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G4TNU > NEWS 25.10.20 00:30l 189 Lines 8986 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 25 Oct 2020
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 25th of October 2020
The news headlines:
* Back to GMT today
* New Zealand loses 5MHz
* New RSGB Convention talks on YouTube
Don't forget, in the UK, the clocks go back one hour at 2am on Sunday
the 31st of October. We will then we back to Greenwich Mean Time, or
UTC, until they change again in March 2021.
The New Zealand national amateur society NZART reports that,
unfortunately, the New Zealand Defence Force has advised they are not
willing to approve another renewal of their 5MHz trial allocation and
licence. As a result, all use by New Zealand amateurs of the two
trial frequencies, 5353 and 5362kHz, cease from midnight on Saturday
the 24th of October 2020. Although the trial is over, NZART will
continue to work with the regulator to see if there are other ways of
providing New Zealand amateurs with access to 5MHz frequencies.
The individual presentations from the Introduction To... stream at
the successful RSGB 2020 Convention Online are now available on the
Society's YouTube channel. You can catch up on ones you missed, or
take the opportunity to watch again the ones you enjoyed most. The
keynote presentation and the individual talks in the Learn More
About… stream will be released next week. Find them at
www.youtube.com/theRSGB.
The German town of Bad Bentheim is taking nominations for the Golden
Antenna Award. For 50 years, the town has hosted German-Dutch Amateur
Radio Days, during which the town stresses the importance of amateur
radio as a public service. A committee headed by the mayor of Bad
Bentheim will choose the winner. The recipient will be invited to
receive the award on the 28th of August 2021. They would favour
candidates who did something special related to the Covid-19
pandemic, but other candidates are welcome. Send nominations via
email to juerriens<at>stadt-badbentheim.de.
The new IARU Monitoring Service Region 1 Coordinator Gaspar, EA6AMM
has appointed Peter, HB9CET, as Vice-Coordinator. Both have been
working together in IARUMS for more than a year. More on the work of
the Monitoring Service can be found at www.iaru-r1.org.
The RSGB will once again be participating in the annual YOTA Month
activities in December. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we will not be
encouraging large group events. We do hope that smaller groups will
be able to participate in the event, whilst remaining within national
and local guidelines. GB20YOTA will be available for Full licence
holders to book an appointment slot within a set calendar. This
calendar will be available on the GB20YOTA QRZ.com page for you to
choose when you want to operate. All operations should be focused
with the intention to get young people on the air. To register your
interest, or to reserve an operating slot, contact Jamie, M0SDV, via
email to yota.month<at>rsgb.org.uk.
Now the special event news
As a tribute to Eddie Van Halen passing on the 6th of October,
PA5150EVH will be on air from the 28th of October until at least the
31st of January. It will be operated by Van Halen fan Frank, PF1SCT.
URE San Fernando, EA7URF, is participating in the official
celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation
of the Earth. AM500ETS will be active from the 31st of October to the
8th of November.
During fighting around Ypres in WWI, much of Sanctuary Wood, Hill 62,
Armagh Wood and Mount Sorrel was taken at the expense of many
casualties. The Great Reconstruction in the Westhoek is commemorated
during November with the callsign OP20FENIKS. The station is located
in the immediate vicinity of the memorial of Hill 62, and will be on
HF and VHF using SSB, CW and some datamodes. Full details are on
QRZ.com
Larry, G4HLN will be active as GB4CKS between the 1st and the 14th of
November. He will operate CW and some SSB on 40 to 10m, marking the
85th anniversary of the death of Australian record-setting aviator
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who disappeared on the 8th of November
1935 off the coast of Myanmar, then known as Burma, whilst trying to
break the England-Australia speed record. QSL via G4HLN, direct or
via the bureau.
Now the DX news
Cezar, VE3LYC will be active as TX0T from one of the new IOTAs in
French Polynesia, Tatakoto Atoll, OC-298, between the 29th of October
and the 5th of November. He will be primarily on 40, 30, 20 and 17
metres CW and SSB. QSL via Club Log's OQRS, or via VE3LYC.
Now the contest news
Please remember to check before the contest for new rules due to
lockdown and social distancing, which may differ around the world.
The RSGB strongly advises obeying your own national and local
government's advice first and foremost, especially in the instance of
local lockdowns.
The CQWW DX SSB contest ends its 48 hour runs at 2359 today, the
25th. It's SSB-only on the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands. The exchange
is signal report and Zone, which is 14 for the UK.
On Tuesday the SHF UK Activity Contest takes place between 1830 and
2130UTC. Using all modes on the 2.3 to 10GHz bands, the exchange is
signal report, serial number and locator.
On Wednesday the UK EI Contest Club 80m contest runs from 2000 to
2130UTC. Using CW only, the exchange is your 6 digit locator.
On Thursday the 80m Autumn Series runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using
SSB only, the exchange is signal report and serial number.
The UK EI Contest Club DX Contest takes place for 24 hours beginning
at 1200UTC on Saturday the 31st of October. This is SSB only and also
has a 12-hour option. UK and EI area codes are multipliers for DX
stations and all QSOs made by UK or EI stations between the hours of
0100 and 0500UTC are worth double points. For the rules and other
information, follow the links from www.ukeicc.com.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Friday the 23rd of October.
The last week was dominated by sunspot region 2776, which pushed the
solar flux index to 75. Geomagnetically, it was a mixed bag though,
with the Kp index peaking at four on Wednesday, but otherwise being
relatively quiet and showing zero on Tuesday. The sunspots, plus the
October seasonal enhancement, meant that the HF bands were quite
active. There were reports of Australia being worked from the UK on
10m FT8. Alek VK6APK was worked at 0920UTC by Tony, G4HZW. Mario,
FR4QT on Reunion Island was also worked on 28.380MHz SSB by Gary,
G0FWX, according to the 10m UK Net Facebook group. If you like 10
metre operation the group is definitely worth signing up to. These
10-metre contacts bode well for the future and we look forward to
other reports of VK/ZL as the solar cycle progresses.
Next week, NOAA predicts the solar flux index will be the range
72-74. Sunspot region 2776 will have almost rotated off the visible
disk by the time this report is published and there are no other
spots at the moment. However, it does look like we are in for a
disturbed weekend with poor geomagnetic conditions. This is due to a
large polar coronal hole on the solar surface that has returned after
a 27-day rotation and which could cause the Kp index to rise to five.
The solar wind will likely increase in speed and density, resulting
in an adverse effect on the ionosphere after a potential pre-auroral
enhancement.
Expect maximum usable frequencies to decline and conditions to be
poor this weekend. Do look out for potential 10 metre auroral
contacts though.
And now the VHF and up propagation news.
We are about to enter a phase of very disturbed weather with a series
of deep lows dominating the charts, especially in the nearby
Atlantic. Their influence will bring strong winds and periods of
heavy rain or showers. At long range it's pointless to try to time
such events precisely, but nonetheless the general characteristics
suggest that Tropo will again be a rare feature in the coming week
other than transient weak ridges between successive fronts or lows.
On the upside, rain scatter could do rather well for the GHz bands.
The Moon's declination is rising and goes positive on Thursday so
Moon visibility windows will lengthen. The Moon reaches apogee on
Friday where path losses are at maximum. 144MHz sky noise is low all
week.
With the Kp index set to rise to five thanks to the returning coronal
hole, it might be worth keeping an eye out for low-VHF auroral
propagation again.
There are no significant meteor showers this week but get ready for
the Leonids, peaking on 16th and 17th of November.
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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