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GB2RS NEWS
Sunday 6th May 2012
The news headlines:
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Still time to apply for a Jubilee NoV
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More paperwork for Belgian amateurs
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Club, repeater and beacon insurance news
It’s not too late to apply for a Notice of Variation for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Amateurs in the UK were able to start using the special callsigns with the letter Q added from 4 May. This will continue until 10 June. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee QSO Party has also started, where participants are attempting to work a minimum of 100 special Jubilee callsigns. If you haven’t already applied for your NoV, you can do so at www.rsgb.org/operating/novapp/jubilee. Details of the QSO Party were in the May RadCom or can be found at www.rsgb.org/consultations/docs/pdf/queens-jubilee-qso-party-final-version.pdf. You may also hear some stations in Gibraltar using the prefix ZQ instead of the normal ZB.
The Belgian national amateur radio society’s website has posted an update on the restrictive antenna requirements recently imposed by the Flemish Government. The latest registration seems to apply to antennas that operate between 10MHz and 10GHz. It would appear that Flemish amateurs who transmit less than 175 hours a year at 20 watts ERP or less are now required to submit forms to the government for each antenna they have. Multi-band antennas require multiple submissions of forms. And if any change is made to an antenna, all of the paperwork must be resubmitted. You can find out more at tinyurl.com/NoticeForTxAntennas.
As a result of the recent insurance review the Society has placed the insurance cover for Clubs, Repeaters, Beacons & Packet Nodes with NIG. This took effect from 30 April and will run until 29 April 2013. A new certificate and 'To whom it concerns' letter for Clubs can be obtained from www.rsgb.org/membersonly/clubinsurance. Repeater, Beacon & Packet Node operators who require Public Liability Insurance should contact Carlos Eavis, by e-mail to carlos.eavisrsgb.org.uk or call him on 01234 832 715 to obtain a price and insurance documentation.
The UK RAYNET group and British Association of Public Safety Communications Officials have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. It recognises the common objectives of both organisations in the promotion and influencing of public safety, civil contingency, information management and communications. In the Memorandum of Understanding, RAYNET and APCO set out a Schedule of Agreements that sets out some of the ways in which both organisations will work together. This includes networking opportunities and invitations to attend management meetings; website content sharing; joint working and sharing of publications; and engaging RAYNET in regional and national events.
Now that terrestrial TV has been switched off in Portugal, the National Communications Authority of Portugal has agreed to extend the 6m band for radio amateurs. Category 1, A and B amateurs can now use 50 to 52MHz on a secondary basis with a maximum power of 25 watts.
The AMSAT/TAPR Banquet on Friday night, 18 May, is one of the main AMSAT activities during the 2012 Hamvention at Dayton. Howard Long, G6LVB will be the featured speaker for the evening event. Howard will be talking about his FUNcube Dongle, his 64–1700MHz Software Defined Receiver.
And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week
The Dambusters Hamfest will take place today, 6 May, at Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre, Coningsby, Lincs LN4 4PE. Admission is £3 and there is free parking. Pitches are free but size is limited if not pre-booked. There is a RAF heritage centre on site. Gates open at 10am.
The Dartmoor Radio Club Rally takes place on Bank Holiday Monday, 7 May, at Tavistock College, Crowndale Rd, Tavistock, Devon PL19 8DD. Doors open at 10.30am and admission is £2. There will be trade stands, a Bring & Buy and special interest groups. Details from Viv on 01752 823 427.
The Rochdale & District ARS Flea Market and Junk Sale takes place on 12 May at St Vincent’s Church Hall, Caldershaw Rd, Rochdale OL12 7QL. The doors open at 10am. There will be trade stands, car boot sale area and a Bring & Buy. Pitches cost £7.50. Unfortunately, the contact details that appeared in RadCom were incorrect, so to book your place, contact G0PUD on 01706 346 517 or e-mail dave.shaw1@sky.com.
Now for the news of special events
A school in the village of Gresham will be holding an amateur radio special event station using the D-Star digital network for children age 6 to 11 on May 23rd. The callsign will be GB2GVS which stands for Gresham Village School. Andy Johnston, 2E0AIV is the event coordinator. He says that they have already arranged link-ups with schools in Northern Ireland, the USA and England, but are looking for more countries and schools to participate. If anyone is interested, they can contact Andy via e-mail to 2e0avi@2e0aiv.co.uk.
There will be a Vulcan Special Event radio station at Finningley Robin Hood International Airport, with the callsign GB60VUL, from 5 to 12 May. This will be in conjunction with Newbury Amateur Radio Society. The Finningley Amateur Radio Society will be there with their communications van and the radio station will be open from 8am to 9pm. Special QSL cards will be available for all contacts.
