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G4TNU > NEWS 12.07.20 01:34l 208 Lines 9892 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 12 Jul 2020
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 12th of July 2020
The news headlines:
* RSGB online Convention streams announced
* Latest news on ‘Get on the air to care'
* RSGB expands Remote Invigilation to Intermediate exams
The RSGB online Convention will consist of two streams. The first is
called "An introduction to…" and will include a wide range of
topics to support new and returning radio amateurs as well as
existing amateurs who'd like to try something new. The second is
"Learn more about…", where speakers will dig deeper into the
details of the subjects. We're also pleased to announce that Eric
Swartz, WA6HHQ, who is the co-founder of Elecraft, will be our
keynote speaker. We'll be releasing more details of the presentations
over the next few weeks.
The RSGB and NHS ‘Get on the air to care' campaign continues to
gain coverage in the national and amateur radio media as well as
being supported by clubs and radio amateurs. There are some great
stories to read on the Society's website that feature clubs like
Denby Dale ARS, individuals such as remote exam invigilator Donna,
M7DON and publications ranging from the Emergency Services Times to
‘Third Age Matters', which is the magazine of U3A. Go to
www.rsgb.org/gota2c to find out more.
Following on from the success of remote invigilation of Foundation
exams, the RSGB is pleased to expand that to include Intermediate
exams. From this Monday, the 13th of July, the automated exam booking
system will accept bookings for both Foundation and Intermediate
level exams. Please note that the earliest available bookings for
exams at either level are during the second week in August. The
requirement for Intermediate practical assessments is waived until
further notice, but this will be reviewed at a later stage.
An article has just been published in Nature about the first amateur
radio communication system in lunar orbit, Longjiang-2, also known as
Lunar-OSCAR 94 or LO-94. It was built by students at the Harbin
Institute of Technology. Read the Nature article at
www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17272-8. Thanks to the Spectrum
Forum for this information.
Despite the closure of many amateur radio events, you can still visit
the online QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo on the 8th and 9th of August.
Attendance is free and registration is now open. There will be around
70 speakers over the weekend including Ward Silver, N0AX speaking on
Grounding and Bonding; Glen Johnson, W0GJ talking DXpeditions and
John Portune, W6NBC on building slot antennas. Go to
www.qsotodayhamexpo.com to learn more and register.
John Armstrong, GW3EJR will be celebrating his 100th birthday on the
18th of July. He told us that, "It has been a long journey since
1920, although a rather shorter one from when I got my callsign,
G3EJR, in 1948. I am still active, using a very ancient Icom IC-706,
with a full size G5RV on HF and a Yagi on the 2m band. When I go out
and about, I go on 2m with a Baofeng UV-5R5." Many happy returns John.
Ofcom have advised the RSGB that their online portal was due to be
down between 4.30am and 11.30am on Saturday the 11th of July.
Mid Ulster ARC have been holding online talks during the Covid-19
pandemic. These talks are available for everyone to view on the
club's YouTube channel. Last week RSGB Region 8 representative Philip
Hosey, MI0MSO made a presentation, which was followed by a Q&A
session with RSGB General Manager Steve Thomas, M1ACB. They have also
had talks by Dom, M0BLF on QO-100, George, GI4SJQ on coaxial cable
and connectors and Tony, G2NF speaking about urban QRM, amongst
several others. The MUARC YouTube channel is at
https://tinyurl.com/GB2RS-07-12.
Now the special event news
Since the change of regulations applying to special event stations in
the UK, many activations are now able to go ahead. UK amateurs would
like to thank Ofcom for their help in making this happen.
To commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the FT8 Digital Mode Club,
special event stations will be on air during the FT8DMC Activity Days
until the 31st of July. All stations will bear the FTDMC or FTDM
suffix. An FTDMC Anniversary Award can be earned by working the FTDMC
and FTDM stations and collecting points applicable for various award
classes. See www.ft8dmc.eu for more details.
