RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for 6th October 2024

GB2RS News

Sunday the 6th of October

The news headlines:

• The deadline for advance tickets for the RSGB 2024 Convention is tomorrow, Monday the 7th of October
• The RSGB is interested in what you did for National Coding Week
• The RSGB’s next Tonight@8 webinar will take place tomorrow, the 7th of October

The theme for this year’s RSGB Convention is “Your Convention, Your Way” and the Society is providing a range of activities and presentations as well as different ways to get involved. There is still just time to buy your tickets in advance, but hurry as advance sales for attending the Convention or the dinners closes tomorrow, Monday the 7th of October. You will be able to buy a Convention ticket on the door but not at the discounted rate that is available now. At the event, there will be a varied programme of presentations regardless of your amateur radio interests or experience, as well as practical workshops and Morse competency tests. You’ll also find a room full of special interest groups to chat to who could inspire you to try something new! If you’re unable to travel to the Convention, a small number of presentations will be live-streamed and will be available on the RSGB YouTube channel without the need to pre-register. The RSGB has released two ‘Convention Chat’ videos recently and will be releasing two more over the coming week, so find out what others think of the Convention and see who you might bump into in the bar! For full programme details and speaker information and to book in advance, go to the RSGB Convention web pages at rsgb.org/convention

Did you take part in National Coding Week this year? The RSGB had nine activities to inspire you to take part, including two new worksheets developed by the Society’s Outreach Team. Whether you took part by yourself, at a club night, or with friends and family, the RSGB would love to hear from you. To be included in the RadCom December feature on National Coding Week please send a summary of your activity, along with any photos, to radcom@rsgb.org.uk by the 17th of October. The worksheets will remain on the RSGB website for people to try, so if you would still like to have a go head over to rsgb.org/coding and get involved.

The next RSGB Tonight@8 live webinar is tomorrow, Monday the 7th of October. Ian White, GM3SEK will present ‘Aircraft Scatter, the Hitch-Hikers Guide’. Aircraft scatter is about bouncing VHF and UHF radio signals off high-flying aircraft – effectively ‘hitching a ride’ with someone else’s plane to extend your everyday working range up to 800km. It may sound rather technical, but with some explanations from Ian, aircraft scatter might soon feel very easy. During the talk, Ian will consider how aircraft scatter works, and if it’s so useful, why haven’t we heard more about it? Join the webinar live at 8 pm on the RSGB YouTube channel or special BATC channel. Find out more about this and other webinars on the RSGB website via rsgb.org/webinars

grid.radio is a web application born out of the frustration that Rose, 2E0RXO and many others experienced during spontaneous, often unplanned, Parks on the Air activations. During busy moments, someone would inevitably ask for a Worked All Britain square or another reference that she wasn’t prepared for. There wasn’t a single, simple resource to quickly gather this information with a fast-loading, modern interface. Many websites would spend more time loading advertisements than displaying the necessary information, delaying communication and increasing the pending pile-up. After several months of facing the same issue and finding herself still unprepared, Rose, a Computer Science graduate, decided to solve the problem with code. She created a fast, free web app that can be installed on the home screen of any phone or tablet or accessed on a desktop computer for pre-activation planning. You can also share links so others can easily find out where you are operating from. Once installed, the app will even work without a data connection. Development is ongoing, with feedback from all amateur radio operators welcomed via the contact details on Rose’s QRZ.com page. To learn more about this useful web app visit grid.radio

Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk The deadline for submissions is 10 am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.

 

And now for details of rallies and events

The 49th Welsh Radio Rally is taking place today, the 6th, at Llanwern High School, Hartridge Farm Road in Newport. Traders can gain access from 7 am and the doors are open for visitors from 9.30 am. The entrance fee is £3 per person and free parking is available. For more information email Mike Rackham, GW4JKV via welshradiorally@gmail.com or phone 07976 368 250.

The Dartmoor Autumn Radio Rally will take place on Sunday the 13th of October. The event will be held at Yelverton War Memorial Hall, Meavy Lane, Yelverton in Devon. There will be the usual bring-and-buy area, trader stands, refreshments and free parking available. The doors will be open at 10 am and admission will be £2.50. For more information visit dartmoorradioclub.uk or email 2e0rph@gmail.com

The Hornsea Amateur Radio Club Rally will also take place on Sunday the 13th of October. The venue will be Driffield Showground in East Yorkshire. The doors will be open from 10 am. For more details visit hornseaarc.com or contact Les, 2E0LBJ on 01377 252 293.

Now the Special Event news

Special callsign PH80LIB will be in use from various locations until the 10th of November to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the southern Netherlands in the autumn of 1944. Activity will be on the 80 to 10m bands using SSB, CW and digital modes. QSL via the Bureau. See QRZ.com for more information.

