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G4APL > NEWS 30.10.16 00:13l 288 Lines 13486 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 30 OCT 2016
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Sent: 161029/2305Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:22904 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G4APL@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To : NEWS@EU
GB2RS Main News for Sunday 30th October 2016
The news headlines:
* Renew your 146MHz NoV now
* RSGB Award Manager needed
* New Examination Standards Chairman
All current 146 to 147MHz band Notices of Variation expire on Monday
31 October. On Friday 28 October Ofcom announced that the band would
be made available for another year. However, to continue to use the
frequencies you must get a new NoV. These are available free from the
RSGB website at www.rsgb.org/nov
A vacancy has arisen for a volunteer to manage the RSGB's award
programmes. The Society administers a number of award programmes for
HF, VHF and special awards for Foundation and Intermediate licence
holders. The Awards Manager receives and checks claims for the
various levels of award then passes the information electronically to
HQ for it to be validated and the appropriate award issued. To carry
out this role you will need good administration and computer skills.
Most of the communications will be by email. The workload is not
usually high and can be managed flexibly. If you are interested in
applying or would like to find out more, contact Steve Thomas, M1ACB,
General Manager via email gm.dept<at>rsgb.org.uk and details of this
and other volunteer roles can be found at
http://rsgb.org/main/blog/category/volunteer-vacancies/
Dave Powis, G4HUP has been appointed as chair of the Examinations
Standards Group. He will take over when Professor Simon Watts
retires at the end of this year. The ESC develops and publishes all
procedures and policies for the administration of Exams, and
develops the syllabus and question banks in conjunction with the
Examinations Group and Training and Education Committee.
Videos of the talks at the recent British Amateur Television Club
Convention are now available on YouTube. Among the many talks are
Receiving and Presenting HamTV from the ISS by Noel, G8GTZ, VHF/UHF
Propagation by Mike, G0MJW and A Practical Operators Guide to 146MHz
Reduced Bandwidth TV by Shaun, G8VPG.
[Note to Newsreaders: the direct link is
www.youtube.com/channel/UCUWLnUZllytlcCFd93tnBzw/videos]
As many listeners will know the RSGB is seeking support for the
International Youth event, YOTA 2017, that is being held at Gilwell
Park in August 2017. We are pleased to say that delegates to the RSGB
Convention in October were very generous and donated hundreds of
pounds to the appeal. Members of the RSGB Youth Committee spent the
Saturday of the event waving the donation box, handing out flyers
about the event and were very grateful for the positive response they
got from the delegates. We would like to thank everyone who gave –
your support is much appreciated. The YOTA 2017 appeal still has a
long way to go, so if you can help by donating a few pounds, or even
many pounds, you can do so today by visiting
www.rsgb.org/yotasupporter.
The UKFM Group Western are holding a further Digital Radio User
Guidelines session Saturday 12 November. It takes place at the
Warrington Amateur Radio Club, Bellhouse Lane, Grappenhall WA4 2SG.
The event starts at 10am and will include user friendly advice and
hands-on equipment sessions, question and answers on all matters
D-Star, DMR, Fusion and the like. To reserve a place, contact the
group's Membership Secretary, Kath Wilson, M1CNY on 01270 761 608 or
email dwilson<at>btinternet.com
Applications for the Ofcom Graduate Scheme are open until January
2017. Ofcom is holding a Graduate Scheme open day on Friday the 4th
of November at their London office. At this event you can find out
about working at Ofcom, their Graduate Scheme pathways and
information about the application process from current Graduates and
senior colleagues across the organisation. For more information and
to register your interest, email Ofcom.Grads<at>ofcom.org.uk and to
find out more about the Ofcom Graduate scheme, go to
www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/jobs/graduates-apprenticeships-internship
s
Three crew members, including radio amateurs KG5FYJ and KF5LKS are
set to depart the International Space Station on the 29th of October.
