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G4TNU > NEWS 05.05.24 00:47z 297 Lines 14570 Bytes #196 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 05 May 2024
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 5th of May 2024
The news headlines:
* RSGB insurance update
* RSGB Legacy Committee Chair appointed
* SOS Radio Week is under way
RSGB club insurance, and beacon and repeater insurance, have now been
renewed for the year to April 2025. Club insurance certificates can
be downloaded from the RSGB website. You will need to log in to
obtain your certificate. Beacon and repeater insurance certificates
are available for an admin fee of GBP 15 from the RSGB shop. Please
allow a couple of days after renewal for your certificate to be
dispatched.
The RSGB Board is pleased to announce it has approved the appointment
of Richard Horton, G4AOJ to the role of Legacy Committee Chair. The
RSGB Legacy Fund, thanks to the generosity of donors, has significant
financial resources available to encourage and develop amateur radio.
The Legacy Committee, which is a sub-Committee of the RSGB Board,
considers proposals for grants that can be awarded to projects from
the RSGB Legacy Fund. The criteria and application form are available
on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/legacy If you have an interesting
idea and would like to submit it for funding, you can contact the new
Legacy Chair via legacy.chair<at>rsgb.org.uk
SOS Radio Week is underway. It is an annual event that takes place
throughout the month of May to celebrate the work of the volunteers
from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Independent Lifeboats
and National Coastwatch Stations around the British Isles. Between
them, members of these organisations save many lives who are in
danger along and around the thousands of miles of coastline and
further out to sea. This year is the 200th anniversary of the
founding of the RNLI, and SOS Radio Week is being co-branded SOS
Radio Week 200 for those operators who are supporting the RNLI during
the event. Participants can operate from home, a public location, or
a lifeboat or Coastwatch station, with the appropriate authorisation
from the station manager. A commemorative certificate is available to
all official stations that record their contacts on the website
together with awards for the top individual and club, or group,
stations on each band from 160m to 70cm. To read more about the event
visit sosradioweek.org.uk
The next in the series of the popular 145 Alive events, to promote
the use of 145MHz FM, is coming up on Saturday the 11th of May,
from 1pm to 3pm. The event and the supporting Facebook Group was
started by Tim, G5TM and from the start of 2024 has been organised by
Mark, M0XIC and John, M0XJA. The last successful event took place in
January this year, when over 30 nets operated simultaneously across
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern and Southern Ireland. Over 900
QSOs took place, with many amateurs operating portable, mobile or
from their club or home QTH. If you would like to take part, and find
out more about the event and 145 Alive in general, then join the 145
Alive Facebook Group.
Next weekend, the 11th and 12th, lots of amateur radio stations will
be taking to the air as part of Mills on the Air Weekend 2024. The
event takes place across the UK every May with more than 300
windmills and watermills usually taking part. For more information,
to register, and to view a list of registered stations, visit
ddars.net/mills.html
Advance notice now that International Museums Weekend will be taking
place on the third and fourth weekends in June. This year, those
weekends are the 15th and 16th, and the 22nd and 23rd of June.
Special event stations will be operating from a wide variety of
museums from many different countries. To read more about the event,
and to register to take part, visit tinyurl.com/IMW2024
And now for details of rallies and events
Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club's 40th Annual Radio Rally is taking
place today, the 5th of May. The venue is Share Discovery Village,
221 Lisnaskea [LIS-NA-SKI] Road, Lisnaskea [LIS-NA-SKI], Enniskillen,
BT92 0JZ. The event features food and drink, bring and buy, RSGB
books, the QSL Bureau, and the usual variety of traders. The doors
open at 11am. Traders are asked to arrive around 9am. Admission,
which includes a ticket for the prize draw, will cost GBP 5 or five
Euro. Contact Alan at argault91<at>gmail.com to arrange a table.
Thorpe Camp Hamfest is also taking place today, the 5th of May at
Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre, Tattershall Thorpe, Lincolnshire,
LN4 4PL. The doors open at 9am for buyers and the entrance fee is
GBP 5 per person. The event will finish at 1pm.
