RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for October 31st 2021.

GB2RS News

Sunday 31st of October 2021

The news headlines:

Exams committee clarifies supervision

Have you changed to GMT?

Volunteer at the NRC

 

The RSGB Exam Standards Committee has clarified the licence conditions regarding the supervised operation of Foundation licence candidates. The full announcement can be found on the examination announcements page of the RSGB website, thersgb.org/gb2rs/012

Don’t forget that in the UK the clocks changed to UTC or GMT today. The clocks went back 1 hour at 2 am this morning, the 31st of October.

The RSGB National Radio Centre welcomes thousands of people through its doors each month. They need to expand the team of volunteers and are particularly looking for people who can be part of the team during the week. If you’re interested in becoming an NRC volunteer you should enjoy meeting people and be prepared to work a minimum of one, preferably two, days per month. Full training is given. Please contact NRC Coordinator Martyn, G0GMB for further information via [email protected].

The RSGB online Convention’s keynote presentation is now available separately on the Society’s YouTube channel. This inspiring talk by Professor Cathryn Mitchell, M0IBG explores the connections between radio and space and also looks at the many ways in which everyone can get involved. The seven presentations from the Introduction to stream have also been uploaded individually so that it will be even easier to find the presentation you’d like to watch. That full day’s stream has received over 5,000 views already, with some great reviews. We’ll be releasing the Learn more about stream presentations next week. Go to youtube.com/theRSGB and choose the RSGB Convention 2021 playlist.

The Quantum Technology Club, in West Lancashire, will be resuming Foundation licence training courses on the 11th of November. The training sessions will continue on the second and fourth Thursday of the month thereafter with a few exceptions for holidays. Different topics, as well as practical demonstrations and interactive sessions, will take place. Everyone is welcome; you do not have to be a member of the club to join. Please contact them via quantumtech.club before attending.

A new QSL sub-manager has been appointed for the G4TAA-ZZZ series. You can send your C5 sized stamped addressed envelopes using 2nd class stamps to Pete Rivers, G4XEX, whose details are on the RSGB website under the On The Air tab. Please remember to put your callsign and Membership number in the top left corner of each envelope.

Can you lend a generator? The Kilmarnock & Loudoun ARC Team at Ardrossan are trying to borrow a generator for an event in early December. They are looking to borrow a 240V generator with an output of 5 to 10kVA. Please email [email protected] if you can help.

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.

The Holsworthy Radio Rally will take place on the 7th of November at the Holsworthy Leisure Centre, Well Park, Western Road, Holsworthy, Devon EX22 6DH. Doors open at 10 am. There will be traders, a Bring & Buy and catering will be available on site.

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 in Davis Hall near Yeovil.

Some rallies have been cancelled, as previously publicised. These are the Bush valley ARC rally due for the 7th of November and the Bishop Auckland RAC rally due to be held on the 28th of November.

Now the DX news

Remo, HB9SHD will be active as 8Q7RM from the Maldives, IOTA reference AS- 013, throughout November. He will operate mainly FT8, with some SSB and slow CW, on the 6 to 40m bands. QSL via his home call either direct or via the bureau, Club Log’s OQRS and Logbook of the World.

Richard, NN2T and Linda, KN4KJC will be active as C6AHB from the Bimini Islands, NA-048, until the 3rd of November. They will operate SSB and digital modes. QSL via Logbook of The World, Club Log’s OQRS, or direct to NN2T.

Janusz, SP9FIH will be active as PJ7P from Sint Maarten, NA-105, until the 3rd of November. He will operate SSB, FT8 and RTTY on the 30, 15, 12 and 10m bands. QSL via Club Log’s OQRS or via his home call.

Now the Special Event news

Until the 2nd of November, West of Scotland ARS will be running a special event station GB4GDS, celebrating 90 years of the Guide Dog Association. More information about the station can be found at www.wosars.club.

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.

Now the contest news

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

The 48-hour CQ World Wide DX SSB contest ends at 2359UTC today, the 31st, using the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands. The exchange is signal report and your Zone, 14 for the UK.

On Monday the data leg of the 80m Autumn Series runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. The exchange is signal report and serial number.

Also, on Monday is the Silent Key Memorial that runs from 0600 to 0900. It’s CW only on the 3.5 and 7MHz bands. The exchange is a signal report and a silent key callsign.

Tuesday sees the 144MHz FM Activity Contest run from 1900 to 1955UTC. It is followed by the all-mode 144MHz UK Activity Contest from 2000 to 2230UTC. The exchange is the same, signal report, serial number and locator.

The UK EI Contest Club 80 contest takes place on Wednesday from 2000 to 2100UTC. It is SSB only and the exchange is your 6-character locator.

Also, on Wednesday is the 144MHz FT8 Activity Contest. Running from 1900 to 2100UTC, the exchange is your report and 4-character locator.

Next weekend the Marconi CW Contest runs from 1400UTC on the 6th to 1400UTC on the 7th. It’s CW-only on the 144MHz band and the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on Friday the 29th of October.

Well, we had another topsy-turvy week, with the sunspot number going from a lowly 10 to a much more impressive 91. We started last week with a virtually spotless solar surface, but this week the Sun is peppered with spots, with five active regions in place on Thursday. The net result is the maximum usable frequencies have been climbing, with 3,000km-plus paths being reached at times on 24 and even 28MHz, according to the Propquest website.

There has been plenty of DX to be worked as well, with HD8R in the Galapagos Islands, VK9DX on Norfolk Island, both on CW, and 7P8RU in Lesotho making it into many amateur’s logs. The first two were on 30 metres, which is well worth a look. Special event station HS400OZ in Thailand has also been putting in an appearance on 30m FT8 and has been workable from the UK. With Solar Cycle 25 now well underway, it is always worth checking the higher bands too, such as 12 and 10 metres.

Next week NOAA predicts the solar flux index will be in the range 85-96, starting the week at the higher end and then declining. Geomagnetic conditions are predicted to be quiet, with a maximum Kp index of two. However, this could change if a coronal mass ejection occurs. For example, Region 2887, which was Earth-centric on Thursday, has unleashed one M-class and several C-class flares. A large flare, accompanied by a CME, could easily disrupt the HF bands for days.

And now the VHF and up propagation news.

The current spell of unsettled weather will become more widespread and affect much of the country during the first half of the coming week. There had been a hint of Tropo in the southeast last week, but we’ll have to wait for the second half of the week before there is a return of weak Tropo in the south as a transient ridge crosses the country. This will be replaced by further unsettled weather by the weekend. In propagation terms, this means that rain scatter on the GHz bands may be on offer again through much of the coming week. Otherwise, it is the chance of aurora or meteor scatter that could entice us onto the VHF bands.

The Orionids meteor shower is coming to an end and the Taurids are in progress, but with a ZHR of not more than five, there’s little to get excited about. We have to wait until mid-November for the Leonids, so stick to the time around dawn to maximise your chances with random meteors until then.

For EME enthusiasts, Moon declination is high early this week, going negative on Tuesday. Path losses are at their lowest with perigee on Friday but this coincides with low negative declination, meaning the Moon will be low in the sky at zenith. This trend of lowest declination getting closer to perigee reverses in June next year, but not until June 2026 will we see maximum declination coincide with perigee.

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