RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for May 3rd 2020.

GB2RS NEWS

Sunday the 3rd of May 2020

The news headlines:

Get on the air to care campaign succeeding

May RadCom made available to all online

Repeater and Beacon insurance renewed

The RSGB is delighted with the support from radio amateurs and clubs for its ‘Get on the air to care’ campaign with the NHS. You can find out more at www.rsgb.org/gota2c. There we will also be highlighting stories and photos from clubs and individuals. If you have a story to tell about how you are getting on the air to care during these times of social isolation, please send it to [email protected].

As another part of the RSGB Get on the air to care campaign, the May edition of RadCom has been made available to radio amateurs around the world to read online as a sample edition. A number of IARU national societies have taken a similar step and the RSGB is happy to join those societies in supporting the worldwide amateur radio community during these difficult times. You can find it at www.rsgb.org/sampleradcom.

RSGB Club Insurance and Beacon and Repeater Insurance has now been renewed for the year to April 2021. Club Insurance Certificates can be downloaded from the RSGB website; please use your Membership Services login to obtain a copy of your Certificate. To ensure that your beacon and repeater is covered under our Insurance we require a £10 admin fee and you may renew this on the RSGB shop at www.rsgb.org/repeaterinsurance. Please allow a couple of days after renewal for your certificate to be dispatched.

The latest figures for the RSGB’s remote invigilation of amateur radio exams shows that 116 exams have been run as of Friday the 1st of May. Of these, 109 candidates have passed and a total of 997 different questions have been asked. There are currently 80 exams booked and ready to be taken up until the 8th of May. A total of 300 more are scheduled to take place in May, with a further 187 so far scheduled to take place in June and there are more in the pipeline. The RSGB is grateful to all those working to make this possible during the Covid-19 pandemic.

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day, the RSGB has organised the VE/VJ Day amateur radio marathon on the HF bands and 6m using SSB, CW and digital modes. Three special UK callsigns GB75PEACE, GB1945PE, GB1945PJ will be on the air from the 1st to the 31st of May and again between the 1st and the 31st of August. The special stations have their own QRZ.com pages that give details of the activation schedule. If you wish to participate and transmit using a VE/VJ Day radio marathon callsign, please contact Ian, G0FCT via email to [email protected]. Full details of radio marathon and the five awards are on the Society’s radio marathon web page www.rsgb.org/ve-vj-marathon.

As part of its Strategy 2022, the RSGB has just launched Beyond Exams, which is a group of resources to encourage participation and highlight the diversity of amateur radio. Beyond Exams includes awards and schemes to help amateur radio licence holders and clubs get the most from the hobby. During these challenging times of the global pandemic, Beyond Exams is an important part of the Society’s ‘Get on the air to care’ campaign in partnership with the NHS. Through Beyond Exams you can get on the air for the first time or try something new, a contest or CW, for example. Some of the activities won’t be available for radio amateurs to try due to the current social distancing regulations but there are plenty of others that can be done from the safety of your own home. For more information about how you can get involved in the scheme as a radio amateur or a club, see the RSGB website www.rsgb.org/beyond-exams.

The 93rd Annual General Meeting of the Radio Society of Great Britain due to be held on the 25th of April in Birmingham was cancelled because of government restrictions on travel and public meetings due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Board convened an online meeting to receive the results of the votes submitted by the Society’s Members on the resolutions and elections they were asked to consider in the Calling Notice. Members of the Board, other RSGB officials, those standing for election and senior members of RSGB staff were online to follow proceedings. At the close of the meeting the results on the various Resolutions and annual trophy winners were announced online. As a result of voting by the Society’s Members, Dr Stewart Bryant, G3YSX was endorsed as a Nominated Director. Andy Mace, M0MUX and Len Paget, GM0ONX were elected as Board Directors. During the first meeting of the new Board, Ian Shepherd, G4EVK was elected as the Board Chair until the AGM in 2021. Following the AGM, the Nominations Committee met and John Rogers, M0JAV, John Spurgeon, G4LKD and Philip Willis, M0PHI were co-opted to join the Board of Directors until the 2021 AGM. To read more about the areas of responsibility for all of Board members, go to wwww.rsgb.org/board.

