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G4TNU > NEWS 20.04.25 02:46l 263 Lines 12928 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 20 Apr 2025
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 20th of April 2025
The news headlines:
* Take advantage of new RSGB membership benefits for 2025!
* The RSGB Board has announced Directors' liaison roles
* The RSGB has released a 1925 bulletin containing the original
announcement of the formation of the IARU
As a new benefit, the Society has teamed up with several museums to
offer RSGB members discounted entry for 2025. Members can receive
between 20% and 50% off admission fees at Amberley Museum, Bawdsey
Radar Museum, Internal Fire Museum of Power, PK Porthcurno Museum of
Global Communications and The National Museum of Computing. So,
whether you're into engines, radar, transport, computers or
communications there's sure to be something for you. To find out
more, visit rsgb.org/partner-museums
Following the RSGB 2025 AGM on Saturday the 12th of April, a brief
Board meeting was held. The Board elected Stewart Bryant, G3YSX to
continue in the role of Board Chair and Peter Bowyer, G4MJS to
continue as Vice Chair. Both will remain in these roles until the
2026 AGM. The Board liaison roles with RSGB committees, Honorary
Officers and areas of RSGB strategy have also been agreed. To find
out more or to see contact details for each Board Director, go
to rsgb.org/board
World Amateur Radio Day was on Friday the 18th of April. It was also
on that day in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union was
formed in Paris. In celebration of this, the RSGB has shared a T & R
Bulletin from 1925 that details the original announcement about the
IARU's formation. This unique document has been made publicly
available for all radio amateurs to be able to enjoy. To start
reading, simply go to rsgb.org/radcom then click on the image to
enter the web app and select the ‘RadCom Sample' option in the
header.
The RSGB website has a wealth of information available to you, and
the search function is a useful tool to find what you are looking
for. However, to make things as straightforward as possible, the
Society has updated the contacts page on its website. If you need to
get in touch about something specific, you'll be able to find the
correct contact details at a glance. Each Headquarters department is
listed with the range of services they offer. For example, you'll see
that the Sales Team can also help with club insurance, Membership
Services will help with any issues logging into its online membership
portal, and that GB2RS news items should be sent to the RadCom Team.
Whatever your query, the Team is there to help. If you need more
local help, please contact your Regional Team representatives. Head
over to rsgb.org/contact to find out how to get in touch.
Professor Gwyn Griffiths, G3ZIL is a well-known member of the RSGB
Propagation Studies Committee, as well as someone involved with Ham
Radio Science Citizen Investigation, also known as HamSCI. In
celebration of Citizen Science Month during April, the RSGB has
shared Gwyn's HamSCI presentation from the RSGB 2024 Convention on
its YouTube channel. In the talk, Gwyn outlines the organisation's
activities, particularly during the 2023 and 2024 eclipses. Go to
youtube.com/theRSGB to watch the talk now. If you'd like to find
out more, join the RSGB for May's Tonight<at>8 webinar when HamSCI
lead Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF presents ‘Space weather we can do
together'. Both Gwyn and Nathaniel recently won awards in the RSGB
2025 AGM Trophy Presentation. You can also get involved with HamSCI's
preparations for a series of meteor scatter experiments in August and
December. You can find further details via hamsci.org/msqp
Have you ever wondered about the origins of the smart doorbell?
Although a modern phenomenon, it has a history dating back over 100
years. During the latest series of The Secret Genius of Modern Life,
Hannah Fry explores its early origins with a device created by Leon
Theremin [THEH-RUH-MUHN]. During the episode radio amateur Neil,
G4DBN, re-creates Leon's device. The episode will air on BBC2 at
20.00 on Wednesday the 23rd of April. Many of you will know Neil from
Season One, Episode One of the series when he re-created the Great
Seal Bug. Both episodes are available to watch now via BBC iPlayer.
Please send details of all your news and events to
radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk The deadline for submissions is 10am on
Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.
And now for details of rallies and events
The Cambridge Repeater Group Rally is taking place on Sunday the 27th
of April at Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambridge,
CB22 6RN. Doors open at 7.30am for traders and 9.30am to the general
public. The entrance fee is GBP 4. The event will include a car-boot
sale, trade stands, a bring-and-buy area, catering, disabled
facilities, an RSGB Bookstall and a free, marshalled car park. A cash
and card burger van will open at 8am. The venue rules state strictly
no dogs except assistance dogs on the field. Go to
cambridgerepeaters.net for further details and bookings.
The Dartmoor Radio Rally is taking place on Monday the 5th of May at
the Yelverton War Memorial Hall, Meavy Lane, Yelverton, Devon,
PL20 6AL. Free parking is available. There will be the usual bring
and buy, trader stands and refreshments. Doors open at 10am and
admission is GBP 3. For further details, please contact Roger by
phone on 07854 088882, or email 2e0rph<at>gmail.com
Now the Special Event news
The Spanish national society, URE, is on the air to mark the 100th
anniversary of the IARU. Members are active on 160m to 6m until the
30th of April with ten different special event stations, including
AO100IARU. Special awards will be available, as well as medals for
the top participants from each continent who achieve the highest
number of contacts with the stations on different bands and modes. Go
to ure.es for further details.
