GB2RS NEWS

Sunday 12th August 2018

 

The news headlines:

More Newcomers on 5MHz – Ecuador and Bosnia-Herzegovina

Early Bird deadline for the RSGB Convention approaching

ARISS contact for German school

The Ecuadorian telecoms regulator, ARCOTEL, has authorised operation on 5MHz under the new WRC-15 Secondary Allocation 5351.5 – 5366.5kHz with a maximum power of 25W EIRP. Bosnia & Herzegovina have also been authorised by their regulator, for 5MHz operation under the new WRC-15 Secondary Allocation 5351.5 – 5366.5kHz with a maximum power of 15W EIRP.

The end of the Early Bird discount for bookings at the RSGB Convention is fast approaching. The deadline is the 18th of August and the event takes place on the 12th to the 14th of October. The provisional programme is now available on the website, so visit www.rsgb.org/convention for all the latest information. The RSGB Convention is generously sponsored by Martin Lynch and Sons.

An ARISS contact is planned for a school in Germany with Alexander Gerst, KF5ONO on Tuesday the 14th of August at approximately 1256UTC. The exchange will be a direct contact operated by DN2DLR and be conducted in German. The downlink signals will be audible in parts of Europe on 145.800 MHz FM.

The Perseids meteor shower will peak between the night of Sunday the 12th of August and the early morning hours of the 13th. You may be able to see around 60 meteors an hour during the peak. You can also catch glimpses of the Perseid meteors until the last week of August. See the Propagation Forecast to find out more about meteor shower activity on the VHF bands.

The 2018 UK High Altitude Society annual conference and general High Altitude Balloon get-together will be held at Cranfield University, Bedfordshire on Saturday the 18th of August. There will be usual broad spectrum of High Altitude Balloon talks from beginner to advanced. For further information and to purchase tickets, please visit https://ukhas.org.uk/general:ukhasconference2018 Tickets cost £30, with a concession for students.

EARTH EX 2018 is an international cross-sector exercise sponsored by the Electric Infrastructure Security Council. This year’s EARTH EX event on the 22nd of August is a virtual international exercise opportunity. It supports the amateur radio capabilities of communities as, in the event of a grid emergency, radio communications may be the only form of communications able to assist in the restoration of critical lifeline infrastructures and provide support for mass care operations. To Register go to https://eiscouncil.org/EarthEx.aspx and select the Private Sector on the right and then select the Radio Communications lane. You will receive a confirmation e-mail that will be used to access the exercise anytime on the 22nd of August.

Please note that the new RSGB amateur radio exams syllabus will be released during the week commencing the 13th of August. Watch for the September RadCom that will give a fuller understanding of the milestones of the changeover. A companion document for tutors will be released at the same time. You can read the full announcement at https://tinyurl.com/newrsgbsyllabus

 

The G5RP Trophy is an annual award to encourage newcomers to HF DXing. Any established HF DXer may make a nomination. The nominee should be an up-and-coming HF DXer who has made rapid progress in the last year. This prestigious RSGB award will be presented at the RSGB Convention on the 12th-14th October. Please send nominations to HF Manager Ian Greenshields, G4FSU, by email to [email protected] to arrive no later than Friday the 14th of September.

Advance notice now for the British Railways Amateur Radio Society AGM will be held at the Brunswick Inn in Derby on Tuesday the 23rd of October starting at 1.15pm. For more information about the AGM please go to www.BRARS.info and follow the link from the front page.

And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week

Today, the 12th, it’s the Flight Refuelling ARS Hamfest. This large event takes place at the Cobham Sports and Social Club Ground, Merley, near Wimborne, Dorset BH21 3DA. Talk-in will be on S22. Doors open at 10am and admission is £4, which includes parking. There will be trade stands, a car boot sale and a lecture stream during the day. More information from Tony Baker, G3PFM, on 0774 347 5018.

