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G4TNU > NEWS 19.01.20 03:01l 206 Lines 9505 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 19 Jan 2020
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday 19th January 2020
The news headlines:
* Volunteer as a Regional Representative
* New member of Exam & Syllabus Review Group
* Teams section launched on RSGB website
Are you an RSGB Member living in Regions 2, 5, 7, 11, 12 or 13? If
you want to make a difference in your Region and volunteer as a
Regional Representative, remember that you need to submit your
application before the 31st of January. This applies to those who are
standing for re-election as well as Members who want to apply for the
first time. Further information about all roles in the RSGB elections
can be found on the Society's website at www.rsgb.org/election.
At the end of last year, the RSGB announced the formation of the new
Examination and Syllabus Review Group, the ESRG, and three vacancies
within that Group. The Society is now pleased to announce that Tony
Jones, G7ETW, has joined the group. Tony is an experienced tutor and
will also be known to readers of Practical Wireless as a regular
contributor to training-related articles. There are still two
vacancies to fill; you can find out more from the RSGB website ESRG
pages or the volunteers page, www.rsgb.org/volunteers
In the October 2019 RadCom, Board Director Philip Willis, M0PHI
explained how the RSGB was updating the way in which staff members
and volunteers work together to carry out the activities of the
Society and to achieve its Strategy 2022 priorities. The Society has
grouped these activities and specialist volunteers into five new
teams and has launched a new section on its website for them:
Innovation, Operating, Learning, Representation and Support. Go to
www.rsgb.org/teams to find the right people to contact for help and
advice.
An AM QSO Party takes place between 0600UTC on the 25th and 1200UTC
on the 26th of January. This is not a 5/9 contest and aims to
encourage QSOs and conversation, however points can be gained and
certificates awarded. Full details of the AM QSO Party can be found
at https://amqsoparty.wixsite.com/mysite
Key messages from the RSGB Volunteer Leadership Team meeting on the
16th of November are now online at tinyurl.com/GB2RS-1901A
Following updates to the Amateur Radio Regulations in the Falkland
Islands there is a need to revalidate all Falkland Island amateur
radio callsigns. In order to do that, all users will be required to
reapply for authority to use Falkland Island callsigns.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
We have no details of rallies in January. The first couple of the
year will be the Barry ARS Table Top Sale on the 1st of February and
the South Essex ARS Canvey Rally on the 2nd of February.
Please send details of your rally and event plans as soon as possible
to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk - we give you valuable publicity online,
in RadCom and on GB2RS, all for free.
And now the DX news from 425 DX News and other sources
Roland, F8EN will be active as FR/F8EN from Reunion Island, IOTA
reference AF-016, from the 23rd of January to the 18th of February.
He will operate CW only on the HF bands. QSL via F6AJA either direct
or via the bureau.
Janusz, SP9FIH will be active from Norfolk Island, OC-005 until the
12th of April. He will use the callsign VK9NK on SSB, RTTY and FT8.
QSLs go via Club Log OQRS.
Jean-Pierre, F6ITD will be active as FG/F6ITD and TO7D from La
Desirade, Guadeloupe, NA-102, until the 9th of March. He plans to
operate SSB and digital modes on all bands. QSLs are preferred via
Logbook of The World.
Dirk, WA4DT will be active as WA4DT/HR9 from Roatan Island, NA-057,
until the 2nd of February. He will operate CW and FT8 on the 40 and
30m bands. QSL direct to his home call.
Slovenian operators S50X, S51V, S52P, S54W, S56DX, S56N, S57DX and
S59A will be active on all bands and modes as IG9/homecall from
Lampedusa Island, AF-019, between the 21st and 27th of January. QSL
via home calls.
Rich, W4GKR will be active holiday style as TI5/W4GKR from Costa Rica
until the 4th of February. He will operate digital modes and possibly
slow CW on the 160 to 6m bands. QSL via his home call.
