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G4APL > NEWS 19.10.19 19:50l 266 Lines 12698 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 29 Sep 2019
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday 29th September 2019
The news headlines:
* Bampton School to contact ISS
* RSGB Convention latest news
* Frequency Measurement Festival for WWV
Another UK school has the opportunity to contact the International
Space Station. Bampton School will make the contact sometime during
the week of the 7th of October, but won't know the exact date and
time until closer to the event. They will be operating as GB4BPS and
contacting NA1SS on the station. They hope to speak to either Drew
Morgan, KI5AAA or Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP, members of the Expedition
60 crew.
The RSGB Convention takes place in Milton Keynes from the 11th to the
13th of October. It is kindly sponsored by Martin Lynch & Sons. The
provisional programme of lectures and workshops is now online at
www.rsgb.org/convention. There will be a Meet the RSGB Board session
where delegates have the opportunity to discuss current issues and
strategy with the members of the RSGB Board of Directors. The closing
date for online discount day tickets is the 7th of October. Weekend
package bookings and the Buildathon can be booked until midnight on
the 6th of October at www.rsgb.org/convention. If you have tickets
for the Gala Dinner on Saturday and wish to reserve a table with
friends, send your name and callsign details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk.
HamSCI and the Case ARC will sponsor a Festival of Frequency
Measurement on WWV's centennial, the first of October, from 0000 to
2359UTC. The event invites radio amateurs, short wave listeners, and
others capable of making high-quality frequency measurements on HF to
participate and publish their data to the HamSCI community on the
Zenodo open-data sharing site. Read all about how to get involved on
the ARRL website, see https://tinyurl.com/rsgb-wwv
In Australia, Foundation licensees have gained some digital
privileges. The changes include digital modes for Foundation
licensees, the removal of the requirement for Foundation licensees to
use commercial equipment and a general relaxation of the emission
bandwidths for all classes of licence. There are no changes to output
power or bands. The changes took effect on the 21st of September.
Moonraker launched a new version of Worked All Postcodes at the
National Hamfest on the 27th. The challenge is to work as many
postcodes as possible, simplex only, any mode on the 70MHz, 144MHz,
430MHz & 1296MHz bands. The first 10 people to work 30 unique
postcodes on the 2m band, confirmed by both stations via the app,
will get the pick of some great prizes. A suggested activity night is
Wednesday, from 1900-2200UTC using SSB on 144.625MHz ħQRM. Download
the worked all postcodes on Google Play or the App Store or visit
www.amateur-radio.co.uk.
The next edition of RadCom Basics is now available. Each edition of
RadCom Basics explores key aspects of amateur radio in a
straightforward way. RadCom Basics is sent as an email alert to
subscribers when each edition is published. This email provides a
list of contents and a link to the articles on the RSGB website. Go
to www.rsgb.org/radcom-basics to register.
With over 60,000 visitors to the RSGB National Radio Centre so far in
2019, we are looking to recruit new volunteers to engage with the
public and give radio demonstrations. If you're interested in
becoming an NRC volunteer you should be passionate about meeting
people, feel confident explaining the hobby, as well as operating the
NRC's radio station, GB3RS. You should be a licensed amateur, an RSGB
Member and be prepared to work a minimum of one (preferably two) days
per month. You will be joining a team of enthusiastic, friendly and
dedicated volunteers and full training will be given. Travel expenses
are paid to volunteers living within reasonable travelling distance
and NRC volunteers enjoy numerous benefits associated with
volunteering at Bletchley Park. Please email
nrc.support<at>rsgb.org.uk for further information.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
We have no rallies in the diary for today, the 29th of September.
Next Sunday, the 6th of October the 46th Welsh Radio Rally takes
place at Rougemont School, Llantarnam Hall, Malpas, Newport NP20 6QB.
Doors open from 10am to 4pm with disabled visitors gaining access at
9.45am. Admittance is GBP 2.50. There will be trade stands, a Bring &
Buy, RSGB bookstall, Special Interest Groups and lectures will take
place during the day. Catering is available on site. Contact Rob
Evans, MW0CVT, 01495 220 455.
Please send details of your 2020 rally and event plans as soon as
possible to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk.
And now the DX news from 425 DX News and other sources
Harald, DF2WO will be active as D44TWO from Sao Tiago on Cape Verde,
IOTA reference AF-005, from the 29th of September to the 13th of
October. He will be using an Icom IC-7300, two transverters with 3
watts output on the QO-100 geostationary satellite Es'Hail. QSL via
M0OXO's OQRS.
Elena, RC5A and Yuri, RM0F will be active as 5H3CA and 5H3RRC from
Mafia Island, AF-054, from the 29th September to the 5th of October.
They will operate CW and SSB on the 160 to 10m bands. QSL via RC5A.
DS3EXX/2 and DS3FGN/2 will be active from Daecheong-do, AS-122,
between the 3rd and the 9th of October. They will operate SSB, CW and
FT8 on the 160 to10m bands. QSLs via DS3EXX direct and Logbook of The
World; DS3EXX/2 plans to use Club Log's Live Streams.
A team will be active as HQ9X from Roatan Island, NA-057, until the
7th of October. They will be active on as many bands and modes as
possible although 60m operation will be limited to 50 watts USB. QSL
via KQ1F.