The Portuguese national society, REP, is also activating a number of
special callsigns as part of celebrations for the 100th anniversary
of the IARU. This includes CR1IARU from the Azores, CR3IARU from
Madeira and CR5IARU from mainland Portugal. Members will be active on
multiple bands and modes. Look out for activity until the 24th of
April. Full details can be found via tinyurl.com/CR1IARU
The Amateur Radio Society of Moldova is operating special event
station ER100IARU until Wednesday the 30th of April in honour of the
IARU Centenary. Full details can be found via qrz.com
The Kuwait Amateur Radio Society is pleased to announce its
participation in the IARU centennial celebrations. Members of the
Society will be operating special event station 9K100IARU until
Wednesday the 30th of April.
Ten teams of radio amateurs from around the world are commemorating
80 years since Operation Manna and Operation Chowhound. The two
operations were humanitarian food drops that helped to relieve the
famine in the Netherlands behind Nazi lines late in World War Two.
The teams will be active between the 25th and 27th of April on HF,
VHF and the DMR Brandmeister Talk Groups unique to this event. A
number of the teams are also welcoming visitors and arranging
activities at their locations. To find details of Talk Groups for
this event, the teams involved, as well as how to collect a
commemorative award, go to manna80.radio
Now the DX news
Aldir, PY1SAD is active again from Georgetown in Guyana [GAI-AA-NUH]
as 8R1TM until the 26th of April. Aldir will be operating on all
bands using CW, SSB, digital and satellite. QSL via eQSL and Logbook
of The World.
Arno, DK1HV is active from Greenland as OX/DK1VK until Sunday the
27th of April. He'll be QRV on 160m to 10m mainly SSB using wire
antennas and 100W radio. QSL available via his home callsign.
Dom, 3D2USU is active again as 3D2AJT from Nadi [NAHN-DI] in the Fiji
Islands until the end of April. The call sign is in memory of JH1AJT,
now Silent Key. QSL via Club Log's OQRS and Logbook of The World.
Now the contest news
On Tuesday the 22nd of April, the SHF UK Activity Contest runs from
1830 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on 2.3 to 10GHz frequencies, the
exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
On Thursday the 24th of April, the 80m Club Championship runs from
1900 to 2030UTC. Using PSK63 and RTTY, the exchange is signal report
and serial number.
The UK and Ireland DX CW Contest starts at 1200UTC on Saturday the
26th of April and ends at 1200UTC on Sunday the 27th of April. Using
CW on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange
is signal report and serial number. UK and Ireland stations also send
their district code.
The SP DX RTTY Contest starts at 1200UTC on Saturday the 26th of
April and ends at 1200UTC on Sunday the 27th of April. Using RTTY on
the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is
signal report and serial number. SP stations also send their province
code.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Thursday the 17th of April 2025
Last week was characterised by increased Kp index numbers and severe
geomagnetic storms, peaking at G4. These drove down maximum usable
frequencies and disrupted DX contacts, especially on the higher HF
bands.
The solar wind speed increased from 380 kilometres per second to
around 500 kilometres per second on the 15th and an increase in
plasma density was noted as well. Subsequently, the Kp index peaked
at 7.67 on Wednesday the 16th, causing visible aurora alerts in the
UK.
This was caused by a pair of CMEs that left the Sun on Sunday the
13th of April. We had a total of 22 M-class solar flares over four
days, so a CME event was inevitable.
Unsettled geomagnetic conditions are a feature on the declining side
of a solar cycle, so we could unfortunately be in for many more.
According to Propquest, MUFs over a 3,000km path fell to below 18MHz
for long periods on Wednesday the 16th, before climbing to around
21MHz at the end of the day.
Meanwhile, the solar flux index fell from a high of 170 on Friday the
11th of April to a low of 148 on Wednesday the 16th of April.
Next week, NOAA predicts that the SFI will start the week around 145
but could increase to 165 as the week progresses. Unsettled
geomagnetic conditions are forecast for the 22nd to the 24th of
April, with a predicted maximum Kp index of four.
As always, keep an eye on solarham.com for daily updates, but more
importantly, get on the bands, which are a much more effective guide
to HF propagation!
And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO
The current period of unsettled weather looks likely to continue into
the coming week. This does not mean rain every day, but periods of
rain or showers with some intervening drier spells. These drier
interludes are not really dominated by high pressure, just gaps
between the wetter periods, so it's unlikely to produce much
significant Tropo.
In terms of propagation, there may be some rain scatter, although it
won't be very reliable. However, the prospects for meteor scatter are
more promising with the peak of the Lyrids due on Tuesday the 22nd of
April. It is worth checking up on procedures for meteor scatter
working if you've not done it before and you may find a new part of
the hobby to add to your operating schedule.
The prospects for aurora continue to be raised by what seems like an
almost daily supply of aurora alerts. Continue to monitor the Kp
index for signs of elevated values, where Kp is above five, for radio
activity. Early signs such as fluttery signals on the LF and HF bands
may suggest it's worth looking on the VHF bands for auroral activity.
As we move towards the new season it is good to get into the habit of
looking for Sporadic-E. The Propquest website www.propquest.co.uk
shows several useful components for analysing the Es prospects. If
you look at the position of the jet streams shown on the Es blog tab,
these can produce favourable conditions geographically to give a hint
of the right direction in which to listen. The opening season
typically favours 10m or 6m.
EME path losses are now decreasing towards perigee on Sunday the 27th
of April. Last Friday, the 18th of April, saw minimum Moon
declination, so Moon windows will lengthen along with peak elevation.
144MHz sky noise starts this week very high but decreases to low as
the week progresses.
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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