RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for December 18th 2022

GB2RS News

Sunday the 18^th of December 2022

 

The news headlines:

• Train the Trainers courses
• RSGB Convention videos
• Planning Advisory Committee recruitment

 

After a forced break during Covid, the RSGB will be restarting Train the Trainers courses in the spring of 2023. It is hoped that three courses will be run across the country. The team would like to run the courses where demand is greatest, rather than arrange three courses where there is no demand. If you are an existing trainer, or would like to become one, and would like to attend a course during the year, please contact  g7lfc@rsgb.org.uk  The team would also like to hear from clubs that are willing to host a course so that it can match demand with availability. For further details about the course, what it covers and what is required from hosts, please visit rsgb.org/train-the-trainers

The RSGB has released four individual presentations from its 2022 Convention which cover a wide and interesting range of topics. Philip Lawson, G4FCL gives an introduction to test equipment whilst Phil Catterall, G4OBK talks about adventure radio in Europe. Taking a look back into history, Dr David Abrutat provides a fascinating insight into Bletchley Park and the Y Services between 1939 and 1945. Finally, as a link with December’s YOTA month, young radio amateurs Dan McGraw, M0WUT and Hamzah Shah, 2E0HXS share their experiences and learning from the YOTA summer camp in Croatia this year. Find these and other RSGB Convention presentations on its YouTube channel at youtube.com/theRSGB

The RSGB Planning Advisory Committee assists RSGB Members with planning advice. It is looking to recruit additional committee members to help with this valuable service. You should be involved with, or retired from, a discipline associated with the planning process or have a good working knowledge of the planning process. The committee would particularly like to add a planning enforcement officer or a lawyer to the panel. The duties include assisting Members with planning enquiries, enforcement notices and appeals but will not include the actual preparation of planning applications on behalf of Members. If you think you can assist, please contact the RSGB Planning Advisory Committee Chair John Mattocks, G4TEQ by email at pac.chairman@rsgb.org.uk

The RSGB HQ email system encountered a technical fault between the afternoon of Tuesday the 13^th of December and the morning of Wednesday the 14^th of December. If you emailed the RSGB during this period, it is likely that your message was not received and will need to be resent. To help, the RadCom team has extended the deadline for submissions to the magazine to Monday the 19^th of December. So, there is still time to send in reports and items for the Club Calendar and Around Your Region sections of RadCom. The RSGB apologies for any inconvenience the fault may have caused.

The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed for two days on the 10^th and 11^th of January 2023 to allow electrical maintenance work to be undertaken. When booking a visit on any other day, remember that RSGB members can download a free entry voucher to Bletchley Park from the RSGB website at rsgb.org/bpvoucher

The RSGB has made two announcements about exams this week. The first gives details of how to book for the Direct to Full exam from January, and the second outlines necessary changes to the exam fees. Further details of both can be found on the RSGB website. Go to rsgb.org/exams and choose the Exam Announcements option in the righthand menu.

RSGB HQ will be closed for Christmas and New Year from 12.30pm on Friday the 23^rd of December until 8.30am on Tuesday the 3^rd of January 2023. Next Sunday, the 25^th of December, the GB2RS News script will be prepared as usual and read at the discretion of individual news readers. There will be no GB2RS broadcast on Sunday the 1^st of January 2023. During the holidays, if you need information about amateur radio, exams or RadCom you’ll find lots of pages on the RSGB website, www.rsgb.org

 And now for details of rallies and events

The Yeovil Amateur Radio Club Rally will be held on Thursday the 29^th of December at Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel, Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 7QX. Doors will be open from 9.30am to 1pm and admission is £3. Free parking is available. The event will include bring and buy as well as 20 tables for traders. For more information contact Bob on 01963 440 167.

The Lincoln Shortwave Club Winter Radio Rally will be held on Sunday the 29^th of January at The Festival Hall, Caistor Road, Market Rasen, LN8 3HT. Doors open at 9.30am and entry is £2. Refreshments are available on site and talk-in is available on 145.375MHz. For more information email Graham via contact@m1dhv.co.uk

The Canvey Rally will be held on the 5^th of February at Cornelius Vermuyden School, Dinant Avenue, Canvey, Essex, SS8 9QS. The Rally is expected to be the usual hive of activity with plenty of traders and an indoor boot sale. Hot food and drinks will be available. Contact sears.enquiries@gmail.com for further information.

 

Now the Special Event News

Special event station CN22JIM ends its two-week run today, the 18^th, from the High Atlas Mountain range in Morocco. The ‘India Mike’ suffix to the callsign was chosen in celebration of International Mountain Day which is held on the 11^th of December each year. QSL via RW6HS.

