RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for November 14th 2021.

GB2RS News

Sunday the 14th of November 2021

The news headlines:

Bletchley filming will disrupt NRC days

Canadians mark transatlantic first

Newsreader ‘Jon Island Jon’ goes SK

The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed to all visitors this coming Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. This is due to filming taking place at Bletchley Park and no visitors will be on-site during this time. Please check the Bletchley Park site before planning your visit. NRC staff and volunteers plan to re-open as normal on Saturday the 20th of November.

CF3BP will be operating from the York region near Toronto until the 12th of December. It will mark the anniversary of the first transatlantic amateur radio transmission from Canada by Edward Rogers Senior using the call 3BP. He was one of the few amateurs to successfully transmit across the Atlantic in an ARRL-sponsored test and the only Canadian to succeed, using a 500W spark gap transmitter. Operated by members of the York Region ARC, a schedule will be available at yrarc.org/cf3bp. You can also read more about the historical event at the same place.

The RSGB has learned, with sadness, that Jon Hague, GM3JIJ, has become a Silent Key. Jon was a member of the Society for 72 years. Affectionately known as ‘Jon Island Jon’ to his many on-air friends, he delivered the GB2RS News from his QTH at Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis for 26 years, his big signals covering the Highlands & Islands on 80m, 40m and 2m each Sunday. Our thoughts are with Jon’s family and many friends.

On Saturday the 13th of November, Barry ARS was featured in a programme on Channel 4 at 8 pm called Britain by Beach. The club was shown doing a recreation of Marconi and Kemp’s CW transmissions from Lavernock Point in South Wales. You can watch the episode on the Channel 4 website by searching for Britain by Beach.

The RSGB HF Contest Committee is going to use the information from a short survey to inform its planning. The committee is considering some changes to an existing contest and may introduce a new contest. Additionally, the RSGB VHF Contest Committee is finalising the VHF Contest rules for next year. It is not proposing major changes to the rules, but have a few areas where it would appreciate your feedback. You can answer both surveys, before the 17th of November, by going to thersgb.org/gb2rs/013/

The RSGB held its second online Convention on the 9th of October. A new video, RSGB 2021 Convention: Unwrapped, gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how we created the event. Months of planning went into this online event, which provided 15 presentations across two live streams throughout the day as well as regular content from the RSGB National Radio Centre. You can find it on the RSGB YouTube channel or on the Convention web page at rsgb.org/convention.

And now for details of rallies and events

Before travelling to any rally or event, please check the event’s website as there may still be alterations or cancellations due to the pandemic, even as we head into the 2022 diary.

The next rally we have details for is in 2022. The Sparkford Wireless Group Rally is due to take place on the 2nd of January at Davis Hall near Yeovil. More dates for 2022 as we get closer to the end of the year.

Some rallies have been cancelled, as previously publicised, including the Bishop Auckland RAC rally, originally due to be held on the 28th of November.

Now is the perfect time to let us know your group’s rally or event plans for 2022. Email [email protected] with details and we’ll publicise your event for free in RadCom, on the RSGB website and in GB2RS.

Now the DX news

TM60ANT will be on air from the 16th to the 30th of November to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty signature. Operated by François, F8DVD from Mâcon, JN26JH, operations will be on the 10 to 40m bands. Information about the event and the QSL route can be found on QRZ.com.

Robert, S53R is now stationed in Kathmandu, Nepal for the foreseeable future, and will be active as 9N7AA (a reissued callsign, previously used by UA3AA in 2014). He is waiting to move to a permanent residence and for part of his equipment to arrive. He says that for the time being only limited operation is planned, but the pace should pick up by end of November. QSL via LoTW, or direct to S57DX.

Oleh, KD7WPJ will be active as PJ7/UR5BCP from Sint Maarten, IOTA reference NA-105, from 18-24 November. He will operate CW, SSB and FT8 on 40 to 6m. QSL via KD7WPJ.

Abie, AB1F will be active as VU2ABE from Shillong, in the Indian state of Meghalaya, between 6 November and 18 December. He will be QRV on 40, 20, 15 and 10m. QSL via home call, direct or bureau and LoTW; he will upload his log also to eQSL, QRZ and Club Log on a regular basis.

Now the Special Event news

OQ05PHI is the special callsign for the UBA Section de Philippeville to celebrate its 5th anniversary. It will be active until the 22nd of November. QSL via ON4PHI.

Celebrating Saint Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, Welland Valley ARS will be active as GB0SA between 6 November and 3 December. QSL via G4XEX, LoTW and eQSL.

Now the contest news

When operating in contests, please keep yourself and fellow amateurs safe by following relevant pandemic-related government recommendations.

The WAE DX RTTY contest ends its 48 hour run at 2359UTC today, the 14th. Using the contest bands between 3.5 and 28MHz, the exchange is signal report and serial number.

The UK Microwave Group Low Band contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC today. Using all modes on the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Tuesday the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Thursday sees the 70MHz UK Activity Contest, also running from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Saturday, the Second 1.8MHz contest runs from 1900 to 2300UTC. It is CW only and the exchange is signal report, serial number and your District code.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on Friday the 12th of November.

This last week was a little more settled than the previous one. The solar flux index remained in the high 80s and geomagnetic conditions were mostly quiet, with a maximum Kp index of three. That isn’t to say that the Sun has been inactive – far from it. A long-duration M2.0 solar flare took place on the 9th of November around region 2891, which is now located behind the northwest limb. Its associated CME was luckily not Earth-directed, so it looks like we escaped that one. As a result of the settled conditions maximum usable frequencies have remained quite high. On Thursday lunchtime they were topping out at just over 28MHz over a 3,000km path.

Manubhai, VU2XO in India has been logged on 10m SSB on a few occasions and Stuart VK8NSB has also found his way into many logbooks according to the 10m UK Net group on Facebook.

The 10m Australian beacon VK8VF/B in Darwin has also been logged in Southern Ireland on 28.268MHz. According to the Propagation Studies Committee’s beacon listing on RSGB.org the beacon runs only 25W.

Next week, NOAA predicts more of the same, with the solar flux index rising from around 80 to perhaps around 90 as the week progresses. Geomagnetic conditions are currently predicted to be unsettled around the 15th when the Kp index could rise to four. But at this point in the cycle, it is hard to be precise as CMEs can disrupt the ionosphere approximately two days after a solar flare and CME event, and they are very hard to predict with any accuracy. The best advice is to keep an eye on solarham.com for news of solar events.

And now the VHF and up propagation news.

High pressure will build in from Scandinavia as we move into early next week. This high should bring some Tropo opportunities but suffer a brief knockback midweek as a new low pushes a weakening front south. After this, a new high will build, but this time from the Azores High with a moister surface airflow and a better prospect for Tropo. The Tropo prospects will favour southern UK regions, whereas the north will remain closer to low pressure and be less likely to generate Tropo. Rain showers may again provide some rain scatter on the GHz bands.

The Leonids meteor shower peaks this week, so obviously a good chance to test out those meteor scatter techniques using digimodes MSK144 and FSK441 if you’ve not tried them before. SSB and fast CW on the lower VHF bands will also be possible for well-equipped stations using the right techniques.

For EME enthusiasts, Moon declination goes positive again on Monday, but path losses are rising as we head for apogee a week today, the 21st. The Moon will be at 34 degrees elevation this evening, Sunday, at its zenith, getting higher as the week progresses.

And that’s all from the propagation team this week