GB2RS NEWS

Sunday 7th April 2013

The news headlines:

Spectrum Pressure Continues

STRaND-1 Signal Reports Requested

GJ100RSGB goes on air this week

The Ofcom 4G auction has now concluded and raised ?2.4bn. However
inexorable demand now requires further spectrum for 5Gand one of the
topics for WRC-15 is additional spectrum for mobile broadband. Ofcom is
consulting on potential bands for this, largely within the 400MHz to
6GHz range, with a deadline of 29 April. The RSGB is liaising with Ofcom
in order to enhance their familiarity with amateur microwave activity
and protect ATV and narrowband users. The recruitment of Noel Matthews,
G8GTZ from BATC to RSGB-ETCC for ATV matters adds to our volunteer base
for the effort involved. A background article on `Spectrum Release' was
featured in the January edition of RadCom and is now available as a
download on the RSGB band plan web page.

Dr Chris Bridges, M0GGK, from the Surrey Space Centre, has advised that
the amateur radio beacon on their STRaND-1 CubeSat became intermittent
over the Easter weekend. Both DK3WN and ST2NH have reported that no
signals have been heard since Sunday. Radio amateurs are asked to listen
for STRaND-1 over the next few days and report any positive results, by
e-mail, to . Listen for a 9k6 bps AX.25 signal
around 437.568MHz, plus or minus the Doppler shift.

G100RSGB, the special event callsign celebrating the RSGB Centenary
stays in Region 11 this week. GJ100RSGB will be on the air today, Sunday
7, and Monday from Jersey with Jersey ARS running the station from La
Moye Signal Station. They are planning to use the 10m to 160m bands as
well as 2m and 70cm. On Tuesday, Dartmoor Radio Club take over with a
station running on the 80, 20, 15 and 6m bands as well as 2m and 70cm.
Wednesday and Thursday is the turn of Appledore & DARC with HF and VHF
from Northam. On Friday, Poldhu ARC is running the station from the
Marconi Centre in Mullion using the 20 and 40m bands. Next weekend, 13th
and 14th, Torbay ARS are running the callsign from Newton Abbott and
plan to be on air for 24 hours on the 13th. They will have an HF station
on the air running SSB, digimodes and FM. Details of how to get your QSL
card are on the website, www.rsgb.org.uk.

The RSGB Centenary dinner will take place at Horwood House in the
evening of 5 July, the anniversary day. As well as this being a
voluntary black tie event to recreate the dinners held in the early days
of the Society, it is intended to re-create a menu based on one of these
early dinners, including a souvenir menu card. Tickets and overnight
accommodation are still available, although numbers are limited and are
selling quickly. Visit the RSGB shop for your tickets and don't forget
we are planning to re-create the early days with a commemorative
photograph.

Eddie Bennett, G3ZJO, may now hold a QRP distance record for a micro
power transmission using a Raspberry Pi microcomputer as a transmitter.
He used the 10 milliwatts of RF that can be generated from the Raspberry
Pi computer board to be heard at over 2000km on the 7MHz band as the Pi
can be made to operate as a WSPR mode transmitter. Among the stations
who received his WSPR signal on 40m was LA9JO in JP99 at a distance of
2124km. Details of how you could try this is available at
tinyurl.com/raspberry-pi-transmitter.

OE13M is an official International Marconi Day station and will be on
the air from 0000UTC on 19 April to 2400UTC on 21 April, although only
contacts made on 20 April are valid for the IMD award. Run by the
Austrian Broadcasting Corporation and the Documentary Archives Radio
Communications /QSL Collection, you can QSL via OE1WHC. Details are on
QRZ.com.

The RSGB's Centenary AGM will take place at the IET, Savoy Place, London
on the 20th April at noon. If you are intending to attend, it would be
appreciated if you could let the RSGB know by filling in the very short
form at www.rsgb.org/attendagm.

A new 70cm beacon based upon the Next Generation Beacon platform has
come to the airwaves from Denmark. The OZ7IGY beacon on 432.471MHz
became operational on 30 March and is expected to remain very stable in
frequency as the transmitter is locked to a GPS receiver. The
transmission sequence is timed to start at 00 second sending PI4
followed by a short pause then CW ID sending callsign and locator. It's
then is in carrier only mode until next cycle begins. The beacon joins
its counterparts on 6, 4 and 2 meters operating from the same location
and running the same transmission sequence. All four use the PI4 digital
modulation system that was specifically designed to work with beacons
and propagation studies in mind. You can download the PI-RX to decode
PI4 at tinyurl.com/pirx-beacon-software.

And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week

The Cambridge Repeater Group Rally will be held at Foxton Village Hall,
Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambridge CB22 6RN today, 7 April. Doors open at
10am and admission is ?2. There will be trade stands and a Bring & Buy.
More details can be obtained from M0LCM on 01223 711 840.

Also today, 7 April, the Northern Amateur Radio Societies Association
Exhibition will take place in the Norbreck Castle Exhibition Centre,
Blackpool FY2 9AA. Doors open at 10.30am, 10.15 for disabled visitors
and there will be trade stands, special interest groups a Bring & Buy
and an RSGB bookstall. More information from Dave, M0OBW on 01270 761
608.