The RetrotechUK event will be held on Sunday the 12th of May. The
venue will be Sports Connexion, Leamington Road, Ryton-on-Dunsmore,
Coventry, CV8 3FL. The doors open at 10.30am with an entry fee of
GBP 10. A fee of GBP 25 applies for early-doors entry at 9am. This is
an annual event organised by the British Vintage Wireless
Society. There will be almost 200 dealer stalls, clubs and private
sellers. Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy the wide range
of retro equipment. For more information email
info<at>retrotechuk.com and visit retrotechuk.com
Dunstable Downs Radio Club would like to remind everyone that its
annual boot sale has been postponed until the 30th of June. This is
due to the site being used by BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend music
festival. Updates will be posted to Dunstable Downs Radio Club's
Facebook page and reminder emails will be sent out closer to the
time. To add yourself to the list, visit ddrcbootsale.org and sign
up for email reminders.
Now the Special Event News
Special callsign 9H6HE is in use by the Malta Amateur Radio League to
celebrate the swearing in of Malta's 11th President. Look for
activity until the 31st of May on the 40, 20, 15 and 10m bands using
SSB, CW and digital modes. QSL via Logbook of the World. Paper QSL
cards are not available.
The RSGB National Radio Centre will be operating special event
callsign GB2DAY to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day
landings during the Second World War. The station will be active
between the 6th and 9th of June. In addition, volunteers will be
hosting the special demonstration station GB1SOE on Saturday the 15th
of June. Don't forget that RSGB Members can get free entry to
Bletchley Park and the RSGB's National Radio Centre by downloading a
voucher from the RSGB website at rsgb.org/bpvoucher
Now the DX news
Bo, OZ1DJJ is active as OX3LX [OSCAR-XRAY-THREE-LIMA-XRAY] from
Greenland until the 9th of May. In his spare time, he operates FT8,
RTTY and CW. The station was spotted recently on the 10 and 12m bands
using FT8. QSL via OZ0J [OSCAR-ZULU-ZERO-JULIET]. Logs will be
uploaded to Logbook of the World and Club Log.
Tom, NL7RR is active on Wake Island, OC-053, until the 15th of May.
Look for KH9/NL7RR to be QRV daily at about 0700UTC on or around
14.200MHz. QSL via Logbook of the World, or direct to Tom's home
call. QSOs will also be uploaded to Club Log.
Now the contest news
Today, the 5th, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from
0800 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on 1.3 to 3.4GHz frequencies, the
exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
Also today, the 5th, the UK Microwave Group Millimetre-wave Contest
runs from 0900 to 1700UTC. Using all modes on 24, 47 and 76GHz
frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
Also today, the 5th, the Worked All Britain 7MHz Phone Contest runs
from 1000 to 1400UTC. Using SSB on the 40m band, the exchange is
signal report, serial number and Worked All Britain Square.
The ARI International DX Contest started at 1200UTC on Saturday the
4th and ends at 1159UTC today, Sunday the 5th of May. Using CW, RTTY
and SSB on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the
exchange is signal report and serial number. Italian stations also
send their province.
The 432MHz to 245GHz Contest started at 1400UTC on Saturday the 4th
and ends at 1400UTC today, Sunday the 5th of May. Using all modes on
432MHz to 245GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
Today, the 5th, the 10GHz Trophy runs from 0800 to 1400UTC. Using All
modes on 10GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
On Tuesday the 7th, the 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to
1855UTC. Using FM on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
Also on Tuesday the 7th, the 144MHz UK Activity Contest runs from
1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is
signal report, serial number and locator.
On Wednesday the 8th, the 432MHz FT8 Activity four-hour Contest runs
from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is
report and four-character locator. Also on Wednesday the 8th, the
432MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using
FT8 on the 70cm band, 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, the 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to
2130UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
On Sunday the 12th, the 70MHz CW Contest runs from 0900 to 1200UTC.
