activities. Firstly, a personalised RSGB Coronation QSL card is now
available within the Coronation web pages. You can simply enter your
callsign and print it off. Following the recent issue of GB23BAA to
BZZ by Ofcom, the Beaconnect activity registration is now open. If
you go to the Beaconnect web page you will find the registration
section which will guide you through the process. Finally, it is now
possible for individual radio amateurs and clubs to register to use
the GB23C callsign between the 10th of May to the 30th of June.
Details can be found on the GB23C web page. For further information
on these and all the other Coronation activities being led by the
RSGB, go to rsgb.org/coronation
RSGB club insurance, and beacon and repeater insurance, have now been
renewed for the year to April 2024. Club insurance certificates can
be downloaded from the RSGB website. You will need to log in to
obtain your certificate. Beacon and repeater insurance certificates
are available for an admin fee of GBP 12 from the RSGB shop. Please
allow a couple of days after renewal for your certificate to be
dispatched.
The RSGB's May Tonight<at>8 webinar is not in its usual slot on the
first Monday of the month. To accommodate the two Bank Holidays, the
live webinar will be on Monday the 15th of May instead. Put the date
in your diary for an interesting presentation by Jack Purdum, W8TEE
and Al Peter, AC8GY on the T41-EP ALPS: A High Performance CW
Decoder.
Matthew, M0MZB from Calder Bridge in Cumbria, has become a SOTA
Mountain Goat in impressive style. He reached the 1,000 activation
point threshold with an overnight activation of High Stile G/LD-012
in the English Lake District. Matthew set up overnight camp on the
summit of the long ridge above the western shore of Lake
Buttermere. He operated both on VHF and HF and made a
summit-to-summit contact with Alex Hill, G7KSE who was on the Dent
summit, G/LD-045. Since getting involved in Summits on the Air,
Matthew's expeditions have left many radio amateurs in awe. He has
conducted many multi-summit expeditions without motorised transport,
traversing between summits entirely on foot or by bicycle. Upon
reaching the coveted Mountain Goat status, Matthew commented: "SOTA
has given me new ideas for my little expeditions and has put me in
touch with lots of new friends. The challenge of Mountain Goat has
included many facets, from learning CW to antenna building, from
battery technology to fishing poles." For more information about
Summits on the Air visit www.sota.org.uk
Pubs and Clubs on the Air is taking place on the 12th, 13th and 14th
of May. If you or your radio club or society is interested in taking
part and operating a station, please email g1puv<at>yahoo.co.uk or
visit the g6tw.co.uk website.
Mills on the Air Weekend will take place on Saturday the 13th and
Sunday the 14th of May. For more information, or to register to take
part, visit www.ddars.net or contact millsontheair<at>gmail.com
And now for details of rallies and events
Thorpe Camp Hamfest Rally is taking place today, Sunday the 7th of
May. The venue is Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre and the entrance fee is
GBP 4 per person. The rally is taking place from 9am to 1pm. Hot food
and drinks will be available on site. For more information phone
Sylvia or Anthony on 07956 654 481.
Dartmoor Radio Rally is taking place today, Sunday the 7th of May at
Yelverton War Memorial Hall, Meavy Lane, Yelverton, Devon, PL20 6AL.
The usual bring and buy, trader stands, refreshments and free parking
are available. Doors open at 10am and admission is GBP 2.50. For more
information contact Roger by phone on 07854 088 882, or email via
2e0rph<at>gmail.com
The Braehead Rally will take place on Sunday the 14th of May. The
venue will be Braehead Arena Foyer, 150 Kings Inch Road, Renfrew
G51 4BN. Free parking will be available. The doors open for everyone
at 10am and admission is GBP 4. The event will feature bring and buy
and the Central Scotland Repeater Group AGM. For more information and
contact details visit www.braeheadradiorally.com
RetrotechUK, hosted by the British Vintage Wireless Society, will
take place on Sunday the 21st of May. The venue will be Sports
Connexion, Leamington Road, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Coventry, CV8 3FL.
This large annual vintage technology fair will feature up to 200
indoor stalls. Private sellers, clubs and dealers will offer vintage
items, including radio, television, hi-fi, vinyl, 78s, gramophones,
telephones, communications equipment, spare parts, and much more.
There will also be a bring and buy area and free parking available.
The event is open to everyone and general admission from 10.30am is
GBP 10. Early entry from 9am costs GBP 25. For more details contact
Jeremy, G8MLK via email on jezzer3<at>hotmail.com, by phone on
07799 110 080, or visit www.retrotechuk.com
The Barry Amateur Radio Society Rally will take place on Saturday
the 27th of May. The venue will be Sully Sports and Social Club,
South Road, Sully, CF64 5SP. Doors open from 9.30am for the public
and 7.30am for traders. Free parking is available on site. For more
information contact Steve on 07368 140 795.
Now the Special Event News
Today is the last chance to work special callsign 5F15SIA which is
active to promote Morocco's International Exhibition of Agriculture.
QSL via Logbook of the World, or direct to CN8WW.
OT2023EPIC is the special callsign for the Pajottenlandse
[PAH-JOTTEN-LAND] Radio Amateur Club in Belgium to promote the sixth
Antwerp Port Epic cycling race. Look out for activity until the 21st
of May.
Special callsign GB4VLB will be active on the 20th and 21st of May
from the Volunteer Life Brigade Watch House in Tynemouth as part of
SOS Radio Week. The station will be operating in support of the
Volunteer Life Brigade, RNLI and National Coast Watch Institution.
For more information visit qrz.com. QSL via Logbook of the World.
