RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for March 29th 2020.

GB2RS NEWS

Sunday the 29th of March 2020

The news headlines:

RSGB responds to Covid-19

Farewell GMT, hello BST

Contest updates

Dave Wilson, M0OBW, RSGB President, and Ian Shepherd, G4EVK, RSGB Board Chair have a message to radio amateurs. “We hope that you all understand the very serious nature of the current health crisis. As you are now aware, the situation has dramatically worsened and we have all been ordered to stay at home unless travelling for a specific and unavoidable reason. As radio amateurs, we are in the fortunate position of being able to talk to other amateurs and chat to those who are finding it tough going. Ian and I are asking you, as radio amateurs, to please do one thing for us: search out local amateurs and arrange a sked, not necessarily on air: there are many alternatives we can all use such as video calls, or even a simple phone call. Pay particular attention to those who you know or learn to be alone or who are vulnerable for whatever reason. We are all in this together! Keep safe.”

As the UK the clocks went forward 1 hour at 1 am this morning, the 29th of March, this means we will be on British Summer Time. Please note that many contests and other events often state the timings in UTC or GMT, which is one hour behind the local clock time here in the UK.

As a result of the Government’s updated position on people’s movements, the VHF and HF Contest Committees has taken the decision that, until further notice, they can no longer allow any entries from stations operating from portable or alternative addresses or from multi-operator stations. Single operator entries from shared stations will also not be accepted unless the station is being shared by family members living at the same postal address.

We have reached a point with Covid-19 that it is inappropriate for the RSGB to run the IOTA Contest in July 2020 in its usual format. We cannot encourage our participants to operate in multi-operator groups nor to travel to island locations where visitors are not currently welcome. We would like your opinion on whether we should cancel outright or should retain a contest this year for single operator, home stations only. We are also conscious that a large number of our Members are going to be spending more time at home than normal. Unable to enjoy many of our favourite outdoor contests we are proposing a series of home-based day-time contests to entertain and support one another. Both of these issues are detailed in a survey which we invite you to complete. This is at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RSGB_HFCC_2020. The survey is open until Friday the 3rd of April, after which the outcomes will be made public.

Whilst the National Radio Centre itself is currently closed, as is the Bletchley Park museum, the NRC volunteer team have taken the opportunity to run some nets to keep in touch with each other. We are acutely aware that whilst in self-isolation, it is more important than ever to stay in communication, so what better way than using amateur radio? The NRC volunteers are running an 80m net on 3.730MHz most mornings at 10.30 am and a 2m net on 144.330MHz most afternoons at 2.30 pm. The NRC team have been enjoying an increasing number of stations calling in – and not just volunteers who work at the National Radio Centre. They have been joined by amateurs who had previously enjoyed a visit to the NRC or had planned to do so, all are welcome. Even if you can’t join the 80m net, remember that the Hack Green webSDR site provides an excellent monitoring resource. They look forward to greeting more amateurs and listeners in the weeks to come.

Planning continues for the 2020 RSGB Convention, which is being held at Kents Hill Park Conference Centre from Friday the 9th until Sunday the 11th of October. As in previous years, our convention is being held in conjunction with the AMSAT UK Colloquium. The lectures are split into HF, VHF, Technical and General streams and there is, of course, the separate AMSAT stream which all of those at the convention are welcome to attend. It’s not too late to request a talk on a particular subject or to volunteer to give a talk yourself on a subject that you feel would be of interest. Please send an email to [email protected] with your suggestions or comments. Bookings will be opening shortly via the RSGB website. As details of the lectures and other activities become available you will find them at www.rsgb.org/convention

Radio amateurs will share the concerns of everyone about the seriousness of the Covid-19 outbreak. Governments all over the world are advising ‘social distancing’ to slow the spread of the virus and to give health services the chance to cope. Field days bring radio amateurs together and therefore represent an environment where social distancing is difficult to achieve. The IARU will not sponsor the Region 1 HF-CW Field Day in June. Single operator contests, however, remain a great way for those forced to stay at home to enjoy the magic of amateur radio.

The DATV beacon on the QO-100 satellite has changed frequency and symbol rate to allow more space on the transponder for other users. The new transmission is on 10491.5MHz with a symbol rate of 1500kS, DVB-S2, FEC 4/5. A new band plan is being developed and will be published on the Wideband Spectrum Monitor https://eshail.batc.org.uk/wb/ as soon as it is finalised.

The RSGB has just launched a new award designed for those aged under 26. The Youth Award encourages young people to build their on-air experience through a range of activities from listening on SDR, talking in contests to building antennas for specific bands or modes such as satellites. The award has four levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum) and each level requires a minimum number of modes to make a minimum number of contacts. For further information see the Society’s website, www.rsgb.org/youth-award.

