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G4TNU > NEWS 09.03.11 23:03l 231 Lines 11696 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 13 Mar
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday 13th March 2011
The news headlines:
* Air Cadets on the Air
* Science week open day in Dorset
* Yahoo 6m repeater constructors group
The Air Cadets of Chester 610 squadron are holding a radio weekend
with the help of the Chester and District Amateur Radio Society over
the weekend of 19 and 20 March. They plan to put HF, VHF and UHF
stations on the air. Cadets will be able to get hands on experience
of operating radio transmitting and receiving equipment in speech,
Morse code and digital modes on both amateur and air cadet
frequencies. The organisers are encouraging other amateurs who hear
the cadets on the air to call in and speak to them. This event will
see the launch of the Squadron's own permanent radio station under
the supervision of Corporal Neil Hosker of the Royal Auxiliary Air
Force.
As part of National Science and Engineering week, Flight Refuelling
Amateur Radio Society will hold an Open Day on Saturday 19 March at
their HQ in Merley Park Road, Wimborne, Dorset. Exhibits and
demonstrations based on this year's communication theme will be on
display to visitors as well as a Tesla coil demonstration. Local BATC
members will stream the event live on the internet via their website
www.batc.tv. Enquiries about the event can be obtained, via e-mail,
to G4POF<at>hotmail.com.
A Yahoo 6m repeater constructors group has been set up at
uk6mrepeatercons<at>yahoogroups.co.uk. The idea behind the group is
to pool resources together to aid the construction of 6m repeaters,
which pose a unique set of challenges. The group is by no means
restricted in frequency, in fact it is open for debate for all
repeaters using duplexers. It is hoped that this group can have a UK
bias and be used in conjunction with the already established yahoo
repeater-builders group.
The Amateur Radio Section of ORF, the Austrian Broadcasting
Corporation, in conjunction with the Documentary Archives Radio
Communications QSL Collection will operate OE11M from 0000UTC on 29
April to 2359UTC on 1 May. OE11M is an official International Marconi
Day station and contacts made on 30 April are valid for the IMD
Award. QSL via OE-Bureau or direct to OE1WHC. Cards without SAE & new
IRC or dollars to cover postage will be processed via Bureau.
The 2011 International Museums Weekend special event will once again
be a double-weekend and will take place on 18 and 19 June as well as
25 and 26 June. Radio amateurs are encouraged to participate in this
event by setting up stations in their local museums. Harry, M1BYT,
who is organising the event, asks that all those intending to take
part should register their museum via e-mail to
harry.m1byt<at>tiscali.co.uk. Full details of the event can be found
on the International Museums Weekend website at
www.ukradioamateur.co.uk/imw.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, 13 March, Cambridge & District Amateur Radio Club Rally will
be held at Wood Green Animal Shelter, King's Bush Farm, A1198 London
Road, Godmanchester, Cambs PE29 2NH. Doors open at 10am and admission
is GBP 3. There will be trade stands and a Bring & Buy. Contact John,
G0GKP, on 01954 200072.
Also today, 13 March, the 26th Wythall RC Radio and Computer Rally
will be held at Woodrush Sports Centre, Shawhurst Lane, Hollywood, nr
Birmingham B47 5JW on the A435, 2 miles from J3 of the M42. Entry is
GBP 2 and there will be trade stands and a Bring & Buy. Contact
Chris, G0EYO, on 07710 412 819.
The Lagan Valley ARS Rally will take place on 19 March in the Village
Centre, 7 Ballynahinch Road, Hillsborough. Doors open at 11.30am and
there will be plenty of trade stands as well as on-site catering.
Contact Jim, GI0DVU, on 02892 662 270.
27th Yeovil QRP Convention will take place on 20 March in Digby Hall,
Hound Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3AA. The venue adjoins the
central shopping car park. Doors open at 9.30am and talk-in is
provided on S22. There will be trade stands, lectures and a Bring &
Buy. DIS. Contact Derek, M0WOB, 01935 414 452.
Now for the news of special events
As part of Omagh District Council's annual St Patrick's Day
celebrations, West Tyrone Amateur Radio Club will be on air from
Omagh Arts Centre from 12 noon until 5pm on Thursday 17 March with
the callsign GB1SPD. They will be active on all bands as the club
demonstrates amateur to the general public.
Special event station GB2SPD will be operating from the QTH of
Martin, 2I0WAI from 17 March to celebrate St Patrick's Day. The
station will operate all bands and hope to have a PSK31 station on
air too. QSL information and other details are as listed on qrz.com.
The Humber Fortress DX Amateur Radio Club will be putting GB0BB on
the air on the weekend of 18 to 20 March from Fort Paull in East
Yorkshire. The station will celebrate the 6th anniversary of the
Blackburn Beverley XB259 aircraft. Operators and guests are welcome.
See qrz.com for details of the weekend's events.
GB1IMW will be operational from Mepal & Witcham Primary School, Mepal
near Ely in Cambridgeshire. The operation is part of the children's
study and participation in National Science Week for Communications
from 14 to 18 March, which includes Red Nose Day. They will be
operating nationally on 80m and 40m and locally on 2m, 6m and 70cm.
The organisers ask that amateurs please do answer the children's CQs.