Now the DX news
Today is the last chance to work Kasimir, DL2SBY who is active as
8Q7KB in the Maldives. He is operating CW, SSB and FT8 and FT4 with a
focus on the 30, 17, 12, 10 and 6m bands. QSL via Logbook of the
world, Club Log's OQRS or direct to his home call.
Pista, HA5AO will be active as 5X2I [FIVE XRAY TWO INDIA] from the
shores of Lake Victoria, Uganda until Wednesday the 10th of May. He
will operate CW, SSB and FT8 on the 40 to 10m bands. QSL via HA5AO's
OQRS page is preferred.
JE1HXZ/6 is active from Kuroshima [KUR-O-SHEEMA], AS-024, until
Monday the 8th of May. He will operate CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8 and FT4 on
the HF and 6m bands. QSL via the bureau and Logbook of the World.
Now the contest news
Today, the 7th, the Worked All Britain 7MHz Phone Contest runs from
1000 to 1400UTC. Using phone on the 40m band, the exchange is signal
report, serial number and Worked All Britain square.
Today, the 7th, the ARI International DX Contest ends its 24-hour run
at 1200UTC. Using CW, RTTY and SSB on the 80 to 10m bands, where
contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial
number. Italian stations give their province code.
Today, the 7th, the 10GHz Trophy Contest runs from 0800 to 1400UTC.
Using all modes on the 10GHz band, the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
Today, the 7th, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from
0800 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the
exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
Also today, the 7th, the 432MHz to 245GHz Contest ends its 24-hour
run at 1400UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
On Tuesday the 9th of May, the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from
1800 to 1855UTC. Using FM on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
Also on Tuesday the 9th of May, the 432MHz UK Activity Contest runs
from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 70cm band, the exchange
is signal report, serial number and locator.
On Wednesday the 10th of May, the 432MHz FT8 Activity four-hour
Contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the
exchange is report and four-character locator. Also on Wednesday the
10th of May, the 432MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900
to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is report and
four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may
also enter the two-hour contest.
On Thursday the 11th of May, the 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from
1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is
signal report, serial number and locator.
On Sunday the 14th of May, the 70MHz CW Contest takes places from
0900 to 1200UTC. Using CW on the 4m band, the exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
On Sunday the 14th of May, the UK Microwave Group Millimetre-Wave
Contest runs from 0900 to 1700UTC. Using all modes on the 24, 47 and
76GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO
on Thursday the 4th of May 2023
Next week will see the Sun presenting with four large sunspots groups
that are rotating to be Earth-facing, so look out for trouble. Just
as the UK weather takes a turn for the worse, we expect the space
weather to be unpredictable too!
Active regions 3293, 3294, 3296 and 3297 look dark and are looming
large on the Sun's face. Region 3293 emitted an M7.2 class solar
flare on the 3rd of May, which the Space Weather Prediction Centre
reported was likely due to an intensification of the magnetic field
within the spot group.
The flare caused some degradation of the ionosphere, but nothing too
serious. However, the Space Weather Prediction Centre now predicts
that further flares could follow, perhaps even a strong X-class
flare, which could have more serious effects.
If an X-class flare occurs in daylight over the UK, we can expect the
HF bands to be affected in what is known as a sudden ionospheric
disturbance or Dellinger fadeout. This could see the lower HF bands
shut down due to extreme ionisation in the D-layer, only for the band
to return to normal over a period of minutes to an hour.
More worrying is the fact that the flare could spark a coronal mass
ejection, or CME, which, if Earth-directed, could cause the Kp index
to rise, MUFs to drop and bring auroral activity a few days after the
CME. So, keep an eye on solarham.net for updates.
Meanwhile, the solar flux index, or SFI, remains in the 150s and this
looks set to continue. The US Air Force predicts the SFI will start
the week at 152, then dip slightly, before reaching 170 by the 12th
of May.
It also predicts that geomagnetic conditions will be settled once we
get past this weekend, which could see the Kp index rise to four.
These unsettled conditions may be due to a coronal hole, which became
Earth-facing on Thursday.
Propagation-wise, F2-layer maximum usable frequencies over a 3,000km
path have struggled to exceed 21 to 24MHz during daylight hours as we
head towards summer.
The season is characterised as having lower MUFs during the day, but
these tend to be maintained into the hours of darkness. Meanwhile,
Sporadic-E might spring some surprises for paths over 800 to 2,200km
on 14 to 28MHz, with very strong signals and rapid fading.
And now the VHF and up propagation news
The weather pattern is taking a change to unsettled as we move
through this first May weekend, with low pressure dominating the
charts and throwing active weather fronts across the country.
This will produce some quite heavy rain at times and perhaps even
some thundery activity. This bodes well for rain scatter on the GHz
bands.
This pattern extends well into next week, eventually changing from a
south-westerly to a north-westerly followed by a building ridge of
high pressure to bring a temporary hint of Tropo to end the week.
This opens the more exotic modes to consideration, such as meteor
scatter and possible aurora, but these are very much outliers to the
main interest at this time of year, which is Sporadic-E. The season
has nominally started, and daily blogs are being added to the website
Propquest.co.uk, which describe the more likely regions to find
Sporadic-E opportunities.
This unsettled weather pattern brings a useful bonus in that it is
often associated with jet stream activity. The whole period offers
several jet streams across Europe, a positive for the start of the
new Sporadic-E season, since jet streams are often associated with
the location of Sporadic-E activity.
Moon declination is low and falling, reaching minimum next Tuesday.
EME Moon windows will be short. Perigee is Thursday, so when you do
have a view of the Moon, path losses will be low. 144MHz sky noise is
high, reaching over 3200K late on Monday.
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.
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