RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for December 11th 2022

GB2RS News

Sunday the 11^th of December 2022

The news headlines:

• RSGB Elections

• Australian Licensing Changes

• GB22YOTA at the National Radio Centre

The RSGB is calling for volunteers who are willing and able to give their time and enthusiasm to ensure the Society continues to develop and thrive. This year there are nine roles to be filled and the results will be announced at the RSGB’s AGM in April 2023. An explanation of how to apply for the Nominated Board Director process, as well as the candidate packs and forms for President, Elected Board Director and Regional Representative, are all on the Society’s website at rsgb.org/election

At the end of September 2022, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, or ACMA, proposed that Australia’s amateur radio operators move to a class-based licensing scheme in July 2023, opening a consultation period that closed at the end of November 2022. The Wireless Institute of Australia has replied to the ACMA proposals with a comprehensive evidence-based response. The ACMA proposes moving Australia’s radio amateurs from individual apparatus licences to one licence for the amateur service as a whole. The principal reason cited is a reduction in the administrative burden for both the ACMA and the amateur radio community. The immediate benefit would be that licence and licence-renewal fees would disappear. The Wireless Institute of Australia’s response to the consultation can be found at tinyurl.com/WIAsubm

The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park is pleased to announce that it will be hosting GB22YOTA on Saturday the 17^th of December. Any young amateurs, or those who are interested to learn more about amateur radio, are welcome. The National Radio Centre is located within the grounds of the Bletchley Park Museum. Entry details and opening times can be found on the Bletchley Park website. RSGB members can download an entry voucher for a free day pass to the National Radio Centre from the members’ portal on the RSGB website.

The RSGB is looking for volunteers for two new roles: RSGB Lecture Chair and RSGB Social Diversity Officer. The deadline for applications is Monday the 16^th of January. Full details of both roles, including how to apply, are on the Society's website at www.rsgb.org/volunteers

Does your school or college run an amateur radio club? Or are you interested in setting up a club at your school or college? Following the success of University Corner, the RSGB’s online list of universities with amateur radio clubs, the Society has launched School Zone. This brings together details of schools and colleges that have an active amateur radio club. If your school or college has a club and would like to be included in the online list, please send details to comms@rsgb.org.uk Contact details should include the club callsign, if it has one, the school website URL and an email address for the teacher or adult who runs the club. If you are a pupil member of the club, please check those details before you send them to the RSGB. You can find the new School Zone webpage at rsgb.org/school-zone 

The RSGB’s Transatlantic Centenary Tests is running throughout December to celebrate the Centenary of the first amateur radio signals to cross the Atlantic. There are awards available for working the special stations. Over 40,000 QSOs were made in the first week. There are still opportunities to get involved so go to the RSGB website at rsgb.org/tct to book an operating slot.

The RSGB’s RadCom team is looking for authors to contribute to the magazine. Previously unpublished features and articles are always welcome for consideration. At the moment, the team is particularly interested in hearing from people who enjoy writing about antennas. To contact the RadCom team please email radcom@rsgb.org.uk

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 9.30 am to 1 pm 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 9.30 am 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

Datta, VU2DSI will be active as AU2JCB until Tuesday the 13^th of December to commemorate the birthday of Indian physicist and radio pioneer Jagadish Chandra Rose. He will be operating on the HF and VHF bands using SSB and FM. QSL directly to his home callsign.

Members of Wingles Radio Club in France will be active as TM90GF until Saturday the 17^th of December. The special callsign marks the 90^th anniversary of the death of General Gustave-Auguste Ferrie, a pioneer in the field of military radio communications. QSL via the bureau, eQSL or directly to F4KLR.

The Qatar Amateur Radio Society has announced that nine special event callsigns will be active until Sunday the 18^th of December to celebrate the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Look out for the station HQ 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.

Special callsign PV22CUP will be active from Brazil until Sunday the 18^th of December. 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.

