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G4TNU > NEWS 23.02.25 02:46l 255 Lines 12363 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 23 Feb 2025
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 23rd of February 2025
The news headlines:
* The RSGB announces the unopposed candidates in its elections
* The RSGB releases 2025 Band Plans
* A year in numbers 2024 – some great things to celebrate!
Nominations in the RSGB elections have closed. For some roles a
single nomination was received, and the candidate is therefore
elected unopposed. They will take up their role at the end of the
RSGB AGM in April. These unopposed candidates include the roles of
President and also Regional Representatives in Regions 1, 4, 7, 8,
10, 11 and 12. In Region 9, no valid nomination was received. For
more information about each of these unopposed candidates, see the
March issue of RadCom or the RSGB website at rsgb.org/election
The RSGB Band Plans for 2025 were published in the March 2025 issue
of RadCom. They are also available on the RSGB website via
rsgb.org/bandplans. This year's plans incorporate further VHF and UHF
changes in response to the increased demand that has been prompted by
the new Ofcom amateur licence. There are also a few changes from the
2023 IARU Region-1 General Conference. All amateurs are reminded to
consult the Band Plans before operating.
Despite continuing challenges nationally and across the world during
2024, the amateur radio community stayed strong and the RSGB
supported it. The RSGB General Manager Steve Thomas, M1ACB wrote his
annual feature called ‘A year in numbers' for the March RadCom and
shared some great things to celebrate, in which RSGB HQ staff often
led the way. You can also see the highlights in a brief video on the
RSGB YouTube channel. The April RadCom will show in detail the work
of the committees and other specialist volunteers.
Girlguiding groups will be celebrating World Thinking Day on the Air
this weekend so listen out for them and encourage the young
operators. To highlight the opportunities for young people to get
involved in amateur radio activities, this week the RSGB has
published two new videos that celebrate the fantastic ISS contact and
STEM day held in the autumn and attended by HRH The Duchess of
Edinburgh. You can watch both the videos on the RSGB YouTube channel.
Between January and March 2024 Bob Bower, GM4DLG took on a one-man
antipodean adventure. The DXpedition is currently being serialised
in RadCom, and on Monday the 3rd of March, he will be delivering a
Tonight<at>8 presentation to complement these features. The trip was
eight weeks long and covered 27 activations from 11 sites on six
islands. Bob operated on 20, 40 and 80m with 100W SSB into vertical
arrays of his own design, with his holy grail being a valid 80m
greyline QSO with Great Britain. Visit rsgb.org/webinars to find out
more. Join the presentation live on the RSGB YouTube channel or
special BATC channel and ask questions via the live chat.
Don't forget to submit your entry to the RSGB Construction
Competition by Saturday the 1st of March. You'll need to email a
short description of your entry and up to four photographs. It is
also recommended to send a link to a video that demonstrates your
entry working. More details on submitting your application can be
found via rsgb.org/construction-competition The results of the
competition will be announced during the 2025 RSGB Annual General
Meeting in April.
Exercise Blue Ham will take place on the 29th and 30th of March on
the 60m band. Stations will be active between 9am and 6pm. Blue Ham
exercises provide a platform to further develop Cadet radio operator
skill and confidence by engaging with the amateur radio community via
the MOD 5MHz shared band. Cadet radio operators, under supervision,
will exchange radio messages with amateur radio operators in the UK
and Europe. The Cadets hope to speak to many radio amateurs on the
air. For more information visit alphacharlie.org.uk/exercise-blue-ham
The 26th European Hamradio School Stations Day will take place on
Monday the 5th of May from 0700 to 1700UTC. This is an activity day,
not a contest, so the focus is on personal radio contacts and QSO
partners should take time for a short exchange. The organisers look
forward to seeing many schools, universities and training centres on
the air again. To find out more, go to tinyurl.com/european-schools
Please send details of all your news and events to
radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk The deadline for submissions is 10am on
Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.
And now for details of rallies and events
The Red Rose Winter Rally is taking place today from 10am at Mather
Hall, Mather Lane, Leigh, Lancashire, WN7 2PJ. Please note that the
maximum number of five-foot tables per trader has had to be reduced
from six to five. On a brighter note, the price remains as it has
been for several years at GBP 10 per table. For more information
visit wmrc.co.uk
The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society Annual Rally will take place
on Saturday the 1st of March at Hillsborough Village Centre, 7
Ballynahinch Road, BT26 6AR. The doors open at 10.30am. For more
details visit lvars.uk
[LIMA-VICTOR-ALPHA-ROMEO-SIERRA-DOT-UNIFORM-KILO]
On Sunday the 2nd of March the Exeter Radio Rally is taking place at
a new venue. The event will be held at The Kenn Centre, EX6 7UE, from
10am. Traders and catering will be available on site. For more
information phone Pete, G3ZVI on 07714 198 374 or email
g3zvi<at>yahoo.co.uk
Now the Special Event news
On 26 February 2025, the 90th anniversary of the Daventry Experiment
will be commemorated, marking a pivotal moment in the development of
British radar technology. The Daventry Experiment had a lasting
impact on both military strategy and civilian applications. To honour
this milestone, several special event stations will be active. The
Bawdsey Radar Museum will be hosting GB2BRS, with BRS representing
Bawdsey Radar Station, whilst Coventry ARS from near Daventry will
operate GB9ORE, [GB9 Oscar Romeo Echo], with RE representing Radar
Experiment. Chelmsford ARS from Great Baddow in Essex will activate
GB9OCH [GB9 Oscar Charlie Hotel], with CH representing Chain Home,
since Chelmsford is where one of the original Chain Home radar masts
still stands.
