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G4TNU > NEWS 05.10.14 09:06l 277 Lines 13938 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 05 Oct 2014
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday 5th October 2014
The news headlines:
* Prestigious IARU award to G3USF
* Ofcom amateur consultation closes soon
* Could you write exam questions?
The RSGB extends its congratulations to Martin Harrison, G3USF who
has been awarded the prestigious IARU Region 1 Medal for services to
Region 1. Martin has been Region 1 Beacon Coordinator for many years
and has done much to encourage development of the effectiveness of
beacons in order to assist day-to-day band usage as well as
propagation study.
All radio amateurs are reminded that the closing date for responses
to the Ofcom consultation paper Updating the Amateur Radio Licence is
20th October 2014. It is vital that anyone with an opinion on the
proposals takes the time to put their views in writing, either by
filling in the online response form or by letter. The RSGB has put
together a brief commentary to help illustrate some of the more
significant changes proposed and this should be read in conjunction
with the consultation document. See www.rsgb.org/licencereview/ for
full details.
Have you ever thought that radio exam questions could be better
written? Would you like to help strengthen the RCF question bank? The
RSGB Training & Education Committee is committed to helping the RCF
Exam Committee to build and improve the exam question bank. A
question writing workshop will take place in Bath on Saturday the 6th
of December. The aim of the workshop is to enable issues to be
discussed openly so that attendees gain confidence in writing new
questions on their own. There will be a couple of short presentations
on what makes a good question and some examples of things that can go
wrong. Attendees will be asked to bring some draft questions with
them and share them with the group for peer review. Attendance is
free for RSGB members. Anyone interested in attending should contact
Steve Hartley, G0FUW via tec.chair<at>rsgb.org.uk
Just a few days to go to the RSGB Convention at the Kent's Hill
Conference Centre in Milton Keynes on the 10th to the 12th of this
month. The final programme is available on the RSGB website. Select
the ‘About Us' drop down menu on the www.rsgb.org main site for
Convention details. The principal sponsor is Martin Lynch & Sons.
American exams will be available on Sunday the 12th at 1pm. Ideally
candidates should e-mail Martin, G3ZAY via g3zay<at>btinternet.com in
advance, so enough papers can be prepared, although you can decide on
the day. Candidates will need to bring photo ID and have a US mailing
address for the FCC forms, as well as the exam fee, but G3ZAY can
advise on those matters. Day tickets for the Convention are available
on the door at the event for one day or both the Saturday and Sunday.
On 18th October 1924, two-way communication was established between
Frank Bell, 4AA in New Zealand and Cecil Goyder, 2SZ, operating from
Mill Hill School in North London. To commemorate the 90th anniversary
of this historic contact, radio amateurs at stations in Mill Hill
School and New Zealand will recreate the first Goyder/Bell contact,
hopefully on a wavelength close to that used in 1924. The callsign
2SZ will be aired from 11 to 18 October from Mill Hill School. Pupils
will be able to visit the radio station, speak to the operators, and
even speak over the air. Whilst the station won't be open to the
public, on 18 October there will be a live webcam at the School
covering the communications and celebrations. In New Zealand, a
special station, using the callsign ZL4AA, will be operating from
Shag Valley in South Island during the same week.
At a recent meeting with their regulator, the South African Radio
League reached an agreement to exchange their 5MHz channel at
5250kHz, which is used for propagation experiments, for the more
common beacon channel of 5290kHz. ZS6KTS and the other stations in
the South African 5MHz WSPR Cluster changed frequency on 4 October.
Their other channel at 5260kHz remains in use as normal for general
contacts.
The RAYNET Convention and Network AGM takes place at the SkillZone
Centre, Tuffley Road, Gloucester GL4 0AS on 25th October. Members of
all RAYNET affiliations are most welcome to attend the event, which
will include several lectures. A booking form to indicate attendance,
book for lunch and make choices for the evening meal is available
online at http://agm.raynet-uk.net/ and the deadline for submission
of booking forms is Monday 13th October.
