| |
G4TNU > NEWS 22.09.13 01:27l 263 Lines 13016 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
BID : 27741G4TNU
Read: GUEST
Subj: RSGB Main News - 22 Sep 2013
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<GB7CIP<GB7CIP<GB7CIP
Sent: 130921/2320Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EU $:27741G4TNU
T:From: G4TNU@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EU <g4tnu@gb7ipf.ampr.org>
T:Newsgroups: ampr.news.europe
T:Message-Id: <E138623_G4TNU@gb7ipf.ampr.org>
GB2RS Main News for Sunday 22nd September 2013
The news headlines:
* GB2RS Manager retires
* Ofcom attend the National Hamfest
* Australian amateurs may keep 2.3GHz
After 35 years of unbroken service, Gordon Adams, G3LEQ is to retire
as GB2RS manager and the RSGB would like to thank him for his service
to amateur radio. GB2RS has always been a much valued part of the
RSGB news service and every week nearly 100 volunteer newsreaders
give of their time to broadcast to all parts of the UK. Gordon will
continue in post until a successor is found.
The National Hamfest, organised by the Lincoln Short Wave Club in
association with the RSGB, is being held at the usual venue in Newark
next weekend on the 27th and 28th. On both days, the doors open at
10am and this is lining up to be the best show ever. Of particular
note this year, Ofcom staff will be available to provide advice on
licensing questions as well as dealing with licence revalidations,
including a lecture on Friday afternoon.
The Wireless Institute of Australia reports that VK amateurs may win
a reprieve for the 2300-2302MHz amateur band, which is under threat
from spectrum licensing. In February 2013, the Australian
Communications and Media Authority, Australia's equivalent to Ofcom
released a discussion paper proposing to withdraw the 2300-2302MHz
amateur allocation so that 2300-2400MHz could be re-allocated for
Spectrum Licensing. The WIA made a submission in response to the
discussion paper, seeking to have a 150kHz segment, from
2300-2300.15MHz, retained for the amateur service on at least a
co-primary basis. 93% of the submissions in response to the
discussion paper objected to the ACMA's proposal and of those, 30%
indicated support for the WIA. Many submissions of the 124 sent to
the ACMA were from individuals. The WIA says that it looks forward to
working with the ACMA to achieve a positive outcome for the
2300-2302MHz band in Australia.
The RSGB Centenary Convention looks to be more popular than ever.
Rooms on Saturday evening at Horwood House are sold out, as is the
Gala Dinner. Listeners may be interested to know that rooms are still
available for Friday evening and the Technical Dinner, with speaker
George Dobbs, G3RJV, on Saturday night. Day tickets will only be
available on the door from 8.30am each day. Details of the programme
are available at www.rsgb.org.
A new UK distance record on 76GHz of 102km was achieved recently
between Chris, G8BKE and John, G8ACE at Batcombe Hill in Dorset and
Ian, GW8KQW on Eglwysilan Mountain in Gwent. This is also believed to
be the first 76GHz contact between Wales and England.
Northampton Radio Club is hosting the National Final of the British
Top-Band Direction Finding Association competition on Sunday 29nd
September. In this the national final, competitors will be required
to locate three hidden transmitters, operated using CW and AM; in the
1.8MHz band and with a maximum carrier level of 9dBW. The event will
start at 12.50 and conclude at 16.30. For further information please
refer to the BTBDFA website at http://www.topbanddf.org.uk.
A reminder to constructors, designers and programmers that the
closing date of the end of September for registering an entry for the
competition, is fast approaching. Entries don't have to be complex or
innovative, and help will be available if your project is selected
for publication in RadCom. We have a great panel of judges – Eben
Upton (Raspberry PI Foundation), Joe Taylor, K1JT, Olof Lundberg,
G0CKV and Steve Hartley, G0FUW. In part, the competition is all about
recognising that a unique aspect of amateur radio is our freedom to
innovate and to use home-constructed equipment on the amateur bands.
Let us celebrate this with this once in a Century competition! Full
details can be found on the RSGB website.
