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G4TNU > NEWS 04.05.11 16:08l 237 Lines 11925 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 08 May
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday 8th May 2011
The news headlines:
* Russia signs up to CEPT licensing
* Talk in for the RSGB AGM
* Intruder Watch lecture at Friedrichshafen
Russia has become the latest nation to sign onto the pan-European
CEPT licensing agreement. According to the IARU Region 1 website, the
Russian State Radio Frequencies Commission decided in March that the
Russian Federation would join both the CEPT and ECC Recommendation.
This makes it possible for every CEPT licence holder to operate on
the territory of the Russian Federation. There are a few caveats.
Among them is that Russia will only permit such CEPT operation by a
foreign station for a limit of three months, without any additional
permission needed. Also, the callsign to be used in CEPT operations
will be RA followed by the foreign amateur's personal call letters.
Arrangements have been made for a talk-in station for those attending
the RSGB's AGM in Derby on 14 May. It will be available on 145.550MHz
from about 8am through to 12 noon and the callsign will be G2DJ, Golf
2 Delta Juliet. Tickets for the amateur radio dinner on Saturday
evening are still available from the RSGB online shop.
At the Ham Radio exhibition in Friedrichshafen, Germany there will be
lectures about the activities of IARU Region 1 and DARC Monitoring
System Intruder Watch. It will take place on Saturday, 25 June at
10am in Room Schweiz, Hall A2.
Summits on the Air recently passed a significant milestone with its
millionth QSO being made over the recent holiday period. SOTA started
in 2002 and has now grown into a worldwide award scheme with 55
associations across the world and around 44,000 qualifying summits.
For more information on the scheme, check out the internet at
www.sota.org.uk.
Sad news broke late last week. James McLaughlin, WA2EWE/T6AF was one
of several Americans killed in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, April
27. News sources say that eight American troops and a US contractor
died Wednesday after an Afghan military pilot opened fire during a
meeting in an operations room of the Afghan Air Corps at the Kabul
airport. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
On Sunday 8 May, the Magnum Radio Rally will take place at the Magnum
Leisure Centre, Harbourside, Irvine, Ayrshire KA12 8PP. There will be
trade stands, a Bring & Buy and special interest groups. Doors open
at 10.30am and admission is GBP 4. Details from Helen, MM0HLN, on
0787 332 7597.
Sunday 15 May sees the National Vintage Communications Fair taking
place at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre, The Fosse, Fosse Way,
Leamington Spa CV31 1XN. Doors open at 10am and there is free car
parking on site. Entry is GBP 6 and there will be plenty of trade
stands and special interest groups as well as catering services.
Details by e-mail from info<at>nvcf.org.uk.
Advanced notice now of the 1st Leicester RS Grand Clearance and Bring
& Buy that will be held on 22 May at the Leicester Radio Society HQ,
Groby Road, Leicester. There is approximately GBP 2000 of donated
radio equipment for disposal as well as a Bring & Buy. Doors open
10am to 4pm. Details of equipment available and further details from
Alex on 0753 120 1640.
Now for the news of special events
Today, 8 May, the Whitton Amateur Radio Group will be presenting
amateur radio to the public using GB2IKE in Bushy Park as part of an
open day called Chestnut Sunday at Bushy Park, located in-between
Teddington and Hampton Court Palace in Middlesex. Whitton Amateur
Radio Group has the Royal Parks to thank for allowing the station to
be situated in the park and it is likely that these will be the first
radio transmissions from this location since the base was operational
in WW2.
On 14 May a group of Merseyside and North Lancashire based amateurs
will activate Lindisfarne Island, which is IOTA reference EU120. A
special QSL card will be available. The team of G0LZX, G0WRE and
M0TNX plan to be active on the 40, 20 and 17m bands, with the
possibility of 15m. Mainly using SSB, data and CW contacts will be
available if required. The call for this event will be GB0HI.
Charles, M0OXO, has kindly offered to be QSL manager and the QSL
cards are being undertaken by Gennady at UX5UO print.
The Shannon Basin Radio Club will be taking part in the Mills on the
air weekend on 14 and 15 May. They will be operating from Elphin
Windmill in Co. Roscommon and using the call EI2EWM.
On Sunday 16 May, radio operators of the Radio Club of Binche with
the help of the Milton Keynes Amateur Radio Society will be on the
air from Bletchley Park. The callsign will be M/ON4WAR. Contacts will
be made in telegraphy only on 3.566 to 3.583, 7.006 to 7.012 and
7.016 to 7.025MHz. The transceivers used for this event will be
essentially replicas of the Whaddon MK VII or Paraset constructed by
the radio club. QSLs either direct or via ON7RY.
May 2011 will be the month for chasing castles and stately homes on
air. The weekend of the 21st and 22nd will be the international
castles weekend from 1am on the 21st to 11pm on the 22nd. For UK
stations, information can be found at www.cashota.co.uk as well as
links to regional activity. The website now allows interested
amateurs to complete activation forms online.
The Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society will run a Special Event
station at the open day in HMS Collingwood on Saturday 4 June. The
callsign to be used is GB6COD, Collingwood Open Day. The station will
be operational on all amateur bands from 1.8MHz to 440MHz. The
Society headquarters station will be open for viewing from 9.30am to
6pm on the day. A number of demonstrations will be taking place using
amateur radio and amateur television. The open day will feature the
Royal Navy Field Gun Competition. Additional attractions will include
a display from the Royal Marines Band, Collingwood, a free fun fair
and much more. Advanced tickets will be available from Gosport and
Fareham Tourist Information Offices and Portsmouth News Offices from
May 2011.
