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G4TNU > NEWS 05.02.23 03:31l 256 Lines 11959 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 05 Feb 2023
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 5th of February 2023
The news headlines:
* RSGB feature in The Times
* RSGB Convention videos
* British Science Week
The RSGB was delighted to see the feature in The Times on Saturday
the 28th of January about amateur radio. It was a great opportunity
to highlight both amateur radio and the Society in the mainstream
media. Heather Parsons, the RSGB Comms Manager, spent a week liaising
with Rhys Blakely, the Science Correspondent, and coordinating the
interviewees. She put forward a whole range of ideas and possible
interviewees and the RSGB would like to thank everyone who supported
this opportunity, even though some contributions didn't make it into
the final piece. An external media monitoring agency has confirmed
that the potential online audience for this feature was over 42
million. The feature is called "Ham radio tunes in to a new
generation" and you can still read it online. Go to thetimes.co.uk
and search for amateur radio.
The RSGB has just released another presentation from its 2022
Convention. Brian Coleman, G4NNSÂ talks about The UK Meteor Beacon
Project which is a collaborative project between the amateur radio
and radio astronomy communities. The aim is to collect data on meteor
events over the UK and Phase one was to establish a transmit beacon.
Phase two is to create a network of receivers to monitor the radio
echoes from meteors and to stream data over the internet to support
the study of meteor events and their impact on the ionosphere. The
Project has received RSGB Legacy funds to help make this great idea
happen. You can see the presentation on the RSGB YouTube channel and
you can find out more about the RSGB Legacy funds on the Society's
website at rsgb.org/legacy
British Science Week, run by the British Science Association, is an
annual event celebrating science, technology, engineering and maths.
It provides a platform to support teachers, STEM professionals and
the public in delivering STEM activities and events across the UK.
This year's theme is Connections, which lends itself perfectly to
wireless communication and amateur radio-related activities! The RSGB
has put together a set of activities suitable for children in Early
Years, Primary and Secondary school. Several radio clubs from across
the UK have already planned activities for British Science Week and
the RSGB hopes its resources will inspire you to get involved too.
Find out more on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/bsw
Edition 32 of RadCom Basics is now available. The edition contains
articles on antenna performance comparison and basic fault finding,
among others. RadCom Basics can be downloaded via
rsgb.org/radcom-basics
On the 26th of January 2023, some students from the University of
Glasgow met and formed the Glasgow University Wireless Society. The
Glasgow University Wireless Society Net takes place on Monday
evenings around 145.525MHz from 6pm. Those who are interested in
joining the Society can make contact via mm0wsg<at>neotes.uk A list
of universities with amateur radio clubs can be viewed on the RSGB
website via rsgb.org/university-corner
Widnes and Runcorn Amateur Radio Club is running its first
face-to-face Foundation training course since Lockdown happened in
March 2020. The course will take place over the weekend of the 18th
and 19th of February at Lostock Sports and Social Club, Works Lane,
Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 7NW. The online Foundation exam will take
place on Sunday afternoon. Prior registration, before Wednesday the
8th of February, is essential. For further details, and to book a
place, please contact Dave Wilson, M0OBW either by phone on
07720 656 542 or by email at dwilson<at>btinternet.com.
And now for details of rallies and events
The Canvey Rally takes place today, Sunday 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.
The Mid Cheshire Amateur Radio Society Radioactive Fair will be held
next Sunday the 12th of February. The venue will be Nantwich Civic
Hall, Market Street, Nantwich, CW5 5DG. Doors open at 10am and
admission is GBP 5. A wide variety of trader stalls, a bring-and-buy
platform and refreshments and snacks will be available. Parking is
immediately adjacent to the hall. For more information visit
radioactivefair.co.uk
West Manchester Radio Club's Red Rose Rally will take place on Sunday
the 26th of February. The event will be held at St. Joseph's Hall,
Leigh, WN7 2PJ. Free parking, café services and a raffle are among
the attractions on offer. For further information visit:
wmrc.co.uk/rally.htm [Note to Newsreaders: the .htm is required for
the page to load]
Andover Radio Amateur Club has unfortunately had to cancel its boot
sales this year. The sales were due to be held on the 23rd of April
and the 3rd of September.
Now the Special Event News
Special event station GB0CFG will be active from the 16th of
February. The station will be operated by Itchen Valley Amateur Radio
Club to mark World Thinking Day on the air. The event provides an
opportunity for local Girl Guides to talk to other members of the
World Association of Girl Guides and Scouts all over the world via
amateur radio. Several other special callsigns will also be active in
February to take part in the event. These include Easingwold Girl
Guides, who will be operating with special callsign GB2EGG from the
17th of February, and Milton Keynes Girlguiding who will be active
with special callsign GB0MKG from the 18th of February.
Today, the 5th, is the last chance to log special callsign TM25PVJ.