Contest University, a staple of Dayton Hamvention, will take place online this year through the Zoom video platform, and all sessions will be free. You can register at www.contestuniversity.com. Live Contest University sessions via Zoom will get under way on the 14th of May at 1245UTC; these will be recorded and archived.

Now the special event news

Since the change of regulations applying to special event stations in the UK, many activations are now able to go ahead. UK amateurs would like to thank Ofcom for their help in making this happen.

Fort Purbrook Amateur Radio Club will be activating GB1VE on the 8th, 9th and 10th of May from six different members’ homes. Two members on HF voice, always on different bands, another on HF CW, one on HF data modes, one on 6m or 2m or 70cm and, finally, one on 4m and Oscar-100. Full details are on QRZ.com.

GB75BVE is now being hosted from homes in and around Bournemouth until the 10th of May. Operators will be G3YUZ, G3XBZ, G4XEE and G3WZP, using all modes and the 160 through to 2m bands. They hope to share the VE Day commemorations on the air.

The RAF Amateur Radio Society will be activating the special event GB75VED from the 1st to the 28th May from members’ homes. Details are at www.rafars.org/GB75VED and QRZ.com.

Dragon Amateur Radio Club and North Wales Radio Society are operating GB0GIG, named after the National Health Service in the Welsh language, throughout May. The station will be active on HF, VHF and UHF using as many modes as possible. Award certificate is available and full details can be found on QRZ.com.

Kent Active Radio Amateurs will be running GB0HVE on the 8th of May as part of the anniversary of VE day. All operations will be from members’ homes.

Tokyo-based 7-CALL Amateur Radio Club will operate 8J17CALL for a year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Japanese 7-series callsigns, for example 7K1AAA.

Although the Mills On The Air event has been cancelled, Chesham and District Amateur Radio Society will be operating GB0BWM for Brill Windmill from members’ homes on 9th and 10th of May. The idea is to celebrate the hope for the event next year and to give publicity to the windmill that will need to attract visitors once restrictions permit. Operation will be on 3.5, 7, 14, 50 and 144MHz, mainly SSB but with some CW and FM. It is expected that stations will be on the air from around 10am on Saturday, but a schedule of times and frequencies will be available online.

XN1BOA is on the air until the 15th of May commemorating the end of the Battle of the Atlantic. This event is being run by the Grass Roots Ham Radio Club, whose operators will be active from their homes. Details are on QRZ.com.

GU75LIB will operate at varying time between the 6th and 13th of May, to commemorate Liberation Day on the 9th of May. They will be operating from home, each taking turns on band and mode.

Braintree & District ARS will operate GB5VED with several club members using their home stations. These will be active over the weekend of the 7th to the 10th of May to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. Operators will include some of the senior club members who were present at the original celebrations. Contacts will be sought on HF, VHF, UHF.

Listen out on HF for GB4 V V V, the distinctive dit-dit-dit-DAH of wartime broadcasting, sent by the special event station managed by Andy, G0SFJ, until the 11th of May. He would prefer eQSL; SWL reports are very welcome.

Now the contest news

This weekend is busy for contests, but please remember to check before the events for new rules due to lockdown and social distancing, which may differ around the world. RSGB strongly advises obeying your own government’s advice first and foremost.

The 432MHz to 248MHz Trophy contest ends its 24-hour run at 1400UTC today, the 3rd. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Another 24-hour contest is the ARL International DX event that ends at 1200UTC today, the 3rd. Using phone and RTTY on the 3.5 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number, with Italian stations also giving their Province code.

Today, the 3rd of May, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 0800 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

A one-off independent 2m contest is being held on the 4th of May, to promote 2m usage during the COVID-19 lockdown. From 2pm to 3pm there will be an FM contest, where operators should exchange signal reports, serial number and 4-character grid squares. From 3pm to 4pm there will be an FT8 contest using the standard FT8 messages to exchange signal reports and grid squares. The contests are open to all licensed amateur radio operators and short wave listeners but due to the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions no portable or mobile operation is permitted. Further details can be found at www.vhflockdown.fun.

