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G4TNU > NEWS 17.12.23 02:01z 270 Lines 13349 Bytes #49 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 17 Dec 2023
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 17th of December 2023
The news headlines:
* Ofcom document on changes to amateur radio licensing released
* YOTA month continues
* WRC-23 concludes
Earlier this week, Ofcom released a document titled "Updating the
amateur radio licensing framework". The document states that amateur
radio licences will be changing in 2024 and provides details of the
changes that are planned. These include adjustments to the overall
licensing framework and rules in a number of areas including
callsigns, technical parameters, and licence format, terms and
conditions. To read the document in full, as well as a range of
associated documents and resources generated by the RSGB and Ofcom,
visit rsgb.org/licence-review
Youngsters on the Air month is well underway with some great activity
from a range of schools, universities and radio societies. If you'd
like to get involved, you can listen out for special callsign
GB23YOTA and make these young operators feel welcome on the air.
Today, the callsign is being operated between 9am and 6pm under the
supervision of RSGB Board Director, Ben Lloyd, GW4BML. Young members
of Hereford Amateur Radio Society, and other local youngsters, will
be getting on the air. Later this week, on Thursday the 21st of
December between 6pm and midnight, Ben will also be helping a fully
licensed young radio amateur activate a SOTA summit. They will be
working the 160m and 80m bands with the YOTA callsign. On Saturday
the 23rd of December, Tommy M7OMY, supervised by M0BOY, will be back
on the air for the duration of the day and night. There is still time
to get involved with Youngsters on the Air month – just email
Jamie, M0SDV at yota.month<at>rsgb.org.uk to book a slot or ask for
further information.
Following four weeks of deliberations, the 2023 World
Radiocommunication Conference concluded in Dubai on Friday the 15th
of December with the signing of the ‘Provisional Final Acts' and a
closing ceremony. The numerous changes don't formally take effect
until the 1st of January 2025 and preparations are already underway
to agree the agenda for future WRC events. The RSGB's special focus
pages have the final news report and photos. To view these, visit
rsgb.org/wrc-23 The results will be reviewed by the Spectrum Forum
after the Christmas break, alongside IARU and domestic changes.
The UK Meteor Beacon project is now in its second phase, and both
phases have been supported by the RSGB Legacy Fund. At the RSGB 2023
Convention, Brian Coleman, G4NNS outlined the plan for the second
phase. A network of receivers will be developed, streaming their data
via a central server for detailed study of individual meteor events.
This is a cooperation between the ‘worlds' of amateur radio and
astronomy. You can now watch Brian's presentation on the RSGB YouTube
channel at youtube.com/theRSGB The RSGB Legacy Fund supports a wide
range of amateur radio projects. You can find out more and download
an application form on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/legacy
The RSGB election process has begun and there are eleven roles to
fill. These include eight Regional Representatives covering a wide
range of regions, as well as an elected Director and two Nominated
Directors. Bob Beebe, GU4YOX is the new Chair of the Nominations
Committee and he is keen to see people volunteer. He says that being
a Director of the RSGB is a great opportunity to contribute to the
future direction of the Society and the RSGB needs the best people to
come forward to play their part. If you don't feel you can volunteer,
do you know someone who would make a good Director? Do you know
someone committed to amateur radio, in touch with the leading
thinking in amateur radio today, and capable of contributing to the
Society's work in a team environment? If so, ask them to stand for
election or as a Nominated Director. Find out more about the RSGB
election process, and all the available roles, on the RSGB website at
rsgb.org/election
Following feedback from the amateur radio community, the RSGB's
Learning Team is launching a revised Discovery Scheme in the New
Year. This will be a revamp of the Individual Scheme from
the Beyond Exams initiative and consists of three levels of
participation. The ‘Explorer' level is aimed at newcomers to
amateur radio and will run from January to March 2024. The
‘Adventurer' level, which will run from April to June 2024, is
targeted at those who have been involved with amateur radio for a
while and wish to progress. Requiring more significant experience,
the ‘Master' level will run from July to December 2024. For more
information, contact Beyond Exams Coordinator
Mark Burrows, 2E0SBM via be.coordinator<at>rsgb.org.uk
As the 2023 year draws to a close, we'd like to take the opportunity
to thank all the newsreaders who read the RSGB news on a variety of
platforms for their service to their fellow amateurs throughout the
year. We respectfully ask amateurs to check carefully before using
145.525MHz on a Sunday as there are many GB2RS broadcasts throughout
the day on this frequency. Thank you to all those who listen on
Sunday mornings, and the other times that the news is read, to those
who call in afterwards to speak to the newsreaders, and to everyone
who listens via various other platforms.
RSGB HQ will be closed for Christmas and New Year from 4.30pm on
Friday the 22nd of December until 8.30am on Tuesday the 2nd of
January 2024. Next Sunday, the 24th 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 31st of December 2023 but many newsreaders will be holding
informal nets in their usual broadcasting slots. During the holidays,
if you need information about amateur radio, exams or RadCom you'll
find lots of pages on the RSGB website at rsgb.org
The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed on
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. There
will be reduced hours on New Year's Eve when the Centre will be
closing at 2pm. Following the seasonal closures, the RSGB National
Radio Centre will also be closed for essential maintenance works
between the 2nd and 5th of January 2024. Outside of these times,
volunteers look forward to welcoming visitors as usual. Remember that
RSGB Members can download a free entry voucher for Bletchley Park
from the RSGB website at rsgb.org/bpvoucher
GB2RS News on the Isle of Man is delivered by a team of four
Newsreaders and is widely heard thanks to the extensive GB3IM UHF
repeater network. Please note that, from the 7th of January 2024
onwards, the transmission is moving to the new time of 4pm. For a
complete list of GB2RS broadcasts, please download the Broadcast
Schedule from rsgb.org/gb2rsschedule
And now for details of rallies and events
The Sparkford Wireless Group Tabletop Rally, in aid of the RAIBC,
will take place on Thursday the 28th of December from 9.30am to 1pm.
