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G4TNU > NEWS 09.10.22 00:33l 243 Lines 11155 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 09 Oct 2022
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 9th of October 2022
The news headlines:
* RSGB Convention 2022
* New RSGB Board Member
* Celebrating 100 Years of the BBC
The RSGB's first hybrid Convention is this weekend. A selection of
presentations are being livestreamed as well as interviews, videos
and live operating by the special event station GB3HQ. You can watch
some of the livestream if you want to join this event from where you
live. Head over to the RSGB YouTube channel or follow the link from
the livestream web page at rsgb.org/livestream.
The RSGB Board is pleased to announce that John McCullagh, GI4BWM has
been co-opted as a Board Director until the 2023 AGM. Many members
will know John as he was ETCC Chairman from 2005 until 2017 and he is
still the Northern Ireland ETCC representative. John worked for
almost 40 years as a communications professional in the emergency
services in Northern Ireland, retiring in 2005 and being awarded an
MBE in the New Year Honours list for services to policing. Since
then, he has worked as a communications consultant in Eastern Europe
and in the past few years has, with his wife, volunteered with a
children's charity in Tanzania. John was licensed in 1973 and has
been active ever since, mainly on UHF and VHF. He has been involved
with the repeater scene from the late 1970s when he installed the
first repeater in Northern Ireland. He is also the Controller of a
RAYNET Group in County Antrim having been in that position since 1976.
On the 18th of October 1922, the Marconi Company and other equipment
manufacturers formed the British Broadcasting Company, which became
the British Broadcasting Corporation six years later. To mark this
momentous date exactly 100 years on, members of the BBC Amateur Radio
Group have been invited by Arqiva to operate for the day at the
Daventry transmitting station that was home to so much of BBC short
wave broadcasting over the years. Members of the BBC and Arqiva clubs
will be operating HF on Tuesday the 18th of October from the Empire
Service Building at the Daventry site. As well as GB100BBC, the
callsign G2LO will be on air. 2LO was the callsign allocated to the
very first BBC transmitter, built by Marconi and located at Savoy
Hill in London. Keep an eye on the GB100BBC QRZ page for more
information.
The Caledonian Rally is an annual event that brings together 13- to
17-year-old Scouts and Guides from all over Scotland. This year the
event takes place between the 14th and 16th of October. Inverness
Amateur Radio Society will be running GB2CWR for the event as part of
Jamboree on the Air. Aberdeen Amateur Radio Society members are
helping with the station, but more experienced operators are sought,
especially for set up and break down. Email
InvernessRadioSociety<at>gmail.com.
The Royal Air Force Air Cadets will be running the popular Blue Ham
Exercise on the 22nd and 23rd of October from 0800 to 1800UTC each
day. If you are a UK Full licence holder the hope is that you can set
some time aside to take part with the Cadets and Staff Volunteers who
will be ready to take your QSOs over the operating period. A Blue Ham
participation certificate for amateur operators who contact 20 or
more special MRE callsigns will be available. Details are on the
alphacharlie.org.uk portal.
Member States of the International Telecommunication Union, the
United Nations specialised agency for information and communication
technologies, have elected Doreen Bogdan-Martin, KD2JTX as the
organisation's next Secretary-General. She will assume office on the
1st of January 2023. She will be the first woman to lead the ITU in
its 157-year history and only the third Secretary-General to hold an
amateur radio licence.
And now for details of rallies and events
The National Hamfest will take place on Friday the 14th and Saturday
the 15th of October at Newark Showground, Nottinghamshire. Gates open
at 9.30am and the main hall opens at 10am. For more information visit
nationalhamfest.org.uk.
Next Sunday, the 16th of October, the Hornsea Amateur Radio Club
Rally will take place at the Driffield Show ground YO25 9DW. More
information at hornseaarc.co.uk.
Now the Special Event News
Hartlepool Amateur Radio Club will be running GB0TVS on behalf of
Tees Valley North Scouts between the 14th and 16th of October for
Jamboree on the Air. They will be based at Hartlepool Scout Centre.
The station will be active on HF, VHF and UHF and will welcome any
contacts. Visitors are welcome on the Saturday and Sunday.
Michel, F8GGZ and other operators will be active as TM100BBC between
the 10th and the 24th of October to commemorate the 100th anniversary
of the BBC. Activity will be on all modes, including EME, DMR and
C4FM. QSL via F8GGZ, direct or bureau.
Now the DX news
A team will be active as TO2DL [Tango Oscar 2 Delta Lima] from
Guadeloupe, NA-102, between the 10th and the 23rd of October. They
will operate CW, SSB and digital modes on the 10 to 160m bands with
three stations. QSL via DL7DF, either direct or via the bureau.