OR100LGE is the special callsign in use by members of the Liege Radio Club, ON5VL to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The station is active until the end of the year on the 160 to 6m bands using CW, SSB, FT8 and FT4. QSL via Logbook of the World, eQSL or via ON6YH. QSOs will also be uploaded to Club Log.

Now the DX news

Michal, OM2DX is active as TO2DX from Reunion Island, AF-016, until tomorrow the 7th of October. He is operating CW, RTTY and FT8 on the 60 to 10m bands. QSL via OM2DX. QSOs will be uploaded to Club Log and Logbook of the World.

Gunter, DK2WH is active again as V51WH, and V55Y in contests from Namibia until the 12th of November. He operates SSB, FT8 and some CW on the 160 to 10m bands. QSL via DK2WH.

Now the contest news

The Oceania DX SSB Contest started at 0600UTC on Saturday the 5th and ends at 0600UTC today, Sunday the 6th of October. Using SSB on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number.

The RSGB October 432MHz to 245GHz Contest started at 1400UTC on Saturday the 5th and ends at 1400UTC today, Sunday the 6th of October. Using all modes on 432MHz to 245GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The IARU 432MHz to 245GHz Contest started at 1400UTC on Saturday the 5th and ends at 1400UTC today, Sunday the 6th of October. Using all modes on 432MHz to 245GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Today, the 6th, the UK Microwave Group 24 to 76GHz Contest runs from 0900 to 1700UTC. Using all modes on 24 to 76GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Monday the 7th, the RSGB Autumn Series CW Contest runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using CW on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number.

On Tuesday the 8th, the RSGB 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 8th, the RSGB 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 Tuesday the 8th, the IRTS 80m Evening Counties Contest runs from 1900 to 2000 UTC. Using CW and SSB on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. EI and GI stations also send their county code.

On Wednesday the 9th, the RSGB 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 9th, the RSGB 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 10th, the RSGB 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.

The Oceania DX CW Contest starts at 0600UTC on Saturday the 12th and ends at 0600UTC on Sunday the 13th of October. Using CW on the 160 to 10m bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 3rd of October 2024

In the first week of October, the 10m band began to show what it is capable of. With a solar flux index in the high 200s and calm geomagnetic conditions, DX was plentiful.

Nick, VK9DX on Norfolk Island was audible on SSB all morning on Wednesday the 2nd and only wanted to work G stations. This made him popular in the UK, but less so in other countries!

Vlad, 5H1WX, on Mafia Island, Tanzania, was another strong signal on the morning of the third. Meanwhile, the 3D2V Rotuma Island DXpedition near Fiji on the 10m band using FT4 was another catch for many people.

The Kp index managed to remain low for the first half of the week, but there were warnings that a coronal mass ejection, which was attributed to the X7.1 solar flare on the 1st of October, might upset things later in the week.

With a good spread of sunspots, mainly in the Sun’s southern hemisphere, there could be more flares over the coming days.

Scott Mcintosh, the solar physicist who predicted a busier than average Cycle 25, has now questioned whether we are past solar maximum. The fact that there are now fewer sunspots in the Northern Hemisphere suggests that we may be past the peak, but only time will tell.

Meanwhile, NOAA predicts the solar flux index may decline towards the 200 mark next week. The Kp index is predicted to go to 4 this weekend. With four of the ten active sunspot groups now classed as growing, we may expect further solar activity and geomagnetic disturbances over the next seven days.

And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO

The brief period of high pressure that arrived towards the end of the previous week is currently being nudged away to the east into Europe.

The coming week is dominated by very unsettled conditions with a succession of deep lows near or crossing the country and there’s even one that contains the remnants of an old hurricane.

The result is that next week will provide copious amounts of wet and windy weather, so no Tropo for us, but there may be several areas of heavy rain for a try at rain scatter on the GHz bands.

We hope you have all checked out your antennas after last week’s reminder since the winds may be quite testing for some areas.

The solar conditions have been stirred up recently by several flares so, as usual, keep an autumn watch out for auroras.

Lastly, there are plenty of meteor scatter opportunities aside from any random meteor activity. Try investigating one of the many meteor websites to see the full list of options.

For EME operators, Moon declination is at its minimum on Wednesday. So, it is a good week for checking out systems before the Sun also gets too low in the sky to make sensible Sun noise measurements over the winter. Path losses are still high but starting to fall.

If you’re fortunate to have a clear low horizon you’ll make some contacts, but with peak Moon elevation only eight degrees on Wednesday, you’ll be lucky! 144MHz sky noise in general is high to moderate for the rest of the week.

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