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G4TNU > NEWS 18.12.22 03:31l 256 Lines 11944 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 18 Dec 2022
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 18th of December 2022
Newsreaders should consider using phonetics for parts of web and
email addresses if spellings are questionable.
The news headlines:
* Train the Trainers courses
* RSGB Convention videos
* Planning Advisory Committee recruitment
After a forced break during Covid, the RSGB will be restarting Train
the Trainers courses in the spring of 2023. It is hoped that three
courses will be run across the country. The team would like to run
the courses where demand is greatest, rather than arrange three
courses where there is no demand. If you are an existing trainer, or
would like to become one, and would like to attend a course during
the year, please contact g7lfc<at>rsgb.org.uk The team would also
like to hear from clubs that are willing to host a course so that it
can match demand with availability. For further details about the
course, what it covers and what is required from hosts, please visit
rsgb.org/train-the-trainers
The RSGB has released four individual presentations from its 2022
Convention which cover a wide and interesting range of topics. Philip
Lawson, G4FCL gives an introduction to test equipment whilst Phil
Catterall, G4OBK talks about adventure radio in Europe. Taking a look
back into history, Dr David Abrutat provides a fascinating insight
into Bletchley Park and the Y Services between 1939 and 1945.
Finally, as a link with December's YOTA month, young radio amateurs
Dan McGraw, M0WUT and Hamzah Shah, 2E0HXS share their experiences and
learning from the YOTA summer camp in Croatia this year. Find these
and other RSGB Convention presentations on its YouTube channel at
youtube.com/theRSGB
The RSGB Planning Advisory Committee assists RSGB Members with
planning advice. It is looking to recruit additional committee
members to help with this valuable service. You should be involved
with, or retired from, a discipline associated with the planning
process or have a good working knowledge of the planning process. The
committee would particularly like to add a planning enforcement
officer or a lawyer to the panel. The duties include assisting
Members with planning enquiries, enforcement notices and appeals but
will not include the actual preparation of planning applications on
behalf of Members. If you think you can assist, please contact the
RSGB Planning Advisory Committee Chair John Mattocks, G4TEQ by email
at pac.chairman<at>rsgb.org.uk
The RSGB HQ email system encountered a technical fault between the
afternoon of Tuesday the 13th of December and the morning of
Wednesday the 14th of December. If you emailed the RSGB during this
period, it is likely that your message was not received and will need
to be resent. To help, the RadCom team has extended the deadline for
submissions to the magazine to Monday the 19th of December. So, there
is still time to send in reports and items for the Club Calendar and
Around Your Region sections of RadCom. The RSGB apologies for any
inconvenience the fault may have caused.
The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed for
two days on the 10th and 11th of January 2023 to allow electrical
maintenance work to be undertaken. When booking a visit on any other
day, remember that RSGB members can download a free entry voucher to
Bletchley Park from the RSGB website at rsgb.org/bpvoucher
The RSGB has made two announcements about exams this week. The first
gives details of how to book for the Direct to Full exam from
January, and the second outlines necessary changes to the exam fees.
Further details of both can be found on the RSGB website. Go to
rsgb.org/exams and choose the Exam Announcements option in the
righthand menu.
RSGB HQ will be closed for Christmas and New Year from 12.30pm on
Friday the 23rd of December until 8.30am on Tuesday the 3rd of
January 2023. Next Sunday, the 25th of December, the GB2RS News
script will be prepared as usual and read at the discretion of
individual news readers. There will be no GB2RS broadcast on Sunday
the 1st of January 2023. During the holidays, if you need information
about amateur radio, exams or RadCom you'll find lots of pages on the
RSGB website, www.rsgb.org
And now for details of rallies and events
The Yeovil Amateur Radio Club Rally will be held on Thursday the 29th
of December at Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel, Yeovil, Somerset,
BA22 7QX. Doors will be open from 9.30am to 1pm and admission is
GBP 3. Free parking is available. The event will include bring and
buy as well as 20 tables for traders. For more information contact
Bob on 01963 440 167.
The Lincoln Shortwave Club Winter Radio Rally will be held on Sunday
the 29th of January at The Festival Hall, Caistor Road, Market Rasen,
LN8 3HT. Doors open at 9.30am and entry is GBP 2. Refreshments are
available on site and talk-in is available on 145.375MHz. For more
information email Graham via contact<at>m1dhv.co.uk
The Canvey Rally will be held on the 5th of February at Cornelius
Vermuyden [VER-MOW-DEN] School, Dinant Avenue, Canvey, Essex,
SS8 9QS. The Rally is expected to be the usual hive of activity with
plenty of traders and an indoor boot sale. Hot food and drinks will
be available. Contact sears.enquiries<at>gmail.com for further
information.
Now the Special Event News
Special event station CN22JIM ends its two-week run today, the 18th,
from the High Atlas Mountain range in Morocco. The ‘India Mike'
suffix to the callsign was chosen in celebration of International
Mountain Day which is held on the 11th of December each year. QSL via
RW6HS.
