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G4TNU > NEWS 01.03.20 02:34l 241 Lines 11282 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 01 Mar 2020
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 1st of March 2020
The news headlines:
* Guidance for limiting exposure to EMF
* US amateurs respond to 3.4GHz threat
* Ofcom's policy on two-letter callsigns
Following last week's launch of an Ofcom Consultation on EM Field
exposure, the RSGB has released a briefing paper for all UK amateurs.
This gives more details as the proposals involve a change to licence
conditions for any station operating with greater than 10W EIRP. The
Society has formed a team to prepare a considered response to Ofcom's
Consultation and will be offering further guidance ahead of the 15th
of May deadline. The briefing paper is available at
www.rsgb.org/emc-papers.
A proposal by the FCC in the USA to remove the entire amateur 3.4GHz
allocation without compensation has seen strong opposition as ARRL,
AMSAT and hundreds of individual amateurs have filed comments in
response to a current consultation. The ARRL highlighted decades of
active usage and experimentation including mesh networks, amateur
television, weak signal long-distance communication, Earth-Moon-Earth
or moonbounce communication, propagation research and emerging
amateur satellite developments. In its comments, ARRL argued that it
would therefore be premature to remove the current secondary amateur
radio allocation. The FCC is also inviting comments on changes to the
5.9GHz band that has an amateur allocation in the USA.
Ofcom has recently updated its website to clarify its policy relating
to the issuing of callsigns with two-letter suffixes. The notes can
be found at tinyurl.com/gb2rs-ofcomcall and selecting Amateur Radio
Callsign Allocation.
The first lecture as part of the Marconi Centenary 2020 has been
announced by the Chelmsford Civic Society. Professor Danielle George
has kindly agreed to speak at Anglia Ruskin University, Bishop Hall
Lane, Chelmsford, CM1 1SQ on Tuesday the 31st of March at 2pm. The
lecture is free to everyone but must be pre-booked. Go to
https://tinyurl.com/eventbrite-marconi.
The coronavirus has impacted a couple of DXpeditions due to a
requirement to spend 14 days in quarantine in Hawaii or Guam before
entering some of the smaller Pacific island nations. Swains Island,
OC-200, and T30ET from Tarawa Atoll, OC-017, are postponed until the
autumn, and planning for Pulap, OC-155, and Satawal, OC-299, both new
Islands in Micronesia is on hold.
The next section in the 2020 SOTA Challenge is the Digital Voice and
will take place in the first week of March. All SOTA QSOs completed
on DMR, C4FM, D-Star or FreeDV will automatically attract scoring
credit in the Challenge. As repeaters and gateways are not valid for
SOTA contacts, all QSOs will need to be simplex. There is substantial
C4FM activity planned in the Shropshire Hills today, the 1st of
March, and in the Clywydian Hills on Saturday the 7th of March. On
the evening of Monday the 2nd of March, there is a SOTA DV activity
night. Several activators will be out on the summits with DV modes
and will be supported by Stockport RS and Macclesfield & District RS,
chiefly on C4FM mode on the 2m band. On the evening of the 4th of
March, another SOTA DV activity night takes place, this time
supported by the Lancashire-based North West Fusion Group. This will
be mainly on 70cm C4FM. For more information about Summits on the Air
please visit www.sota.org.uk.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, the 1st of March, the Exeter Radio & Electronics Rally will be
held in America Hall, De la Rue Way, Pinhoe, Exeter EX4 8PW. Doors
open at 10.30am, 10.15am for disabled visitors, and admission GBP 2
with under 16s free. There will be trade stands, a Bring & Buy and
catering is available on site. Details from Pete, G3ZVI on
0771 419 8374 or by email to g3zvi<at>yahoo.co.uk.
On Saturday the 7th March, the Lagan Valley ARS Rally will take place
in the Hillsborough Village Centre, 7 Ballynahinch Road,
Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6AR. Doors open at 11am and entrance is
GBP 4. Dave Wilson, MOOBW, the RSGB President and Examination Quality
Assurance Manager, will be in attendance to meet attendees and give a
demonstration of the online exam system to anyone who wishes to see
how it works. The RSGB Awards Manager, Bobby, MI0RYL will be there as
will representatives from the RABIC.
The Pencoed ARC Table-Top Sale scheduled to take place on the 8th of
March has been cancelled.
The next rally in the diary is the 35th Wythall Radio Club Hamfest on
the 15th of March.
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
Rudi, DK7PE will be active as CP6/DK7PE from Santa Cruz, Bolivia
until the 6th of March. He will operate CW with a focus on the low
bands. QSL via his home call, direct or via the bureau.
Yuri, R2DY, Pavel, R2DX and Eugene, RW3FB will be active as EX0QR
from the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan between the
6th and 17th of March. They will operate CW, SSB and digital modes on
the 160 to 10m bands. QSL via Club Log's OQRS, or via R2DX either
direct or via the bureau.