On Tuesday the 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. This is immediately followed by the UK Activity Contest from 1900 to 2130UTC using all modes. The exchange is the same for both, signal report, serial number and locator.

Next Sunday, the 10th, sees the 70MHz CW contest run from 0900 to 1200UTX. The exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and postcode.

Also next Sunday is the IRTS 40m Counties Contest from 1200 to 1400UTC. Using SSB and CW, the exchange is signal report and serial number, with EI, GI, 2I and MI stations also sending their County.

The Worked All Britain 70MHz contest takes place next Sunday, the 10th, from 1000 to 1400UTC. Entries need to be with the contest manager by the 20th of May. The exchange is signal report, serial number and WAB square. Full details of the rules and methods of entry may be obtained from the WAB website www.worked-all-britain.org.uk. Please note that no club or multiple operator entries will be accepted from mobile or portable stations.

The UK Six Metre Group’s Summer Marathon runs from the 2nd of May to the 2nd of August. Using all modes in the 50MHz band, the exchange is you 4-character locator.

And finally, don’t forget the RSGB Hope QSO Party on weekdays, see www.rsgbcc.org/hf for further details. So far around 300 UK and non-UK participants have taken part, and for some it has been their first attempt at an HF contest. One participant told us that it was their first ever attempt at CW in 36 years. Come and join in the fun.

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

Sunspots are like buses – you wait all month and two turn up at once! Even more interesting is that the sunspot groups are from two different cycles. The first group, AR2760, was from the outgoing Solar Cycle 24 and the second sunspot, AR2762, is from the new Solar Cycle 25. We know this due to their magnetic signatures and the relative location of the spots on the Sun’s surface. AR2762 was a high-latitude spot, while AR2760 was almost on the solar equator. In any event, both spots were very minor and had little or no effect on the solar flux index, which hovered around 69-71. Geomagnetic conditions were more settled, with the Kp index remaining at zero or one towards the end of the week.

The highlight for the week was the 2020 Summer Sporadic-E season on 10m, which is growing in strength. Stations in Gibraltar, Spain, Romania, Finland, Norway and others were all workable on 10m FT8 on Thursday morning, although it would have been nice to see a little more activity on CW and SSB, but more on that later.

We expect solar activity to remain at very low levels in the short term, with the Solar Flux Index remaining at around 68-70. Geomagnetic conditions are likely to remain settled, other than this weekend when SWPC predicts the impact of particles from a solar coronal hole. NOAA disagrees and predicts that geomagnetic field activity is expected to reach active levels on Tuesday 5th May in response to a high-speed solar wind stream. It will be interesting to see who is correct.

And now the VHF and up propagation news

A small high crosses the country today and pauses over the North Sea on Monday, giving a Tropo option for most areas. This is soon followed by a further spell of unsettled weather with a good potential for rain scatter in the south over the middle of the week. Other weather models retain the high pressure, and even the unsettled model relents and brings another high to the northwest of Scotland, which will start to build across the country from the west to bring a fine, Tropo end to the week.

As for Sporadic-E prospects, the next week does have some useful jet streams in good positions for paths from the UK. Early in the season paths can be fleeting, but keep a watch on 10m activity and then follow the opening higher in frequency as it develops on 6m, 4m and eventually 2m if we are very lucky.

There is a big difference between FT8 and CW/SSB performance, but follow the many wonderful clusters and logging sites to see where the openings are. Try the daily Sporadic-E blog on www.propquest.co.uk to get an idea of the significant jet streams. It will have changes to the charts and a trial of the Sporadic-E Probability Index, or EPI. There is plenty to investigate in the 2020 Sporadic-E season.

There are two meteor showers upcoming this week. The larger eta-Aquarids is on Tuesday and the eta-Lyrids occur on Thursday.

Moon declination goes negative on Tuesday followed by perigee on Wednesday with lowest EME path losses. 144 MHz sky noise is very high today and for the early part of next week.

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