Garry, ZC4GR/2M1DHG has been active as VP8DLB from Port Stanley in
the Falkland Islands, SA-002, since the 23rd of September. He will
remain there until December. QSL via EB7DX.
A team of 15 plan to set-up four HF stations for CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8,
FT4, and a QO-100 satellite station until the 17th of October on the
Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean. They will be operating as D60AE.
For more information just search for the callsign.
Now the contest news
On Tuesday the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC.
It is followed by the all-mode 432MHz UK Activity Contest from 1900
to 2130UTC. The exchange is the same for both, signal report, serial
number and locator.
On Wednesday the Autumn Series Data Contest runs from 1900 to
2030UTC. Using RTTY and PSK 63, the exchange is signal report and
serial number.
The 432MHz FT8 Activity Contest also takes place on Wednesday.
Running between 1900 and 2100UTC, the exchange is a report and your
4-character locator.
On Thursday the 50MHz UK Activity contest runs between 1900 and
2130UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
Next weekend the Worked All Germany Contest runs for 24 hours from
1500UTC on the 15th. Using CW and SSB on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands,
where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and
serial number. German stations also send DOK.
Next Sunday, the 16th, the 50MHz AFS Contest runs from 0900 to
1300UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial
number and locator.
The RoLo CW Contest takes place between 1900 and 2030UTC next Sunday,
the 16th. Using the 3.5MHz band, the exchange is signal report and
the locator received.
Also next Sunday, the UK Microwave Group 24 to 76GHz Contest runs
from 0900 to 1700UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO
on Friday the 7th of October 2022
Yet another good week for HF propagation has passed, although it has
been borderline in terms of geomagnetic disturbances.
The Kp index hovered around the four mark all week, mainly due to
high-speed streams from the solar wind, possibly from slight glancing
blows from incoming CME material. There have been a few M-class solar
flares, but nothing too violent. The risk of X-class flares though
remains relatively high.
The solar flux continued to climb despite pessimistic predictions,
ending up at 161 and a sunspot number of 151 on Thursday.
Daytime critical frequencies have been in the range of 7.5 - 8MHz,
meaning 40m has been an excellent inter-G band during the day. MUFs
over a 3,000km path have been exceeding 24.9MHz, and occasionally
28MHz, especially in the early afternoon.
This has meant that HF propagation has been good with excellent
openings on all the upper HF bands. Paul, GM4ULS has even reported
hearing what we believe to be round-the-world echoes while listening
to high-power European stations on 20m calling for long-path Asia, VK
and ZL contacts in the morning.
This is a sure sign that the ionosphere is playing ball!
Next week the US Air Force predicts that the solar flux will remain
in the 150s to start with, but may then decline into the 130s as the
week progresses. The Kp index is predicted to be no more than three
all week, although an incoming CME could soon spoil that.
Coronal hole activity appears to be minimal, once we get past the
effects of a small hole on the equator, which became Earth-facing on
Wednesday. This could result in the Kp index rising on Friday,
although the hole's size means the effects may be short-lived and
perhaps minimal.
So in conclusion, it is Autumn with an SFI in the 150s and an active,
but not unsettled, geomagnetic field. In other words, it should be
good for HF DX unless a solar flare or CME comes along and spoils
things.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
The typical Autumn weather will continue over the next week, meaning
alternating ridges of high pressure between active weather fronts
with rain and strong winds.
There have been some reasonably uplifted Tropo conditions during
recent spells of high pressure and no reason to think this won't be
the case over the next week. The two most likely high-pressure
transitions across the country are this weekend and again in the
first half of next week. Paths to the south into the continent should
do well.
In between these events, we find active weather fronts crossing the
country with a large low taking up residence by the end of the week.
This could lead to a few rain scatter options for GHz bands, but
Autumn storms can be fast-moving and hard to track.
The Sun continues to offer support with a high Kp index on occasions
so always a chance of aurora.
The Draconids and the Orionids are the major meteor showers this
month. The former, peaking today, Sunday, with a typical ZHR of 10,
has been known to reach storm level. The Orionids is active from the
2nd of October to the 7th of November peaking on the 21st with a
medium ZHR of 20.
Random meteor scatter propagation is always available and rates are
high in October, so it's always a banker if you have a decent system
for the low VHF bands.
With all these more exotic modes the best course of action is to
monitor the clusters for signs of activity.
Moon declination goes positive today (Sunday), so Moon windows will
lengthen as the week progresses. We are past perigee so path losses
will increase throughout the week. 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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