RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for September 11th 2022.

GB2RS News

Sunday the 11th of September 2022

The news headlines:

• The death of Queen Elizabeth II

• Bletchley Park and NRC open

• EMF lecture and workshop at the RSGB Convention

We are deeply saddened by the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts are with the King and all members of the Royal Family at this sad time.

Bletchley Park Museum, and hence the National Radio Centre, will remain open in the coming days but will be closed for the day of the funeral. More information will follow once the date of the funeral has been announced.

There will be EMF Compliance events at the RSGB Convention on the 8^th and 9^th of October. On the morning of Saturday the 8^th, John Rogers, M0JAV of the RSGB, ARRL and IRTS EMF team will give an update on EMF compliance developments. This will include the updated RSGB EMF Compliance App and the results of some measurements made. Then, on Sunday morning, team members Peter Zollman, G4DSE and Ian White, GM3SEK will run an open Compliance Clinic. If you have already carried out an EMF compliance assessment but are not sure how the results relate to your situation, they will work through some site-specific cases to put the principles into practice. Please check the Convention timetable for final details. You can email your questions in advance to emc.chairman@rsgb.org.uk.

The July edition of the IARU Monitoring Service Region 1 Newsletter is now available. In this issue, you can read more about how ‘Over the Horizon’ radars were the most obvious transmissions causing harm to our amateur radio HF bands. The front runner was the Russian ‘Contayner’ with a bandwidth of 12kHz at 40 symbols per second, received in all bands from 40 to 12m. The others sending short bursts with bandwidths of 10kHz at 50 symbols per second, were also very active and were mostly observed on the 20m and 15m bands. To read the full report go to iaru-r1.org.
Word has just arrived via the South African Radio League that three new African countries have joined the ranks of 5MHz or 60m operators. They are Botswana, Lesotho & eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland. Each has the new WRC-15 Amateur Secondary Allocation of 5351.5 to 5366.5kHz. This makes a total of 89 countries now on the band worldwide. Thanks to ZS4BS and SARL for the information.

All three UK amateur radio exams may be taken online at this year’s RSGB Convention. The Foundation and Intermediate exam will take place on Saturday and the Full exam on Sunday morning. Places must have been booked prior to the 26 September cut-off date and applications will not be accepted on the day. For booking enquiries, please email exams@rsgb.org.uk

And now for details of rallies and events

Following the sad news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the RSGB recommends that anyone attending amateur radio rallies or events should check before travelling.

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.

Also, today the 11th, the Ripon Radio Rally will be held at Hugh Ripley Hall, Ripon, HG4 2PT. Doors open for traders from 7 am and to the public at 10 am. Admission is £3 per person. Please note that the Bring & Buy is upstairs. The cost for Bring & Buy is £1 per item to a local charity, sold or not.

Weston Super Mare Radio Society’s Radio & Electronics Rally on the 25^th of September. It will be held at The Campus Community Centre BS24 7DX.

As a mark of respect for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Caister Lifeboat Radio Rally, which was due to be held this coming Sunday 11th September, has been postponed.

Please note also that the Angel of the North Rally, due to be held on the 17th of September has also been postponed.

And now for the Special Event news

Paisley Amateur Radio Club will be operating the special event station GB0DOD from the Methodist Central Hall, 2 Gauze St, Paisley, PA1 1EP on Saturday the 17th of September. It is part of Paisley Doors Open Day when historic buildings throughout the town will be open to the public. Club members will be demonstrating voice, digital and morse modes on HF, VHF and UHF.

Chris, PA2CHR and Lins, PA3CMC will be active from 4U1ITU, the International Amateur Radio Club's station at the ITU HQ in Geneva from the 13^th to the 16^th of September. They will be operating from 1800 to 0600UTC with JT65B as their preferred mode on 144MHz, and probably Q65-60B on 432MHz. QSL via Logbook of The World, Club Log's OQRS, or direct to IARC, P.O. Box 6, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.

Remaining in Switzerland this week we go back in time to 1847 when Switzerland's first train connection from Zurich to Baden in south Germany began its service. To celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Swiss Railways, a special call sign HB175RAIL will be active from the 1^st of September to the 31^st of October. QSL via Logbook of The World. Certificates will be available, search for HB175RAIL on QRZ.com for more information.

And now the DX news

A team will be active as 5R8CG, 5R8MM, 5R8WG and 5R8WP from Nosy Be island, AF-057, in Madagascar from the 11^th to the 22^nd of October. They will operate CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8 on the 6 to 160m bands with two stations. The logs will be uploaded to the Logbook of the World system when they return.

Daniel LU9FHF, Pablo LU7MT, Jose Luis LU1FM and Alejandro LU8YD will be active from San Andres Island, NA-033, from the 16^th to the 25th of September. They will operate using SSB, FT8, FT4 and CW on the 6 to 160m bands. FM satellite operations are also planned. QSL 5J0DX direct to LU9FHF.

