GB2RS News

Sunday, the 5th of April 2026

The news headlines:

RSGB members – have you cast your vote in the RSGB 2026 elections yet? To help you get to know the candidates, the Society has prepared two sets of videos. The first will help you to get to know the three Elected Director candidates. Who do you think will best serve the Society and amateur radio? There are two vacancies for Elected Board Directors, and three nominations have been received, so your vote counts. The second set of videos focuses on the Nominated Director candidates who need your vote to endorse them. In each video set, you’ll find an in-depth interview on a range of subjects, and a second shorter video with two quick questions about RSGB membership. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to watch these videos via rsgb.org/candidates and then go to rsgb.org/vote. Once you have logged into the voting site, you can select your two preferred Elected Director Candidates, endorse the Nominated Director candidates and vote on the other resolutions. Online voting is available 24 hours a day and closes at 9 am on Thursday, the 16th of April 2026.

This year’s Youngsters on the Air Summer Camp takes place between the 25th of July and the 1st of August in Wagrain, in the Austrian Alps. This is a chance of a lifetime for young RSGB members to represent their country and their national society. To be part of this fantastic event, you need to be an RSGB member, aged between 16 and 30, and passionate about all things radio. This year’s camp is being organised by the IARU Region 1 Youth Committee, together with the Austrian National Amateur Radio Society. The camp is an opportunity for exciting experiences, to make new friends and to learn how to encourage other young people to get involved in amateur radio. You can apply to be part of the team or to be the Team Leader. Find out more and download the application form at rsgb.org/yota-camp. Applications must be submitted by Friday, the 1st of May.

The RSGB EMC Committee has released a new leaflet explaining how to build a portable loop antenna to help radio amateurs find sources of EMF interference. Pair it with a portable receiver, and you can walk around an area, watching for changes in signal strength to pinpoint where interference is coming from. The antenna itself is easy to make from a short length of coaxial cable formed into a loop and a handful of coax connectors. Despite its small size, the antenna has directional properties, making it useful for locating the sources of interference. This is Leaflet 19 in the series of leaflets produced by the Committee and is called ‘A simple loop antenna for use in identifying sources of interference’. You can download it and all the other EMC leaflets in the series from the RSGB website at rsgb.org/emc

The next Tonight@8 webinar is on Monday, the 13th of April. During the presentation, Mark Foreman, G7LSZ, will be looking at what happens when your rig goes to the shack in the sky. He will look at what recycling is, its purpose and the basics of recycling waste electronic and electrical equipment. The Tonight@8 webinars are livestreamed via the RSGB YouTube channel and special BATC channel, which means you can join the live chat and ask Mark any questions you may have on the topic. Find out more about this and other upcoming webinars at rsgb.org/webinars

If you are a fan of digital voice modes, check out the 235 Alive DMR net. This weekly event takes place on TGIF Talk Group 235 on Sundays from 1830 to 1930UTC. All amateurs are welcome to join in. For details of how to connect, visit 235alive.com  or the 235 Alive Facebook page.

Please send details of all your news and events to [email protected]. The deadline for submissions is 10 am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week. 

And now for details of rallies and events

On Sunday, the 5th of April, from 11 am, the Broadcast Engineering Museum is holding an open day. The museum has one of the largest collections of historic broadcasting equipment in the world, including outside broadcast vehicles, TV cameras, videotape and telecine machines, audio equipment, transmitters, TV lighting and public address systems. The open day will include an exhibition of offshore pirate radio memorabilia from the 1960s and 1970s. The museum is located at 41 Capper Avenue, Hemswell Cliff, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire DN21 5XS. For more information, visit becg.org.uk/events

On Saturday, the 11th of April, the 40th annual QRP Convention takes place at Digby Hall, Sherborne DT9 3AA. The doors will be open from 9.30 am, and admission costs £3. The event will include traders, a bring and buy area and club stalls. More information is available at yeovil-arc.com

On Sunday, the 12th of April, Holsworthy Amateur Radio Club Spring Radio Rally is taking place at Holsworthy Livestock Market, New Market Road, Holsworthy, Devon EX22 7FA. Traders can gain entry from 8 am. The doors open to the public at 10 am, and entry is £3 per person. There will be a bring and buy area and catering on site. More details are available via the ‘Rally’ tab at m0omc.co.uk

The Northern Amateur Radio Societies Association Rally, also known as both the ‘NARSA Rally’ and the ‘Blackpool Rally’, will take place on Sunday, the 12th of April. The venue will be Norbreck Castle Exhibition Centre, Blackpool, FY2 9AA. For more details contact Dave, M0OBW on 01270 761 608, email [email protected] or visit narsa.org.uk

