RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for March 6th 2022.

GB2RS News

Sunday the 6th of March 2022

 

The news headlines:

• RSGB statement the Russian Federation and Belarus
• RSGB AGM online
• QO-100 Emergency comms exercise

 

The normal stance of amateur radio is that it is apolitical. However, it is clear that recent actions by the Russian Federation and their military have crossed a line and the RSGB cannot in this instance remain neutral. The policy of the RSGB is that we will follow the actions of the mainstream sporting bodies with regard to all activities of a competitive nature such as contests and ARDF. Russian and Belarusian radio amateurs are therefore currently ineligible to participate in any event that is organised/sponsored by the RSGB. The policy of the RSGB in commercial activities is that we will refrain from trade with Russia and Belarus until further notice.

The RSGB Annual General Meeting on Saturday the 23^rd of April will, once again, be held online. Members will be able to submit questions in advance for RSGB Board Directors to answer. We will announce the recipients of the RSGB annual awards and trophies as well as the winners of the Construction Competition. The RSGB President will give his review of 2021 and there will be an excellent presentation after the formal business of the day. Full details will be available in the April edition of RadCom and on the website from the 16^th of March.

On the 26^th of February, 22 stations representing 14 countries around IARU Region 1 took part in a short notice exercise using the facilities of the geostationary satellite QO-100. This was the first of a number of smaller exercises, tests and meetings to be held by IARU Region 1 throughout the year, building on the earlier Global Simulated Emergency Tests to cover as many aspects of emergency communications as possible. The intention is to bring emergency communicators together more frequently to demonstrate how the Amateur Radio Service can work together as a global community and develop a common understanding of each other’s capabilities. More information at IARU-r1.org.

The RSGB has agreed to fund a 50MHz beacon specifically to study meteor events above the UK. Unlike conventional propagation beacons, this will beam vertically up using circular polarisation. The 50MHz band is particularly suitable for observing meteors by radio as they create an ionised trail strongly reflective to radio at that frequency while they burn upon entry to the Earth’s atmosphere. This is a collaborative project between the amateur radio and radio astronomy communities and will enable a range of radio-based citizen science and STEM projects studying meteors. The beacon is to be located at the Sherwood observatory of the Mansfield and Sutton Astronomical Society, a central location for UK coverage.

Radio amateurs in Ukraine appear to be diligently maintaining radio silence as the state of emergency declared there just prior to the Russian military invasion remains in effect. A Presidential decree on the 24^th of February included “a ban on the operation of amateur radio transmitters for personal and collective use”. The Ukraine Amateur Radio League reported this past week that it has received many messages of encouragement from the worldwide amateur radio community.

An updated document, detailing New Zealand amateur radio beacons including their active status, is now available online. This includes those beacons on the HF bands. Go to nzart.org.nz and scroll down for the news item on ZL beacons.

 

And now for details of rallies and events

Today, the 6^th of March, the Exeter Radio & Electronics Rally will be held in America Hall, De La Rue Way, Exeter EX4 8PW.

Also today, the 6^th, the Hack Green Bunker Rally will be held at the Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 8AL. There will be electronic equipment, amateur gear, components, military radio items and vehicle spares. Doors open at 10 am.

Next Sunday, the 13^th, the Hamzilla Radio Fest takes place at Discovery Science Park, Gateway House, Ramsgate Road, Sandwich, Kent CT13 9FF. Those who bought tickets and tables for 2021 will have their booking carried forward to Hamzilla 2022. Tickets are available now from £3 and tables £12. More at www.hamzilla.uk.

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

 

Now the DX news

Alan, G3XAQ will be active again as 5X1XA from Kampala, Uganda between the 7^th and 14^th of March. He will operate CW only on the 80 to 10m bands, with main activity during the RSGB Commonwealth Contest. QSL direct to G3SWH. See g3swh.org.uk and Logbook of The World.

Nobby, G0VJG will be active as 8Q7CQ until the 18^th of March. He will operate from the Island of Innahura, AS-013. Activity will be on the 80 to 10m bands, including 60m, using SSB and digital modes. His equipment will be an FT-450D or FT-857 with a Juma 1000-watt amplifier into an HF6V Butternut vertical for the HF bands and a link dipole. QSL via M0OXO's OQRS.

Klaus, DJ9KM and Georg, DD8ZX will be active holiday style as CT9/ DJ9KM and CT9/DD8ZX from Madeira Island, AF-014, until the 12^th of March. They will operate mainly FT8 and RTTY. QSLs via Logbook of the World.