Finally for today, 7 April, the South Gloucestershire Amateur Radio
Rally will be held at the Scout Activity Centre, Woodhouse Park,
Almondsbury, Bristol BS32 4LX. Doors open at 10am and there will be a
Bring & Buy at this rally. More details from Mike, M1DPB, on 07806 310
095.

A WW2 Air Forces Radar Reunion will be held at Blackpool from Friday, 12
April to Monday 15 April. Operators, mechanics, filter room and
airbourne radar visitors welcome. Day visitors are also welcome. For
further details please contact Jim Ward, G0DGG, 17Valley Walk, Croxley
Green, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire WD3 3TA.

There are no rallies next weekend, 13 and 14 April. The West London
Radio and Electronics Show, also called the Kempton Rally, will take
place on 21 April as will the RADARS rally and surplus equipment sale in
Ripon. More details next week

Now for the news of special events

As part of its 100th anniversary events, Northampton Radio Club is
operating a special event station at a model exhibition weekend at
Windmill Primary School in Raunds, Northamptonshire today, 7 April. As
well as there being an exhibition of model boats and hovercrafts,
helicopters, aircraft and trains, Northampton Radio Club will be
operating HF, VHF, UHF and D-Star. Everyone is welcome to attend and
further information including the school address can be seen at the
clubs' website at www.nrc1913.clubbz.com.

From 9am on Friday 12 April to 5pm on 13 April, Sheffield Amateur Radio
Club will be operating as GB5SWW for Sheffield Wireless Worlds from the
Sheffield Hallam University Cantor Building in the centre of Sheffield.
The station is part of an exhibition of art and film by Esther Johnson,
a talented artist, film maker and Reader in Media at the Hallam
University. GB5SWW hopes to be active on all bands from 80m to 10m as
well as D-Star and the local 70cm repeater GB3US. QSL cards should go
via the GB sub bureau or direct to G3PHO with appropriate return postage
and SAE. The exhibition features radio memorabilia, QSL cards and two
interesting films screened at intervals throughout the period. Entry to
the exhibition is free.

Cleddau ARS will be operating a special event station, GC0SYG/MM, from
on-board the Stena Europe Irish Sea ferry in memory of the 101st Titanic
remembrance weekend from 0200UTC on 13 April to 2359UTC on 14 April. The
ferry will travel between Fishguard in Wales and Rosslare in Eire and
the station will operate on 40m and 20m primarily using CW and SSB with
and some PSK31. Spots will be made via clusters.

The Radio Society of Harrow will be running GX3EFX and displaying period
radio equipment at the 1940's Family Experience Weekend on 13 and 14
April at the Lincolnsfield Centre, Bushey Hall Drive, WD23 2ES.

A CW only special event station, GB4RPI, will be on the air from 11
April. Operation will be on Top Band, 80m, 40m, 30m and 20m to
commemorate those who lost their lives in Trident Tragedy at Staines in
1972. Details are on qrz.com.

And now the DX news compiled from 425 DX News and other sources

A team of 15 German operators will be active as 5W0M from Le Lagoto,
Samoa until 18 April. Operation will be on the 6 to 80m bands using CW,
SSB and RTTY plus 2m EME. They plan to have four stations active
simultaneously. QSL HF and 6m via DL4SVA, direct or by the Bureau and
EME QSOs to DL9MS.

CT1FTR is now active from the Sudan as ST2FT operating both the HF and
VHF bands using a Yaesu FT-857 and a loop antenna. QSL via CT1FTR.

Paul, 2E1EUB will be operational as 2M1EUB from the eastern side of
Scotland in the Cairngorms National Park until 13 April. Activity will
be on 160, 80, and several satellites as well as 2m SSB. Check out
QRZ.com under 2M1EUB for more information.

Rob N7QT will be on the air from St Lucia in the Caribbean until 16
April. Using the callsign J6/N7QT with battery power and lightweight
antennas.

Chris, GM3WOJ and Keith, GM4YXI are operating as VK9CZ on Cocos Keeling
until 13 April. They are active on all bands from 10 to 160m using SSB,
CW and some RTTY. QSL manager is N3SL and logs will be uploaded to
Logbook of the World.

Now the contest news

The SSB leg of RoPoCo takes place on the 80m band today, 7 April, from
1900 to 2030UTC. Both RoPoCos are HF Championship events, with the
maximum output power limited to 100 watts. The exchange is signal report
and the full postcode received.

In the 3-hour 1st 70MHz contest taking place from 0900 to 1200UTC today,
7 April, there are no multipliers. It's a straight race to accumulate as
many kilometres worked as possible. The exchange is signal report,
serial number and locator.

The CW/SSB leg of the SPDX Contest runs for 24 hours until 1500 today, 7
April. Using the 1.8 to 28MHz bands. Work Polish stations only, giving
them a signal report and serial number. Expect a signal report and a
single-letter province code in return.

9 April sees the 432MHz UK Activity Contest take place from 1900 to
2130UTC. Using all mode the exchange is signal report, serial number and
locator.

