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G4TNU > NEWS 22.05.16 09:05l 232 Lines 11014 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 22 May 2016
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday 22nd May 2016
The news headlines:
* G3KMA in CQ DX Hall of Fame
* Distance Learning course news
* Navassa DXpedition video online
The RSGB is delighted that Roger Balister, G3KMA is one of the 2016
inductees in the CQ DX Hall of Fame. As manager of the Islands on the
Air programme since 1985, Roger has seen IOTA grow from a few hundred
early participants to more than 10,000 today, making it one of the
most popular award programmes in amateur radio. The CQ DX and Contest
Halls of Fame honours those amateurs who not only excel in personal
performance in these major areas of amateur radio but who also
‘give back' to the hobby in outstanding ways.
The Bath Based Advanced Distance Learning team are now enrolling for
their next course that will run from early July to December. The
course has weekly work packages to guide students through the RSGB
textbook with regular revision questions to check on progress. There
are no fees to pay but students pay a deposit of GBP 30 that is
refunded to active students in time to pay for the exam. Exams can be
arranged at any RSGB registered centre. The course has been running
for nearly five years and has had almost 500 passes so far. Full
details can be obtained from Steve, G0FUW, via email to
g0fuw<at>tiscali.co.uk
Glenn Johnson, W0GJ was a member of the K1N DXpedition to Navassa
Island, which was voted DXpedition of the Year 2015. It was a
once-in-32-year DXpedition and the number one Most Wanted Entity in
Europe. In October 2015, he was the keynote speaker at the RSGB
Convention. If you weren't able to visit the Convention to hear the
lecture, RSGB Members can go to www.rsgb.org/video and click the RSGB
2015 Convention link. In 2016, the Convention is looking forward to
welcoming Mike, K9AJ from the Intrepid DX Group DXpedition to the
remote British territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich
Islands earlier this year. He will describe the challenges, hardships
and problems they faced and the experience of operating
round-the-clock from some of the wildest parts of the planet in order
to make around 140,000 contacts. Booking information can be found at
www.rsgb.org/convention where you can click on the Convention logo to
book.
Amateurs are advised that updates to a small number of band plans
will occur on the 1st of June. This follows approval of proposals
agreed at the recent IARU Region 1 Interim meeting. The updates to
80m, 30m and VHF will provide greater flexibility for narrowband
modes. The RSGB website and RadCom will be updated to carry details
in due course.
A team of five Australian radio amateurs will activate Norfolk
Island, IOTA reference OC-005, until the 31st of May to coincide with
the Wireless Institute of Australia 2016 Annual General Meeting and
Conference, also being held on Norfolk Island. The VK9NT crew plans
to operate on the 160 to 10m bands using SSB, CW and RTTY. Activity
on RTTY will be confined to just a couple of bands to maximise
all-time new ones. The WIA Commemorative Station, VI9ANZAC, also will
be active from Norfolk Island over the AGM weekend.
The Hubble Space Telescope has produced another of its stunning
portraits of Mars. The red planet and Earth are nearing what is
called opposition, when their orbits line them up with the Sun and
put them very close to each other. This occurs every 780 days or so.
The actual moment of opposition is today, the 22nd at 1110UTC; the
two planets' closest approach follows just a few days later on the
30th. There will be just 75 million kilometres between the two
planets on that day. Astronomers with smaller telescopes than Hubble
will be grabbing the chance to view Mars in the week ahead. The
planetary alignment means the Red Planet's disc, as well as being
larger in the sky than usual, is also fully illuminated. The images
can be found on the www.nasa.gov website.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, the 22nd, the Black Country Radio Rally Mark 2 will be held in
the Portway Lifestyle Centre, Newbury Lane, Oldbury, West Midlands
B69 1HE. Doors open at 10am and the admission is GBP 2. A raffle will
be drawn at 2pm.
Also on the 22nd, the 33rd Dunstable Downs Radio Club Annual Amateur
Radio Car Boot Sale will take place at Stockwood Park, Luton. Details
at www.ddrcbootsale.org.
Next weekend, on the 28th, it's the Waters and Stanton Open Day at 22
Main Road, Hockley SS5 4QS. Doors will be open from 10am to 4pm with
free refreshments for visitors. Reps from the major manufacturers
will be in attendance as well as local clubs. The presentation of the
Region 12 Club of the Year plaque will take place during the day.
There will be several talks including Nigel Booth, M0CVO on antennas
and Murray Niman, on 5G Future Telecoms and amateur radio. A charity
raffle with good prizes in aid of the British Wireless for the Blind
Association will also be held.