Now the DX news

Ferdy, HB9DSP will be active as 5H3FM from Zanzibar Island, AF-032, Tanzania until Tuesday the 13^th of December. He will operate SSB and some FT8 on the 20, 15 and 10m bands. QSL via Logbook of the World or via his home call.

Take, JI3DST will be active from Miyakojima, AS-079, until Thursday the 15^th of December. He will be operating SSB, CW and FT8. QSL via Club Log and LogBook of the World.

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

Now the contest news

The ARRL 10m Contest ends today, the 11^th, at 2359UTC. Using CW and phone, the exchange is signal report and serial number. American, Canadian and Mexican stations also send their state or province code.

On Tuesday the 13^th of December, the 432MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Also on Tuesday the 13^th of December, the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC. Using FM on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Wednesday the 14^th of December, the 432MHz FT8 Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator.

On Thursday the 15^th of December, the 70MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Next Saturday the 17^th of December, the Stew Perry Top Band Challenge will start at 1500UTC and run for 24 hours. Using CW on the 160m band, the exchange is your four-character locator.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday the 9^th of December 2022

There’s an old Chinese curse that says: “May you live in interesting times”. Well, the last week has been very interesting from an HF propagation perspective!

The solar flux index increased from 111 on the 30^th of November, to 148 on Thursday the 8^th. During that time, we had more than 50 C-class solar flares and two M-class flares, while the Kp index ranged from one to five. So, it’s been a bit like having all four seasons in one week!

HF propagation has varied dramatically as a result, with round-the-world echoes and spotlight propagation being very prevalent at times. Spotlight propagation is defined as a small geographic area that is favoured with good propagation at any given time.

The Norfolk Amateur Radio Club operated G6ZZ for 48 hours as part of the transatlantic centenary celebrations and worked more than 1,500 stations. Station manager Chris, G0DWV reports his highlights as: “Hearing my own echo as the signal went around the world on several occasions, being called by VK, Australia, and ZL, New Zealand, at 5/9+30dB with no one else on the band. And hearing echoes that made it impossible to understand the caller's voice.”

At the moment, it seems like it would be easy to dismiss an HF band as being closed when it could be wide open half an hour later.

The Sun is currently peppered with spots of all sizes. The USAF predicts that the good conditions could continue for a few days yet, with the solar flux index falling from 150 on Sunday to 110 by the end of the week.

Calm geomagnetic conditions may continue and there are currently no coronal holes in view. But please note that it only takes a single coronal mass ejection to spoil things.

And don’t forget that the low bands come into their own in Winter as well. This is a good time to look for DX on 160, 80 and 40 metres, especially in the late afternoon, after dark and at sunrise.

And now the VHF and up propagation news

This week’s VHF propagation highlight is the Geminids meteor shower. This is predicted to reach a broad peak over several days on either side of 1300UTC on the 14^th of December.

The Geminids zenithal hourly record has reached 140-150 in all recent years so expect a good one with SSB QSOs possible for the better-equipped stations using good operating techniques, and the chance of 70cm digimode QSOs as well. The broad peak has a habit of declining quite quickly once it’s over.

In this present turn to cold winter conditions, prospects for high pressure and tropo are looking limited, apart from a weak ridge over northern Britain. Although even this is not a strong player.

Current weather conditions may appeal to the experimentally minded. Intense cold and snow-covered ground can produce strong shallow surface temperature inversions, so there may be interesting tests to be done in some parts of the country. Also, watch out for snow scatter on the high GHz bands if you see snowstorms around.

The solar-driven conditions mentioned in the previous section suggest that further possibilities exist for auroral propagation, given a high Kp index.

The dearth of Sporadic-E during the autumn months usually has a brief respite around this time of the year from mid-December to mid-January. It's very random but follow the usual summer routine of checking the clusters and maps to select the right directions. Although these isolated events can occur at the usual afternoon or evening times for Es, they can and do crop up in the morning and around the middle of the day.

Moon declination is positive but decreasing this week so Moon windows will shorten and zenith angles decrease. Path losses are at their highest with the Moon at apogee on Sunday night. 144MHz sky noise is low all week.

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