GB2RS NEWS

Sunday 21st October 2018

The news headlines:

Call for IARU R1 input

RSGB Convention Construction Competition winners

First of six new IOTA groups announced

The RSGB has opened a call for inputs as part of its preparation and consultation process for the 2019 IARU Region 1 Interim Meeting that will be held next April. Topics on HF, VHF/Microwave and EMC matters will be considered. Whilst suggestions are welcome at this stage, full Draft papers are required by December, ahead of the mid-January submission deadline. The RSGB IARU Forum has threads available for both this 2019 event and broader WRC-19 matters at http://forums.thersgb.org/ Further background is also available under Consultations in the Publications & Archives tab on the main RSGB website, www.rsgb.org 

Congratulations to all the category winners in the RSGB Convention Construction Competition 2018, sponsored by Martin Lynch and Sons. Antony Watts, M0IFA won the Innovation section for a series of tools to help people learn to code and understand radio. Andrew Vare, G4XZL was awarded a Technical Merit for his approach to measuring noise. The Camb Hams G3PYE team was awarded the Judges’ Merit for building their Flossie 2 communications vehicle and for using it to serve the community. The Construction section and overall winner of the Pat Hawker G3VA trophy was Dean Brice, G0UIL, from the RAIBC, for his SDR transceiver. The entries were judged by Bo, OZ2M, Sam, G4DDK and Stewart, G3YSX.

Islands on the Air has announced the first of six new IOTA groups. The new groups cover a Swedish/Finnish joint sovereignty island and groups in North America, Asia, and Oceania. All new groups have provisional numbers. This means they will need to be confirmed by a thousand-plus QSO operation that takes place after the 14th of October 2018, as well as meeting the other normal validation requirements. Only after confirmation of the number will credit for past operations be considered. The provisional new groups are Kataja Island, EU-192P; Morane Atoll in the Tuamotu Islands, OC-297P; Puerto Rico Coastal Islands, NA-249P; Yakutat County Group, NA-250P; Bering Sea Coast East group AS-205P and Kuril’skiye Islands North, AS-204P. See www.iota-world.org for more information.

We were saddened to learn that John Crabbe, G3WFM, became a Silent Key in the early hours of Thursday the 18th. He volunteered for many years as Curator of the RSGB Museum and Library at Potters Bar, and was also the RSGB Shack Manager. A longer tribute can be found on the RSGB website via www.rsgb.org/sk

The RSGB Contest Committee’s VHF Contesting Consultation closes at midnight on Sunday the 29th of October. Go to www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VHFCC2018 to help set the rules for 2019.

Last weekend’s RSGB Convention 2018 was a great success, with over 600 visitors. Put the dates for next year in your diary: the Convention will run from the 11th to the 13th of October 2019. We video many of the lectures and then release them throughout the year, first to Members via our website, then publicly on YouTube after a while to help advertise the Convention and to generate wider interest in amateur radio. We have started with two important videos today, straight to YouTube. In the video of Tim Duffy, K3LR, giving his keynote speech The K3LR Super Station, he talks about his famous contest station but also, as he puts it, focused on ‘keeping ham radio fun and alive’. In the second video, the President of IARU Region 1, Don Beattie, G3BJ asks So what has the IARU ever done for us? In his talk, he describes what IARU is doing, how the challenges of representing amateur radio globally are changing, and what the world would be like without IARU. You will find all of our videos at www.rsgb.org/videos/ Follow the links to RSGB Convention lectures and then 2018 for the latest ones, with more to follow.

November’s RadCom, which should be with most Members by now, leads with an article about VDSL2 radiation and EMC analysis software tools. Supported by the RSGB Legacy Fund, Dr Martin Sach, G8KDF has developed EMC analysis software tools for the RSGB EMC Committee to use when supporting Members. The software, Lelantos, has been developed to identify and measure the relative strengths and spectrum of VDSL2 RFI and desired signals. The development of this software reflects the RSGB’s commitment to maintaining and enhancing radio amateurs’ ability to use the radio spectrum, as outlined in our Strategy 2022. The EMC Committee will now experiment with Lelantos, which is effectively still in its infancy, in order to refine it and realise its full potential. The Committee will then consider how the software may best be deployed in the wider community.

This year the RSGB has secured the callsign GB18YOTA for the December YOTA month event. Clubs, groups and individuals from all over the country are invited to set up stations and host the callsign over the 31 days of December. Please see www.rsgb.org/yota-month for further information and application details. For any questions, email [email protected]. The deadline for applications is Monday the 29th of October.

The UK Six Metre Group is holding its 2018 AGM today, the 21st, at 4pm. The meeting is held by web conference and all members are invited to take part. You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone by going to https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/956522885

Owing to security concerns, the 4V7R DXpedition to Haiti that was to take place between the 19th and the 29th of October has been cancelled.

The ARRL Contest Branch has announced that participants in the 2019 ARRL RTTY Roundup will be permitted to use the new FT8 protocol, which is part of the WSJT-X software suite. Read the full ARRL story at www.arrl.org/news

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

Today, the 21st, the Galashiels Radio Rally takes place at Volunteer Hall, St Johns Street, Galashiels TD13JX. Doors open at 11.15am, with disabled visitors gaining access at 11am. There will be traders, a Bring & Buy, and refreshments available on site. Admission is £2.50.

British Railways ARS is holding its AGM at the Brunswick Inn in Derby on Tuesday. BRARS members are invited from 11am for an informal meet and greet and chat. The formal AGM commences at 1.15pm. For details, go to www.BRARS.info and follow the link from the front page.

