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G4TNU > NEWS 19.01.25 05:36l 282 Lines 14049 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 19 Jan 2025
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 19th of January 2025
The news headlines:
* The RSGB is an official partner for this year's British
Science Week
* Nominations are open for two RSGB Elected Board Director
roles
* Don't forget to update your club's RSGB Club Finder
information
The RSGB is delighted to announce that it is an official partner for
this year's British Science Week, run by the British Science
Association. The RSGB Outreach Team worked with the RSGB Comms Team
to offer an amateur radio-related activity, and this will feature in
the British Science Week Community Pack. This links with the
Society's strategic priority of Growth and its desire to reach new
audiences. The Society is very excited that amateur radio will be
featured for the first time in this important national STEM campaign.
Full details of the RSGB activity will be shared during the next week
when all the packs are officially launched. This year's event runs
from the 7th to the 16th of March with the theme of "Change and
adapt". It is not just for young people and the RSGB has a range of
additional activity ideas you could try with your community, friends
and family too. The RSGB hopes its ideas and resources will encourage
you to get out there and inspire others. Find out more at
rsgb.org/bsw and look out for further announcements this week. If
you have an idea or a plan to get people involved, or would like some
advice and support, please contact the RSGB British Science Week
Coordinator, Ian Neal, M0KEO via bsw<at>rsgb.org.uk
If you're an RSGB member, have excellent leadership skills and would
like to contribute to the amateur radio community, how about becoming
an RSGB Board Director? Nominations are now open for applicants to
stand for two Elected Board Director roles. The existing Board is
looking for Directors who have specific skills to replace outgoing
Directors. It would love to see applications from those who have
expertise in spectrum matters and with building positive
relationships with other organisations. The Board is also looking for
people who are passionate about continuing its important outreach
activities, as well as its ongoing work in developing practical
skills amongst the amateur radio community. The Society is
encouraging candidates from a diverse range of backgrounds to stand
for election and wants to ensure that the voices around the table
understand and reflect the community it aims to serve. Find out more
on these roles, as well as other opportunities in the RSGB 2025
Elections, by going to rsgb.org/election The closing date for all
vacancies is 2359UTC on the 31st of January 2025, so act now and
ensure you take this opportunity to help shape the future of amateur
radio.
If you're a member of an RSGB-affiliated club or society, the RSGB is
encouraging you to visit rsgb.org/club-finder and check that your
organisation's details are up to date. The RSGB Club Finder allows
people to search for local amateur radio groups. Those people could
want to join your group, find out more about amateur radio before
taking their Foundation licence exam or perhaps need support for
British Science Week activities. Updating your listing is easy. Just
log into your club's Membership Services account at
rsgb.org/members and go to the ‘UK Club Finder' section. The form
includes a section called ‘Meeting details' where you can add
helpful information about disabled access, as well as details about
both physical and online meetings. The Society will update Club
Finder with any new data between 4pm and 6pm every Friday
afternoon. If you wish your update to appear before the weekend,
please ensure you update your details before 3pm on Fridays. Any
questions on the process can be sent to membership<at>rsgb.org.uk
Ofcom has announced a consultation which seeks to simplify the
licensing of amateur radio visitors to the UK from a specified list
of countries. The consultation also covers the proposed
simplification of other wireless equipment usage. Ofcom says: "We
propose to introduce a new licence exemption for short-term use of
radio amateur equipment by radio amateurs visiting from countries
that are not covered by the CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-02, but with
whom the UK has a bilateral reciprocal agreement." The deadline for
responses to the consultation is 5pm on the 28th of March 2025. You
can read the Ofcom consultation document at tinyurl.com/ofcom-uwtle
[TINYURL-DOT-COM-SLASH-OFCOM-HYPHEN-UNIFORM-WHISKEY-TANGO-LIMA-ECHO]
Have you revalidated your licence recently? Ofcom requires that radio
amateurs revalidate their licence at least every five years, although
confirming annually is recommended. For more information on the
process go to rsgb.org/licensing and select ‘Licence
Revalidation' from the right-hand menu. The web page provides further
information on the process, a link to the Ofcom portal, as well as a
handy video guide on the process from Ofcom. Make sure you keep your
details up to date and add a diary reminder to renew each year.