They should land in Kazakhstan at 0359UTC on Sunday. Once the Soyuz
undocks, Expedition 50 will begin aboard the ISS under the command of
NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, KE5HOD. Two more amateurs, KC5ZTD and
KG5FYG, are scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan in November.
October saw the Summits on the Air, Australia to Europe Summit to
Summit event and between 0630 and 0830UTC seventy three summits were
activated – 22 more than expected. Contacts were made between
continents as well as within each of the regions. A similar event is
being discussed between European and North American SOTA activators.
The ARI Tuscany Regional Committee is commemorating the 50th
anniversary of the Tuscan flood that happened on the 4th of November
1966. The event will be held from 0000UTC on the 29th of October
until 2359UTC on the 6th of November. A special event station,
II5ALL, will be active amongst many other and an award is available.
Go to www.arifirenze.it/ii5all/ and scroll down for the English
version of the rules.
The latest edition of the ARRL publication Radio Waves, aimed at
instructors and science educators, is now available for download. It
includes items on building blocks to illustrate basic electronics and
ARISS news. You can download the publication from the ARRL website.
[Note to Newsreaders: the link is
www.arrl.org/files/file/Radio%20Waves%20Newsletter/Fall_2016_Radio_Wav
es.pdf]
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
We have no details of any full scale rallies taking place this
weekend, the 29th or 30th of October.
The Dutch National Ham Radio Convention is on the 5th of November.
Organised by the Dutch Radio Society, VERON, it takes place in the
Americahal in Apeldoorn. There will be lectures, presentations, trade
stands and a large flea market. More information, in Dutch, is on the
veron.nl website.
The West London Radio & Electronics Show will be held on the 6th of
November at Kempton Park Racecourse, Staines Road East, Sunbury on
Thames, TW16 5AQ. The venue has free car parking and disabled
facilities. A talk-in station will be in operation. Doors open at
9.50/10am. There will be trade stands, a flea market, a Bring & buy,
special interest groups and an RSGB bookstall. A raffle will take
place during the day and a lecture stream will be available. There
are catering outlets on site. More information from Paul, M0CJX on
08451 650 351.
On the 6th of November the Bushvalley ARC Annual Rally will take
place at the United Services Club, 8 Roe Mill Road, Limavady, Co
Londonderry BT49 9DF Doors open at 11am and the venue has disabled
facilities. There will be a Bring & Buy, a talk-in station and trade
stands. There will be catering on site and a raffle will be held on
the day. More details from Jackie Doyle, MI0JPD on 0788 529 2545.
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
Francois, F6AJL will be on the air from the West African country of
Benin using TY5AA until the 30th of November. He will operate all
bands between 80m to 10m. QSLs go via his home callsign.
Chas NK8O is in Tanzania with the callsign 5H3DX until the 12th of
November. He will operate mainly CW on 80m to 15m. Details of the way
to QSL can be found on the 5H3DX QRZ.com page.
DL3KZA and YB9IPY/8 will be on the air as YB8/DL3ZKA from Salayar
Island, in Indonesia, IOTA reference OC-236, from the 1st to the 14th
of November. Activity will be on 40 to 10 metres using CW and SSB.
QSL via DL3KZA.
Sigi, DL7DF and four other German amateurs will visit the Caribbean
island of Anguilla, NA-022, until the 7th of November. Their callsign
will be VP2EGR and operation will be on 160m to 10m CW, SSB, RTTY and
PSK31. QSL to DL7DF.
Hiro, JF1OCQ and Taka, JH1BED will be on the air from Samoa as 5W7X
and 5W0ST, respectively, from the 31st of October to the 9th of
November. Activity will be on the HF bands using CW, SSB and RTTY.
QSL to their home callsigns.
The Six-Gs DXpedition Group are active as ZL7G from Chatham Island,
OC-038, until the 10th of November. They have four complete high
power stations and hope to satisfy the demand from Europe for ZL7.
