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G4TNU > NEWS 25.01.90 03:05l 228 Lines 10783 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
BID : 59067G4TNU
Subj: RSGB Main News - 25 Jan 2026
Path: IZ3LSV<ED1ZAC<GB7CIP<GB7CIP<GB7CIP
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T:From: G4TNU@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO <g4tnu@gb7ipf.ampr.org>
T:Newsgroups: ampr.news.europe
T:Message-Id: <E1_9704701_G4TNU@gb7ipf.ampr.org>
GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 25th of January 2026
The news headlines:
* It is the last week to submit your nominations for the RSGB
2026 Elections
* The RSGB EMC Committee has published a "Guide for Reporting
Harmful Interference to Ofcom"
* Apply to be the RSGB's Honorary Skills and Career Development
Officer
Time is running out to submit your candidate forms and nominations to
become an RSGB Board Director or Regional Representative in the
upcoming RSGB 2026 Elections. Both roles offer the chance to use your
skills, experience, energy and enthusiasm to help shape the future of
the RSGB and its activities as it fulfils its strategic priorities.
If you'd like to rise to the challenge and join a team of
enthusiastic and dedicated radio amateurs who are eager to ensure the
growth of the RSGB and amateur radio, act now. The closing date for
all vacancies is 2359UTC on the 31st of January. The Society strongly
encourages applications from radio amateurs of all different
backgrounds and identities. Find out how to submit your application
at rsgb.org/elections
The RSGB EMC Committee has recently published a new "Guide for
Reporting Harmful Interference to Ofcom". The leaflet contains some
do's and don'ts on the style and content of the report that has to be
submitted. It also provides some examples on wording that can be
used. This is the 18th leaflet the EMC Committee has released that
offers advice on dealing with interference issues. Download all of
them by going to rsgb.org/emc and selecting ‘EMC Leaflets' from
the ‘In this section' menu on the right-hand side.
The RSGB is looking for a volunteer to build a team that will engage
with early career engineers, as well as those making a career
transition, to encourage them to use amateur radio to develop their
skills and knowledge. As the Honorary Skills and Career Development
Officer you will lead a team that will design and deliver learning
material and courses at a level both just beyond, and significantly
beyond, the Full Licence. If you are an RSGB member and interested
either in this role or contributing to this programme, read the full
role description at rsgb.org/volunteers
Girl Guides and Scouts across the globe will be celebrating 100 years
of World Thinking Day on Sunday the 22nd of February. The aim of
Thinking Day on the Air is to encourage Girlguiding and Scouting
members to make friendships with those in other units, using amateur
radio as the means of communication. What will you be doing to help
them celebrate? You could put on a special event station with a
callsign that reflects this centenary. Let the RSGB know your plans
so it can help to promote the event and share a list of stations that
will be active over the weekend. A similar and highly popular
resource was shared for Jamboree on the Air in October. Get involved
and help to make this event just as successful. Send details of your
activity to comms<at>rsgb.org.uk
Amateur Radio Digital Communications, also known as the ARDC, has
funding opportunities open for projects. Applications are invited for
a range of topics including hardware, software, digital and satellite
communications and educational material. The next deadline for
submitting applications is the 1st of February 2026. Read more at
tinyurl.com/ardcfeb26
Join the new Radio For Us net ️on FreeSTAR International today,
Sunday the 25th of January from 8pm. A live stream of the event will
be available at youtube.com/<at>radioforus You can find out more
about the network visit by visiting freestar.network
And finally, a reminder that the next in the popular 145 Alive series
will take place on Saturday the 7th of February from 12pm to 3pm. The
event will include the addition of 144MHz SSB stations with vertical
polarisation. For more information visit the 145 Alive Facebook page.
Please send details of all your news and events to
radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk The deadline for submissions is 10am on
Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.
And now for details of rallies and events
Today, Sunday the 25th of January, the Lincoln Short Wave Club Winter
Radio Rally is taking place at Festival Hall, Caistor Road, Market
Rasen, LN8 3HT. This is an indoor event with ample free parking. The
doors are open from 10am and admission is GBP 3. For more
information, contact Steve, M5ZZZ on 07777 699 069 or email
m5zzz<at>outlook.com
The Red Rose Winter Rally, organised by West Manchester Radio Club,
will take place on Sunday the 8th of February at Mather Hall, Mather
Lane, Leigh, WN7 2PJ. Exhibitors can gain access to set up from
8.15am and the doors open to visitors at 10am. A large car park,
catering, bring and buy, improved disabled access and a seating area
will be available on site. For more information and booking, visit
wmrc.co.uk
Now the Special Event news
Special callsign DF100KWTJ is active until the 31st of March to mark
the centenary of the Kurzwellentagung [KOORTS-VEL-EN-TAH-GOONG]. This
commemorates the first convention of German HF amateurs which was
held in January 1926. QSL via the Bureau. Visit QRZ.com for more
details.
