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G4APL > NEWS 06.01.19 04:34l 223 Lines 10342 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 6 Jan 2019
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<F1OYP<ON0AR<GB7CIP
Sent: 190106/0331Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:53272 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G4APL@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To : NEWS@EU
GB2RS Main News for Sunday 6th January 2019
The news headlines:
* Happy New Year
* Italian wireless pioneers award scheme
* Download the latest 5MHz Newsletter
The news team and all the staff at RSGB HQ would like to wish our
newsreaders, listeners and online readers a very Happy New Year. We
would like to remind everyone that we always welcome your news, by
email to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk, and the deadline is 10am sharp on
Thursday mornings. The GB2RS script is uploaded to the RSGB website
by 4.30pm each Friday afternoon.
ARI Fidenza and the Guglielmo Marconi Foundation has announced an
award scheme based major Italian pioneers in wireless and radio
technology, or the main artifices of those fundamental discoveries
and practical achievements that have made possible the birth of
wireless communications and subsequent progress in radio technology.
Running from the 1st of January to the 31st of December 2019, twelve
commemorative radio stations with special callsigns will alternate
throughout the year. Each month is dedicated to a specific scientist.
Further details can be found at www.arifidenza.it
The latest edition of The 5MHz Newsletter is now available for free
pdf download from the RSGB 5MHz page at tinyurl.com/GB2RS-0106A This
edition includes 5MHz news from 10 countries, features the latest
number of CEPT countries on 5MHz, Exercise Blue Ham 100 and an
article on Taking Care on 5357.
[Note to Newsreaders: the original, full URL is
http://rsgb.org/main/operating/band-plans/hf/5mhz/]
The RSGB's National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park welcomed 55,232
people through the doors in 2018, introducing the vast majority of
them to amateur radio for the first time. Well done to Martyn, G0GMB
and his team of volunteers who keep the NRC running. Please note that
the NRC will be closed for a private event on Tuesday the 15th of
January. Outside of this, volunteers look forward to welcoming
visitors seven days a week, especially RSGB Members, who can download
a free entry voucher for Bletchley Park from the RSGB website.
The final Advanced training course in Bath starts on Wednesday 30
January 2019. The course will run on Wednesday evenings at the Scout
HQ in Grove Street, Bath, aiming for an exam in July. This will be
the last amateur radio course in Bath for some time due to the work
required to implement the changes to the syllabus. The Bath team
expect to be closed down for at least 6 months, maybe a year. The
final Bath Based Distance Learning course, which will run in parallel
with the classroom course, is now full and has a record number of
students. If anyone is looking to upgrade from Intermediate to Full,
and can attend classes in Bath, please drop an email to the course
leader, Steve Hartley, via G0FUW<at>tiscali.co.uk
The RSGB is pleased to announce that Bobby Wadey, MI0RYL has been
appointed to the position of RSGB Awards Manager, taking over from
Chris Burbanks, G3SJJ. The Society would like to thank Chris for his
work as the RSGB Awards Manager.
RSGB Members are reminded that nominations are open for RSGB Board
and Regional Representatives. Details are in the January RadCom and
at https://tinyurl.com/GB2RS-0106B These roles offer a good
opportunity to help the RSGB develop and to promote amateur radio.
Nominations close on the 31st of January 2019.
[Note to Newsreaders: the original, full URL is
https://rsgb.org/main/about-us/agm/board-nominations-system/]
Until the 14th of January, 8,400 Scouts from every Australian state
plus representatives from 18 nations will converge in South
Australia to participate in the 25th Australian Scout Jamboree. One
of the 150 activities on offer to the Scouts will be a chance to
participate in amateur radio using VI25AJ and a Direction Finding
course. About 2000 Scouts are expected to experience amateur radio
over the 10 day period. They will be active on the HF bands both SSB
and digital modes, Satellites, IRLP and Echolink. Full details such
as operating schedules and frequencies will be available via the
VI25AJ QRZ.com page. If you hear the callsign on the air, give the
youngsters a call.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
We know of no rallies happening in January.
To get your event into RadCom, onto GB2RS and on the RSGB website,
please send details as early as possible to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk
we need to know about four months in advance for RadCom.
And now the DX news from 425 DX News and other sources
Rich, PA0RRS is on the air as 9M2MRS from Penang Island, IOTA
reference AS-015, until the 15th of February. Activity is on the HF
bands using CW, RTTY, PSK and FT8. QSL to his home callsign.