Between 13 March and 3 April GB8HBW and GB0CMR will be on the air
celebrating 85 years of Hospital Radio in the UK. GB8HBW will be
operating in the Newbury area and GB0CMR is in Hinckley for Castle
Mead Radio.
And now the HF DX news compiled from 425 DX News and other sources
EI7CC will be active as 7P8PB from Maseru in Lesotho until 23 March.
His operating time will be limited because he will be on a family
holiday. QSL EI7CC via the bureau or direct. Logs will be uploaded to
Logbook if the World immediately upon his return to Ireland.
MJ0ASP is returning to Marrakech, Morocco, between 14 and 21 March
and will be active as CN2MR. Operation will be on 40 through 10
meters using CW. He says that he will focus on the 30, 17 and 12
metre bands. QSL via MJ0ASP.
Roger CT8/G3SXW and Lionel CT8/G5LP will operate from San Miguel
Island, Azores, IOTA reference EU-003, on 16 and 17 March. The Azores
used to have the prefix CU but this is now changed to CT8. They hope
to be active for several hours each day with the Elecraft K2, CW
only. QSL via their home callsigns and Logbook of The World.
Allan, W6HGF plans to stage a one-man expedition to Miquelon from 14
to 22 March. Activity is planned on all bands, with focus on RTTY and
other digital modes.
Radio amateurs from the Amateur Radio Society of India plan to be
active as VU4PB from the Andaman capital Port Blair from 15 to 31
March. Operation will take place using CW, SSB and RTTY on all bands
with up to four stations on the air. The group also want to work via
moonbounce on 6m. Their QSL manager will be W3HNK.
Now the contest news
The CW leg of the 80m Club Championships will take place on 16 March
between 2000 and 2130UTC. The exchange will be signal report and
serial number.
The 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest will also take place on 16 March from
2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.
The BARTG HF RTTY Contest runs for 48 hours starting 0200UTC on the
19th. Single operator stations can make a 6-hour all-band or 30-hour
single-band or all-band entry, while multi-op stations can be single
transmitter or multi transmitter, but only enter the full 48 hours.
There are no differing categories for different power levels. The 3.5
to 28MHz bands are used and the exchange is signal report, serial
number and time.
The Russian DX Contest takes place for 24 hours over the same weekend
from 1200 to 1200UTC. This is a CW/SSB event that includes the
interesting possibility of submitting two single-band entries, for
example 10m and 80m. Work everyone and send a signal report and
serial number, but expect Russian stations to send you a signal
report and a 2-letter Oblast code.
And now the solar factual data for the period from the 28th of
February to the 6th of March, compiled by Neil Clarke, G0CAS on the
7th of March.
The latest smoothed sunspot numbers are now available and are for
June, July and August 2010 and are 16.4, 16.8 and 17.4 respectively.
First one, then two and, by the end of the period, three large
sunspot groups dominated the solar disc. One of these groups was the
largest so far for this sunspot cycle. Despite their size and
magnetic complexity, all three groups failed to produce a major flare
in the M or X class level. Numerous C class solar flares took place
most days, the largest was a C8 that occurred on the 6th. Solar flux
levels increased steadily day after day increasing from 96 units on
the 28th to 143 by the 6th. This is the highest level since the 1st
of December 2003. In fact there was only one other day in 2003 that
saw flux levels at the same level and that was in January. The
average was 121 units. The 90 day solar flux average on the 6th was
90 units. That's four units up on last week. X-ray flux levels did
not fare as well, only showing a slight rise from B2.2 units to B6.6
by the 5th. The 6th saw a sizable increase to B9.6 units. The average
was B5.1 units. This could be one reason, along with others, why
solar flare activity was limited in size. Exactly as forecast, a
coronal hole disturbance arrived on the 1st and rumbled on until well
into the 4th. The most disturbed day was the 1st with an Ap index of
31 units. The average was Ap 12 units. Solar wind data from the ACE
spacecraft saw solar wind speeds increase from 290 kilometres per
second to 700 by the next day. Speeds then gradually declined and by
the end of the period were down to 450 kilometres per second.
Particle densities were low except for a brief rise to 18 particles
per cubic centimetre on the 1st. Bz showed little variations except
for the 1st which fluctuated between minus and plus 15 nanoTeslas.
And now the solar forecast. Over recent weeks the Sun has shown an
increase in activity. Will this continue for another week? The answer
is maybe. Remember, activity can die away as quickly as it starts.
With large sunspot groups on each side of the Sun and always having
one in view from Earth, solar activity is expected to be low to
moderate. Solar flux levels could well be above the 100 mark on some
days, if not all. Geomagnetic activity should be predominantly quiet,
no coronal holes are expected, however, if a large solar flare takes
place and a coronal mass ejection heads are way then activity could
increase substantially. MUFs during daylight hours at equal latitudes
should be around 24MHz for the south and 21MHz for the north.
Darkness hour lows are expected to be about 9MHz. Paths this week to
the Middle East should have a maximum usable frequency with a 50 per
cent success rate of around 25MHz. The optimum working frequency with
a 90 per cent success rate will be about 20MHz. The best time to try
this path will be between 100 and 1500 hours.
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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