Now the special event news
GB4MTR will be on the air between the 1st and 28th of November,
mostly Tuesday and Friday evening and weekends, to mark the 60th
anniversary of the amateur 4m band. The station will be run by Selim,
M0XTA and other members of the Harlow & District Amateur Radio
Society. Bands of operation will be from 80m to 70cm, FM, SSB and
some data modes. QSL via the bureau to M0XTA, or direct to G6UT, see
QRZ.com, and eQSL. A QSL card for the station will be sent via the
bureau to any station worked, if requested.
VI4SEA will be on the air between the 1st and the 9th of November in
honour of the officers and sailors of the light cruisers HMAS Sydney
and SMS Emden who gallantly fought in the first ever naval action of
the Royal Australian Navy in World War One off the coast of the Cocos
Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean. The operations will see them
transmitting from the 630m band through to the 6m band. A special
webpage has been set up on QRZ.com under VI4SEA.
Now the contest news
This weekend is one of the big contests, the CQ World Wide DX SSB.
Its 48 hour run ends at 2359UTC on the 30th. It's SSB only on the 1.8
to 28MHz bands. The exchange is signal report and Zone, which is 14
for the UK.
On Tuesday the 144MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC.
Using all modes the exchange is signal report, serial number and
location.
On Wednesday it's the UK EI contest on 80m. Running from 2000 to
2100UTC and using SSB, the exchange is your four character locator,
or grid, square.
On Saturday the International Autumn Sprint runs from 1700 to
2100UTC. Using SSB on the 3.5 to 14MHz bands the exchange is both
callsigns, serial number and name.
Next weekend the Marconi CW Contest runs from 1400UTC on the 5th to
1400UTC on the 6th using the 144MHz band. The exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, G3NYK and
G4BAO on Friday the 28th of October.
Last week was characterised by low sunspot activity, but very
unsettled geomagnetic conditions. The solar flux index was in the mid
to high 70s, but the K index was five or six for days on end, and
even peaked at seven. This was high enough for automatic visible
aurora e-mail warnings to be sent out by Lancaster University.
The noon Chilton Digisonde plot from Harwell suggested that only 20
metres would be open, with the higher bands closed. These poor
conditions were caused by a massive coronal hole on the sun. This
hole is recurring and brought the same conditions 27 days ago. Rest
assured, we can probably expect a repeat performance again around
November 22nd.
With regards to LF/MF propagation, the Dst index was depressed to
-80nT on the 25th but is rising slowly. It would seem from reports
that LF/MF propagation on paths over 2,000km has suffered but not as
much as might be expected. It seems that though the solar wind
velocity had increased, the plasma density is low. This suggests
there may be lower levels of electron precipitation and a faster
recovery of conditions than would be expected after a coronal mass
ejection.
Next week looks set to continue with the poor geomagnetic conditions.
NOAA suggests the K index will remain at around five until a
much-needed respite beginning around the 2nd of November.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
Most of this week will be dominated by high pressure and this is
likely to continue to provide slightly-enhanced Tropo opportunities
for many areas although, like last week, the better conditions will
be when there is moist air near the surface, which quite often means
those typical foggy autumnal nights and mornings.
The longer range models do, unfortunately, suggest that the high
weakens and is replaced by low pressure in the second half of the
week, so it won't last forever.
As for operating tips, it's simple; don't restrict yourself to FM and
repeaters, and do remember to try the other modes on VHF/UHF because
SSB and CW can produce surprising results – and there's plenty of
spectrum space down there.
For meteor scatter enthusiasts, we are now approaching the peak of
the Taurids meteor shower, a diffuse shower that lasts from late
September until late November. Don't get too excited though, as the
meteor rate is low. It does though, have a reputation for some
fireballs. Look for a peak overnight around the 4th and 5th of
November.
The Moon is close to the Sun today so noise will be high, especially
on the low bands with wider antenna beamwidths. Combined with a low
declination and high losses at apogee on Monday, it's a week for EME
system maintenance only.
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.
--
g4apl@gb7cip.ampr.org g4apl@gb7cip.#32.gbr.euro
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