RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for May 7th 2023

GB2RS News

Sunday the 7^th of May 2023

The news headlines:

• RSGB Coronation activities
• RSGB insurance
• Tonight@8 webinar

 

The RSGB has released some updates about its planned Coronation activities. Firstly, a personalised RSGB Coronation QSL card is now available on the Coronation web pages. You can simply enter your callsign and print it off. Following the recent issue of GB23BAA to BZZ by Ofcom, the Beaconnect activity registration is now open. If you go to the Beaconnect web page you will find the registration section which will guide you through the process. Finally, it is now possible for individual radio amateurs and clubs to register to use the GB23C callsign between the 10^th of May to the 30^th of June. Details can be found on the GB23C web page. For further information on these and all the other Coronation activities being led by the RSGB, go to rsgb.org/coronation

RSGB club insurance, and beacon and repeater insurance, have now been renewed for the year to April 2024. Club insurance certificates can be downloaded from the RSGB website. You will need to log in to obtain your certificate. Beacon and repeater insurance certificates are available for an admin fee of £12 from the RSGB shop. Please allow a couple of days after renewal for your certificate to be dispatched.

The RSGB’s May Tonight@8 webinar is not in its usual slot on the first Monday of the month. To accommodate the two Bank Holidays, the live webinar will be on Monday the 15^th of May instead. Put the date in your diary for an interesting presentation by Jack Purdum, W8TEE and Al Peter, AC8GY on the T41-EP ALPS: A High Performance CW Decoder.

Matthew, M0MZB from Calder Bridge in Cumbria, has become a SOTA Mountain Goat in impressive style. He reached the 1,000 activation point threshold with an overnight activation of High Stile G/LD-012 in the English Lake District. Matthew set up overnight camp on the summit of the long ridge above the western shore of Lake Buttermere. He operated both on VHF and HF and made a summit-to-summit contact with Alex Hill, G7KSE who was on the Dent summit, G/LD-045. Since getting involved in Summits on the Air, Matthew's expeditions have left many radio amateurs in awe. He has conducted many multi-summit expeditions without motorised transport, traversing between summits entirely on foot or by bicycle. Upon reaching the coveted Mountain Goat status, Matthew commented: "SOTA has given me new ideas for my little expeditions and has put me in touch with lots of new friends. The challenge of Mountain Goat has included many facets, from learning CW to antenna building, from battery technology to fishing poles." For more information about Summits on the Air visit www.sota.org.uk 

Pubs and Clubs on the Air is taking place on the 12^th, 13^th and 14^th of May. If you or your radio club or society is interested in taking part and operating a station, please email g1puv@yahoo.co.uk or visit the g6tw.co.uk website.

Mills on the Air Weekend will take place on Saturday the 13^th and Sunday the 14^th of May. For more information, or to register to take part, visit www.ddars.net or contact millsontheair@gmail.com

 

And now for details of rallies and events

Thorpe Camp Hamfest Rally is taking place today, Sunday the 7^th of May. The venue is Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre and the entrance fee is £4 per person. The rally is taking place from 9 am to 1 pm. Hot food and drinks will be available on-site. For more information phone Sylvia or Anthony at 07956 654 481.

Dartmoor Radio Rally is taking place today, Sunday the 7^th of May at Yelverton War Memorial Hall, Meavy Lane, Yelverton, Devon, PL20 6AL. The usual bring-and-buy, trader stands, refreshments and free parking are available. Doors open at 10 am and admission is £2.50. For more information contact Roger by phone at 07854 088 882, or email via 2e0rph@gmail.com

The Braehead Rally will take place on Sunday the 14^th of May. The venue will be Braehead Arena Foyer, 150 Kings Inch Road, Renfrew G51 4BN. Free parking will be available. The doors open for everyone at 10 am and admission is £4. The event will feature bring-and-buy and the Central Scotland Repeater Group AGM. For more information and contact details visit www.braeheadradiorally.com

RetrotechUK, hosted by the British Vintage Wireless Society, will take place on Sunday the 21^st of May. The venue will be Sports Connexion, Leamington Road, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Coventry, CV8 3FL. This large annual vintage technology fair will feature up to 200 indoor stalls. Private sellers, clubs and dealers will offer vintage items, including radio, television, hi-fi, vinyl, 78s, gramophones, telephones, communications equipment, spare parts, and much more. There will also be a bring-and-buy area and free parking available. The event is open to everyone and general admission from 10.30 am is £10. Early entry from 9 am costs £25. For more details contact Jeremy, G8MLK via email on jezzer3@hotmail.com, by phone on 07799 110 080, or visit www.retrotechuk.com

The Barry Amateur Radio Society Rally will take place on Saturday the 27^th of May. The venue will be Sully Sports and Social Club, South Road, Sully, CF64 5SP. Doors open from 9.30 am for the public and 7.30 am for traders. Free parking is available on-site. For more information contact Steve on 07368 140 795.

 

Now the Special Event News

Today is the last chance to work special callsign 5F15SIA which is active to promote Morocco's International Exhibition of Agriculture. QSL via Logbook of the World, or direct to CN8WW.

OT2023EPIC is the special callsign for the Pajottenlandse Radio Amateur Club in Belgium to promote the sixth Antwerp Port Epic cycling race. Look out for activity until the 21^st of May.