Hans, DK8RE, Wolf, DL1CC and Wies, SP1EG will be active as MH0ESP
from Jersey, EU-013, between the 7th and 16th of March. QSL via SP1EG.
HP1DAV, HP3AK, G4BVY, G4CLA and GD4XUM will be active as H33K from
Volcan in Panama between the 2nd and the 13th of March. They will
operate CW, SSB and FT8 on various HF bands. QSL direct to HP1DAV;
the log will be uploaded to Logbook of The World and Club Log.
Phil, N2HX will be active holiday style as PJ4/N2HX from Bonaire,
SA-006, between the 1st and the 15th of March. He will operate SSB,
RTTY and FT8. QSL via his home call.
Now the special event news
We have received no details of special event stations operating this
week.
Please send special event details to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk as early
as possible to get your event publicised here on GB2RS, in RadCom,
and online.
Now the contest news
On Monday, the 80 Club Championships take place between 2000 and
2130UTC using datamodes only. The exchange is signal report and
serial number.
On Tuesday the 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC,
using FM only. It is immediately followed by the all-mode 144MHz UK
Activity Contest from 2000 to 2230UTC. The exchange for both contests
is signal report, serial number and locator.
The UK and Ireland Contest Club 80m contest runs from 2000 to
2100UTC. This is the SSB leg and the exchange is your 4-character
locator.
Next weekend the ARRL International DX contest runs for 48 Hours from
0000UTC on the 7th to 2359UTC on the 8th. Using the 1.8 to 28MHz
bands the exchange is signal report and transmitter power. US
stations also send their State and Canadians their Province.
The 144/432MHz contest takes place between 1400UTC on the 7th and
1400UTC on the 8th. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
The UK Microwave Group's Low Band Contest takes place next Sunday,
the 8th, from 1000 to 1600UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3 to 3.4GHz
bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
The Worked All Britain 3.5MHz contest takes place next Sunday, the
8th of March, from 1800 to 2200UTC. Entries need to be with the
contest manager by the 18th of March. The exchange will be RS plus
serial number plus WAB square. Full details of the rules and methods
of entry may be obtained from the WAB website
www.worked-all-britain.org.uk.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 28th of February.
Interest in the VP8PJ DXpedition to the South Orkney Islands remains
high. The team has now been on the island for one week and many UK
amateurs have worked them. At the moment, it looks like beams and
linears are the norm for a reliable contact, although they have been
heard in the UK on 17 and 20 metres FT8 at -10dB SNR in the afternoon
using just loft-mounted dipoles. As they work their way through the
pile ups more opportunities to work them may become available. They
are currently due to remain on the island until the 5th of March.
As always, the point-to-point facility at rsgb.org/predtest will give
you an indication of the best times to work VP8PJ from the UK.
Conditions have been quite settled with the Kp index moving between
one and zero. The Sun continues to remain spotless with a solar flux
index of 71. As this report is being prepared there are two small
coronal holes on the Sun that are rotating into an Earth-facing
position. If these develop, they could cause the Kp index to rise
this weekend due to their associated high-speed solar wind streams.
This may result in a pre-auroral HF enhancement.
Otherwise, NOAA predicts the Kp index may rise again to four on March
the 4th and 5th, presumably due to a returning coronal hole.
We are now heading towards the Spring equinox, which is a good time
for north-south HF contacts.
With the Commonwealth Contest on Saturday the 14th of March this may
be a good time to try as you won't have any competition from
continental contesters.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
It feels like 'groundhog day' for the VHF/UHF propagation prospects
with another week of unsettled weather on the way. There are likely
to be several occasions when low pressure systems pass by northern
Britain, thus bringing strong winds to Scotland again, but with some
windier spells in the south too, though mostly not as strong.
The principal outcome of this weather pattern is that it leaves no
room for high pressure to develop over the UK and therefore no chance
of Tropo for yet another week.
As before, that means that potential exists for some rain scatter
activity on the GHz bands using the heavy rain, hail and snow as good
scatter points. Sometimes individually from fast-moving small shower
clouds, but also from larger areas like active weather fronts making
it easier to latch onto the scattering area.
The upper air patterns continue to show strong ‘winter' jet streams
nearby or over the country, so this leads to the slim chance of
‘out-of-season' sporadic E on 10m and 6m, especially if using the
digital modes and, if forced to pick a favoured direction, it would
probably be south towards EA and CT.
Moon declination reaches maximum mid-week and path losses are falling
with perigee a week on Tuesday, so a good week for EME. 144 MHz sky
noise reaches 500K on Tuesday but is generally low for most of the
rest of the week.
There are no meteor showers peaking in the coming week, so keep
looking for random meteor scatter QSOs 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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