RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for May 29th 2022.

GB2RS News
Sunday the 29th of May 2022

The news headlines:
Jubilee call signs go live from the 1st
GB70 special event stations
ATV columnist interviewed

It isn’t long now until the RSGB’s Platinum Jubilee activities kick-off. You can start using the Regional Secondary Locator, the letter Q, on the 1st of June. The free-of-charge Notice of Variation to your licence that is needed is available via the RSGB website, see rsgb.org/jubilee. If you want to retain your usual Regional Secondary Locator you may use the suffix /70 to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. An NoV is not necessary for the /70 addition to your callsign.
The GB70 Special Event Stations will be operating next weekend, including the bank holidays, and you can get a special QSL card for contact with any of the GB70 stations. The Guernsey club's use of the QO-100 satellite is causing a lot of interest. The call signs to look for are GB70E in England, GB70M in Scotland, GB70W in Wales, GB70I in Northern Ireland, GB70J on Jersey, GB70U on Guernsey and GB70D on the Isle of Man. You can find out more about these special events at gb70.co.uk.
The June edition of the Raspberry Pi magazine, MagPi, features an article about amateur digital television and an interview with RadCom ATV author Dave Crump, G8GKQ. You can find out more at magpi.raspberrypi.com, issue 118.
Please note that due to the long bank holiday weekend, the GB2RS script for the 5th of June will be prepared early. The deadline for news is 10 am on Tuesday the 31st of May for inclusion in that script. Thank you for your understanding.
An exhibition about Marconi’s famous Chelmsford wireless factory will take place at Anglia Ruskin University. Chelmsford is known as the birthplace of radio thanks to the world’s first purpose-built radio factory, established in 1912 by Marconi. The year 2022 marks 100 years since the world's first regular wireless broadcasts for entertainment began from the Marconi laboratories at nearby Writtle. The exhibition will open on Wednesday the 22nd of June and will run on specific days until Friday the 15th of July. Attendees need to book their place and more information and full details of times can be found at eventbrite.co.uk. Type in Marconi into the search bar and you can select a date to visit. 
Following the introduction of the RSGB’s upgraded Membership Services system, the Board proceedings and reports have moved to a new location. They can now be found inside your new Membership Services portal under the ‘About’ tab.

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 29th, the Durham & District ARS Radio Rally takes place at Bowburn Community Centre, Durham Road, Bowburn DH6 5AT. The organisers wish all those attending a warm welcome. Doors will be open from 10.10 am to 2.30 pm, with disabled visitors gaining access 10 minutes earlier. Admittance is £2. There will be a Bring & Buy, RSGB bookstall and trade stands. For more information, contact Michael, G7TWX, 0782 692 4192. 
Next Sunday, the 5th of June, the Spalding Radio Rally will be held at Holbeach United Youth FC, Pennyhill Road, Holbeach, Lincolnshire PE12 7PR. Doors open at 10 am, with disabled guests gaining access at 9.30 am. Entry is £3. There will be a car boot area, flea market and trade stands. Catering is available on site. A prize draw/raffle will take place. More from Graham, G8NWC on 0775 461 9701.

Now the DX news
Take, JI3DST will be active from Shodo Island, AS-200, until the 4th of July. He will operate SSB and CW as JI3DST/5, JJ5RBH and JS6RRR/5, as well as JS6RRR/P on FT8. The QSOs will be made available for both Club Log and Logbook of The World matching on the IOTA website.
Erwin, DK5EW will be operating as SV8/DK5EW from Crete, EU-015, between the 30th of May and the 10th of June. This will be a 144MHz operation with EME, meteor scatter and Sporadic-E operations. QSL direct to his home callsign.  Logs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World later.
3D2RRR will be active from Rotuma, a Fijian island, for a couple of weeks. Plans are to run two stations on CW, one on SSB, and five on FT8 using Fox & Hound mode. QSL via Club Log's OQRS. 

Now the Special Event news
GB0LIZ will operate on the 4th and 5th of June to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It will be operated by members of Guisborough & District ARC from the Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge, Kirkbymoorside YO627LQ. They will be using as many bands as possible and visitors are welcome.
GB1SCW, to celebrate the work of coastal communities, will be on the air until the 31st of May. More information can be found on qrz.com.
Northwest Group Amateur Radio Club are activating GB0AEL as part of the 90th Anniversary of Amelia Earhart's landing in Londonderry until the 30th of May. See qrz.com.