The SSB leg of the 80m Club Championships takes place on 10 April from
1900 to 2030UTC. The exchange is the usual signal report and serial
number.

The EU Spring Sprint takes place on 13 April from 1600 to 2000UTC using
the 3.5 to 14MHz bands. You should exchange callsigns, serial number and
name. There's no need to exchange a signal report.

The First 50MHz Contest is on Sunday 14th. This event has multipliers
for countries, Postcodes and locator squares, which means continually
turning the beam and searching for new multipliers if you want to be
successful. Running from 0900 to 1200UTC and using all modes the
exchange is signal; report, serial number, locator and postcode.

Now the solar report for the period from Friday March 29th to Thursday
the 4th of April, compiled by Martin Harrison, G3USF, on Friday April
5th.

Solar activity was again very low. During the entire period only four
small C-class flares were reported and these had no impact on
propagation. The solar flux level rose from 105 on the 39th to 129 on
the 4th to average 116 over the week - an increase of 20 points on the
previous week. However, the 90-day average dropped one point to 114. The
X-ray flux rose steadily to average B2.6. The weel began with the
geomagnetic field was at minor storm level. This was the result of a
high-speed coronal wind stream that sent the Ap index for the 29th to
reach 23 units. That was enough to trigger bright Arctic auroras and
radio auroras at 50 and 144MHz lasting several hours on the afternoon an
early evening of the 29th. But, as so often happens, these were almost
wholly restricted to stations at high latitudes. HF propagation was
below par for much of the day as a result. The disturbance died down
during the 30th and, for the rest of the period geomagnetic activity
stayed low, with the daily Ap in single figures. Solar wind speeds
recorded by the ACE spacecraft reached 540km/second during the
disturbance on the 29th, then declined to 274km/second on the 3rd of
April. Particle densities were generally low. Bz - that's the
interplanetary magnetic field - varied between plus and minus 4
nanoTeslas on quiet days and between minus 10 and plus 8 nanoTeslas
during the disturbed days.

Now the forecast for the coming week. Solar activity is expected to
remain low or very low, with only occasional flares, mostly of modest
C-class dimensions. There are no indications of any highly active areas
currently on the far side of the Sun rotating into view. Solar flux
levels appear likely to fall back from the level of recent days but are
expected to remain above the 100mark. Geomagnetic activity should stay
low. MUFs at equal latitudes will be around 24MHz in the south and 21MHz
in the north. Darkness lows will stay in the region of 10MHz. Paths to
Japan should have a maximum usable frequency of about 25MHz, where there
should be a 50 per cent chance of a contact. There should be a 90 per
cent success rate at the Optimum Working Frequency of 20MHz. The path
should be its best between 1000 and 1300UTC.

And that's all for another week from the propagation team.

Next, the Local News:

Please note that details of all RSGB-affiliated clubs and societies

can be found on the RSGB website, including email addresses

and website links where known.

[Note to Newsreaders: Please read the local news items appropriate to
the service area of your transmission.]

NEWS FOR THE MIDLANDS

Today, 7 April, Gloucester Amateur Radio & Electronics Society members
are attending the South Gloucestershire Amateur Radio Rally. On Monday
there is a talk on A day in the life of an air traffic controller. More
details from Anne, 2E1GKY on 01242 699595 during the day.

Today, Sunday 7 April, Lincoln Short-Wave Club is taking part in the 1st
70MHz Contest and on Tuesday they are operating in the 432MHz UK
Activity Contest. On Wednesday there is a used equipment sale in
Aisthorpe Village Hall starting at 8pm promptly, with booking in from
7pm. On Thursday there is a Club Net on 145.375MHz starting at 8pm.On
Saturday there's a surgery and mentoring in the shack from 9am. For more
information contact Pam Rose, G4STO on 01427 788 356.

Wythall Radio Club has a club net today, 7 April, on 145.225MHz at 8pm
and is taking part in the RoPoCo contest. On Tuesday there is a Morse
Class at 7.45pm and a committee meeting at 8.30pm. Wednesday sees the
club taking part in the RSGB 80m Club Championships SSB Contest and on
Friday there is a shack social. On Saturday and Sunday the club is
operating a Special Event Station at Stoke Prior Steam Fair finishing
with a 145.225MHz net on Sunday at 8pm. Details from Chris, G0EYO on
07710 412 819.

On Monday 8 April Friskney and East Lincolnshire Communications Club has
a VHF SSB club net on 144.165MHz USB using vertical polarisation and
starting at 7.30pm. On Wednesday there is an M3+M6 club net on the GB3FR
repeater starting at 8pm, with a VHF net on 145.450MHz on Friday at 8pm.
Non members are welcome to join in on all nets. Contact the FELCC
Information Line on 07554 362 020 for more information.

On Monday 8 April South Birmingham Radio Society Contest has a planning
meeting and Tuesday sees the coffee morning running from 11am to 1 pm.
On Thursday there are training classes with Dave Murphy, G8OWL and
Friday sees the club doing some shack and aerial work. Full details from
Mick Cleary, G7RRP on 07595 696 359.