Have you made a New Year's resolution to learn CW? If so, you might
be interested in Essex CW Amateur Radio Club's CW for
Beginners training. The next course starts on Thursday the 6th of
February. It will take place via Skype from 7pm. If you are
interested in taking part, email Andy, G0IBN via g0ibn1<at>yahoo.com
Lots of operators are on the air, until the end of January, with
stations taking part in the World Wide Award. If you have been
listening to the HF bands, you will have heard lots of stations using
callsigns with a WWA suffix. Points are awarded for working these
stations using a variety of modes. For example, two points are
awarded for a contact made using a digital mode and ten points are
awarded for making a CW contact. To qualify for the award, you need a
minimum of 100 points. To read more about the World Wide Award visit
hamaward.cloud/wwa
And now for details of rallies and events
The Lincoln Shortwave Club Winter Radio Rally is taking place on the
26th of January at The Festival Hall, Caistor Road in Market Rasen.
The doors open at 10am and admission is GBP 3. Hot refreshments and
ample free car parking will be available. The cost for a table is
GBP 10. To book, contact Steve Burke, M5ZZZ on 07777 699 069 or email
m5zzz<at>outlook.com
On the 9th of February, the Mid Cheshire Amateur Radio Society
RadioActive Fair will take place at Nantwich Civic Hall, Market
Street, Nantwich, Cheshire, CW5 5DG. The doors will be open from 10am
to 3pm and admission will cost GBP 5. Hot food, refreshments and free
car parking will be available. For more information contact Patrick,
2E0VGF via info<at>radioactivefair.co.uk
The Red Rose Winter Rally is due to take place on the 23rd of
February from 10am at Mather Hall, Mather Lane, Leigh, Lancashire,
WN7 2PJ. Please note that the maximum number of five-foot tables per
trader has had to be reduced from six to five. On a brighter note,
the price remains as it has been for several years at GBP 10 per
table. For more information visit wmrc.co.uk
Now the Special Event news
HI59UD [HOTEL-INDIA-FIVE-NINE-UNIFORM-DELTA] is a special callsign in
use by the Dominican Amateur Radio Union, the second oldest amateur
radio club in the Dominican Republic. The station is active to
celebrate the 59th anniversary of its foundation. Look for activity
on the HF bands, using SSB and digital modes, until the 25th of
January. For information about a certificate that is available for
working the station visit QRZ.com
Special callsign PA25MC will be on the air for just one day on
Thursday the 23rd of January. The station will be active to introduce
Dutch Marines to the world of amateur radio. Operators will be using
SSB on the HF bands. The event is organised and supported by PI4VBD,
the club station of the Royal Netherlands Army Signal Regiment. More
information is available at QRZ.com
Now the DX news
David, VE3VSM/HR9 is active from Roatan [ROW-UH-TIN] Island, NA-057,
off the north coast of Honduras, until the 25th of January. He is
operating CW and FT8 on the 30 and 20m bands. QSL via Logbook of the
World, or via David's home call.
Jeff, VA3QSL is active as FG/VA3QSL from Guadeloupe [GWAA-DUH-LOOP],
NA-102, until the 26th of January. Following this, he will be active
as PJ7/VA3QSL from Sint Maarten, NA-105, between the 27th of January
and the 16th of February. The final leg of his Caribbean tour sees
him operating as FS/VA3QSL from St. Martin, NA-105, between the 16th
of February and the 4th of March. He will operate SSB, CW and digital
modes on the 40 to 6m bands. QSL via Logbook of the World, directly
to Jeff's home call, or via the Bureau.
Now the contest news
Tomorrow, the 20th, the FT4 Series Contest runs from 2000 to 2200UTC.