Idle Motion Theatre Company is on tour with That is All You Need to
Know. Set at Bletchley Park, this piece of devised theatre tells the
story of the remarkable men and women who cracked the Enigma code
including Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman. Dates remaining are 7th
October in Tonbridge, 8th to 11th at Jacksons Lane, London, 14th
October in Bedford, 15th October in High Wycombe, Hereford on the
16th, Barnsley on the 17th, Farnham on the 21st, Salisbury on the
22nd and Havant on the 23rd. Tickets were still available as this
bulletin was being prepared.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, the 5th, sees the Blackwood and District ARS Rally at
Rougemont School, Llantarnum Hall, Malpas Road, Newport, NP20 6QB.
Doors open at 10am and admission is GBP 2 with trade stands, a Bring
& Buy, special interest groups and an RSGB bookstall. Details from
Andy, MW0MWZ on 01495 220 687.
Also on the 5th, the North Wakefield Club Winter Rally takes place at
Middleton Active Centre, Middleton Ring Road, LS10 4AX. Doors open at
10.30am and there will be trade stands and a Bring & Buy. Details
from Tony on 07740 003 159.
The Mayo Radio Rally takes place on 12th October at Welcome Inn
Hotel, Castlebar, Co Mayo. Doors open at 11am and admission is €5.
The usual traders will be in attendance alongside a Bring & Buy and
IRTS for QSL cards. Details at www.ei7mre.org
The 2014 Annual General Meeting of the UK Six Metre Group will take
place on Sunday 12th October at 12.30pm at the Kents Hill Conference
Centre, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BZ during the RSGB Convention. All
committee positions are open for re-election and any nominations and
items for the agenda may be sent to secretary<at>uksmg.org
Hack Green Bunker Rally will take place on 12th October at Hack Green
Secret Nuclear Bunker, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 8AL. Electronic
equipment, amateur gear, components, military radio sets and vehicle
spares will all be available. Doors open at 10am. More from Lucy on
01270 623 353.
Hornsea Amateur Radio Club Rally will be held at the Floral Hall, 7
The Esplanade, Hornsea, East Yorks HU18 1NQ on 12th October. Doors
open at 10am and there will be trade stands, a Bring & Buy, special
interest groups and an RSGB bookstall. Details from Rick, M0CZR on
01964 533 712.
The Fog on the Tyne Rally appears in the October RadCom with the
incorrect date. The rally is being held on 25 October, opening at
10.30am at the Whitehall Road Methodist Church Hall, Bensham,
Gateshead NE8 4LH. There will be trade stands, a Bring & Buy as well
as an RSGB bookstall. Details from Nancy, G7UUR on 07990 760920 or on
www.anarc.net. Our apologies for any confusion this has caused.
If you have any rally or event information you'd like to appear in
future editions of GB2RS News, in RadCom and on the RSGB website,
please e-mail details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk.
Now for the news of special events
On the 11th and 12th, for 48 hours, Hucknall Rolls-Royce Amateur
Radio Club is running a special event station celebrating the
centenary of the Eagle aero engine, which entered service in the
Great War 1914-1918. Up to four stations will be on the air,
comprising two HF stations, one HF data station and a VHF station.
On 12th October from 10.30am to 4pm, Cray Valley RS will be at
Crossness Museum, Belvedere Road, Abbey Wood, London SE2 9AQ with the
GB2CM exhibition stand. It will feature how to get started in amateur
radio and the support offered by Cray Valley in providing licence
training courses and guidance for newcomers. As the open day theme is
local history, the stand will also feature some local history
connections with radio by including a small display of memorabilia
from KW Electronics, K-B and Burndept-Vidor, companies all located
only a few miles from the museum site.
II4CDN will be on the air until 31st December from time to time, with
different operators, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the
foundation of the radio telescope Croce Del Nord. QSL via the bureau
or direct to the QSL manager IZ4FUE.
And now the DX news compiled from 425 DX News and other sources
G3ZEM will be operating stroke 4W from a water's edge location of
Timor Leste, OC-148, between 8th and 20th October. Activity will be
on the 10 to 160m bands, primarily on CW. QSL via M0URX.
Stan, LZ1GC will be on the air as C21GC from the island of Nauru,
OC-031, until 14 October. He is active on all bands from 6 to 160m on
CW, SSB and RTTY. QSLs go via his home callsign.
Two German stations will be active from Reunion Island, AF-016, in
the coming weeks. Sven, DJ2CW will sign FR/DJ2CW until 9th October.