The event will be held at Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel near
Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 7QX. Entry is GBP 3 and free parking and
refreshments will be available. For more information, email Bob via
wjh069<at>gmail.com
The Lincoln Short Wave Club Winter Radio Rally will take place on
Sunday the 28th of January at The Festival Hall, Caistor Road, Market
Rasen, LN8 3HT. The doors will be open from 9am and admission is
GBP 2. Ample free car parking and hot refreshments will be available.
Tables cost GBP 10 each. At 2pm, after the Rally, there will be a
used equipment auction. Items for the auction will be booked in from
1pm. Contact Steve, M5ZZZ for tables and details via
m5zzz<at>outlook.com or 07777 699 069.
Now the Special Event News
Celebrating Christmas and the New Year, special callsign PH23XMAS
will be active until the 28th of December. Following this, special
callsign PH24HNY will be active from the 28th of December to the 31st
of January. For more information, visit QRZ.com
Listen out for members of Welland Valley Amateur Radio Society who
are active during December using special callsign GB5XMS. The station
is active on the HF bands using CW, data and SSB.
Now the DX news
Harald, DF2WO is active as XT2AW from Burkina Faso until the 19th of
December. He operates all modes on the HF and 6m bands, and via
QO-100. QSL via M0OXO's OQRS and Logbook of the World.
Gab, HB9TSW has been active as Z68BG from the Slatina Air Base in
Kosovo since the 5th of December. He is operating CW only in his
spare time until the 19th of December. QSL via Logbook of the World,
eQSL, or via his home call.
Now the contest news
On Tuesday the 19th, the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to
2230UTC. Using all modes on the 23cm band, the exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
On Thursday the 21st of December, the 70MHz UK Activity Contest runs
from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 4m band, the exchange is
signal report, serial number and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO
on Thursday the 14th of December 2023
We had a fairly settled time last week with only the solar wind and
some solar flare activity to contend with.
Sunspot region 3514 produced a moderately strong M5.8 solar flare on
the 14th of December. This event was responsible for a coronal mass
ejection, or CME, but that was directed to the west and missed the
Earth.
The problem with the solar wind is that its Bz has mostly been
pointing south, which means it more easily couples with the Earth's
magnetic field allowing solar plasma to flood in. The result was that
the Kp index mostly remained high, with the index hitting three or
four across the midweek period.
While not excessive, this has affected HF to an extent, although the
daytime MUF over 3,000km has remained above 28MHz on most days.
What you may find is that the higher bands are now closed until later
in the morning and that they close earlier in the afternoon as well.
This is partly due to the time of year and partly due to the lower
solar flux index we are experiencing.
The solar flux index improved slightly over the past week, ending at
135 on Thursday, having been in the 120s earlier.
Next week NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will be in the
range of 125 to 140. It is predicting unsettled geomagnetic
conditions from the 16th to the 19th of December, with a maximum Kp
index of five.
Now for a propagation forecast. Santa's broadcasting arm, Santa Radio
OF9X, is active again from near the Arctic Circle on all amateur
radio bands, using CW, SSB and FT8, until the end of the year. The
activity is organised by the Radio Club of Pusula [POOH-SUH-LA], OH9W
and Radio Arcala, OH8X.
Keep an eye on DXSummit.fi to find out where they are operating. So
far, they have been spotted on the 160, 40, 20, 12 and 10m bands. The
Proppy prediction chart shows that anywhere between 10MHz and 28MHz
is fair game during daylight, while 7MHz and below will work better
at night.
And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO
As expected, the return of a significant region of high pressure
developing over the continent as this week ends, will bring some
enhanced Tropo conditions from southern UK into the continent and
across Biscay to northern Spain.
It is also possible that the traditionally preferred policy of
beaming around the edge of a high for DX paths will make looking east
into northern Germany, Poland and the Baltic a fair prospect, but
only until around Tuesday the 19th when a cold front moves south and
breaks the path. This is a pity since it will be before Tuesday's
1.3GHz Contest and Thursday's 70MHz UK Activity Contest, which look
like missing the best conditions.
The second half of the coming week will be dominated by low pressure
to the north of Britain and a series of fronts and showery troughs
driving south, bringing much colder air with a risk of wintry
weather. It will also become very windy at times.
This removes Tropo from the picture, but rain scatter may be worth
considering, although the shower echo regions will be moving briskly.
Use online rain radar displays to help you.
The other modes of meteor scatter and aurora are worth leaving on the
list with the remains of the December Geminids still with us.
Don't forget that out-of-season Sporadic-E propagation often appears
in the period from mid-December to mid-January, so check the 10 and
6m bands periodically for activity.
For EME operators, Moon declination is negative but rising, going
positive on Wednesday the 20th. Path losses are at a minimum at
perigee, the Moon's closest point – this was on Saturday the 16th.
144MHz sky noise is low all 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.
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