RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for August 7th 2022.

GB2RS News

Sunday the 7^th of August 2022

The news headlines:

• GB22HQ moving location

• Welsh operators wanted for GB22GW

• New Special Interest Group Manager appointed

For operational reasons, it is no longer possible to operate GB22HQ, the special event station for the Commonwealth Games, from the Smithfield site in Birmingham. The move to the Smithfield site had been a last-minute decision due to other calls on our original site by the Commonwealth Games organisers. It has been problematic due to lack of public access, high RF noise levels and ingress of water and dust on site. We’re pleased to say that GB22HQ will continue on the air for the remainder of the games thanks to members of the Wolverhampton Amateur Radio Society and the Central Radio Amateur Circle.

GB22GW is the Commonwealth Games callsign for Wales. Cath, GW4CVT is looking for volunteers in Wales to use the callsign either by CW, SSB or data modes until the 21st of August. To book a slot, visit qrz.com and search for GB22GW. There you will find Cath’s email address and the slots that are available.

The RSGB is pleased to announce that Philip Hosey, MI0MSO has been appointed as the Special Interest Group Manager. The primary role of the Honorary Officer for Affiliated National Societies and Special Interest Groups is to champion their interests and to develop a closer relationship between them and the RSGB, and the amateurs they represent.

Sad news now. Long-time GB2RS newsreader Dr David Sadler-Lockwood, G4CLI became a Silent Key recently. He was a keen member of both the Wakefield and District Amateur Radio Society and the Denby Dale Amateur Radio Society. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

There is a new award available during August to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of a Polish lighthouse. Until 31st August there will be nine special event stations on the air with SN200 or SP200 plus one letter callsigns, for example, SN200Z. Two other stations, 3Z200LHR and 3Z25ILLW, will operate only during the international lighthouse and lightship weekend, the 20^th and 21^st. For details on this award, go to qrz.com and look up one of the special stations involved.

Canadian radio amateurs have gained access to two new bands recently. They now have access to 472 to 479kHz with a maximum of five watts EIRP, and 5.3515 to 5.3665MHz with a maximum of 100 watts EIRP. Canadian amateur radio is a Secondary radio service on these bands.

The YOTA Team Croatia has created an award available for working youngsters at the YOTA Summer Camp. Each QSO with a 9A YOTA station in a different band or mode combination earns you one point. Duplicates do not count. Valid QSOs will be made from 0000UTC on the 6^th to 2359UTC on the 13^th of August. You may even get to contact one of the four young people the RSGB has sent to the Summer Camp. Go to iaru-r1.org and click on the YOTA Summer Camp news item for details on the award.

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 7^th of August, the 2022 BATC Convention for Amateur TV will take place at Midland Air Museum, Rowley Road, Coventry CV3 4FR. It will be a meet-up, show and tell, test and fix-it, and Bring & Buy event from 10 am to 4 pm. There will be full test facilities available for equipment.

Also today, the 7^th, King’s Lynn ARC 32^nd Great Eastern Radio Rally will be held at Gaywood Community Centre, Gayton Road, King's Lynn, Norfolk PE30 4EL. Doors open at 9 am and admission is £2.50. Car parking is free. There will be trade stands and a Bring & Buy. More information at klarc.org.uk.

On Friday, it is the 27^th Cockenzie and Port Seton Mini-Rally Night. It will take place at the Community Centre, Main Hall, Port Seton. Doors open at 6 pm and admission is £2. Tables are on a first come first served basis.

Next Sunday, the 14^th, the Flight Refuelling ARS Hamfest takes place at Cobham Sports and Social Club Ground, Merley, near Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 3DA. Talk in will be on S22. Gates open between 10 am and 6 pm with entry costing £4. There will be trade stands as well as indoor and field pitches. Lectures will take place during the event. No dogs except Guide dogs are allowed as this is the landowner’s condition. More from Tony, G3PFM on 0774 347 5018.

Now the Special Event news

GB5VAS is the callsign for the special event station that Guernsey Amateur Radio Society will be operating from the ground of the Vintage Agricultural Show this weekend, the 6^th and 7^th of August. QSL via GU3HFN.

TM78DP is a special callsign to be aired until the 20^th of August for the 78th anniversary of the beach landings in Provence during World War Two. It will operate on the 6 to 80m bands using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL via F4GPB.

Now the DX news

Jonathan, 2E0KZN is now stationed at the RAF Mount Pleasant Complex in the Falkland Islands, SA-002, until early November. Whilst there he will operate as VP8TAA with a focus on SOTA activations as VP8TAA/P. QSL via M0OXO's OQRS.