Now the Special Event news

Godalming Museum in Surrey is hosting a special event station GB2MGY on Saturday, the 11th of April, from 11 am to 2 pm. The station is operating to celebrate the birthday of Jack Phillips, one of the Morse operators on the Titanic. Visitors to the museum can learn Morse code and send a message to earn a certificate. Find out more at godalmingmuseum.co.uk/whatson

Special callsign YR100RC is active until the 30th of September to celebrate the centenary of Romania's first amateur radio club. Look for activity on the HF bands using FT8 and SSB. For details of a certificate that is available for working the station, visit tinyurl.com/YR100RC

Now the DX news

The Ramsbury Amateur Radio DX Group will be active as GB1RY during the first two weekends in April from the disused USAAF Ramsbury airfield for Airfields on the Air. The team will be operating using CW, FT8 and SSB on the 40 to 10m bands.

Paul, WA4PAW, is active as C6APS from Great Abaco, A-080, in the Bahamas until Sunday, the 12th of April. He operates using CW, FT8 and SSB on the 20 to 10m bands. QSL via Logbook of the World, OQRS or via Paul’s home call.

Now the contest news

The SP DX CW and SSB Contest started at 1500UTC yesterday, the 4th, and ends at 1500UTC today, Sunday, the 5th of April. Using CW and SSB on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Polish stations also send their province code.

Today, Sunday the 5th, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 0900 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on 1.3 to 3.4GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Tuesday the 7th, the RSGB 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. Using FM on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Also, on Tuesday the 7th, the RSGB 144MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Wednesday the 8th, the RSGB 432MHz FT8 Activity four-hour Contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is a report and a four-character locator. Also, on Wednesday the 8th, the RSGB 432MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is a report and a four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest.

On Thursday the 9th, the RSGB 50MHz UK Activity runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The RSGB FT4 International Activity Day starts at 1200UTC on Saturday, the 11th, and ends at 1200UTC on Sunday, the 12th of April. Using FT4 on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is your report.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Wednesday, the 1st of April.

Over the last week, we have had a fair sprinkling of sunspots, along with some enormous coronal holes, including one almost rectangular hole. Coronal holes are lower-energy areas on the Sun with open magnetic field lines, allowing solar plasma to flow out.

Geomagnetic conditions have mainly been settled, with the Kp index hitting a maximum of 3.67 over the past five days.

We had a long M1.3 solar flare at 0415UTC on Saturday, the 28th of March and an X1.5 class solar flare on Monday, the 30th of March. Active region 4405 erupted at 0318UTC and launched a halo coronal mass ejection, or CME, into space that hit the Earth on Wednesday, the 1st of April.

Meanwhile, the solar flux index has remained above 140 for a few days, which bodes well for HF propagation.

NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will start at 145 at the beginning of the coming week and fall to 112 by Saturday, the 11th of April. Geomagnetic conditions are set to be unsettled from Thursday, the 9th, to Sunday, the 12th of April, with a potential Kp index of 5 or even 6. If this comes to pass, expect lower maximum usable frequencies, or MUFs, and disrupted HF conditions, especially on polar paths.

HF DX to look out for this week includes T31TTT in Central Kiribati, which is active until Tuesday the 14th of April; FO/F6BCW in French Polynesia, which is operating until Friday the 10th of April; CE0Y/DJ4EL on Easter Island until Saturday the 11th of April; and TJ1GD/P on Mondoleh Island, Cameroon, which is available until Monday the 20th of April.

And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO

The equinoxes are a time of the year when the Atlantic jet stream typically blows across the UK, as it migrates north from the Mediterranean in the winter to near Iceland in the summer.

The weather for the coming week is going to see a succession of lows driven by the Atlantic jet stream crossing the UK with bands of rain and scattered blustery showers. These may represent chances of some rain scatter for those on the upper GHz bands, but this pattern suggests limited tropo options.

The prospects for meteor scatter are no better since we remain some way short of the next major meteor shower in late April. In these situations, your best chances are from random meteors, which tend to peak in the early pre-dawn hours. The equinox also gets credit as being a preferred time for auroras since there is a better coupling between the Earth’s magnetic field and the solar wind.

It is too early in the year for much Sporadic-E activity, but keep a check on the Sporadic-E graphs on propquest.co.uk for signs of brief upticks. Incidentally, some maintenance work is currently underway on the website, so apologies for any interruptions.

For EME operators, Moon declination is now negative, reaching its minimum on Wednesday, the 8th of April. At this point, the Moon is up for only six hours and gets to a mere nine degrees elevation in the UK. The Moon is also furthest away, or at its apogee, on Tuesday, the 7th of April, so path losses are at their highest. 144MHz sky noise starts low but quickly climbs to a high of more than 2,700 Kelvin on Wednesday, the 8th of April.  

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