G100RSGB, the special event callsign celebrating the RSGB Centenary,
will be operated today, 22 September, from Chesterfield running on
the 80m, 40m, 20m and 6m bands as well as 2m to 23cm. On Monday,
Loughborough & DARC will operate from Shepshed using the 40m, 20m, 2m
& 70cm bands running SSB, FM & Data. On Tuesday and Wednesday The
Thorpe Camp Gang will be near Horncastle operating on the 10 to 40m
bands using SSB. Thursday is the turn of Worksop ARS operating on the
70cm to 80m bands using CW, SSB & FM. On Friday and Saturday the
Cambridgeshire Repeater Group will be operating from the National
Hamfest at the Newark and Nottinghamshire Showground on the 4 to 80m
bands as well as 2m, 70cm and 23cm. Next Sunday, the 29th, Worksop
ARS will again be on the air using the 70cm to 80m bands running CW,
SSB & FM. Details of how to get your QSL card are on the RSGB
website, www.rsgb.org.uk, under the Operating drop down menu,
clicking on Centenary Station.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
Today, 22 September, is the Pencoed Table Top Sale on Pencoed RFC,
Felindre Rd, Pencoed Nr Bridgend CF35 5PB. Doors open at 9.30am. More
information from Gerry on 01656 80 761.
On Friday and Saturday, the National Hamfest, brought to you by the
RSGB in association with the Lincoln Short Wave Club, will take place
at the George Stephenson Pavilion, Newark and Nottinghamshire
Showground, Lincoln Road, Winthorpe, Newark NG24 2NY . There is free
car parking, a car boot area with traders and special interest groups
in the main hall, including an RSGB bookstall and membership stand.
Advance notice now for the West Tyrone ARC Annual Conference that
will take place on 5 October at the Technology Education Centre in
Omagh. Speakers this year include Carlos, G3VHF from AMSAT-UK, Pat,
EI2HX from IRTS, Len, GM0ONX from the RSGB, Phil, MI0VIM, Graeme,
MI0WGM and Simon, GW0NVN. Doors open at 10:30am with first speaker at
11:00am.
If you have any rally or event information you'd like to appear in
future editions of the News and in RadCom, please e-mail details to
GB2RS<at>rsgb.org.uk.
Now for the news of special events
2E0NKF will be on the air for Railways on the Air from Middleton
Railway, Leeds, on 22 September from 10am to 5pm.A QSL card is
available.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the inception of RAF
Fylingdales, GB50FY, will be on the air for until 30 September.
Operating on the 20, 30, 40, 80 and 160m bands this is a CW only
station.
On 22 September, as part of Railways On The Air, Mark, G1PIE and his
team will be running GB4WLR from the West Lancashire Railway near
Preston. This station will also be marking 45 years since the end of
steam in 1968. More information is on qrz.com.
On 29 September, Chorley & District ARS will be running GB0AH from
Astley Hall, Chorley as part of the Castles & Stately Homes on the
Air heritage month. QSL via the bureau or direct to Graham, G7DKY
QTHR. More information can be found on qrz.com.
And now the DX news compiled from 425 DX News and other sources
Nick, G3RWF will once again be active as 5X1NH from the University of
the Mountains of the Moon in Fort Portal, Western Uganda and,
occasionally, from the capital, Kampala, between 24 September and 16
November. He is expected to join/meet with Alan, G3XAQ/5X1XA, later
and both operators will travel to Rwanda to be active as 9X0NH
between 19 and 29 November. QSL 5X1NH and 9X0NH via G3RWF. QSL 5X1XA
via G3SWH.
Darren, G0TSM will be on holiday in Mauritius until 28 September. He
hopes to get on the air for 2 or 3 hours a day with the callsign
3B8/G0TSM. He will be running 100W to simple wire antennas on the 10
to 40m bands using a 2-element quad on 6m.
DL2JRM and DO6XX will be on the air from Spitsbergen in the Svalbard
Archipelago until 23 September. They will use the callsigns JW/DL2JRM
and JW/DO6XX.
Members of the Royal Omani Amateur Radio Society will activate
Masirah Island until 24 September. The callsign will be A43MI and
this will count as AS-014 for the Islands on the Air Award.
OK1MBZ and OK1AMM plan to be active from Corfu, EU-052, until 29
September as SV8/homecall/p. QSL via their home callsigns either
direct or via the Bureau.