And now the HF DX news compiled from 425 DX News and other sources
Marcello, IK8DNJ is off to the Dominican Republic and will use the
callsign HI7/IK8DNJ until 13 May. He will operate SSB and digital
modes on the 10 to 40m bands. QSL via IZ8LKL.
Several Japanese operators will be on the air from the island of
Ogasawara for varying dates up to 13 May. Calls to look out for are
JD1BMT, JD1BLY and JD1BMH. As well as being quite a rare DXCC entity,
Ogasawara also counts for IOTA AS-031.
Gerard, F2JD will be active as HR5/F2JD until the middle of May. His
QSL manager is F6AJA.
Fred, PA1FJ, will be on the air as SV5/PA1FJ/P from Karpathos Island,
which is IOTA reference EU-001, from 8 to 14 May. Fred works in SSB
and CW on the 6 to 40m bands with QRP equipment. QSL via his homecall
callsign either via the bureau or direct.
9A8AMS, 9A/IK4RQJ, 9A/IZ4BBF and 9A/IK3AES will activate Sveti Nikola
Island, which is IOTA reference EU-110 until 15 May. Although
generally using CW, SSB and digital modes on the 10 to 40m , 9A8AMS
will concentrate on 160m, 80m and 6m. QSL via their home callsigns
either via the bureau or direct. Details for 9A8AMS can be found on
QRZ.com.
Now the contest news
On 10 May the 432MHZ UK Activity Contest takes place from 1900 to
2130UTC. Using all modes on the band, the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
The data leg of the 80m Club Championship takes place on 11 May from
1900 to 2030UTC. The exchange is the usual signal report and serial
number.
On Sunday 15th, the 70MHz CW Contest could be interesting. This event
was reinstated last year after a gap of four years, during which
there was an explosion of activity on the band. Its timing puts it
well within the Sporadic-E season, so it might be blessed with good
conditions. Taking place between 0900 and 1200UTC, the exchange is
signal report, serial number, locator and postcode.
The Worked All Britain LF Phone contest takes place next Sunday, 15
May, from 1000 to 1400UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial
number and WAB square. Full details of the rules and logsheets may be
obtained from the WAB website at www.worked-all-britain.co.uk or from
the Contest Manager, G3XKT by email to aebbooks<at>ntlworld.com.
The Volta DX RTTY Contest takes place for 24 hours over the weekend
of 14-15th, from 1200 to 1200UTC. In this one you can make a
single-band entry. Work everyone on all bands from 3.5 to 28MHz and
the multipliers are DXCC countries. Incidentally, this event doesn't
have a low power section. The exchange is signal report, serial
number and CQ Zone, which is 14 for the UK.
And now the solar factual data for the period from the 25th of April
to the 1st of May, compiled by Neil Clarke, G0CAS on the 2nd of May
First the latest monthly smoothed sunspot numbers, which continue to
show a steady rise from sunspot minimum. The figures are for July,
August and September are 16.7, 17.4 and 19.6 respectively.
The solar disc had up to five sunspot groups visible on some days. At
least two of these groups produced C class solar flares, 14 in total.
However, none took place on the 25th and the 26th when solar activity
was very low. Solar flux levels gradually declined from 112 units on
the 25th to 106 by the 1st. The average was 109 units. The 90 day
solar flux average on the 1st was 108, that's two units up on last
week. X-ray flux levels varied little day to day and averaged B2.9
units. Geomagnetic activity started at quiet levels but from the 29th
a coronal hole disturbance arrived, a day earlier than forecast. The
most disturbed day was the 30th with an Ap index of 24 units. The
disturbance rumbled on into the next day with an Ap of 19 units. The
average was Ap 10 units. Solar wind data from the ACE spacecraft saw
solar wind speeds increase from 310 kilometres per second to 750 by
the 30th. Particle densities were low every day except for a very
brief increase to 15 particles per cubic centimetre on the 29th. Bz
on the quiet days varied between minus and plus 3 nanoTeslas on the
quiet days to minus 15 and plus 11 nanoTeslas on the 30th.
Small sporadic-E openings took place occasionally but on the 1st a
larger opening occurred and included 50MHz.
And now the solar forecast. An active region is expected to be in
view this week according to the latest STEREO images. Therefore,
solar activity is expected to be mostly at low levels but could
increase on some days. Solar flux levels should be around the 120's
for most of the week. Geomagnetic activity is expected to be
disturbed today and tomorrow due to a recurring coronal hole. Levels
should then decline to quiet levels, however, a weak coronal hole
disturbance could take place again next weekend. MUFs during daylight
hours at equal latitudes should be around 23MHz for the south and
some 3MHz lower for the north. Darkness hour lows should be about
11MHz. Paths this week to Australia should have a maximum usable
frequency with a 50 per cent chance of around 22MHz. The optimum
working frequency with a 90 per cent success rate will be about
17MHz. The best time to try this path will be between 0800 and 1100
hours. The long path should be open with similar values around sunset
time in the UK. Sporadic-E should take place with openings on 50MHz
some days.
And that's all for this week 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 gb2rs<at>rsgb.org.uk to arrive by
10:00 on the Tuesday before transmission.
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