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G4APL > NEWS 22.04.18 04:35l 274 Lines 12505 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 22 Apr 2018
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From: G4APL@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday 22 April 2018
The news headlines:
* RSGB 2018 Convention
* British Island Waterways on the Air
* Radio amateur interview on BBC
Illness of a key RSGB staff member means that it has not been
possible to prepare Local News again this week, for which we
apologise. Details of many club events can be found in the April
edition of RadCom, supplemented by the Events List on the RSGB
website: rsgb.org/events/ Thank you to everyone who sent event
details for the May and June RadCom; event information sent to
radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk by the published deadline will appear in those
editions.
Bookings for the RSGB 2018 Convention are now open. The event takes
place from the 12th to the 14th of October and there will be topics
to cater for all tastes and at all levels across the five lecture
streams. The event will also include a buildathon, a construction
competition and an opportunity to visit the National Radio Centre at
Bletchley Park during the day on Friday the 12th. AMSAT will be
organising some of the lectures as the AMSAT Colloquium will be
incorporated into the Convention again this year. To book go to the
RSGB website: www.rsgb.org/convention
British Island Waterways on the Air (BIWOTA) will be on the weekend
of the 25th to the 27th August this year. The event is open to all
boaters, cyclists, walkers and other users of the canals, towpaths
and riverbanks for work or recreation. It is also a good chance for
WAB enthusiasts to get some rare WAB squares. If you are interested
in taking part, register online: www.nharg.org.uk/biwota
James Patterson, M1DST . a member of Swindon & District ARC . was
interviewed recently on BBC Wiltshire about amateur radio. He
discussed whether it still has a place now we have modern technology
and the Internet. He has produced an edited version of his interview
which he has posted on his website:
tinyurl.com/bbc-wiltshire-interview He gave a presentation at the
RSGB 2017 Convention on "M1N-the-Middle, a flexible hardware control
add-on for your K3" which you can watch in the Society's video
portal: www.rsgb.org/videos
The RSGB has agreed to participate in the FIFA World Cup Marathon
which is being organised by the Union of Radio Amateur of Russia
(RRC). The Marathon is set to run from the 1st of June to the 15th of
July. There will be two call signs available for use on a rotation
basis: GB18FWC, for stations in England; and MB18FIFA, for stations
in the home nations who did not qualify for the World Cup finals.
Applications for the call signs are open now. An application form and
more information can be found on the RSGB website: rsgb.org/fwc The
deadline for applications is 23.59 on the 29th of April 2018.
Norway's communications regulator Nkom is consulting on changes to
the amateur radio regulations. Among the planned changes is allowing
1 kW output at VHF/UHF for EME or Meteor Scatter operation. The
previous limit for the VHF/UHF bands had been 100 or 300 watts. The
consultation ends on the 2nd of May.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, the 22nd April, The Cambridge Repeater Group Rally takes place
today at Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambridge,
CB22 6RN. There is free car parking and a talk-in station. Doors open
at 9.30am, with traders gaining access from 7.30am. Entry is GBP 2.
In addition to trade stands there will be a Bring and Buy, plus an
RSGB book stall. Catering will be available on site. For further
information contact Lawrence, M0LCM on 07941 972724, e-mail
rally2018<at>cambridgerepeaters.net or see www.cambridgerepeaters.net
Next Sunday, the 29th of April, the Exeter Radio and Electronics
Rally takes place at the America Hall, De La Rue Way, Pinhoe, Exeter
EX4 8PW. This event was rescheduled from the 4th of March, due to
snow. The rally opens at 10.30am, with disabled access and Bring and
Buy booking-in from 10.15am, although the event may open earlier if
the weather is bad and all the exhibitors are ready. Admission is
GBP 2 and there is on-site catering. Details from Pete, G3ZVI, on
07714 198374, or e-mail g3zvi<at>yahoo.co.uk.
Also next Sunday, the 29th of April, the Northern Amateur Radio
Societies Association Exhibition Blackpool Rally takes place at the
Norbreck Castle Exhibition Centre, Blackpool FY2 9AA. Car parking is
available and a talk-in station will be on the air. The doors will
open at 10.15am for disabled visitors and 10.30am for the general
public. As well as trade stands there will be a Bring and Buy, and
special interest groups. An RSGB book stall will be present. For more
information contact Dave, M0OBW on 01270 761608 or e-mail to
dwilson<at>btinternet.com The event's web site is www.narsa.org.uk
The organisers of the Southern Electronics & Radio Fair in
Eastbourne, due to be held on the 6th May, have advised that the
event has been cancelled. More information can be found at:
serf.org.uk
To get your rally or event information into GB2RS News, RadCom and on
the RSGB website, e-mail details as early as possible to
radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk
And now the DX news compiled from 425 DX News and other sources
Brian, GW4DVB, should be active from Palm Island in the Grenadines as
J88PI until the 29th of April. This is NA-025 for Islands on the Air.
Cezar, VE3LYC and Bernhard, DL2GAC plan to be active as H44R from
Mbanika Island in the Solomon Islands from the 22nd to the 25th of
April. This is OC-168 for IOTA. Cezar will move on to the Temotu part
of the Solomons around the 29th of April.
Pasi, OH3WS, is expected to be active from Market Reef as OJ0W for
about 1 week from the 27th of April. This is EU-053 for IOTA.
Giulio, IW3HVB, should be active on 144 & 1296 MHz EME from Mauritius
as 3B8MB until the 27th of April. Sergei, R4WAA, has the same QRT
date from Nepal where he is 9N7WA.