The Cornish Radio Amateur Club organise International Marconi Day every year. This year it was due to be held on the 25th of April, Marconi’s actual birthday. Regrettably, due to Covid-19, this worldwide event has now been cancelled. So far 57 stations worldwide had registered and if you have any queries please contact [email protected].

Denby Dale and District ARS has announced the Mills on the Air special event has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They are starting planning for 2021 now and hope to have a bumper event next year. The organisers say thank you to all who intended to join in this year, stay in and keep well.

Pubs & Clubs on the Air 2020 will not go ahead on the 15th and 17th of May. The organisers suggest that amateurs could still get on the air from home that weekend; you may make some new local friends.

The RSGB has a Coronavirus Updates page that brings together some of these great ideas as well as its important announcements. Take a look at www.rsgb.org/coronavirus-updates

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

Due to the Covid-19 virus, all events in the forthcoming weeks are cancelled or postponed in line with Government advice. We will keep the Rallies page on the RSGB website as up to date as we can. Please send updates of your rally and event plans as soon as possible to [email protected].

Now the contest news

Please note that most contest organisers are not accepting entries from multi-operator groups or from portable entries. Check the rules before taking part.

This weekend the CQ World Wide WPX SSB contest ends its 48 hour run at 2359UTC today, the 29th. It’s SSB only on the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands, with the exchange of signal report and serial number.

On Tuesday, the 50MHz MGM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Also on Tuesday, the 144MHz MGM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Wednesday, the UK and Ireland Contest Club 80m contest runs from 1900 to 2000UTC. Using SSB only, the exchange is your 4-character locator.

On Sunday the first RoLo, Rolling Locator, contest runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using SSB, the exchange is signal report and the locator received.

Also on Sunday, the First 70MHz contest runs from 0900 to 1200UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The UK Microwave Group second contest runs on Sunday from 1000 to 1600UTC. Using 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Next weekend, the SP DX contest runs from 1500UTC on the 4th to 1500UTC on the 5th. Using CW and SSB on the 1.8 to 28MHz bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number, with SP stations sending their Province code.

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

With the solar flux index remaining at 70-71 all week, conditions were pretty predictable. The Kp index rose to two or three at times, but on the whole geomagnetic conditions were stable. There was a large coronal mass ejection off the Sun on March 20, but it wasn’t Earth directed and didn’t affect us.

It is at times like this when the slightest HF enhancement stands out. At 1030UTC on Wednesday the 25th the critical frequency as measured by the Chilton Digisonde rose to 5.675MHz, which meant a maximum usable frequency of more than 21MHz over a 3,000km path. But why did it rise?

NOAA issued a warning that the greater than 2 MeV electron flux reached high levels on Wednesday, with a peak flux value of 1,398 particle flux units. At about this time the GOES-16 satellite showed a fall in the X-ray flux coming off the Sun. Solar X-rays from the Sun penetrate to the bottom of the ionosphere to around 80km and create an enhancement of the D layer. So, it could be that the lower X-ray flux meant less D-layer absorption and, coupled with the increased electron flux, HF signals were able to more easily reach the now-enhanced F2 layer.

The moral of this story is that HF propagation isn’t all about sunspots! If anyone did work any interesting DX on the higher bands around 1030UTC on Wednesday, please email the details to [email protected].

Next week, NOAA predicts the solar flux index will remain at around 70. Geomagnetic conditions are predicted to be settled with a Kp index around two. This weekend may have unsettled HF conditions due to a large solar coronal hole, which became Earth facing on Thursday the 26th. Things should be more settled by Monday.

And now the VHF and up propagation news.

The recent high pressure has certainly looked promising on the weather maps, but as hinted last week, the air near the surface is very dry and since good Tropo needs moist air near the surface, overlain by warmer dry air above, we have not seen the bands live up to expectations based on the ‘hall barometer' alone.

This high is being nudged west over the Atlantic, which will allow a cold northerly flow down across the country with a few wintry showers in the east at first, but maintain dry, high-pressure weather for most of the week. This means that there is a continuing chance of Tropo, but don’t expect too much of it!

There has been some Sporadic-E on 10m and 6m. The primary driver of this appears to be related to an east-north easterly jet stream over the continent at just the right distance from the UK to support paths to SE Europe and round to Italy and Spain. This favourable jet stream will decline by this weekend, but next week a further northerly jet stream may offer some chances, this time towards Scandinavia and eastern Europe.

The spring aurora period is upon us, so it is always worth checking for activity if the Kp index shows a disturbed magnetic field. The Moon reaches maximum declination on Wednesday and with just over a week to go to perigee, path losses will fall all week. 144MHz sky noise is at its lowest next weekend.

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