Mike, VE6TC is active as ZL4/VE6TC from Stewart Island, OC-203, until early October. He is on the air most days between around 0300 and 0800UTC on the 20m band using SSB and CW. QSL via VE6TC, direct or bureau. Mike will upload his log to Logbook of The world and eQSL when he gets back to Canada.

Masa, JA0RQV expects to be active again as A35JP from OC-049, Tonga from 20th August until the 24th of September. He will operate CW, SSB, and FT8 on 80-6 metres in his spare time. QSL via LoTW, Club Log's OQRS, or via the bureau to JA0RQV.

This weekend the WAE DX SSB Contest runs for 48 hours ending at 2359UTC today the 11th. Using the 3.5 to 28MHz bands where contests are permitted, EU stations should only work non-EU stations. The exchange is a signal report and serial number. Today Sunday the 11th of September, the UK Microwave Group 24 to 76GHz Contest runs from 0900 to 1700UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number, and locator.

Now the contest news

This weekend the WAE DX SSB Contest ends its 48-hour run at 2359UTc today the 11^th. Using the 3.5 to 28MHz bands where contests are permitted, EU stations should only work non-EU stations. The exchange is a signal report and serial number.

Today, Sunday the 11^th of September, the UK Microwave Group 24 to 76GHz Contest runs from 0900 to 1700UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

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

On Wednesday the CW leg of the 432MHz FT8 Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2030UTC takes place, the exchange is your report and 4-character locator.

On Thursday the 70MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Next Sunday, the 18^th, is the IRTS 70cm Counties Contest runs from 1300 to 1330UTC. Using SSB and FM, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Irish stations also give their county.

Also, next Sunday is the IRTS 2m Counties Contest runs from 1300 to 1500UTC. Using SSB and FM, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Irish stations also give their county.

The BARTG Sprint PSK63 contest takes place next Sunday, the 18^th, from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using the 3.5 to 28MHz bands where contests are permitted, the exchange is the serial number.

The 70MHz AFS Contest takes place between 0900 and 1200UTC next Sunday the 18^th. 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 9th September 2022.

What a week we have just had! The Kp index stayed at four or more for most of the week thanks to an enhanced solar wind stream. This continued to stir up geomagnetic activity with minor, G1, storm conditions.

Visible aurora has been reported at higher latitudes.

Sunspot region 3089 has now rotated behind the Sun’s west limb, which may help with conditions as it was responsible for an M-class solar flare on the fifth.

A significant space weather event took place during the week, but luckily it was on the far side of the Sun. A large, full halo coronal mass ejection, CME, became visible on imagery courtesy of both the LASCO and STEREO Ahead spacecraft. This was possibly connected with active region 3088, which will rotate back into view next week so perhaps look out for more disturbed conditions.

News of sunspots has become almost secondary to the geomagnetic reports, but at the time of writing, there were five active regions facing the Earth and a solar flux index of 126. This has remained roughly static all week.

Despite the disturbed conditions, ionospheric propagation has remained good at times, with MUFs over 3,000km exceeding 21MHz according to Propquest.co.uk. This may be mainly due to a seasonal change in the ionosphere, which may see MUFs rising as we go further into Autumn. Meanwhile, fourteen megahertz may remain more reliable for DX, while the higher bands may provide more fleeting openings.

A quick tip - the feed from the Chilton Digisonde on Propquest has not been terribly reliable recently so we recommend switching to Fairford data and refreshing the display for the best results.

Next week NOAA predicts that the solar flux may remain in the mid-120s. Geomagnetic conditions are due to be unsettled again and we may see the Kp index rise to four, especially around the 13th-15th. Otherwise, expect it to be around two to three.

And now the VHF and up propagation news.

The large slow low pressure that brought numerous heavy showers and thunderstorms to dent the drought has started to drift away to the east and will allow one more low and area of rain to affect the country at the end of this weekend and early this coming week.

There is still an opportunity for some good rain scatter on the GHz bands, but eventually, it seems that high pressure may try to return around the middle of the week. Not a very strong signal and the models suggest that low pressure is back again by the end of the week, meaning not an especially good, and probably short-lasting, Tropo event.

So, rain scatter on the GHz bands is the primary mode, followed by a hint of Tropo midweek and then don’t forget about meteor scatter and aurora as occasional "long-shots".

The Epsilon-Perseids meteor shower is still active and the Sextantids shower gets underway this week.

The geomagnetic field has been very disturbed lately and there have been some good aurora openings recently, so you've probably already been keeping an eye on the Kp index; anything above five should be worth checking out.

With the Moon at positive declination from today, and past last Wednesday’s perigee, expect low but increasing path losses and lengthening Moon windows. 144MHz sky noise is low all week, not exceeding 500 Kelvin until next Saturday night.

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