Today, the 18^th , is the last chance to work the nine special event callsigns hosted by The Qatar Amateur Radio Society to celebrate the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Look out for the HQ station callsign A722FWC, as well as eight callsigns that contain sequential numbers, from A71FIFA to A78FIFA. The stations are active on the HF bands and via the QO-100 Satellite. QSL via the bureau, Logbook of the World or directly.

Today is also the last opportunity to log special callsign PV22CUP. The Brazilian Amateur Radio League is using the callsign in celebration of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. QSL via Logbook of the World and eQSL.

Celebrating the 15^th anniversary of Summits On The Air France, special callsign TM15SOTA will be active until the 30^th of December. QSL via eQSL.

Special event stations GB1900HA and GB1900HW have been operating since the 24^th of January to mark the 1900^th anniversary of the beginning of the construction of Hadrian’s Wall. The defensive fortification is the largest Roman archaeological feature in the British Isles. The stations will be active until Friday the 23^rd of December.

 Now the DX news

Tony will be active as 3D2AG/P from Rotuma Island, Fiji, OC-060, until the 20^th of December. He hopes to operate using CW, SSB, RTTY and some FT8 on the 160 to 6m bands. QSL via Club Log.

Lester, W8YCM will be active as W8YCM/6Y from Jamaica, NA-097, until January 2023. QSL directly via his home callsign.

Vincent, F4BKV will be active as XW4KV from Laos until the 23^rd of December. His main activity will be on QO-100 from as many as 12 grids. He will also do some operating on the 40, 20, 15 and 10m bands. QSL via F4BKV and Logbook of the World.

 Now the contest news

The UK Six Metre Group Winter Marathon began on Thursday the 1^st of December. The contest will run until the 31^st of January 2023. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report and locator.

Today, the 18^th of December, the Stew Perry Top Band Challenge will end its 24-hour run at 1500UTC. Using CW on the 160m band, the exchange is your four-character locator.

On Tuesday the 20^th of December, the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3GHz band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

 Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday the 16^th of December 2022

Things hotted up last week with a healthy increase in sunspot activity. The number of sunspots ramped up, giving us a solar flux index of 165 by Thursday.

The other upside was the fact that geomagnetic conditions were quite settled with the Kp index remaining between one and three all week.

There were some downsides. We have had an increase in the number of solar flares, with a total of 14. Of these, 11 were M-class. This is all happening around active region 3165, which is now a prime candidate for an X-class solar flare, the most powerful.

There were reports of poor HF propagation on the morning of the 15^th, which can possibly be attributed to the solar flares on the Sun. The graph of the maximum useable frequency, measured at Dourbes, looks rather like a roller coaster ride, with the extrapolated MUF over 3,000km being more than 38MHz at 9.15am and below 19MHz 20 minutes later.

The moral of this story is that if HF propagation seems to fail just give it 20 minutes and see if it recovers.

According to NOAA, the high solar flux index won’t continue for much longer. It predicts that the SFI will reduce to between 115 and 120. The Kp is also predicted to stay low, at least until the 22^nd when it is forecast to rise to five, possibly because of a returning coronal hole from 27 days ago.

And finally, both the Chilton and Fairford Digisondes are offline at the moment, so please select Dourbes if using Propquest.co.uk

And now the VHF and up propagation news

The cold weather will be displaced as a temporary mild spell brings higher temperatures, plus wet and windy weather, during this weekend. 

Eventually, colder westerly air with showery troughs will return from the west, but still with further bands of rain. There will probably be some good rain and snow scatter opportunities for the GHz bands. Tropo looks a bit thin, although there may be a brief enhancement on Sunday morning to France and the Low Countries but this will be gone by the afternoon.

The other modes like meteor scatter and aurora are still a consideration, but much less predictable.

With the Geminids meteor shower past its peak, there are two minor showers to look out for this week.

The Leonis Minorids are active from the 5^th of December to the 4^th of February, reaching a maximum on the 20^th of December with a low Zenithal Hourly Rate, or ZHR, of around five. The Ursids are active from the 17^th of December to the 26^th of December reaching a maximum on the 22^nd of December, also with a low ZHR of around 10.

Moon declination went negative on the 17^th, so Moon windows will continue to shorten and zenith angles decrease. EME path losses are falling as we head towards perigee on Christmas Eve. 144MHz sky noise is increasing all week and on Friday we get close to an eclipse, so it will be very high during the whole Moon pass.

Lastly, to repeat the ‘heads up’ from last week about midwinter Sporadic-E, it is still worth mentioning since it usually becomes a reference after the event, and it would be nice to be there before it happens!

So, employ the usual check of HF and VHF clusters from 10 to 4m and use www.propquest.co.uk and its EPI or Es probability index plots to see where the most likely areas for Es are located.

Like summer events, rarer mid-winter Es are often associated with powerful jet streams and this unsettled weather is a good source for these.

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