RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for June 26th 2022

GB2RS News

Sunday the 26th of June 2022

The news headlines:

• RSGB joins IARU Region 1 meeting

• GB70D on air from the Isle of Man

• Tonight@8 on Monday

RSGB volunteers and staff contributed to the IARU Region 1 Interim meeting at Friedrichshafen on Thursday the 23^rd of June. The meeting covered topics across HF, VHF and UHF as well as Microwave and EMC matters. This included the latest state of preparations for WRC-23 where agenda item 9.1B on the protection of satellite navigation systems, such as Galileo in the 23cm band, was of prime interest. Slides showing the current state and this potentially significant threat to the radio amateur and amateur satellite services have been published on the RSGB special focus page at rsgb.org/wrc-23. The IARU, supported by the RSGB, continues to work hard to reduce any impact.

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee station GB70D is based on the Isle of Man. On Tuesday the 28^th, it will be based in the grounds of Government House. It is hoped that the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man and Lady Philippa will participate for several periods during the day. The station plans to operate on 2m, as well as SSB and CW on most bands from 40m up. Operations start around 9.30am.

Tonight @8 will take place on Monday, the 4^th of July. This is the final lecture before the summer break. Peter Duffett-Smith, G3XJE will be looking at Radio waves and antennas…and all that. His presentation covers a range of antenna-related information so there should be something for everyone. Tonight@8 webinars are live-streamed on the RSGB’s YouTube channel, YouTube.com/thersgb.

The 98-year-old 200kW Alexanderson alternator, callsign SAQ, will not be able to air on Alexanderson Day, Sunday the 3^rd of July. This is due to difficulties in obtaining components in the ongoing maintenance work. The Alexander Association welcomes visitors to the museum on the 3^rd from 10am to 4pm. Together with the World Heritage Grimeton Radio Station they will offer many activities for the whole family during the day. There will be two transmitter startups with SAQ, but without any transmission over the antenna.

National society in Iceland, IRA, reports on the renewal of special authorisation to use 50MHz. Icelandic licensees have been granted increased power licenses in the 50-50.5MHz frequency range until the 31st of September. Full licensees are allowed to use up to 1kW and Novice licensees up to 100W.

The 2022 AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will be held as part of the RSGB Convention on the 8^th and 9^th of October at Kents Hill Park Conference Centre in Milton Keynes. The weekend event attracts an international audience that ranges from those involved in building and operating amateur radio satellites to beginners who wish to find out more about this fascinating branch of the hobby. Find out more at amsat-uk.org or rsgb.org/convention.

And now for details of rallies and events

Please send your rally and event news as soon as possible to radcom@rsgb.org.uk. We’ll publicise your event in RadCom, on GB2RS, and online.

Today, the 26^th of June, the Newbury Radio Rally will be held at the Newbury Showground, next to junction 13 of the M4 motorway in Berkshire. Over a hundred sellers, national societies and a demonstration marquee will be there. It is open to the public from 9am with admission £2.50. There is free parking on site.

On Saturday, the 2^nd of July, the Laugharne Radio Rally will be held in the Millennium Memorial Hall, Laugharne near Carmarthen SA33 4QG. Doors open 10am until 12 noon. Details from Matthew on 0739 882 5024.

Next Sunday, the 3^rd, The Cornish RAC Rally will take place in Penair School, St Clement, Truro, Cornwall TR1 1TN. Doors open at 10am with a £2 admission. There will be a Bring & Buy, traders and local club stands. Refreshments are available on site. Find out more at gx4crc.com.

Next Sunday is also the Barford Norfolk Radio Rally at Barford Village Hall. Doors open at 9am. Visit norfolkamateurradio.org for more information.

Now the DX news

Eric, KV1J will be active as FP/KV1J from Miquelon Island, NA-032, from the 28^th of June to the 12^th of July. Plans are to operate SSB, RTTY and FT8, plus some FT4 and CW on the 6 to 80m bands. QSL via his home call either direct or via the bureau, Logbook of The World and eQSL.

Joe, OZ0J will be active as HB0/OZ0J from Liechtenstein from the 28^th of June to the 5^th of July. He plans to operate SSB, CW and FT8 on the 6 to 40m bands. QSL via Logbook of The World, Club Log's OQRS, eQSL, or via his home call.