Using FT4 on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the
exchange is your report.
On Tuesday the 21st, the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to
2230UTC. Using all modes on the 23cm band, the exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
The CQ 160m DX Contest runs from 2200UTC on Friday the 24th until
2200UTC on Sunday the 26th of January. Using CW on the 160m band, the
exchange is signal report and CW Zone. USA stations also send their
state and Canadian stations send their province.
The British Amateur Radio Teledata Group RTTY Sprint runs from
1200UTC on Saturday the 25th until 1200UTC on Sunday the 26th of
January. Using RTTY on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are
permitted, the exchange is your serial number.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Thursday the 16th of January 2025.
It looks like the lull in sunspot activity is coming to an end as the
solar flux index rose to 174 on Thursday the 16th, after a week in
the 150s and 160s.
The Sun was fairly bare, but there are now signs of more sunspot
activity rotating into view.
There have been no X-class flares in the past seven days and only one
M-class event. This has meant that the Kp index has been low, thanks
to a lack of associated coronal mass ejections. There were four
during one three-hour period on the 13th of January.
As a result, HF conditions have not been too bad with daytime maximum
useable frequencies, or MUFs for short, over 3,000km regularly
exceeding 24 and even 28MHz at times. However, nighttime MUFs are
still in the doldrums, often struggling to get above 5MHz over a
3,000km path. This will no doubt change as we head towards spring.
DX on the bands recently has included S01WS
[SIERRA-ZERO-ONE-WHISKEY-SIERRA] in Western Sahara and UP7WWA in
Kazakhstan, both on 28MHz CW. Closer to home we have had GB200LB
celebrating the bicentenary of the invention of the Braille code and
GB1GKA commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Portishead Radio
receiving station, callsign GKA, at Highbridge, Somerset. Both of
these stations were active on the 20, 17, 15 and 10m bands using CW.
At the other end of the bands, Kev, VK6LW has been heard on 1822kHz
from Western Australia at his sunrise at 2112UTC, as has Robert,
DU7ET in the Philippines at 2200UTC. January is a great month for top
band contacts.
Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will remain in the
160 to 175 range. Geomagnetic conditions are predicted to be good
with a maximum Kp index of 3.
As always, keep an eye on solarham.com for news of solar flares and
coronal mass ejections, which could easily send the Kp index higher
and the MUFs lower.
And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO.
The current spell of high pressure has served us well with some good
tropo paths around the edge of the high into Spain and Portugal and
even beyond to Madeira.
This has shown how effective long maritime ducts can be around the
edge of areas of high pressure.
On the 16th of January, the Atlantic was taking over the agenda and
low pressure near Scotland was pushing a weakening front into
north-western Britain as the high retreated east into Europe.
The rest of the coming week has other lows bringing some rain or
showers – especially to the north-west of the UK where it will
become quite windy again. On Wednesday the 15th, weather models
suggested a small high may return to the southern part of the
country.
We are in a rather unsettled weather period with some limited rain
scatter potential for the GHz bands. Meteor scatter is also a bit
thin with just a possibility of scatter via the Gamma Ursae Minorids,
which peaked yesterday, the 18th. However, the number of meteors is
at a very low rate and so is not a great option.
Next, we move onto aurora and there continue to be examples of alerts
suggesting minor events. Generally, though, spring is usually a
better time, so there's still a while to wait.
Saturday the 11th of January brought a welcome out-of-season
Sporadic-E opening to Poland, and then the Balkans, on 50MHz lasting
around three and a half hours from 1200UTC.
Another good piece of news is the return of ionosonde data for the
propquest.co.uk website after a few missing days. This is a timely
opportunity to thank all those who maintain the professional data
sets that allow us amateurs to see what the bands are doing.
Moon declination is positive, going negative this Sunday. Moon
windows will shorten, and peak Moon elevations fall. Path losses
continue to increase as we approach apogee on Tuesday. 144MHz sky
noise is low all week.
And that's all from the propagation team.
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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