Now the contest news
This weekend is the CQ World Wide WPX CW contest. It runs for 48 hours ending at 2359UTC today, the 29th. Using the 1.8 to 28MHz bands where contests are allowed, the exchange is signal report and serial number.
Today, the 29th, the 70MHz Cumulative contest runs from 1400 to 1600UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
Also today, the UK Microwave Group High Band contest runs from 0600 to 1800UTC. Using the 5.7 and 10GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
On Monday, the FT4 Series contest runs from 1900 to 2030 UTC. Using the 3.5MHz band only, the exchange is your 4-character locator.
On Wednesday, the 144MHz FT8 Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2100 UTC. The exchange is a report and your 4-character locator.
Next weekend is a busy one for contests and the UK Six Metre group’s Summer Marathon starts.
The ARRL International Digital Contest runs from 1800UTC on the 4th to 2359 UTC on the 5th. Using digital modes, but no RTTY, on the 1.8 to 50MHz bands where contests are allowed, the exchange is your 4-character locator.
The UK Six Metre group’s Summer Contest runs from 1300 UTC on the 4th to 1300 UTC on the 5th. Using all modes on the 50MHz band, the exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and membership number.
The group’s Summer Marathon runs until the 2nd of August, again exchanging your 4-character locator.
Running for 48 hours next weekend from 0000 UTC on the 4th is the International Pride Contest. You can enter as a single operator, multi-operator or a single QRP operator. Check out the rules at prideradio.group/contest
The RSGB National Field Day runs from 1500UTC on the 4th to 1500 UTC on the 5th of June. Using CW only on the 1.8 to 28MHz bands where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number.
Next Sunday, the 5th of June, the UK Microwave group’s Low Band Contest runs from 1000 to 1600 UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3, 2.3 and 3.4GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday the 27th of May 2022.
The solar flux index remained above 130 last week, being at 137 on Thursday as this report was prepared. It peaked at 165 on Sunday and reached a massive 180 on Wednesday the 18th. All this means that DX is workable on the upper HF bands with the 3D2RRR DXpedition on Rotuma Island near Fiji being chased from the UK. A little closer to home, V51WW in Namibia has also been putting in an appearance.
Sporadic-E has also seen some short-skip signals from Europe on 10 metres, but we haven’t seen many rock-crushingly strong signals as yet. 
The Sun remains very active with a CME associated with an M1.3 flare detected around region 3016 at 1824UTC on Wednesday, the 25th of May. The bulk of the plasma released was off the Sun-Earth line, although closer examination revealed a fainter Earth-directed component was evident and could sweep past Earth within 48-72 hours. If correct, this means the Kp index may rise this weekend.
Coronal mass ejections remain a risk to HF propagation with a massive one on the far side of the Sun being observed on the 24th of May. We have been lucky last week with the Kp index generally in the ones and twos, that is, indicating settled geomagnetic conditions. But we think it is only a matter of time before we get hit with a “big one”, which could cause disruption and a general reduction in maximum usable frequencies.
Next week, NOAA predicts that the SFI may decline into the 130s or even 120s. In fact, by the 5th of June, it thinks it will be at a low of 114 before rising again. Luckily, NOAA also predicts that the Kp index will remain low. This will help the ionosphere develop and should bring good conditions. However, we issue a caution that a single Earth-directed CME could put paid to low Kp indices and bring disruption. As always, keep an eye on solarham.com for updates.

And now the VHF and up propagation news.
The next period of weather is dominated by high pressure, although not in exactly the right place for good Tropo conditions everywhere. The main position of the high will tend to drift away to the northwest, which leaves room for a cool northerly pattern over most areas. This will probably confine the best Tropo conditions to the southwestern half of the UK.
Elsewhere, the main weather type will include summer showers, possibly heavy, and likely to be of interest for rain scatter activity. Showers in a cold northerly airmass are usually strictly diurnal, so rain scatter prospects are for the afternoon and early evenings.
Sporadic-E is showing good signs of coming to life and we are starting to hear limited openings for traditional CW/SSB QSOs and more widespread activity for digital modes. Some promising multi-hop paths have been seen to Asia in the mornings and the States and the Caribbean in the evenings.
This week contains potentially the most exciting meteor shower of the year. The Tau Herculids shower, associated with Comet 73P and discovered in 1930, appears early during Monday night into Tuesday morning. In 1995 the comet was seen to suddenly brighten. This was discovered as being due to its nucleus starting to break up, creating a debris cloud. Comet 73P orbits the Sun at 5.4-year intervals. The Earth next crosses its orbit on the night of the 30th of May, into the morning of the 31st. It is due to peak in the UK at about 0500UTC on the 31st.
Depending on how the nucleus started to eject debris, we may have a spectacular shower or something that is, at best, disappointing. As it will be light in Europe during the peak the visual display may not be very impressive, but the possibility for a radio reflection shower must be strong. This is one to look for, as a meteor scatter enthusiast. 
The new Moon occurs on the 31st of May and illumination will be low all the following week.
A maximum declination of +28.1 degrees occurs on the 2nd, and this also coincides with the greatest distance from Earth to Moon, which in turn means the highest path loss.
From experience, this should still be a good week for EME on the microwave bands despite the path loss. The VHF EME bands will suffer noise from the proximity of the Moon to the Sun for the first few days of the week.

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