Special callsign S5701DX is running during February in memory of
Slavko, S57DX who became a Silent Key last February. The station has
been heard recently using CW and SSB on the HF bands. For more
information visit QRZ.com
>From the 1st to the 28th of March George, MM0JNL will once again be
activating special event station GB0GTS. This year the station is
active in support of the Great Tommy Sleepout. This national
challenge aims to raise funds and awareness for all former UK service
personnel who are living homeless. More details are available at
QRZ.com and rbli.co.uk
Now the DX news
Datta [DAH-TAH], VU2DSI is operating from Lonar [LOH-NAR] Lake in
India until tomorrow, the 24th of February. This unique location was
formed by the impact of a meteor around
550,000 [FIVE-HUNDRED-AND-FIFTY-THOUSAND] years ago. The station will
be active on the 40, 20, 15 and 10m bands using SSB. More information
can be found at QRZ.com
Now the contest news
The CQ 160m DX Contest started at 2200UTC on Friday the 21st and ends
at 2200UTC today, Sunday the 23rd of February. Using SSB on the 160m
band, the exchange is signal report and CQ zone. USA stations also
send their state and Canadian stations send their province.
The REF Contest started at 0600UTC on Saturday the 22nd and ends at
1800UTC today, Sunday the 23rd of February. Using SSB on the 80 to
10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal
report and serial number.
The UBA DX CW contest started at 1000UTC on Saturday the 22nd of
February and ends at 1300UTC today, Sunday the 23rd of February.
Using CW on the 80 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the
exchange is signal report and serial number. Belgian stations will
also give their section code.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Thursday the 20th of February 2025
It seems we were a little over-ambitious in suggesting that last week
would be better for HF propagation. It looked like we would avoid
coronal mass ejections and see the Kp index fall to lower levels.
Unfortunately, the Sun had other ideas and a fast-moving solar
stream, often moving faster than 500 km/s, had a south-pointing Bz,
which coupled more easily with Earth and sent the Kp index up to four
or more.
So even by Wednesday the 19th the Kp index was hitting five.
But it seems that the geomagnetic disturbance merely lowered the MUF
from around 40-45MHz to 31-32MHz, so it barely affected HF
propagation.
At the time of writing there had only been one M-class solar flare in
the past five days, but more than 50 minor C-class events. There were
no Earth-directed CMEs.
Nevertheless, there was DX to be had with the standout stations being
the V73WW DXpedition to Majuro [MA-JU-RO] Atoll on the Marshall
Islands, TI1RRC Costa Rica, and 5N9DTG in Nigeria. Upcoming DX next
week includes OX3LX (Greenland), Dave G4BUO as 5W0UO (Samoa), TO3Z
(Guadeloupe), 4S7SPG (Sri Lanka) and FS/VA3QSL (St Martin).
Next week, NOAA predicts that the week commencing the 23rd of
February could see the solar flux index starting at 170, but then
rising to 195-200 as the week progresses. Geomagnetic conditions are
predicted to start quietly, with a Kp index of two, but then become
unsettled by the 27th to the 29th, with a maximum predicted Kp index
of five.
If this scenario does pan out then we may expect the best HF
conditions to occur at the beginning of next week, from the 23rd to
the 26th.
As always, keep an eye on solarham.com for day-to-day solar news, and
perhaps monitor PSKreporter, the Reverse Beacon Network and DX
Clusters for digital, CW and SSB HF propagation updates.
And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO
The current spell of unsettled weather seems likely to continue
through to the end of next week. There will also be significant windy
weather at times. It is therefore not a particularly good period for
Tropo, or big antennas for that matter.
This leaves us with rain scatter on the GHz bands and some of these
scattering regions will be large areas affecting the whole of the
country as active weather fronts pass by, rather than more isolated
and harder-to-follow showers which often provide our rain scatter.
Meteor scatter is still within its quieter period with no major
showers and better chances coming from random meteor activity, which
tends to peak in the hours before dawn.
Recent solar activity has provided some weak auroral conditions on
many days. As usual, check for high values of the Kp index as a good
indicator, or even listen for a watery tone on the LF bands.
Ultimately you will need to see the Kp index going to at least five
to make it worth checking for auroral signals on VHF.
We are still in the dormant period for Sporadic-E propagation, which
is a shame in view of the powerful jet streams likely during this
stormy weather. These would produce good Es prospects in the main
summer season, but weaker Es at low VHF are still a possibility
despite being out of season.
Moon declination is at minimum today, Sunday the 23rd of February,
and path losses are decreasing as the Moon moves closer to Earth as
it heads to perigee on Saturday the 1st of March. 144MHz sky noise
goes high this weekend, beginning Saturday the 22nd.
And that's all from the propagation team this week.
And that's the end of the main news for this week prepared by the
Radio Society of Great Britain. Items for inclusion in subsequent
bulletins can be emailed to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk to arrive by
10:00 on the Thursday before transmission.
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