Botley Flour Mills near Southampton is one of the UK's oldest known milling sites. It is listed in the Doomsday book and is believed to have been a mill site in pre Roman times. The Mill will be activated with the callsign GB0BFM for Mills on the Air weekend on 12 and 13 May from 10am to 4pm. Using 80m, 40m, 2m & 70cm, the station will be run by M0IED and G6FRT and other members of Itchen Valley Radio Club, with added assistance from Southampton University Wireless Society.
And now the DX news compiled from 425 DX News and other sources
The Russian Robinsons are planning the activation of IOTA new one, the Bethel County Group, NA-240 between 10 and 14 May. See www.na-234.com for the latest information.
An international team of operators will be active as 7O6T, that’s 7 Oh 6 tee, from Socotra Island until 17 May. They plan to have six stations on the air at any given time. Activity will be on 10 to 160m using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via UA3DX.
A group of operators from Japan will be operational from the Maldives between 11 and 16 May. Activity will be on 6 to 160m using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via their home callsigns, either direct or via the bureau.
Between 19 and 19 May, the Wessex Contest Group will be operating from the Isle of Skye, which is EU-008. This year they will be operating a variety of equipment including some homebrew radio, a selection of QRP set ups and, for the quiet times, they also have a high power HF station. Their antennas include a W3DZZ, a 3 element HF Yagi, and a variety of wire dipoles. Listen out for MS0WCB or MQ0WCB.
Members of the A DX Group are planning a ten man DXperience to Macau, which is XX9. Plans are to be active with at least three complete stations on all bands CW, SSB and digital from 17 to 23 May. They will be operating from Coloane Island, AS-075. QSL via EB7DX either direct, via the EA bureau or via Logbook of The World.
Now the contest news
The 432MHz to 248GHz trophy finishes its 24 hour session at 1400UTC today, 6 May. Using all modes on the bands between 432MHz and 248GHz, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
The 80m Club Championships SSB leg takes place on 7 May from 1900 to 2030UTC. The exchange is signal report and serial number.
The 432MHz UK Activity Contest takes place on 8 May from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
The 70MHz CW Contest takes place from 0900 to 1200UTC on 13 May. The exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and postcode.
The Worked All Britain LF phone contest takes place on Sunday 13 May from 1000 to 1400UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial number and WAB square. Full details of the rules and logsheets may be obtained from the WAB website www.worked-all-britain.co.uk or from the Contest Manager, G3XKT via e-mail ataebbooks@ntlworld.com.
And now the solar factual data for the period from Friday the 27th to Thursday the 3rd of May, compiled by Neil Clarke, G0CAS on Friday the 4th of May.
Several sunspot groups were visible every day. Six new groups appeared during the period. Solar activity on the 27th was moderate when an impulsive M1 solar flare took place. On the remaining days activity was low when several C class solar flares took place. Solar flux levels declined from 121 units on the 28th to 110 by the 1st. The average was 116 units. The 90 day solar flux average on the 3rd was 112, that’s the same level as last week. X-ray flux levels declined slightly from B5.8 units on the 27th to B2.8 by the 2nd. The average was B4.1 units. Geomagnetic activity was quiet every day. The most disturbed day was the 27th with an Ap index of 8 units. The average was Ap 5 units. Solar wind data from the ACE spacecraft saw solar wind speeds decline from 520 kilometres per second on the 27th to a slow 260 by the 2nd. Particle densities were very low every day, on some days not even one particle per cubic centimetre was recorded. Bz never varied more than minus 5 and plus 4 nanoTeslas until the 3rd and then between minus 8 and plus 7 nanoTeslas. Sporadic-E took place some days on 28MHz with smaller openings on 50MHz.
And finally the solar forecast. This week the active side of the Sun is expected to rotate into view. Solar activity is expected to be low but could increase to moderate levels on the occasional days. Solar flux levels should increase and by next weekend be in the 130’s. Geomagnetic activity is expected to be quiet till around midweek when a disturbance from a recurring coronal hole is expected to arrive. This should last till the start of the weekend. MUFs during daylight hours at equal latitudes should be around 25MHz for the south and 22MHz for the north. Darkness hour lows should be about 11MHz. Paths this week to the east coast of North America should have a maximum usable frequency with a 50 per cent success rate of around 21 MHz. The optimum working frequency with a 90 per cent success rate will be about 15MHz. Levels could decline slightly during the anticipated coronal hole disturbance. The best time to try this path will be between 1600 and 2100 hours. Sporadic-E is expected to take place some days on 28MHz and to a lesser extent on 50MHz.
And that’s all for this week from the propagation team.
