GB2RS NEWS

Sunday 29th September 2019

 

The news headlines:

Bampton School to contact ISS

RSGB Convention latest news

Frequency Measurement Festival for WWV

 

Another UK school has the opportunity to contact the International Space Station. Bampton School will make the contact sometime during the week of the 7th of October, but won’t know the exact date and time until closer to the event. They will be operating as GB4BPS and contacting NA1SS on the station. They hope to speak to either Drew Morgan, KI5AAA or Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP, members of the Expedition 60 crew.

The RSGB Convention takes place in Milton Keynes from the 11th to the 13th of October. It is kindly sponsored by Martin Lynch & Sons. The provisional programme of lectures and workshops is now online at www.rsgb.org/convention. There will be a Meet the RSGB Board session where delegates have the opportunity to discuss current issues and strategy with the members of the RSGB Board of Directors. The closing date for online discount day tickets is the 7th of October. Weekend package bookings and the Buildathon can be booked until midnight on the 6th of October at www.rsgb.org/convention. If you have tickets for the Gala Dinner on Saturday and wish to reserve a table with friends, send your name and callsign details to [email protected].

HamSCI and the Case ARC will sponsor a Festival of Frequency Measurement on WWV’s centennial, the first of October, from 0000 to 2359UTC. The event invites radio amateurs, short wave listeners, and others capable of making high-quality frequency measurements on HF to participate and publish their data to the HamSCI community on the Zenodo open-data sharing site. Read all about how to get involved on the ARRL website, see https://tinyurl.com/rsgb-wwv

In Australia, Foundation licensees have gained some digital privileges. The changes include digital modes for Foundation licensees, the removal of the requirement for Foundation licensees to use commercial equipment and a general relaxation of the emission bandwidths for all classes of licence. There are no changes to output power or bands. The changes took effect on the 21st of September.

Moonraker launched a new version of Worked All Postcodes at the National Hamfest on the 27th. The challenge is to work as many postcodes as possible, simplex only, any mode on the 70MHz, 144MHz, 430MHz & 1296MHz bands. The first 10 people to work 30 unique postcodes on the 2m band, confirmed by both stations via the app, will get the pick of some great prizes. A suggested activity night is Wednesday, from 1900-2200UTC using SSB on 144.625MHz ±QRM. Download the worked all postcodes on Google Play or the App Store or visit www.amateur-radio.co.uk.

The next edition of RadCom Basics is now available. Each edition of RadCom Basics explores key aspects of amateur radio in a straightforward way. RadCom Basics is sent as an email alert to subscribers when each edition is published. This email provides a list of contents and a link to the articles on the RSGB website. Go to www.rsgb.org/radcom-basics to register.

With over 60,000 visitors to the RSGB National Radio Centre so far in 2019, we are looking to recruit new volunteers to engage with the public and give radio demonstrations. If you’re interested in becoming an NRC volunteer you should be passionate about meeting people, feel confident explaining the hobby, as well as operating the NRC’s radio station, GB3RS. You should be a licensed amateur, an RSGB Member and be prepared to work a minimum of one (preferably two) days per month. You will be joining a team of enthusiastic, friendly and dedicated volunteers and full training will be given. Travel expenses are paid to volunteers living within reasonable travelling distance and NRC volunteers enjoy numerous benefits associated with volunteering at Bletchley Park. Please email [email protected] for further information.

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

We have no rallies in the diary for today, the 29th of September.

Next Sunday, the 6th of October the 46th Welsh Radio Rally takes place at Rougemont School, Llantarnam Hall, Malpas, Newport NP20 6QB. Doors open from 10am to 4pm with disabled visitors gaining access at 9.45am. Admittance is £2.50. There will be trade stands, a Bring & Buy, RSGB bookstall, Special Interest Groups and lectures will take place during the day. Catering is available on site. Contact Rob Evans, MW0CVT, 01495 220 455.

Please send details of your 2020 rally and event plans as soon as possible to [email protected].

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

Harald, DF2WO will be active as D44TWO from Sao Tiago on Cape Verde, IOTA reference AF-005, from the 29th of September to the 13th of October. He will be using an Icom IC-7300, two transverters with 3 watts output on the QO-100 geostationary satellite Es’Hail. QSL via M0OXO's OQRS.

Elena, RC5A and Yuri, RM0F will be active as 5H3CA and 5H3RRC from Mafia Island, AF-054, from the 29th September to the 5th of October. They will operate CW and SSB on the 160 to 10m bands. QSL via RC5A.

DS3EXX/2 and DS3FGN/2 will be active from Daecheong-do, AS-122, between the 3rd and the 9th of October. They will operate SSB, CW and FT8 on the 160 to10m bands. QSLs via DS3EXX direct and Logbook of The World; DS3EXX/2 plans to use Club Log's Live Streams.

A team will be active as HQ9X from Roatan Island, NA-057, until the 7th of October. They will be active on as many bands and modes as possible although 60m operation will be limited to 50 watts USB. QSL via KQ1F.