Special callsign GB4VLB will be active on the 20^th and 21^st of May from the Volunteer Life Brigade Watch House in Tynemouth as part of SOS Radio Week. The station will be operating in support of the Volunteer Life Brigade, RNLI and National Coast Watch Institution. For more information visit qrz.com. QSL via Logbook of the World.

 

Now the DX news

Today is the last chance to work Kasimir, DL2SBY who is active as 8Q7KB in the Maldives. He is operating CW, SSB and FT8 and FT4 with a focus on the 30, 17, 12, 10 and 6m bands. QSL via Logbook of the World, Club Log's OQRS or direct to his home call.

Pista, HA5AO will be active as 5X2I from the shores of Lake Victoria, Uganda until Wednesday the 10^th of May. He will operate CW, SSB and FT8 on the 40 to 10m bands.  QSL via HA5AO's OQRS page is preferred.

JE1HXZ/6 is active from Kuroshima, AS-024, until Monday the 8^th of May. He will operate CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8 and FT4 on the HF and 6m bands. QSL via the Bureau and Logbook of the World.

 

Now the contest news

Today, the 7^th, the Worked All Britain 7MHz Phone Contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC. Using phone mode on the 40m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and Worked All Britain square.

Today, the 7^th, the ARI International DX Contest ends its 24-hour run at 1200UTC. Using CW, RTTY and SSB on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Italian stations give their province code.

Today, the 7^th, the 10GHz Trophy Contest runs from 0800 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on the 10GHz band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Today, the 7^th, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 0800 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Also today, the 7^th, the 432MHz to 245GHz Contest ends its 24-hour run at 1400UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Tuesday the 9^th of May, the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. Using FM on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Also on Tuesday the 9^th of May, the 432MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Wednesday the 10^th of May, the 432MHz FT8 Activity four-hour Contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Also on Wednesday the 10^th of May, the 432MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest.

On Thursday the 11^th of May, the 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Sunday the 14^th of May, the 70MHz CW Contest takes place from 0900 to 1200UTC. Using CW on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Sunday the 14^th of May, the UK Microwave Group Millimetre-Wave Contest runs from 0900 to 1700UTC. Using all modes on the 24, 47 and 76GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

 

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 4^th of May 2023

Next week will see the Sun presenting with four large sunspots groups that are rotating to be Earth-facing, so look out for trouble. Just as the UK weather takes a turn for the worse, we expect the space weather to be unpredictable too!

Active regions 3293, 3294, 3296 and 3297 look dark and are looming large on the Sun’s face. Region 3293 emitted an M7.2 class solar flare on the 3^rd of May, which the Space Weather Prediction Centre reported was likely due to an intensification of the magnetic field within the spot group.

The flare caused some degradation of the ionosphere, but nothing too serious. However, the Space Weather Prediction Centre now predicts that further flares could follow, perhaps even a strong X-class flare, which could have more serious effects.

If an X-class flare occurs in daylight over the UK, we can expect the HF bands to be affected in what is known as a sudden ionospheric disturbance or Dellinger fadeout. This could see the lower HF bands shut down due to extreme ionisation in the D-layer, only for the band to return to normal over a period of minutes to an hour.

More worrying is the fact that the flare could spark a coronal mass ejection, or CME, which, if Earth-directed, could cause the Kp index to rise, MUFs to drop and bring auroral activity a few days after the CME. So, keep an eye on solarham.net for updates.

Meanwhile, the solar flux index, or SFI, remains in the 150s and this looks set to continue. The US Air Force predicts the SFI will start the week at 152, then dip slightly, before reaching 170 by the 12^th of May.

It also predicts that geomagnetic conditions will be settled once we get past this weekend, which could see the Kp index rise to four. These unsettled conditions may be due to a coronal hole, which became Earth-facing on Thursday.

Propagation-wise, F2-layer maximum usable frequencies over a 3,000km path has struggled to exceed 21 to 24MHz during daylight hours as we head towards summer.

The season is characterised as having lower MUFs during the day, but these tend to be maintained into the hours of darkness. Meanwhile, Sporadic-E might spring some surprises for paths over 800 to 2,200km on 14 to 28MHz, with very strong signals and rapid fading.

 

And now the VHF and up propagation news

The weather pattern is taking a change to unsettled as we move through this first May weekend, with low pressure dominating the charts and throwing active weather fronts across the country.

This will produce some quite heavy rain at times and perhaps even some thundery activity. This bodes well for rain scatter on the GHz bands.

This pattern extends well into next week, eventually changing from a south-westerly to a north-westerly followed by a building ridge of high pressure to bring a temporary hint of Tropo to end the week.

This opens the more exotic modes to consider, such as meteor scatter and possible aurora, but these are very much outliers to the main interest at this time of year, which is Sporadic-E. The season has nominally started, and daily blogs are being added to the website Propquest.co.uk, which describe the more likely regions to find Sporadic-E opportunities.

This unsettled weather pattern brings a useful bonus in that it is often associated with jet stream activity. The whole period offers several jet streams across Europe, a positive for the start of the new Sporadic-E season since jet streams are often associated with the location of Sporadic-E activity.

Moon declination is low and falling, reaching minimum next Tuesday. EME Moon windows will be short. Perigee is Thursday, so when you do have a view of the Moon, path losses will be low. 144MHz sky noise is high, reaching over 3200K late on Monday.

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