Jeff, K5WE and Bill, N5AQ will be active as VP2VEM and VP2V/N5AQ
respectively from the British Virgin Islands, NA-023, between the 4th
and the 13th of October. They will operate mainly CW with some RTTY,
FT8, FT4 and SSB on 160-10m. QSL via Logbook of The World, Club Log's
OQRS, or via their home calls.
Oleh, KD7WPJ will be active as YJ0BCP from Efate, Vanuatu, OC-035,
from the 3rd to the 10th of October. He will operate CW, SSB and FT8
on the 40 to 6m bands. QSL via KD7WPJ for CW and SSB contacts,
Logbook of The World for FT8 contacts.
Now the special event news
September 2019 marks the centenary of radio in the Cambridge Area.
There is a celebration day today, the 29th of September at Foxton, to
which all local amateurs are invited. Local clubs have activated the
callsign GB1CAM and it will be in operation until the end of the
month.
Please send special event details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk as early
as possible so we can give you free publicity. It is a licensing
condition that stations using a UK special event callsign must be
open to the public.
Now the contest news
This weekend it's the CW World Wide DX RTTY Contest. It ends its 48
hour run at 2359UTC today, the 29th. Using the 3.5 to 28MHz contest
bands, the exchange is signal report and your Zone, which for the UK
is 14.
Today, the 29th, the UK Microwave Group contest runs from 0600 to
1800UTC. Using all modes on the 5.7 and 10GHz bands, the exchange is
signal report, serial number and locator.
On Tuesday the 144MHz Machine Generated Mode Activity Contest runs
from 1800 to 1855UTC. Tthe exchange is signal report and your
4-character locator. At the same time the 144MHz FM Activity Contest
runs with the exchange signal report, serial number and locator. It
is immediately followed by the all-mode 432MHz UK Activity Contest
from 1900 to 2130UTC. The exchange for this contest is also signal
report, serial number and locator.
On Wednesday the UK EI Contest Club 80m contest runs from 2000 to
2100UTC. Using SSB only, the exchange is your 4-character locator.
Next weekend is busy with seven different contests taking place over
the two days.
The IARU 432MHz to 245GHz contest runs from 1400UTC on the 5th to
1400UTC on the 6th. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
The 1.2GHz and 2.3GHz Trophy contests takes place on Saturday the 5th
from 1400 to 2200UTC. Using all modes on the 1.2 and 2.3GHz bands,
the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
The Oceania DX SSB Contest runs from 0800UTC on the 5th to 0800UTC on
the 6th. Using SSB only on the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands, the
exchange is signal report and serial number.
Next Sunday, the 6th, the DX Contest runs from 0500 to 2300UTC. Using
CW and SSB on the 3.5 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal
report and serial number.
On Sunday the 6th, the Worked All Britain DX Contest runs from 0500
to 2300UTC. Using SSB only on the 3.5 to 28MHz contest bands, the
exchange is signal report, serial number and WAB area.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on
Friday the 27th of September.
Last week continued with zero sunspots, making it now more than 190
days this year that the solar surface has remained spotless. Many
solar scientists predict that 2019 will have a total of more than 250
days without sunspots, which would make it the ninth most
spotless' year since records began in 1849. Current research
suggests that it may be at least next summer before we see Solar
Cycle 25 taking off. Solar physicist Lisa Upton says the current
solar minimum will continue through 2019, likely ending in 2020. The
next solar maximum is expected in 2024-2026. Meanwhile, looking at HF
propagation last week there were a few surprises. Ten metre FT8
showed that there are still some short Sporadic-E openings occurring
on the band. The trick is to be there when they happen!
Daytime critical frequencies are still hovering around the 4.1 to
5.1MHz range, which is good news for 80m local contacts, but not so
good for 40m. These figures translate to maximum useable frequency
over a 3,000km path of up to 18-19MHz at times. But do keep an eye on
Propquest.co.uk for real-time figures.
This weekend will likely see the after-effects on the ionosphere of a
very large coronal hole that was spewing out solar matter when this
report was being prepared. This may send the K index up to a maximum
of six, with lowered critical frequencies and noisy bands. The rest
of the week will see slightly more settled conditions.
The good news is that DX is starting to return as we move towards
better autumnal ionospheric conditions. The lower bands are also
starting to come into their own. And as we have passed the Autumnal
Equinox don't forget that this is also the best time of year for
north-south, trans-Equatorial contacts.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
There was a totally different feel to the weather last week with a
return of rain, showers and strong winds at times. That produced some
nice rain scatter QSOs on 10GHz for the SHF UK Activity Contest. It
looks like a similar story this weekend and into much of the next
week for most areas, which will mean that rain scatter is again an
item for the coming week. There will be a brief possibility of a weak
ridge of high pressure crossing the country mid-week, although such
short duration transient features are not usually great providers of
Tropo.
The Moon is at perigee, its closest point to Earth, today so path
losses are low. Declination is negative and falling so peak moon
elevation will get lower as the week progresses. We are entering a
period in the Northern Hemisphere where Moon perigee coincides with
low and decreasing declination, meaning that lowest path losses
coincide with low Moon peak elevation and short moon visibility
windows. This trend will continue until June 2022 when perigee and
lowest declination coincide. After this, the trend reverses until
September 2026 when perigee and maximum declination coincide again.
This is a double-edged sword, as the upcoming conditions will favour
extreme EME DX where antenna elevation needs to be very low, but path
losses on the GHz bands will be highest when the Moon is at its
highest. There are no significant meteor showers this week, so
continue to check the early hours before dawn for the best random
meteors.
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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