DB4BJ will also operate from Corfu until 29 September as SV8/DB4BJ on
10 and 20m using SSB and PSK. QSL via his home callsign either direct
or via the Bureau.
OH3WS will be working on Market Reef until 29 September and will
operate as OJ0W in his free time on the 10 to 40m bands using CW. QSL
via OH3WS either direct or via the Bureau.
Now the contest news
Today, Sunday 22nd, the Practical Wireless 4m Contest runs for four
hours, 1200 to 1600UTC. Using all modes the exchange is signal
report, serial number and locator.
Later today, the 22nd, from 1700 to 2100UTC, the BARTG Sprint 75
contest takes place. All activity is on 75 baud RTTY on the 3.5 to
28MHz bands. The exchange is just the serial number.
The Scandinavian Activity Contest ends at 1159 today 22 September.
Non-Scandinavians work Scandinavians on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands. Full
rules at www.sactest.net/blog/rules/.
On Tuesday the 50MHz UK Activity Contest takes place from 1900 to
2130UTC. Using all modes the exchange is signal report, serial number
and locator.
Also on Tuesday the SHF UK Activity Contest takes place from 1900UTC
to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 2.3 to 10GHz bands, the exchange
is signal report, serial number and locator.
On Thursday the 80m Club Sprint runs from 1900 to 2000UTC using CW
only. The exchange is both calls, serial number and name.
The CQWW RTTY DX Contest takes place for the whole 48 hours over the
weekend 28 and 29th September. Using the 3.5 to 28MHz bands the
exchange is signal report and Zone, which for the UK is 14.
The UK Microwave Group is holding another of its Cumulative Contests
on Sunday 29th. The bands in use will be 5.7 to 24GHz running from
0600 to 1800UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial number and
locator.
Now the solar factual data for the period from Friday the 13th of
September to Thursday the 19th, compiled by Martin Harrison, G3USF,
on Friday the 20th of September.
For the most part, last week followed the pattern of recent weeks.
Solar activity mostly continued to be low or very low. However,
C-class flares were reported on the 18th and 19th. Few sunspot groups
were visible and those that were had little impact on propagation.
Several coronal mass ejections were reported but none proved to be
Earth-directed. The solar flux was down in the 90s for most of the
week, but rose to 104 on the 18th and 108 on the 19th. The average
over the week was 97 – a point higher than the previous week.
However, the 90-day average lost two points to stand at 111. The
X-ray flux declined to A7.9 units on the 12th – its lowest point so
far this year. However, it rallied to B3.0 by the 19th. The
geomagnetic field was mostly quiet but briefly reached ‘active'
level on the 15th under the influence of a high speed coronal stream,
and became ‘unsettled' on the 19th, again due to a high-speed
stream. The Ap index was in single figures every day until the 19th,
when it reached 11 units. Solar wind data from the ACE spacecraft saw
solar wind speeds vary between 321 and 559 kilometres per second.
Particle densities were low. Bz ranged between minus 5 and plus 10
nanoTeslas. While the dearth of solar activity continued to be
disappointing, and there was renewed speculation that cycle 24 might
prove to be two-peaked, with the second peak in 2014, low geomagnetic
activity meant that HF MUFs generally reached or exceeded predicted
levels.
Finally, the forecast for the week ahead. Prospects look a shade
brighter. While solar activity is expected to be mostly low or very
low occasional C-class flares look possible. Solar flux levels are
expected to stay above the 100 mark and may well exceed 120.
Geomagnetic activity is like to be up a bit on the 23rd and 24th, due
to a recurring coronal hole, but quieter levels should then return.
MUFs during daylight hours at equal latitudes are expected to be
around 23MHz in the south and 20MHz in the north. Darkness lows are
expected to be about 11MHz. As we pass through the equinox
north-south propagation should be in good shape. Paths to South
American should be particularly strong. The maximum usable frequency,
where there should be a 50 per cent chance of success, will be around
26MHz. The optimum working frequency, with a 90 per cent chance of
success, will be about 21MHz. The path should be at its best between
1000 and 1900UTC.
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 Thursday before transmission.
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