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 email details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk.
And now the DX news compiled from 425 DX News and other sources
Merv, N6NO is using the callsign VK9OL while working from Lord Howe
Island, OC-004. He will be there until the 29th. He is using mainly
CW and focusing on the WARC bands. QSL direct to N6NO.
John, AI6Y will be on the air as E51XYZ from Rarotonga Island,
OC-013, from the 23rd to the 28th of May. Activity will be on the 10
to 40m bands. QSL via operator's instructions. Frank, VK3ADT is also
on the air as E51ADT from Rarotonga until the 27th. QSL to his home
callsign.
Olli, OH0XX will be on the air as PZ50X in Surinam until the 1st of
June. Activity will be on the 160 to 10m bands using mainly CW. QSL
direct to his home callsign.
Laci, HA0HW will be on the air as SW8WW from Thassos Island, IOTA
EU-174, from the 26th of May to the 6th of June. Activity will be on
the 40 to 6m bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. This includes an entry in
the CQ World Wide WPX CW contest as a Single Op All Band entry. QSL
to his home callsign.
Randy, WW6RG will be transmitting as VQ9RA from Diego Garcia, IOTA
AF-006, from the 25th to 30th of May. Activity will be on the HF
bands. QSL direct to his home callsign.
Now the special event news
The Radio Club of Haïti is activating the special callsign 4V1G
until the 30th of August to commemorate the three generals of their
independence.
On the 28th and 29th of May, members of the Lough Erne Amateur Radio
Club will put GB2MAC on the air from the Marble Arch Caves Geopark in
County Fermanagh. This is part of European Geoparks Week. They will
be operating SSB on all the HF bands. Send QSL cards via LoTW, eQSL
and Bureau.
Now the contest news
The 144MHz May Contest ends its 24 hours run at 1400UTC today, the
22nd. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number,
locator and postcode.
Today, the 22nd, the first 144MHz backpackers contest runs from 1100
to 1500UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
On Tuesday, the 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC.
Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and
locator.
Also on Tuesday the SHF UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to
2230UTC. Using all modes on the 2.3 to 10GHz bands the exchange is
signal report, serial number and locator.
On Sunday the 29th the third 70MHz Cumulative contest runs from 1400
to 1600UTC. Using all modes the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
Next weekend, running for 48 hours, is the CW World Wide WPX CW
contest. It starts at 0000UTC on the 28th. Using the 1.8 to 28MHz
bands the exchange is signal report and serial number.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday 20th May.
This week the solar flux index managed to remain mostly above 100,
thanks in part to large sunspot number 2546. The region appears to be
quite stable and not a likely threat for any significant solar
flares. Geomagnetic conditions remained unsettled with the K index
hitting four at times and often hovering between two and three. This
was due to ongoing coronal hole activity and the associated high
speed solar wind streams. This is likely to continue as a coronal
hole positioned near the solar equator was threatening to send the K
index higher on Friday the 20th.
As we head towards mid summer, heating in the northern hemisphere,
coupled with a change in the ionospheric chemistry, will see daytime
critical frequencies reduce from their spring highs. We can see this
by looking at the noon-time critical frequencies as measured by the
Chilton ionosonde near Harwell. In mid April the critical frequency
was exceeding 7MHz on good days. This month it is struggling to get
past 6MHz. However, night time critical frequencies are remaining
higher, which is a signature of summer HF propagation. By June we may
see 20 metres remaining open all night.
Contacts via Sporadic-E on 10m should be abundant, but keep an eye on
20m at night as it might throw up a few surprises after dark.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
There are conflicting views of the weather story for the next week.
However, one common theme in the model outputs is that for brief
period we will find a weak ridge of high pressure nearby during the
first part of the week. This may produce limited Tropo, especially
overnight and in the early mornings. From about mid-week, the high
weakens and a slack pressure pattern remains. This will mean a more
showery weather type with options for rain scatter on the GHz bands
from any heavy thundery showers.
Sporadic-E is always a viable option any day during the summer months
from May to August, so it's worth checking first on 10m for short
skip conditions within Europe and then moving up to higher bands as
any opening develops. Quite often, the greater ranges are found as
each band opens. This is because over time, the Sporadic-E patch will
usually slowly descend within the E region, shortening the path
length.
For EME operators, the Moon's declination is at its lowest on Tuesday
so there will be short windows, but losses are decreasing all week as
the Moon's orbit brings it closer to the earth.
Remember that as well as our natural satellite there is always VHF DX
potential using the many operational man-made satellites. Look on the
AMSAT-UK website for details.
And that's all for this 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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