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GB2RS NEWS Sunday the 9th of May 2021 The news headlines: Amateur radio: what next? Free webinar on RF exposure Updates to Full mock exam papers Last year, through the RSGB and NHS ‘Get on the air to care’ media campaign, it is likely that over 35 million people heard news and stories about amateur radio. You now have a chance to tell the RSGB what you think should happen next. As part of a wider IARU workshop, the Society is conducting a short survey of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that apply to amateur radio in the UK. Whether you are a radio amateur or not yet licensed, do take few minutes to fill in the survey and be part of the discussions. You can find it at rsgb.org/survey and the deadline for responses is the 23rd of May. The ARRL is reporting that the IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation has issued an invitation to its free webinar, RF Exposure in the Time of Conspiracies. The 1-hour event is set to get underway at 1800UTC on Wednesday the 12th of May. The committee is a group of experts on health and safety issues related to electromagnetic fields, from power line through microwave frequency ranges. Its primary focus is on the biological effects of non-ionising electromagnetic radiation. Webex, the platform on which the webinar will be held, imposes a limit of 1,000 simultaneous connections. Those interested may check-in at 1730UTC. Links can be found on the ARRL news pages at arrl.org/news. The RSGB’s Examinations and Syllabus Review Group has just updated the two Full licence mock exam papers. In addition, there are now worked answer PDFs for these papers so you can see the correct answer for each question and the reasoning behind it. These mock papers are provided as a training aid and aren’t the exact questions included in a Full licence exam. Foundation and Intermediate mock exam papers will have worked answers added in due course. You can find all the mock exam papers at rsgb.org/mock-exams. SOS Radio Week is an annual event that sees many amateur radio stations get on the air throughout the month of May. The aim is to raise awareness of the voluntary work of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and National Coastwatch Institution. For further details of the event, visit sosradioweek.org.uk. The RSGB’s Tonight @ 8 webinar series continues on Monday the 17th of May. Bob Titterington, G3ORY will help you to Discover more about Amateur Radio Direction Finding. This webinar will include contributions from Kim, who gives the perspective of a regular club member being talked into trying ARDF. You will also hear from Flora, who was persuaded to go out and try ARDF with her dad. For more information about this and other webinars, see rsgb.org/webinars. The second mission of European Space Agency astronaut Thomas, KG5FYG and FX0ISS on the International Space Station began on the 23rd of April. Members of Radio Club F4KLR will operate special event callsign TM0ISS on all bands and modes. The activity will run at various times until October to match the duration of the mission. The Society has launched a new video, 2020 – a year like no other, that looks back at the many fantastic activities and resources that helped to support radio amateurs through these difficult times. It also shows how existing radio amateurs ‘got on the air to care’ across the UK and thousands of people of all ages got involved in amateur radio for the first time. Take a look at youtube.com/theRSGB. The Dayton Hamvention has been cancelled for 2021, but Contest University 2021 will still take place on the 20th of May. It will be held online free of charge via Zoom, starting at 1300UTC. Registration is now open on the CTU website at contestuniversity.com. Now the DX news Adrien, F4IHM will be active again as 5UAIHM between the 10th of May and the 15th of June from Niamey, Niger. He will operate CW on the 40 and 20m bands. QSL via F4IHM, direct or bureau. This year’s International DX Convention will be a virtual two-day meeting to be held on the 15th and 16th of May, with eight DX-related and eight exhibitor Zoom webinars respectively. Free pre-registration is required and is now open. See dxconvention.com for more information, including the programme details. Now the Special Event news Special event station GB0ME is still being operated by George, MM0JNL from his home in the Scottish Borders. It aims to increase awareness of the debilitating condition of ME. Depending on propagation, he will be working any HF or VHF band using SSB or FM when practicable. Further details available on QRZ.com. In 2021, the British Railways ARS will be celebrating its 55th anniversary. GB0LMR will be on the air throughout the year. The station will be operated by Mark, G1PIE from Preston in Lancashire. Bands of operation will be 40 to 10m using SSB, PSK-31 and PSK-63. QSL cards are available via the RSGB bureau or direct with an SAE to Pam, 2E1HQY. More on QRZ.com. Guernsey Amateur Radio Society will be using GB5LIB for the 76th anniversary of the Liberation of the islands. The call will be activated by club members from 0001UTC on the 8th to 2359UTC on the 14th of May. All bands and modes from 160m to 10m will be used and maybe 4 and 6m, if conditions