The DX0NE Team is operating from Spratly Islands, IOTA AS-051 until the 31^st of December. They will operate on the 6 to 160m bands using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via 4F2KWT, Logbook of The World or Club Log OQRS.

DK1DKE is active as 4K7DK from Baku in Azerbaijan until the 13^th of August. Activity is on the 10 to 80m bands using SSB and FT8. QSL to his home callsign.

Mike, W6QT is operating as DU3/W6QT from Olongapo City on Luzon Island, OC-042, in the Philippines. He will be there until the 15^th of September. QSL to his home callsign.

Now the contest news

Today, Sunday the 7^th of August, the 432MHz Low Power Contest runs from 0800 to 1200UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and the first two letters of your postcode.

On Tuesday, the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. It is followed from 1900 to 2130UTC by the all-mode 432MHz UK Activity Contest. The exchange for both is a signal report, serial number and locator.

Wednesday sees the 432MHz FT8 Activity Contest from 1900 to 2100UTC. The exchange is your report and 4-character locator.

The 50MHz UK Activity Contest is on Thursday the 11^th of August from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Next weekend is the WAE DX CW Contest from 0000UTC on the 13^th to 2359UTC on the 14^th. Using the 3.5 to 28MHz bands where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Please note that EU stations work non-EU stations only.

Next Sunday, the 14^th, the fifth 70MHz Cumulative contest runs from 1400 to 1600UTC. 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 5th of August 2022.

Last week was characterised by a solar flux index of around 100 but reasonably settled geomagnetic conditions. The SFI had a low of 94 on Sunday and a high of 100 on Thursday. The Kp index has been in the range of one to four, with more settled conditions being experienced in the second half of the week.

Daytime critical frequencies have ranged from lows of 5MHz and highs of up to 7MHz. As a result, skip distances on 40m have varied dramatically, and often very quickly. This has caught out some amateurs who have found solid inter-G conditions one minute, but fast fading as the critical frequency has dropped leaving only European stations workable.

As a guide, keep one eye on propquest.co.uk for the current critical frequency and extrapolated maximum usable frequencies over different path lengths. Only then can you make sense of daytime 40m propagation.

Sporadic-E is still putting in an appearance but is far less prevalent as we head into August. It may still be usable for weak signal modes like FT8, but loud SSB signals from Europe may be less prevalent.

Next week, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Centre predicts that the SFI will be in the range of 98-100 again. That is, it doesn't think we will get any rapid increases in sunspot numbers over the next week. The Kp index is forecast to be in the range 2-3, which means moderately settled geomagnetic conditions. However, a coronal hole on the Sun's equator may cause some problems just after the weekend.

So daytime F2-layer MUFs over 3,000km paths may be up to 18-21MHz. Any short-skip 10m openings are therefore likely to be Sporadic-E.

And now the VHF and up propagation news.

The basic pattern continues unchanged with high pressure favouring southern and eastern areas and lows with their fronts affecting the northwest. Occasionally weakening cold fronts drift southeast. This will provide further tropo opportunities, particularly during the hot and humid periods and in this case, a good cloud cover near the surface is a good indicator.

The preferred paths would most likely be across the North Sea to Denmark, Germany and Netherlands and across the Channel to the continent. A more extensive option could be to the south across Biscay to Spain and beyond to the Canaries and mid-Atlantic. Rain scatter is unlikely for most areas except for very isolated showery developments on the weak cold fronts over central parts of the country.

The Sporadic-E season continues to trickle charge log books with occasional openings. Although the jet stream activity is relatively weak over central and southern Europe, it has been shown that it is sometimes more important that the pattern is moving, however weak.

The stronger flow appears to favour paths across the north of the UK to Iceland and Greenland and towards Scandinavia and the Baltic states. Check the daily blogs on Propquest.co.uk, which continue through August, for the latest thoughts on the daily jet stream charts.

Next week sees the peak of the Perseids around the 12th of August and even if you don't have the gear for meteor scatter it's hard to beat watching meteors on a warm summer evening. The Sun has continued to exhibit some marked coronal holes, a potential source of the solar wind surges that produce the aurora, so be aware of this.

The Moon passes a milestone this month with perigee and minimum declination coinciding. From then onwards, perigee and maximum declination start to drift closer again, but it’s not until September 2026 that they coincide. All week the Moon's elevation is low at its zenith and the Moon is only visible for a few hours out of the 24. 144MHz sky noise is high, reaching 3000 Kelvin on Monday.

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