Mike, OE6MBG is operating as S79AA from Mahe, AF-024, until the 2nd
of February. Activity is on the 160 to 10m bands, plus 6m as
conditions permit, using CW and SSB. QSL via Logbook of The World.
Antoine, 3D2AG is on the air as T2AR from Funafuti until the 31st of
January. Activity is on the HF bands, including 160m. QSL to his home
callsign. In addition, Apinelu, T2AT is operating on the HF bands
using FT8. QSL via N7SMI.
Bernie, W3UR and Becky, N3OSH will be on the air as V47UR from
Calypso Bay, St Kitts Island, NA-104, from the 8th to the 20th of
January. Activity will be holiday style on the 160 to 6m bands using
CW and SSB. QSL via Logbook of The World.
Now the special event news
GB2KW is on the air at various times near Inverness until the 28th of
January using vintage KW gear. QSL via Logbook of The World.
Please send event details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk, as early as
possible, for free publicity on GB2RS, in RadCom and online. Remember
that UK special event stations must be open to the public, so our
free publicity can help make your efforts more widely known.
Now the contest news
On Tuesday the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC,
using FM only. It is immediately followed by the all-mode 432MHz UK
Activity Contest from 2000 to 2230UTC. The exchange for both contests
is signal report, serial number and locator.
On Thursday the new 50MHz MGM Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC,
using machine generated modes only. It is immediately followed by the
all-mode 50MHz UK Activity Contest from 2000 to 2230UTC. The exchange
for both contests is signal report, serial number and locator.
Next Sunday, the 13th, the Datamodes AFS contest runs from 1300 to
1700UTC. Using data only on the 3.5 and 7MHz bands, the exchange is
signal report and serial number.
The UK Six Metre Group Marathon continues this month until the 31st
of January. Using all modes on the 50MHz band, the exchange is signal
report and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 4th of January.
A new sunspot appeared this week, although it belongs to outgoing
cycle 24 and is therefore not a sign that the new cycle 25 is under
way just yet. We may still have to wait until at least the autumn
before that happens. Despite pushing the solar flux index up to 75 on
Thursday we are still very much in the mid-winter doldrums, with
bands opening late and closing early. Having said that, there have
been reports of some early afternoon 17m transatlantic CW openings to
the USA. 20m and 40m have often closed early, but it is worth
checking both bands after dark there has been some activity
spotted on 40m around 11pm so it is worth looking.
A large solar coronal hole became Earth-facing on Thursday, which may
cause some disruption to the bands at the weekend, potentially
pushing the K index to four with depressed maximum useful
frequencies. Once its effects have passed we should see more settled
bands, with a maximum K index of two next week and a solar flux index
of around 71.
Daytime critical frequencies are currently reaching a maximum of
about 4.9MHz, meaning 80m remains the best band for daytime NVIS or
close-in signals. Sixty metres or 5MHz may also be fine for inter-G
signals, although you may struggle on 60 metres at times with
stations closer than about 100km.
Over longer distances, 20 metres remains favourite, with possible
occasional openings on 17m. Winter Sporadic-E may throw up some
surprising openings on 12 and 10 metres, but these may be fleeting
and hard to predict.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
There is still a large area of high pressure on the charts, and as is
typical of such features they can be very persistent. This one is
going for the long game' with another one to two weeks of high
pressure weather to come. This means that Tropo will be the mode of
choice, with variations mostly down to how moist the air near the
surface is compared with the very dry air just above the temperature
inversion. A big contrast in moisture means better ducting on VHF and
UHF and the best sign of this is when you find mist and fog forming
bad for travelling but better for Tropo.
The position of the high is crucial and when we find a cold northerly
flow pattern with the high just to the west, this tends to reduce the
prospects for good Tropo, despite the pressure being fairly high; so
expect variations in the scope and intensity of the openings as the
high centre drifts around the UK.
Out of season Sporadic-E is always worth checking for during the
depths of winter, especially with the big changes in the wind regime
in the stratosphere at the moment.
The short and intense Quadrantids meteor shower last week usually
ushers in a quiet period of meteor activity until early April so keep
looking for the usual dawn enhancement of random meteors.
The Moon reached its lowest declination yesterday and apogee on
Wednesday, so there are short moon windows with low elevations and
high losses this week.
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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