Next Sunday, the 19th, the Rugby Amaeur Radio Society Rally will be held at Princethorpe College, Princethorpe, Rugby CV23 9PY. Doors open from 10am to 4pm and at 8.30am for sellers. Admission is £3. There is a car boot sale and catering is available on site. Contact Steve, G8LYB on 0795 685 5816.

Advance notice now. CQ Scotland.com, part of the Mid Lanark Amateur Radio Society, and funded by the RSGB Legacy Committee, will be at the Montrose Rally to be held on Sunday the 26th of August. A buildathon is planned for those new to electronics and amateur radio. Please consider bringing along family, neighbours and friends and help them solder up a fun free electronic project kit. Spaces must be limited, so please email your interest now to David, MM0HQD at [email protected] or visit www.CQScotland.com

To get your event into RadCom and GB2RS, send details as early as possible to [email protected]

And now the DX news from 425 DX News and other sources

TA1HZ will be travelling to Prishtina on the 17th of August and will be on the air as Z68HZ. He will be working mainly SSB and FT8. He will be back home on the 27th of August. QSL via Logbook of The World.

Roly, ZL1BQD will be active as A35RR from Togatapu, Tonga, OC-049, until the 17th of August. QSL via Logbook of The World, eQSL or direct to ZL1BQD.

D73G ill be on the air from Hachiuja Island, AS-084, between the 15th and 18th of August. Plans are to be on the 80 to 6m bands using CW, SSB and digital modes, including FT8 in DXpedition mode. QSL via 6L0NJ via the bureau.

A team of seven will be active as LR5D from Isla Martin Garcia, SA-055, between the 16th and 20th of August. They will operate CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL via LU4AA, direct or via the bureau.

Brandon, W0GPR will be active as OX/W0GPR during a scientific campaign to western Greenland until the 27th of August. When time allows he will operate SSB, FT8 and other digital modes on the 40 to 6m bands. QSL via Logbook of The World, or direct to his home callsign.

Bo, OZ1DJJ will be active as OX3LX from Uummannaq Island, NA-134, from the 15th to the 29th of August. Bo is on the air in his spare time, typically around lunch and after dinner. QSL via OZ0J, Club Log's OQRS and Logbook of The World.

Now the special event news

The Deep Space Exploration Society will be operating a special event station until the 13th of August from the site of its 60 foot dish observatory in Colorado, USA. Calling as K0PRT and coinciding with the Perseids meteor shower, operation will be from 1400UTC to 2359UTC on 7.238, 14.253 and 50.160MHz. A special QSL is available. Details at http://dses.science/

Fareham & DARC will be operating GB0PKF for the Portsmouth Kite Festival on the 11th and 12th of August.

GB100RAF will be operating from Saturday the 18th to Friday the 24th of August at RAF Syerston, as part of the Aerospace camp of RAFAC (Air Cadets) and in conjunction with the RAF 100 celebrations. Cadets will be mainly on 40m around 7.155MHz ±QRM. All QSLs via G8FC.

The International Lighthouse and Lightships Weekend takes place on the 18th and 19th of August. Entries are rolling in daily including 55 from Germany, 46 from Australia and 40 from the USA; not forgetting Namibia with 2, Mexico with 1, Latvia 2 and Iceland and Gibraltar with 1 each. Colchester Radio Amateurs are taking to the air from The Naze Car Park, Old Hall Lane, Walton CO14 8LE operating across the bands on phone, FT8, CW and PSK, from early Saturday morning through to, provisionally, Sunday afternoon at 4pm. Bushvalley ARC will be participating from Rathlin East, West and Rue Point Lighthouses on VHF/UHF and HF Bands. Loughton and Epping Forest ARS will be on the air as GB0TBW for Trinity Buoy Wharf. Carrickfergus ARG will be operating from the carpark at Larne Leisure Centre everyone is welcome to come along and join in the craic. There will be a barbecue on the Saturday. Harwich Amateur Radio Interest Group will be taking part from inside the Harwich High Light using the callsign GB4HLH. Activity will be from 8am until around 4pm on HF SSB and CW as well as 2m FM. For a full list of stations go to www.illw.net

If you’re planning a special event station, please remember to send publicity information well in advance to [email protected] – we are very happy to help publicise your event, for free, on GB2RS, in RadCom and on the RSGB website, but can’t help you unless you tell us what you’re doing! As a rule of thumb, please send details for RadCom at least three months in advance.