Now the special event news
Members of the Russian Robinson Club will operate the special event
station R200ANT to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the discovery
of Antarctica. The station will be on the air until the 31st of
March. Listeners are asked to note that the event station is located
in Russia and not Antarctica.
Please send special event details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk as early
as possible. We have not received special event station info from
Ofcom in recent months so you MUST let us know to get your event
publicised here on GB2RS, in RadCom, and online.
Now the contest news
On Tuesday the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC.
Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and
locator.
Next weekend, the CQ 160m DX contest runs from 2200UTC on the 24th to
2200UTC on the 26th. It's CW only on the 1.8MHz band and the exchange
is signal report and CQ Zone. Note that US stations also send their
State and Canadians send their Province.
The BARTG RTTY Sprint contest runs from 1200UTC on the 25th to
1200UTC on the 26th. Using the 3.5 to 28MHz contest bands the
exchange is simple the serial number of the contact.
Don't forget that the UK Six Metre Group's Winter Marathon runs until
the end of January. There are no specific operating modes or periods.
Just work as many locator squares as you can on the 50MHz band.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 17th of January.
We had another pretty uneventful week with zero sunspots, but no
major geomagnetic disturbances. The K index rose to three on Thursday
morning due to the effects of the solar wind, but the ionosphere was
otherwise calm geomagnetically.
We said last week that there had been some winter Sporadic-E, which
had livened up 10 metres. We also said there had been no SSB activity
of note on the band and was promptly corrected by Tony, M0IQD who
sent a copy of his log. This showed that he made more than 15 SSB
contacts on the 8th of January, including Norway, Sweden, Poland,
Germany and even VO1FOG in Newfoundland. Keep an eye open around
28.450 to 28.495MHz for SSB openings. He also suggested that the
Facebook group 10 Metre UK Net was a useful tool for 10m operators.
We're only too happy to pass that information on.
Next week NOAA predicts the solar flux index will be in the range
70-72, reflecting the current state of the solar cycle. It also
predicts quiet geomagnetic conditions all week, so the ionosphere
should be settled and showing seasonal norms in terms of propagation.
According to Propquest, daytime critical frequencies as measured by
the Chilton digisonde are generally in the range 4.1 to 5.3MHz. This
suggests that 80m remains best for inter-G contacts, with 40m being
restricted to longer paths such as G to GM. Night-time critical
frequencies are generally around 3.1 to 3.6 MHz, so 80m propagation
may be marginal over shorter distances, but better over 500km or more.
Daytime F2 layer openings are generally up to 18MHz, with the 20
metre band being more reliable.
Weather charts show that the jet stream will remain strong over the
UK and Europe next week, which may be an indicator for winter
Sporadic-E, although the season may be ending - more of this in the
VHF section.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
High pressure has started to reassert itself over southern Britain
and improved Tropo conditions will probably kick in from today into
early next week. Paths into the continent and south past Portugal
towards the Canaries might be worth a look, in view of recent
performances. This positive Tropo pattern could hold into midweek,
but thereafter the models show a collapse of the high back towards
the Azores, allowing room for a colder north-westerly to bring
stronger winds and a risk of some wintry weather across eastern
areas. But other models confine the cold outbreak to the northern
half of the UK only.
There is always scope for some winter Sporadic-E and the jet stream
pattern may favour paths into Western Europe and the western
Mediterranean, particularly for digital modes like FT8, but it could
also be worth checking for CW and SSB on 10m too.
The cold northwesterly with its wintry showers may excite the GHz
fraternity towards the latter part of next week as heavy showers move
down the North Sea and Irish Sea, bringing some rain scatter
propagation. The good thing about winter rain scatter is that the
showers are not diurnal like in summer and usually maintain activity
throughout the day and night.
Moon declination is negative and reaching a minimum on Thursday. Path
losses continue to rise all week, and the very high 144MHz sky noise
midweek means it's a poor week for EME.
There are no major meteor showers this week ,so continue to look for
random QSOs in the early morning around dawn.
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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