Alex, W1CDC, will be active as V47CDC from St. Kitts (NA-104) from
the 23rd of April to the 5th of May. He will operate CW only on
80-10 metres.
Now the special event news
Special Event Station news for April did not arrive in time to be
included in the printed edition of RadCom, but the information can be
found on the RSGB website via tinyurl.com/SES-0418
GB4AMT will be active using CW on the HF bands from the 20th April to
the 17th May to remember HMS Amethyst. Details are on QRZ.com
GB4TDY will be active from Low Bentham, North Yorkshire on "as many
bands as possible" between the 27th and the 30th of April to
celebrate the 3rd Tour de Yorkshire cycle race. Details are on QRZ.com
Activity continues by the Grey Point Fort Amateur Radio Society as
GB106TBC until the 29th of April to mark the 106th anniversary of the
sinking of the Titanic.
There will be a Field day at Galleywood Common in support of Gt
George's Day on the 23rd of April from 12pm-6pm. They will be on air
with the call sign GB1STG. For further information contact Charlie
Davy, M0PZT on 07882 043 521 or look online:
tinyurl.com/gb1stg-st-georges-day
Now the contest news
The British Amateur Radio Teledata Group's Sprint 75 Contest takes
place from 1700 to 2100 UTC today on the 3.5MHz to 28MHz bands. All
activity is on 75 bauds RTTY and the contest exchange is a serial
number only.
On Tuesday the 24th April the RSGB SHF UK Activity Contest takes
place from 1830 to 2130 UTC. Please note that activity on different
bands is at different times. Exchange signal reports, a serial number
and your 6-figure Locator.
On Wednesday the 25th April the UK and EI Contest Club has a CW
session of its 80m series. The contest exchange for this event is the
first four digits of your Locator. This is the final session of the
2017-2018 series.
The RSGB 80m Club Championship series continues on Thursday the 26th
April, with a data modes session that runs from 1900 to 2130 UTC.
RTTY and PSK63 are the modes. The contest exchange is a signal report
and serial number.
The RTTY leg of the Polish DX Contest takes place for 24 hours next
weekend, the 28th to the 29th of April, starting at 1200 UTC on the
Saturday. The bands for this event are 3.5MHz to 28MHz. the contest
exchange is a signal report and serial number. Polish stations also
give their Province code.3.5MHz to 28MHz bands. All activity is at 75
bauds and the contest exchange is a serial number only.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Thursday the 19th of April.
The sun remained spotless this week, other than the hint of a new
sunspot coming around its limb as this report was being written.
The solar flux index reflected this, sitting around the high 60s,
although it did reach 71 on Thursday morning. Geomagnetic conditions
were quiet at the beginning of the week, but a solar wind stream from
a large solar coronal hole was predicted to hit Earth later on
Thursday the 19th. This normally means noisy HF bands, and depressed
maximum usable frequencies (MUFs) after a possible initial positive
phase.
We are now seeing a shift towards more summer-like ionospheric
conditions in the northern hemisphere. At this time there is a
chemical change towards more diatomic molecules in the F2 layer and
fewer monatomic species. The diatomic molecules are more difficult to
ionise and as a result MUFs can suffer.
Coupled with the lack of sunspots, we are now seeing daytime MUFs
struggling to get above 16-17 Megahertz at times, despite the quiet
geomagnetic conditions.
The upside is that night-time MUFs are staying higher, with seven
Megahertz possibly staying open to DX over a 3,000km path through the
night. A phenomenon that has been spotted is that the MUF is
sometimes rising again for a short period after sunset. It might be
worth checking 14MHz around 2000hrs UTC as this has showed itself a
few times on the ionosonde data.
Next week, NOAA predicts the solar flux index will remain around 69
and geomagnetic conditions are predicted to be quieter from Monday
onwards after the weekend's high K indices.
These settled conditions could bring better DX from Tuesday or
Wednesday, once the ionosphere has settled. As we'll explain in the
VHF section, you may still have to wait a week or two before the
start of the summer Sporadic E season.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
Last week ended with high pressure near southern areas declining
during the weekend as low pressure moved in from the Atlantic towards
northern areas.
There may be slightly enhanced Tropo conditions around at first but
these could weaken as the low takes over. This could introduce
showery weather with a prospect for rain scatter on the Gigahertz
bands.
The 2018 Sporadic E season is nearly here! It usually starts with a
few fleeting SSB and CW signals across southern Europe, possibly not
within range of UK stations, but with new digital modes, we might be
lucky this early.
Since the location of Sporadic E geographically can be influenced by
the position of the jet stream, there may be some possibility of
paths from the UK to the south-east into the Balkans and east to the
Baltic states. The other possibility, based on expected jet stream
positions, might be from Spain down to the Canaries.
Anyway, before it all kicks off, it is worth making that list of
useful beacons on 10m or 6m so that you can quickly find the openings
. just Google "G3USF beacons". Also, use the www.propquest.co.uk
website to find the daily jet stream positions.
Now we are in April, meteor activity is picking up again. The first
significant shower, the Lyrids, peaks today, April 22nd, sometime
between 1000 and 2100 UTC.
Moon declination is still positive, but decreases all week, going
negative (that is, South) this coming Friday. Losses will also
increase as the Moon heads out to apogee, its furthest point from
Earth. It's another good week for EME then, with long windows and
high Moon elevations.
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.
Our thanks to Andy G4TNU for providing this RSGB feed.
--
g4apl@gb7cip.ampr.org g4apl@gb7cip.#32.gbr.euro
http://www.theskywaves.net http://gb7cip.ampr.org
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