Look for him around 14.240MHz at 1900UTC. Willi, DJ7RJ will sign
FR/DJ7RJ until 29th October. He will operate all bands from 10 to
160m using CW and SSB.
Karl, DK2WV returns to Malawi until 21st October where he will
reactivate his 7Q7VW callsign. He plans to be active on all bands
from 6 to 160m.
Georg, DK7LX and Phil, G3SWH will be active as VP5/G3SWH until 9th
October on Grand Turk Island, NA-003, in the Turks and Caicos
Islands. They plan to operate CW only on 10 to 80m bands. QSL Manager
is G3SWH.
The Chilean DXpedition Team will be active as XR2T from Damas Island,
SA-086, between 8th and 12th October. Operations will be on the 10 to
40m bands using mainly SSB, CW and the digital modes. QSL via CE3OP,
direct or by the bureau.
Now the contest news
The 432MHz to 248GHz contest finishes its 24 hour run at 1400UTC
today, the 5th. The exchange is signal report, serial number and
locator.
Today, the 5th, the 21/28MHz contest runs from 0700 to 1900UTC. The
modes are CW and SSB and the exchange is signal report, serial number
and district.
The IARU 432MHz-248GHz Contest also ends at 1400UTC today, the 5th,
after 24 hours. An entry into the IARU contest will be made for you
by the RSGB Contest Committee if you enter one or both of the RSGB
UHF/microwave events that take place this weekend, unless you specify
otherwise. Using all modes on the 432MHz to 248GHz bands, the
exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
The Worked All Britain HF Phone contest ends its 24 hour run at
1200UTC on the 5th. The exchange is signal report, serial number and
WAB square or DXCC Entity for stations outside the UK.
Tuesday sees the 144MHz UK Activity Contest run from 1900 to 2130UTC.
Using all modes the exchange is signal report, serial number and
locator.
On Wednesday the 80m Club Sprint CW leg takes place from 1900 to
2000UTC. The exchange is serial number and name.
Next weekend the Oceania DX CW contest runs from 0800 on the 11th to
0800 on the 12th. Using the 1.8 to 28MHz bands, the exchange is
signal report and serial number.
On Saturday the 11th the EU Sprint CW contest runs from 1600 to
2000UTC. Using the 3.5 to 14MHz bands the exchange is both callsigns,
serial number and name.
Now the solar factual data for the period from Friday the 26th of
September to Thursday the 2nd of October, compiled by Neil Clarke,
G0CAS on Friday the 3rd of October.
Yet another week with large and threatening sunspot regions that
failed to produce a number of large solar flare. Saying that, five M
class solar flares took place. The largest solar flare was a M7 that
occurred on the 2nd as a large sunspot group was rotating off the
solar disc. Numerous C class solar flares took place every day. Solar
flux levels increased from 170 units to peak at 181 units on the 27th
and the 28th before declining to 149 by the 2nd. The average was 168
units. The 90 day solar flux average on the 2nd was 135 units, that's
one unit up on last week. X-ray flux levels varied little day to day
and averaged C1.1 units. Geomagnetic activity was unsettled on the
26th and the 27th and again on the 30th and the 1st. A coronal hole
was responsible for both events. Solar wind data from the ACE
spacecraft saw solar wind speeds vary between 350 and 490 kilometres
per second every day. Particle densities were low every day and Bz
varied between minus 7 and plus 6 nanoTeslas on the most disturbed
day.
Now the solar forecast for the coming week. This week solar activity
is expected to be mostly at low levels with only C class solar flares
taking place, however there is a chance of a stronger flare on the
occasional day. Solar flux levels are expected to decline slightly
and be in the 130s for most of the week. Geomagnetic activity is
expected to be at quiet levels every day. MUFs during daylight hours
at equal latitudes should be about 30MHz. Darkness hour lows should
be around 11MHz. Paths this week to the east coast of North America
should have a maximum usable frequency with a 50 per cent success
rate of around 27MHz. The optimum working frequency with a 90 per
cent success rate will be about 21MHz. The best time to try this path
will be between 1600 and 1900 hours UTC.
And that's all for another week from the propagation team.
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 gb2rs<at>rsgb.org.uk to arrive by
10:00 on the Thursday before transmission.
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