Jeff, K5WE and Bill, N5AQ will be active as VP2VEM and VP2V/N5AQ respectively from the British Virgin Islands, NA-023, between the 4th and the 13th of October. They will operate mainly CW with some RTTY, FT8, FT4 and SSB on 160-10m. QSL via Logbook of The World, Club Log's OQRS, or via their home calls.

Oleh, KD7WPJ will be active as YJ0BCP from Efate, Vanuatu, OC-035, from the 3rd to the 10th of October. He will operate CW, SSB and FT8 on the 40 to 6m bands. QSL via KD7WPJ for CW and SSB contacts, Logbook of The World for FT8 contacts.

Now the special event news

September 2019 marks the centenary of radio in the Cambridge Area. There is a celebration day today, the 29th of September at Foxton, to which all local amateurs are invited. Local clubs have activated the callsign GB1CAM and it will be in operation until the end of the month.

Please send special event details to [email protected] as early as possible so we can give you free publicity. It is a licensing condition that stations using a UK special event callsign must be open to the public.

Now the contest news

This weekend it’s the CW World Wide DX RTTY Contest. It ends its 48 hour run at 2359UTC today, the 29th. Using the 3.5 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report and your Zone, which for the UK is 14.

Today, the 29th, the UK Microwave Group contest runs from 0600 to 1800UTC. Using all modes on the 5.7 and 10GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Tuesday the 144MHz Machine Generated Mode Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. Tthe exchange is signal report and your 4-character locator. At the same time the 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs with the exchange signal report, serial number and locator. It is immediately followed by the all-mode 432MHz UK Activity Contest from 1900 to 2130UTC. The exchange for this contest is also signal report, serial number and locator.

On Wednesday the UK EI Contest Club 80m contest runs from 2000 to 2100UTC. Using SSB only, the exchange is your 4-character locator.

Next weekend is busy with seven different contests taking place over the two days.

The IARU 432MHz to 245GHz contest runs from 1400UTC on the 5th to 1400UTC on the 6th. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The 1.2GHz and 2.3GHz Trophy contests takes place on Saturday the 5th from 1400 to 2200UTC. Using all modes on the 1.2 and 2.3GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The Oceania DX SSB Contest runs from 0800UTC on the 5th to 0800UTC on the 6th. Using SSB only on the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number.

Next Sunday, the 6th, the DX Contest runs from 0500 to 2300UTC. Using CW and SSB on the 3.5 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number.

On Sunday the 6th, the Worked All Britain DX Contest runs from 0500 to 2300UTC. Using SSB only on the 3.5 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and WAB area.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on Friday the 27th of September.

Last week continued with zero sunspots, making it now more than 190 days this year that the solar surface has remained spotless. Many solar scientists predict that 2019 will have a total of more than 250 days without sunspots, which would make it the ninth most ‘spotless’ year since records began in 1849. Current research suggests that it may be at least next summer before we see Solar Cycle 25 taking off. Solar physicist Lisa Upton says the current solar minimum will continue through 2019, likely ending in 2020. The next solar maximum is expected in 2024-2026. Meanwhile, looking at HF propagation last week there were a few surprises. Ten metre FT8 showed that there are still some short Sporadic-E openings occurring on the band. The trick is to be there when they happen!

Daytime critical frequencies are still hovering around the 4.1 to 5.1MHz range, which is good news for 80m local contacts, but not so good for 40m. These figures translate to maximum useable frequency over a 3,000km path of up to 18-19MHz at times. But do keep an eye on Propquest.co.uk for real-time figures.

This weekend will likely see the after-effects on the ionosphere of a very large coronal hole that was spewing out solar matter when this report was being prepared. This may send the K index up to a maximum of six, with lowered critical frequencies and noisy bands. The rest of the week will see slightly more settled conditions.

The good news is that DX is starting to return as we move towards better autumnal ionospheric conditions. The lower bands are also starting to come into their own. And as we have passed the Autumnal Equinox don’t forget that this is also the best time of year for north-south, trans-Equatorial contacts.

And now the VHF and up propagation news.

There was a totally different feel to the weather last week with a return of rain, showers and strong winds at times. That produced some nice rain scatter QSOs on 10GHz for the SHF UK Activity Contest. It looks like a similar story this weekend and into much of the next week for most areas, which will mean that rain scatter is again an item for the coming week. There will be a brief possibility of a weak ridge of high pressure crossing the country mid-week, although such short duration transient features are not usually great providers of Tropo.

The Moon is at perigee, its closest point to Earth, today so path losses are low. Declination is negative and falling so peak moon elevation will get lower as the week progresses. We are entering a period in the Northern Hemisphere where Moon perigee coincides with low and decreasing declination, meaning that lowest path losses coincide with low Moon peak elevation and short moon visibility windows. This trend will continue until June 2022 when perigee and lowest declination coincide. After this, the trend reverses until September 2026 when perigee and maximum declination coincide again. This is a double-edged sword, as the upcoming conditions will favour extreme EME DX where antenna elevation needs to be very low, but path losses on the GHz bands will be highest when the Moon is at its highest. There are no significant meteor showers this week, so continue to check the early hours before dawn for the best random meteors.

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