Using CW on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number
and locator. UK stations also send their postcode.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO
on Thursday the 2nd of May 2024
What a strange week we had. With the solar flux index in the 167
range, falling to 130, conditions should have been reasonable. But
the Kp index hit 4, and even 5.33, on the evening of Friday the 26th
of April, which meant propagation on Saturday the 27th was truly dire.
Stations taking part in International Marconi Day on the 27th found
the 40m band only open to long skip in the morning. This was due to
the critical frequency being below 5MHz. The predicted MUF over a
3,000km path fluctuated between 15MHz and 19MHz for the whole day,
which meant only 14MHz was open reliably. As a result, QSOs were hard
to come by and many stations reported that it was slow going with
virtually no signals from outside of Europe.
So what happened? Well, it was a combination of factors. The
increased Kp index, due to a fast solar wind, took its toll. And we
are now moving to a summer ionosphere, where chemical changes make it
harder to ionise. This will mean we should see MUFs dropping as the
season progresses, at least during the day. Nighttime MUFs will be
higher than in winter.
So it may be that the glory days of 28MHz F2-layer propagation are on
hold until Autumn, with only short-skip Sporadic-E on the 10m band to
keep us entertained.
F2-layer propagation is still available on the higher HF bands, but
it may be patchy.
International Marconi Day station GB0CMS in Caister, Norfolk,
reported that its 20m signals were picked up by a reverse beacon
network skimmer in Utah, despite not working anyone outside of
Europe. Meanwhile, on the morning of the 2nd, Laurie, G3UML was quite
surprised to work YJ0CA on Vanuatu [VA-NOO-AH-TWO] on the 15m band
using SSB. He also worked 3D2CCC on Conway Reef on the 20m band using
CW, and JD1BMH in Japan on the 15m band, also using CW.
Next week NOAA predicts the solar flux index will be in the 125
range, rising to 175 as the week progresses. Geomagnetic conditions
are dependent on coronal mass ejections. We have had eight M-class
solar flares in the past three days, and a Kp index of 5 on Thursday
the 2nd, which doesn't bode well for next week. So, keep an eye on
solarham.com for current conditions and look for the best HF
propagation if the Kp index is low for a day or two.
And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO
The weather pattern remains very unsettled for the whole period with
areas of low pressure edging north across the UK from the continent.
There will be a risk of thundery weather at times with locally heavy
rainfall, which will be good for rain scatter on the Gigahertz bands.
Tropo looks to be hard to find as we end the current week dominated
by low-pressure systems, but there are signs of high pressure
returning after mid-week, but only temporarily.
This could produce some Tropo paths, especially across surrounding
waters such as the Irish Sea, English Channel and North Sea.
The nominal summer season of Sporadic-E propagation is upon us and,
from May to early September, daily blogs will be provided on the
Propquest.co.uk website highlighting the possible Sporadic-E links to
the position of the jet streams shown on the upper air charts.
It's well worthwhile getting into the habit of regularly checking the
DX clusters and activity maps, since the early season is usually
characterised by a complex jet stream pattern with multiple potential
locations for Sporadic-E propagation.
Timewise, it eventually settles into a more traditional behaviour
with activity often in two phases, one in the morning and the second
in late afternoon, early evening.
As you listen to this report, the Eta Aquariids meteor shower should
be peaking. Unfortunately, the best viewing for the shower, which is
part of the debris from Halley's comet, will be in the southern
hemisphere.
Nevertheless, this is expected to be one of the best showers this
century. For those viewing the shower, a waning Moon means that light
levels should be low, making for ideal visual sighting.
For EME, the Moon will be waning all week with the new Moon around
the 8th of May. The Moon will be rising in the sky throughout the
week, with zero declination on the 5th of May and peaking at its
highest in the sky on Saturday the 11th of May.
The lowest additional path loss occurs today and tomorrow, the 5th
and 6th, but high Sun noise, with the Moon close to the Sun at new
Moon, occurs shortly afterwards. Later in the week, as the Sun
'leaves' the Moon behind, noise levels, at least on the higher bands
will fall to around normal.
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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