David, DL7ZM is active as 7O/DL7ZM from Socotra Island, AF-028, in Yemen until the 3^rd of July. Activity is on 10 meters using CW and FT8, and on 6 meters as well. QSL details on QRZ.com

Now the Special Event news

Members of The Angel of the North ARC will be running GB0UUR to celebrate the life of their late Club Secretary and RSGB ex Deputy Regional Manager, Nancy Bone, G7UUR. This event will take place during the afternoon of Saturday the 2nd of July.

Durham and District ARS is participating as one of the bonus stations in the 13 Colonies Special Event. GB13COL has been issued for this event and will run from the club station from 1300UTC on the 1^st of July until 0400UTC on the 8^th. The primary focus of the event will be the HF bands, including VHF, UHF & Satellite for QSOs using SSB, CW, FM, and various digital modes. More information at 13colonies.us.

Now the contest news

Today, Sunday the 26^th of June, there are three contests taking place. The CW leg of the 50MHz Contest runs between 0900 and 1200UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The second contest today, the 26^th, is the fourth 70MHz Cumulatives contest runs between 1400 and 1600UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Finally for today, the 26^th, the UK Microwave Group 5.7 and 10GHz contest runs from 0600 to 1800UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Monday, the RSGB FT4 Contest runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using the 3.5, 7 and 14MHz bands where contests are permitted, the exchange is your report and 4-character locator.

Tuesday sees the SHF UK Activity Contest taking place between 1830 and 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 2.3 to 10GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Next weekend, the 2^nd and 3^rd of July, is the RSGB VHF National Field Day. Running for 24-hours from 1400UTC on the 2^nd, the contest uses the 50, 70, 144 and 432MHz bands as well as 1.3GHz. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Next Sunday, the 3^rd of July, the 3^rd 144MHz Backpackers contest runs from 1000 to 1500UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday the 24th of June 2022.

As predicted, the solar flux index fell back this week, but it didn’t fall as low as experts predicted. On Thursday, it stood at 129, but with three sunspot groups about to rotate off the visible surface, it looks like it may now fall lower.

We are now well and truly into the summer season for HF propagation, which can be characterised as providing lower maximum usable frequencies during the day, but higher MUFs at night. Sporadic-E remains the most common mode of propagation on the higher bands, with F2-layer MUFs over 3,000 kilometres generally not exceeding 21MHz for most of the day. But more on Sporadic E in the VHF segment of this report.

The good news is that 20 metres stays open later, often providing paths over 3,000km up until midnight. The higher bands, that is 17 metres, 15 metres and perhaps 12 metres, may generally provide good paths to South America in the evenings, with 20-metre paths being the last to close.

But we’re afraid we may have to wait until September to see good reliable paths into North America on HF once again.

Next week, NOAA predicts that the SFI will remain around the 100 mark, so we may expect lower MUFs again, apart from Es openings. Geomagnetic conditions should generally be quiet with a maximum Kp index of two once we get over any disturbance this weekend due to a high-speed solar wind stream.

And now the VHF and up propagation news.

The recent very warm and humid weather has produced some occasional Tropo with the British Isles being on the edge of high pressure, mainly over the near continent. This may still happen occasionally in the coming week, but the fundamental characteristic for next week is low pressure and unsettled weather over the UK. This will produce some rain, with thunderstorms a possibility, and rain scatter will crop up as a useful mode on the upper GHz bands at times.

The many online weather radar displays will allow you to keep a track of storms as they develop. When low pressure is centred over the country the showers may be longer-lasting and not decay overnight, so this period looks more promising than the usual mainly daytime shower distribution.

The Sporadic-E season is in full swing, but in a rather restrained way since openings have been fairly limited and often fleeting. The presence of jet streams on the weather charts is a good indicator of regions where Es is more likely and the coming week offers a good variety of options, so if Sporadic-E is hard to find then perhaps other parameters may not be optimal; for example, the meteor input is a crucial component in the development of Es. Check the daily conditions for jet streams on the Propquest.co.uk EPI maps and Es blog.

The June meteor showers, mentioned last week, continue into early July so keep checking meteor scatter conditions between the Es.

With the Moon at maximum declination on Wednesday, Moon windows are long this week. Today, Sunday the 26^th of June, the Moon is at apogee, or its furthest point from Earth, so path losses are at their highest, and for around four hours after UK Moonrise on Wednesday the Sun is close to the Moon so noise will be high at that time.

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