allow. See QRZ.com for details. Now the contest news With different parts of the UK having different lockdown restrictions, please make sure you follow the appropriate regulations. Several contests now accept portable entries, so please check the contest rules. Above all, please follow relevant national and local restrictions. Today, the 9th, the 70MHz CW contest runs from 0900 to 1200UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and postcode. The Worked All Britain 40m Phone and CW contest runs for 1000 to 1400UTC today, the 9th. Using SSB and CW, the exchange is signal report, serial number and the WAB area. Also on today, the 9th is the IRTS 40m Daytime Counties Contest, which runs from 1200 to 1300UTC. Using SSB and CW, the exchange is signal report and serial number. EI and GI stations also exchange their County. On Monday the SSB leg of the 80m Club Championships runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. The exchange is signal report and serial number. On Tuesday the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. It is followed by the all-mode 432MHz UK Activity Contest from 1900 to 2130UTC. The exchange for both contests is signal report, serial number and locator. The 50MHz UK Activity Contest takes place on Thursday from 1900 to 2130UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Next weekend, the 144MHz May Contest runs for 24 hours from 1400UTC on the 15th. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and postcode. Sunday the 16th sees the First 144MHz Backpackers contest from 1100 to 1500UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and postcode. Also next Sunday, the 16th, the UK Microwave Group Millimetre Wave Contest runs from 0900 to 1700UTC. Using all modes on the 24 to 76GHz bands the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The UK Six Metre Group Summer Marathon runs until the 1st of August. Exchange your 4-character locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on Friday the 7th of May. The Sun was devoid of sunspots last week, which saw the solar flux index plummet to 70 – pretty much what it is around sunspot minimum. The good news is that an active region is rotating into view. Region 2817 is currently just on the Sun’s eastern limb as this report is being prepared and should be visible by the time the weekend is here. On its last rotation, the region was quite active and pushed the SFI up to 86, so the hope is that we get a similar surge when it reappears. Geomagnetically, the Sun has been quite quiet with the Kp index at either one or zero last week. This has been boosted by a lack of coronal hole activity. HF-wise, it has been fair but not outstanding, which is in line with what you would expect with an SFI of 70. Most of the chat has been about the beginning of the Sporadic-E season, which has seen a few openings to Spain and Italy. The 10 metre beacons IZ1EPM on 28.173MHz near Turin, Italy and ED4YAK on 28.251MHz in Henares, Spain were heard on Wednesday. For a complete list of low power 10m beacons please see G3USF’s list via the Propagation pages on RSGB.org. Tony, G4CJC’s 10 metre report says Joe, G3ZDF worked KP4JRS, HC2TIC, CT1BFP and heard PJ2BR, KG4IYS and CO3JR on FT8 after 11pm. This was probably via multi-hop Sporadic-E rather than F-layer propagation. There have also been one or two reports of long-distance FT8 contacts on 10m from the Far East, which may be due to short-path Summer Solstice Propagation. As the Sporadic-E season progresses we can expect to see a lot more activity on 10 metres. Next week NOAA predicts the solar flux index will climb to the high 70s, no doubt boosted by region 2817. Geomagnetic activity is predicted to be quiet for the first half of the week, but could turn unsettled on the 11th with the potential for the Kp index to reach five or six by the 14th with the return of a large solar coronal hole. Expect subdued MUFs until the Kp index recovers. And now the VHF and up propagation news. There is a predominance of low pressure on the charts for much of the next week and more active systems will mean some heavy rain and strong winds for some areas. The models diverge towards the end of next week, with one version showing high pressure over northern areas by the end of the week, while the other option shows a continuation of low pressure. The outcome of this is a mainly rain-scatter week for the GHz bands and at this time of year showers are often heavy and thunderous, which can be very good scatter sources. The option of high pressure at the end of next week may herald some Tropo in the north. Sporadic-E is building nicely and most days will offer the prospects of some Sporadic-E, especially on the digital modes or 10m. There will be some well-placed jet streams in attendance next week, so keep an ear on the bands and beacons. With positive Moon declination, we’ll see lengthening Moon visibility windows and peak Moon elevations as the week goes on. The Sun and the Moon will be at apogee and close to eclipse on Tuesday, meaning highest path losses and very high noise levels after lunchtime. There are no significant meteor showers this week but we will still be in the tail end of last week’s Eta-Aquarids so look out for continuing random activity. And that’s all from the propagation team this week.