The World Wide Award is currently underway and runs until the 31st of
January. The award combines CW, SSB and digital mode activity from
stations around the world. Real-time online award tracking is
available for chasers. For more information visit hamaward.cloud/wwa
Now the DX news
Gabriele, HB9TSW is active as Z68BG from Slatina Air Base near
Pristina in Kosovo until Wednesday the 28th of January. He is
operating CW only. QSL via Logbook of the World, eQSL, or via
Gabriele's home call.
Gabriel, LU1WGB is active as LU1WGB/Z from the Joint Antarctic Base
on Laurie Island, in the South Orkney Islands, AN-008, until the 22nd
of February. He operates using FT8 with a QRP SDR transceiver and a
dipole.
Now the contest news
The CQ World Wide 160m DX Contest started at 2200UTC on Friday the
23rd and runs until 2200UTC today, Sunday the 25th of January. Using
CW on the 160m band, the exchange is signal report and CQ Zone.
American stations also send their state and Canadian stations send
their province.
The British Amateur Radio Teledata Group Sprint started at 1200UTC
yesterday, Saturday the 24th and runs until 1200UTC today, Sunday the
25th of January. Using RTTY on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests
are permitted, the exchange is your serial number.
On Tuesday the 27th of January, the RSGB SHF UK Activity Contest runs
from 1930 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 13cm band, the exchange
is signal report, serial number and locator.
On Wednesday the 28th of January, the United Kingdom and Ireland
Contest Club 80m Contest runs from 2000 to 2100UTC. Using CW on the
80m band, the exchange is your six-character locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Thursday the 22nd of January 2026
Last week featured a massive aurora that couldn't have been predicted
in the previous report. The cause was a large Earth-directed coronal
mass ejection on Sunday the 18th of January at 1808UTC.
The solar wind speed was above 1,100 kilometres per second, so the
impact on the Earth arrived sooner than expected. The result was that
the Kp index rose to 8.33 at around 1938UTC on Monday the 19th,
sparking widespread aurora. Such was its intensity, the aurora was
visible from Devon, and the Kp index was still at 8 the following
day. HF was badly affected with maximum useable frequencies over a
3,000km path struggling to reach 14MHz on the 20th of January.
Luckily, things have now calmed down, but it shows that it is
worthwhile keeping an eye on solarham.com for daily updates.
HF DX was a little sparse during the height of the geomagnetic storm
but has since recovered. 8Q7JI in the Maldives was reported as being
worked on the 20m band using FT8 in the afternoon of Wednesday the
21st of January.
The KP5/NP3VI Desecheo [DEH-SEH-CHOH] Island DXpedition continues and
has been worked from the UK by better-equipped stations. 9X2AW in
Rwanda will be operating for the coming two weeks. Lastly, VP2EIO in
Anguilla is active until the 31st of January using FT8 and some SSB.
NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will start next week around
175 but decline to 165 by Friday the 30th. Geomagnetic conditions are
forecast to be reasonable, at least until the 28th when we may expect
a Kp index of 4 or 5 over a three-day period.
And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO
The mild unsettled weather is probably going to transform into a cold
unsettled pattern during the next week. However, things will stay
essentially unsettled with active weather fronts or heavy showers
bringing plenty of opportunity for rain scatter on the GHz bands.
After the good auroral and auroral-E propagation on the VHF bands
early last week, we are in quieter territory now. However, as usual,
a daily check on the Kp index will ensure you keep in touch with any
sign of a recurrence. As for meteor scatter, we are now firmly in the
random meteor period for several weeks and, with no major showers
available, the best times will usually be in the early hours before
sunrise.
Lastly, a mention of Sporadic-E, which might crop up as brief spikes
on the propquest.co.uk graphs. The foEs values in January show as
isolated peaks from 5 to 7MHz, which is approximately equivalent to
10m and 6m. Perhaps a good way to see where the prospects exist is by
using dxmaps.com to find current Sporadic-E paths on the 10 and 6m
bands.
A second hint can be found by looking at the Sporadic-E blog tab on
Propquest to see where the main weather jet streams are located. This
is because Sporadic-E paths are often associated with jet streams,
especially where they cross mountain ranges like the Pyrenees or
Alps.
July this year sees maximum Moon declination coinciding with lowest
path losses in the northern hemisphere, so there's never been a
better time to try EME operating.
This week, Moon declination is positive and rising, so Moon window
length and peak elevation are increasing. Path losses are falling as
we approach perigee on the 29th of January. 144MHz sky noise is low,
rising to moderate on the 29th of January.
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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