The Essex CW ARC CW Boot Camp will be held next Saturday, the 27th, at the 3rd Witham Scout & Guide HQ, Rear of Spring Lodge Community Centre, Powers Hall End, Witham, Essex CM8 2HE. Doors open at 8.30am for registration and the event runs from 9am to 4.30pm. Parking is free. Entry is £10, with free sausage rolls, drinks and cakes. Contact Andy, G0IBN, on 0745 342 6087 or email [email protected]

To get your event into RadCom and GB2RS, please send details as early as possible to [email protected] – we need to know at least three months in advance to get your information into RadCom.

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

Bertrand, DF3FS will operate CW and SSB as TU5MH from Cote d’Ivoire from the 20th to the 29th of October. QSL via Club Log's OQRS, Logbook of the World or via DF3FS.

Ed, N2HX will be active as PJ7PL from Sint Maarten, IOTA reference NA-105, from the 20th of October to the 4th of November, including an entry in the CQ WW DX SSB Contest. Before and after the contest he will operate SSB, RTTY and possibly FT8. QSL via N2HX.

A Slovenian team will be active as XT2SZZ from Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso from the 22nd to the 30th of October. Activity will be on various HF bands and 6 metres. They will participate in the CQ WW DX SSB Contest. QSL via S59ZZ.

Steve, WB2IQU will be active as 5W2IQ from Apia, Samoa, OC-097, until the 25th of October. He will be on the 40, 20, 15 and 10m bands. QSL direct to his home call.

Don, K6ZO will be active as 7Q6M from Malawi from the 23rd to the 29th of October, including participation in the CQ WW DX SSB Contest. QSL via K6ZO.

Thierry, F6CUK will be active holiday style as FJ/F6CUJ from Saint Barthelemy, NA-146, from the 21st of October to the 1st of November. He will operate CW and SSB on various bands. QSL via Club Log’s OQRS, Logbook of The World, eQSL or via his home call either direct or via the bureau.

Now the special event news

Look for a large number of special event stations on the air this weekend for Jamboree on the Air, an annual event in which half a million Scouts and Guides all over the world make contact with each other by means of amateur radio.

We are very happy to publicise your event on GB2RS, in RadCom and on the RSGB website. Please send details to [email protected] as early as possible. One condition for getting a special event callsign is that the station must be open to the public, so our free publicity can help make your efforts more widely known.

Now the contest news

The Worked All Germany contest runs for the 24 hours ending at 1500UTC today, the 21st. Using CW and SSB on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number, with German stations sending DOK as well.

Today, the 21st, the 50MHz AFS takes place from 0900 to 1300UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The UK Microwave Group’s 24 to 76GHz contest runs from 0900 to 1700UTC today. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The RSGB’s Second RoLo contest runs from 1900 to 2030UTC today. Using CW only on the 3.5MHz band, the exchange is signal report and the rolling locator.

On Tuesday the SJF UK Activity Contest runs from 1830 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 Autumn Series takes place between 1900 and 2030UTC. Using SSB only, the exchange is signal report and serial number.

Next weekend it’s the big CQ WorldWide DX SSB contest. It runs from 0000UTC on the 27th to 2359UTC on the 28th. Using the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report and your Zone, which for the UK is 14.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Friday 19th October.

The sun remained pretty well spotless in the latter half of this week, with a solar flux index of 70 at the time this report was being prepared. But after an e-mail from a GB2RS listener it is probably a good idea to recap how sunspot numbers are calculated. We count each sunspot as one, but each group as 10. So a single sunspot in what is obviously one group is 11, and two in two different groups becomes 22. So while the leap from zero to 11 may sound like a big jump, it may mean that only a single, solitary, and probably tiny, sunspot has appeared. This is precisely what happened earlier in the week, although the spot probably had little real effect on HF propagation. The best guide is the smoothed, or averaged sunspot number, which is what prediction programs like VOACAP use.

Geomagnetic conditions were more settled on Tuesday and Wednesday after last weekend, but we did have a planetary K index of five on the 13th thanks to our old friend a solar coronal hole. This may have generated a pre-auroral positive phase on Saturday, when the HF station at the RSGB Convention managed to work the USA and South America, although a beam did help. This week NOAA predicts the solar flux will remain around 70 and geomagnetic conditions will be reasonably settled, with a maximum Kp index of three.

Fingers crossed that better HF conditions continue for next weekend’s CQ Worldwide DX SSB contest.

And now the VHF and up propagation news.

The coming week will be dominated by high pressure and indeed looks like being in control over most of the country. This is a typical pattern for autumn with misty nights and early morning fog indicating a sharp temperature inversion. This can occur at the Earth’s surface and is often joined by a second inversion at a height of 1km to 3km. These temperature inversions set up sharp changes in the refractive index of the air over short vertical distances and can form important ducts for the propagation of VHF, UHF and microwave signals. These effects often last for extended periods and cover long distances, similar in scale to the dimensions of the high pressure system itself. So don’t just sit on the repeaters and complain about co-channel interference, get onto the simplex channels or down into the CW, SSB or data mode segments and spread out a bit. You’d be amazed what these modes can bring you with only a modest directional antenna.

The Moon’s declination rises all this week, going positive on Tuesday, so combined with falling path losses, it’s time to start looking for EME contacts again.

Meteor showers to look for this week are the Orionids, peaking today, plus the smaller Leonis Minorids on Wednesday.

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