Now the contest news

There are no RSGB HF contests in the month of August.

The Worked All Europe DX CW Contest takes place for the entire 48 hours of this weekend. Europe works non-Europe only. Using all the contest bands from 3.5 to 28MHz, the exchange is signal report and serial number. You can significantly boost your score by exchanging reports of previously held QSOs, but not everybody chooses to do this. A web search for DARC WAE should find the rules, explaining how this works.

Today, the 12th, sees the fifth 70MHz Cumulative. Running from 1400UTC to 1600UTC, all modes can be used on the 4m band. The exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Tuesday the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to1900UTC, using FM only. It is followed by the 432MHz UK Activity Contest will all modes from 1900 to 2130UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial number and locator for both events.

Thursday sees the 70MHz FM Activity Contest from 1800 to1900UTC, using FM only. It is followed by the 70MHz UK Activity Contest will all modes from 1900 to 2130UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial number and locator for both events.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Friday 10th August 2018.

The Sun remained spotless this week as the solar flux index stuck resolutely around the 70 mark. The tiny sunspot that made an appearance on the first of August didn’t come to much and had vanished by the third.

This underlines that we must be getting closer to sunspot minimum, although don’t expect to see any massive upturn until 2019.

Geomagnetic conditions were mostly settled last week, although the effects of a coronal hole did send the K index to three on Tuesday the 7th.

Another equatorial-located coronal hole was rotating into position as this report was being written, so prepare for potentially unsettled conditions this weekend, the 11th and 12th.

Looking further ahead NOAA predicts unsettled geomagnetic conditions around the 17th and again on the 20th and 21st due to coronal hole activity. The solar flux will remain around the 70 mark.

HF wise, conditions have been a little lacklustre with large parts of the bands devoid of signals, apart from the FT8 watering holes.

The 40, 30 and 20m bands still provide the most activity during daylight hours, with occasional openings on 17m metres. 80m and 40m are the “go to” bands after sunset, which of course is now getting earlier each day.

However, the ionosonde data at propquest.co.uk show there have been some consistent post-sunset HF openings up to 18MHz occurring around 2100UTC, so don’t write-off HF after dark.

And finally, don’t forget it is International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend on the 18th and 19th of August.

And now the VHF and up propagation news.

Last Sunday EI3KD worked D4Z on the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa on 144 MHz, at 4163km. This CW contact sets a new Region One Tropo record.

After all the tropo excitement, meteor scatter gets only secondary billing in the VHF news this week. The Perseids meteor shower’s broad peak hits maximum today so the VHF meteor scatter frequencies should be buzzing with meteor pings. Check out the ON4KST.info 50/70 and 144 MHz chats to see where the activity is and look upwards for shooting stars if you have dark skies

The next week looks likely to change our world of constant Tropo into a more unsettled weather type with low pressure systems and fronts moving towards the country. This will mean that rain scatter will come to the fore on the GHz bands. There could still be a little Tropo around, especially over sea paths in the south, but not very reliable ones.

Looking at Sporadic-E propagation, last week we continued to get evening digimode openings to the US. We will have a return to the unsettled weather, which implies the return of a jet stream pattern, mainly across northern Europe.

This will favour paths across to Scandinavia, whereas to the south we may have to rely upon either weaker jet streams or upper ridge patterns to come to our rescue.

August is still part of the Sporadic-E season, but it is not as widespread as earlier and perhaps harder to work.

Moon declination is high but goes negative on Wednesday so there are still plenty of EME opportunities available, with increasing losses.

And that’s all from the propagation team this week.