The station is active to celebrate the festival of the Opening of the
Yellow Wine which, this year, takes place at Voiteur, Jura [pron.
with a soft J] in France. QSL via F8GGZ.
Now the DX news
Emmanuel, F5LIT plans to be active as HS0ZPU from Thailand until
Monday the 6th of February. QSL via Logbook of the World of directly
to his home call.
Jeff, VA3QSL will be active as P4/VA3QSL from Aruba, SA-036, until
the 8th of February. He will be operating SSB, CW and digital modes
on the 40 to 6m bands. QSL via Logbook of the World, the bureau or
his home call.
Andre, ON7YK will be active from Bijilo [BE-SHAH-LO], Gambia until
the 24th of February. He will be operating as C5YK on the 20, 17, 15,
12 and 10m bands using SSB, CW and digital modes. QSL via eQSL,
Logbook of the World or directly to his home call.
Francis, F6BWJ will be active as FM/F6BWJ from Martinique, NA-107,
until the 10th of March. He will be operating CW, PSK and RTTY on the
80 to 10m bands. He will upload his log to Logbook of the World and
Club Log.
Gerard, F2JD will be active as HR5/F2JD from Copan, Honduras until
the 13th of March. He will operate CW, SSB and digital modes on the
HF bands. QSL via F6AJA directly or via the bureau.
Now the contest news
Today, Sunday the 5th, the 432MHz Affiliated Societies Contest runs
from 0900 to 1300UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
On Monday the 6th of February, the 80m Club Championship runs from
1900 to 2030UTC. Using SSB, the exchange is signal report and serial
number.
On Saturday the 11th of February, the First 1.8MHz Contest runs from
1900 to 2300UTC. Using CW, the exchange is signal report and serial
number.
On Tuesday the 7th of February, the UK Activity Contest runs from
2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is
signal report, serial number and locator.
Also, on Tuesday the 7th of February, the 144MHz FM Activity Contest
runs from 1900 to 1955UTC. Using FM only, the exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
On Wednesday the 8th of February, the 432MHz FT8 Activity four-hour
Contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8, the exchange is report
and four-character locator. Also on Wednesday the 8th of February,
the 432MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC.
Using FT8, the exchange is report and four-character locator.
Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour
contest.
On Thursday the 9th of February, the 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs
from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report,
serial number, and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO
on Thursday the 2nd of February 2023
Well, what a difference a few weeks make. On the 15th of January, the
solar flux index was at 234 and the Sun was peppered with spots. This
week, on Thursday, the SFI was at 134 and the solar surface looked
like it was at sunspot minimum again.
The Sun has also been mainly geomagnetically quiet, with a maximum Kp
index of 3.67 on Thursday, due to an elevated solar wind speed with a
southward pointing Bz. We have only had relatively minor C-class
solar flares to contend with.
Meanwhile, there is DX to be worked, especially on 10m which
continues to shine.
The good news is that this lull in solar activity should come to an
end, although the Space Weather Prediction Centre predicts that the
SFI may only go up to 155 next week. Unfortunately, it also predicts
disturbed geomagnetic conditions, especially from the 7th to the 10th.
With the daytime critical frequency, as measured at Chilton, reaching
almost 9.7MHz at times, we are virtually guaranteed good conditions
on all of the upper HF bands with 10m predicted to be open for
contacts over 3,000km for most of the day. Night-time highs are set
to reach 9 to 9.5MHz over 3,000km. So, all frequencies, except 7MHz
and below, are likely to be closed to DX.
80m may also close to short-range or near vertical incidence skywave
skip at night, leaving only continental and longer paths, such as
southern England to Scotland, open. This should improve as we head
into Spring.
And now the VHF and up propagation news
There is a continuing tendency for high pressure to dominate the
weather charts and keep tropo on the agenda for much of the coming
week, but with some caveats.
The position of the high is such that, as we end the current week,
it's over France and this puts us in a mild westerly flow with
reasonable tropo propagation.
After this weekend, some weather models suggest a modest cold-air
Atlantic high will arrive and will probably link with an intense high
of more than 1050 millibars over western Russia. This may lead to a
very cold easterly weather pattern over southern Britain by midweek
with a chance of wintry weather and snow showers over eastern areas
coming in from the North Sea.
This could be a good time to experiment with scatter propagation on
the GHz bands. Note that winter showers generated over the sea are
often twenty-four-seven phenomena rather than the traditional daytime
showers used for rain scatter in the summer.
Keep trying other modes like meteor scatter around dawn and aurora
when the Kp index is high, but the high-pressure-driven modes will be
the primary focus.
For EME operators, Moon declination is still high, not going negative
again until Thursday. So, EME Moon availability windows will shorten
and path losses will decrease as the week progresses. 144MHz sky
noise is low all week, only reaching 350 Kelvin next Sunday.
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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