9A164T is the special callsign to commemorate the birth of Nikola
Tesla, who was born on 10 July 1856. QSL via the bureau and eQSL.
VC3STYWELL is the third Covid-19 special callsign to be operated by
The Seven Thirty Social Distancing Nets in Ontario. It is on the air
until the 19th of July. QSLs via VE3ES.
Now the contest news
Please remember to check before the events for new rules due to
lockdown and social distancing, which may differ around the world.
The RSGB strongly advises obeying your own government's advice first
and foremost.
The IARU HF Championship runs for 24 hours until 1200UTC today, the
12th. Using SSB only on the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange
is signal report and ITU Zone, which is 27 for the UK.
On Tuesday the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC.
Then from 1900 to 2130UTC it's the all-mode 432MHz UK Activity
Contest. The exchange for both is signal report, serial number and
locator.
On Wednesday it is the SSB leg of the 80m Club Championships, running
from 1900 to 2030UTC. The exchange is signal report and serial number.
The 70MHz UK Activity contest takes place on Thursday from 1900 to
2130UTC. It's all mode and the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
Next Sunday, the 19th, the Low Power Contest runs from 0900 to
1600UTC. This is CW only on the 3.5 to 14MHz contest bands, with an
exchange of signal report, serial number and power. This is the only
RSGB contest with a lunch break, so please check the rules.
The 70MHz Trophy contest also takes place on Sunday the 19th. It runs
from 1000 to 1600UTC. It's all mode and the exchange is signal
report, serial number, locator and postcode.
The UK Six Metre Group's Summer Marathon runs until the 2nd of
August. Using all modes on the 50MHz band, the exchange is your
4-character locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 10th of July.
An elevated solar wind stream moved past Earth late on the 4th of
July and early on the 5th, sending the Kp index to three. This was
the most significant solar event of the last week as otherwise the
Sun remained calm. The Kp index remained at one or zero for the rest
of the week, which no doubt helped boost propagation. There were no
sunspots this week after the minor group, region 2766, which pushed
the sunspot number to 12, vanished on Monday. Note that the number 12
represents two sunspots (2) in one group (+10), so it wasn't quite as
exciting as it sounds. Otherwise there was little to write home
about. Sporadic-E continues to be the major mode of propagation,
although there were days when it was more sporadic than the previous
week! We have probably seen the best of the Sporadic-E season now
although it should keep running until late August, albeit at lower
levels. If previous experience is anything to go by, we can expect a
few bigger openings yet so please don't write off 10 metres
completely.
The NOAA space weather prediction for next week doesn't exactly
inspire either. It has the solar flux index pegged at 68-69, with a
maximum planetary Kp index of two. The STEREO Ahead spacecraft view
shows very little in the way of forthcoming activity, other than a
few bright spots in the extreme ultraviolet view that may or may not
come to something as the Sun rotates.
Looking for some good news, according to the Chilton ionosonde data,
20 metres is generally staying open on 3,000km paths until around
midnight on most nights, although you may find 30 metres more
reliable.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
It's looking like another week of changes with last week's unsettled
weather making way for a new ridge of high pressure over this
weekend. This means that, after a period of potential GHz bands rain
scatter, we are now heading into some Tropo prospects, especially in
the south for paths into France and across Biscay to Spain. But low
pressure is never far away to the north, particularly after mid-week
when a low passes close to Scotland and showery fronts are driven
across the country to give a few rain scatter options again.
The Sporadic-E season is still out there and as usual the best advice
is to check the bands and clusters for activity mid-morning and again
late afternoon and early evening.
Moon declination goes positive today and 144MHz sky noise is low but
rising as the week progresses. Apogee is tonight so path losses will
be falling throughout the week. Peak Moon declination is just a week
away, meaning longer Moon windows – time to get that EME system up
and running again.
There are no major meteor showers this week, so continue to operate
around local dawn for the best chance of random meteor scatter
contacts.
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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