Today, the 18th , is the last chance to work the nine special event
callsigns hosted by The Qatar Amateur Radio Society to celebrate the
2022 FIFA World Cup. Look out for the HQ station callsign A722FWC, as
well as eight callsigns that contain sequential numbers, from A71FIFA
to A78FIFA. The stations are active on the HF bands and via the
QO-100 Satellite. QSL via the bureau, Logbook of the World or
directly.
Today is also the last opportunity to log special callsign PV22CUP.
The Brazilian Amateur Radio League is using the callsign in
celebration of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. QSL via Logbook of the World
and eQSL.
Celebrating the 15th anniversary of Summits On The Air France,
special callsign TM15SOTA will be active until the 30th of December.
QSL via eQSL.
Special event stations GB1900HA and GB1900HW have been operating
since the 24th of January to mark the 1900th anniversary of the
beginning of the construction of Hadrian's Wall. The defensive
fortification is the largest Roman archaeological feature in the
British Isles. The stations will be active until Friday the 23rd of
December.
Now the DX news
Tony will be active as 3D2AG/P from Rotuma [RAH-TWO-MA] Island, Fiji,
OC-060, until the 20th of December. He hopes to operate using CW,
SSB, RTTY and some FT8 on the 160 to 6m bands. QSL via Club Log.
Lester, W8YCM will be active as W8YCM/6Y from Jamaica, NA-097, until
January 2023. QSL directly via his home callsign.
Vincent, F4BKV will be active as XW4KV from Laos until the 23rd of
December. His main activity will be on QO-100 from as many as 12
grids. He will also do some operating on the 40, 20, 15 and 10m
bands. QSL via F4BKV and Logbook of the World.
Now the contest news
The UK Six Metre Group Winter Marathon began on Thursday the 1st of
December. The contest will run until the 31st of January 2023. Using
all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report and locator.
Today, the 18th of December, the Stew Perry Top Band Challenge will
end its 24-hour run at 1500UTC. Using CW on the 160m band, the
exchange is your four-character locator.
On Tuesday the 20th of December, the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs
from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3GHz band, the
exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO
on Friday the 16th of December 2022
Things hotted up last week with a healthy increase in sunspot
activity. The number of sunspots ramped up, giving us a solar flux
index of 165 by Thursday.
The other upside was the fact that geomagnetic conditions were quite
settled with the Kp index remaining between one and three all week.
There were some downsides. We have had an increase in the number of
solar flares, with a total of 14. Of these, 11 were M-class. This is
all happening around active region 3165, which is now a prime
candidate for an X-class solar flare, the most powerful.
There were reports of poor HF propagation on the morning of the 15th,
which can possibly be attributed to the solar flares on the Sun. The
graph of the maximum useable frequency, measured at Dourbes, looks
rather like a roller coaster ride, with the extrapolated MUF over
3,000km being more than 38MHz at 9.15am and below 19MHz 20 minutes
later.
The moral of this story is that if HF propagation seems to fail just
give it 20 minutes and see if it recovers.
According to NOAA, the high solar flux index won't continue for much
longer. It predicts that the SFI will reduce to between 115 and 120.
The Kp is also predicted to stay low, at least until the 22nd when it
is forecast to rise to five, possibly because of a returning coronal
hole from 27 days ago.
And finally, both the Chilton and Fairford Digisondes are offline at
the moment, so please select Dourbes if using Propquest.co.uk
And now the VHF and up propagation news
The cold weather will be displaced as a temporary mild spell brings
higher temperatures, plus wet and windy weather, during this weekend.
Eventually, colder westerly air with showery troughs will return from
the west, but still with further bands of rain. There will probably
be some good rain and snow scatter opportunities for the GHz bands.
Tropo looks a bit thin, although there may be a brief enhancement on
Sunday morning to France and the Low Countries but this will be gone
by the afternoon.
The other modes like meteor scatter and aurora are still a
consideration, but much less predictable.
With the Geminids meteor shower past its peak, there are two minor
showers to look out for this week.
The Leonis Minorids are active from the 5th of December to the 4th of
February, reaching a maximum on the 20th of December with a low
Zenithal Hourly Rate, or ZHR, of around five. The Ursids are active
from the 17th of December to the 26th of December reaching a maximum
on the 22nd of December, also with a low ZHR of around 10.
Moon declination went negative on the 17th, so Moon windows will
continue to shorten and zenith angles decrease. EME path losses are
falling as we head towards perigee on Christmas Eve. 144MHz sky noise
is increasing all week and on Friday we get close to an eclipse, so
it will be very high during the whole Moon pass.
Lastly, to repeat the ‘heads up' from last week about midwinter
Sporadic-E, it is still worth mentioning since it usually becomes a
reference after the event, and it would be nice to be there before it
happens!
So, employ the usual check of HF and VHF clusters from 10 to 4m and
use www.propquest.co.uk and its EPI or Es probability index plots to
see where the most likely areas for Es are located.
Like summer events, rarer mid-winter Es are often associated with
powerful jet streams and this unsettled weather is a good source for
these.
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.
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