 

Now the Special Event news

Newport ARS has been granted GB4NPT to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Newport, South Wales, being granted full city status. The station will be operating throughout March. There is a QRZ page available for more information.

GB80LAN in the UK, VE80LAN from Canada and VK80LAN from Australia, will mark the 80th anniversary of the first operational sortie of the Avro Lancaster. The aircraft was the mainstay of the RAF Bomber Command that was flown by British, Canadian and Australian pilots during World War II. The stations will be on the air throughout most of March. QSL via operators' instructions.

 

Now the contest news

When operating in any contests, please keep yourself and fellow amateurs safe by following all relevant pandemic-related government rules. For RSGB Contests, until further notice, all logs received from stations in the Russian Federation or Belarus will be treated as check logs.

The March 144/432MHz contest runs for 24 hours until 1400UTC today, the 6^th of March. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The ARRL SSB DX contest runs for 48 hours this weekend ending at 2359UTC today, the 6th. Stations outside the US and Canada should work as many contiguous states and provinces as possible. Using phone only on the contest sections of the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metre bands, the exchange is signal report and power. US and Canadian stations will send a signal report and their state or province.

On Monday the 80m Club Championships will run between 2000 and 2130UTC. Using PSK63 and RTTY, the exchange is signal report and serial number.

On Tuesday the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC. It is followed by the all-mode UK Activity Contest from 2000 to 2230UTC. The exchange for both is signal report, serial number and locator.

The 432MHz FT8 Activity Contest takes place between 1900 and 2100UTC on Wednesday. The exchange is signal report as appropriate for FT8 and your 4-character locator. A serial number is not required.

On Thursday the 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The second 70MHz Cumulative Contest takes place from 1000 to 1200UTC next Sunday, the 13^th. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Next weekend is the RSGB Commonwealth Contest running for 24 hours from 1000UTC on the 12^th to 10000UTC on the 13^th. This is one of the longest-running contests in the HF contesting world. It is CW only on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands where contests are permitted. The exchange is signal report and serial number.

Now the radio propagation report, was compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday the 4th of March 2022.

We had another pretty uninspiring week, sunspot wise, with the solar flux index struggling to get above 100, at least until later in the week when it touched 110 on Thursday. The good news is that, on the whole, geomagnetic conditions were quiet, which really allowed the F2 ionospheric layer to develop.

As a result, there were reports of some good 10 metre openings at times. Members of the 10m UK Net Facebook group reported FT8 openings to the west coast of the USA, as well as openings to Malawi, Indonesia and Australia.

Propquest.co.uk confirmed this, showing 10m openings over a 3,000km path throughout the day. It is worth calling CQ on 28MHz even if the band sounds closed as some openings will be fleeting and short-lived.

Next week, NOAA predicts that the SFI will start in the low 100s, but then decline to the high 90s as the week progresses.

Unsettled geomagnetic conditions are forecast for this weekend and next, but with only a maximum Kp index of four. Having said that, it would only take an Earth-facing coronal mass ejection to push the index even higher. These CMEs are very hard to predict, but unfortunately very common at this point in the cycle.

If the Sun behaves itself, we might see more openings on 10 metres this week, so do keep a look on the band.

This weekend is the ARRL International DX SSB Contest, which is another opportunity to increase the count for your Worked All States award.

 

And now the VHF and up propagation news.

We had a fleeting distraction of high-pressure last weekend, after not quite making it during the last week, it nearly got here, but the Atlantic fronts won that battle. 

So, this first weekend looks promising with another attempt to get high pressure established and a chance of some Tropo on the VHF bands.

However, like last week, approaching fronts and new areas of low pressure will soon turn next week into the unsettled variety with rain and even some snow as the milder Atlantic air meets the cold south-easterly over the eastern side of the country. These fronts with big temperature contrasts can produce some temporary enhancement of Tropo parallel to the front, so it is worth checking.

We’re still not in the new Sporadic-E season yet, but the Propquest graphs at Propquest.co.uk do occasionally pick up the odd ‘blip’, which might show up on the digital modes on 10m. As in previous weeks, don’t forget to stay in tune with solar events for chance aurora should the Kp index rise, and for the early risers, some pre-dawn random meteor scatter.

The Moon’s declination is positive all week, but path losses are rising as we approach apogee this Thursday. 144MHz sky noise is low to moderate all week, peaking around 500 Kelvin on late Thursday and Friday.

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