RSGB Main News for 13 November 2005

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* RSGB Main News - GB2RS for 13 November 2005 *

The main news headlines:

* New threat to amateur bands
* Foundation licence goes down under
* Scottish radio club wins the lottery
* RadCom and GB2RS e-mail acknowledgments
* Love is in the air
* Special Event News
* DX News
* Contest News
* Propagation News

The news in detail:

New threat to amateur bands
- ---------------------------

* The European Radiocommunications Office has announced plans to hold
a public consultation into ultra wide band, a technology that
potentially poses a threat to the amateur radio microwave bands.
Ultra wide band is a wireless version of the popular USB technology
used to connect devices such as keyboards and mice to personal
computers.

UK communications regulator Ofcom is keen for ultra wide band to
use the 3.1-10GHz spectrum, But this could interfere with the
microwave bands used by radio enthusiasts. Amateur groups such as
AMSAT-UK, the UK Microwave Group and the British Amateur Television
Club are fighting Ofcom's proposals. The European Radiocommunications
Office meanwhile is proposing to protect the 5-6GHz band and use
interference mitigation techniques below 5GHz. Amateurs are urged to
respond to the European Radiocommunications Office consultation, if
only to offset the views of commercial organisations keen to use
3.1-6GHz for ultra wide band.


Foundation licence goes down under
- ----------------------------------

* The Australian Communications and Media Authority has introduced an
entry-level Foundation amateur radio licence and set up a new
licensing and certification structure. Other changes include
combining Novice and Novice Limited licences into a new Standard
licence class, and upgrading all Limited, Intermediate and
Unrestricted licensees to Advanced licensees with full amateur
privileges.

Wireless Institute of Australia president Michael Owen, VK3KI,
welcomed the "long-awaited" changes - in particular the new
Foundation licence - and hoped they would encourage newcomers. He
said: 'We believe that these changes to the Australian amateur
license structure will strengthen our hobby and encourage many more
people to become licensed radio amateurs.'

Australian Foundation licensees will have limited access to the 80,
40, 15 and 10m bands as well as the entire 2m and 70cm bands using
voice modes or "hand-keyed" CW only. They will be permitted to run up
to 10W on SSB and 3W on AM, FM and CW. The new licence is similar to
the Foundation class licence that's been available in the UK since
2002. The first new Australian Foundation licence was issued in late
October to Amanda Gray, VK4FRST. All new VK Foundation licensee
callsigns will feature the unusual four-letter suffix starting with
"F". Look out for them on the air.

[story:QRZ]


Scottish radio club wins the lottery
- ------------------------------------

* Cockenzie & Port Seton Amateur Radio Club has shown that a bit of
hard work can reap dividends. The club recently put in a bid for a
lottery grant to buy new equipment for its popular amateur radio
education programme. The club had been running Foundation and
Intermediate Licence courses for some time but chief instructor Bob
Glasgow, GM4UYZ, found that the club needed new tools and test
equipment, and a laptop and projector to present the courses more
effectively. Bob had heard about the 'Awards for All Scotland'
lottery grants and realised that the club met the criteria. He sent
off an application and a few weeks later was rewarded for his efforts
with a grant of £4,772 to fund the purchase of the new equipment.
Clubs might feel daunted by the prospect of a lottery application
form but, as Cockenzie & Port Seton proves, taking the time to fill
one in can bring great benefits.


RadCom and GB2RS e-mail acknowledgments
- ---------------------------------------

* Some clubs have been perturbed that e-mails sent for inclusion in
GB2RS or RadCom are not acknowledged. This is due to the sheer
volume of mail that bombards the RadCom and GB2RS computers every
day, there simply isn't time. Why not let your computer take the
strain?

Most e-mail clients (eg Outlook Express) can be set automatically to
request a 'read receipt' from the destination computer, thus
requiring no intervention on the part of the RadCom and GB2RS staff.

To set this up with Outlook Express, click on the 'Tools' menu and
select 'Options'. Then use the 'Receipts' tab, where you will find
'Requesting Read Receipts. Use this option to verify when a message
has been read by the recipient '. Below there is a tick box labelled
'Request a read receipt for all sent messages '. Tick the box and
close all boxes with 'OK' (not 'Cancel'!). You will now automatically
receive a notification when your e-mail has been received by GB2RS or
RadCom. Most other e-mail clients will have similar facilities, it's
just a matter of looking. Finally, make sure you send your club
meetings information to gb2rs@xxxxxxxxxxx It will then go to both the
GB2RS and RadCom teams automatically.


Love is in the air
- ------------------

* RadCom, the Radio Society of Great Britain's journal for radio
amateurs, is keen to hear from hams who have married or fallen in
love after an on-the-air contact for an upcoming article in the
magazine. If you have enjoyed a radio romance, please send RadCom
the following information: 1 Details of how you met on the air; 2
Details of your first encounter in the flesh; 3 How long you have
been together; 4 Where you live; 5 Pictures of each partner.

Please also provide the name, age, place of birth and profession of
each partner. The information can either be e-mailed to RadCom at
radioromance@xxxxxxxxxxx or posted to The Editor, RSGB, Lambda House,
Cranborne Road , Potters Bar, Herts , EN6 3JE .


Special Event News
- ------------------

* Special event station GB0BPF is on the air on 13 November as part
of the Bradford Peace Festival. Activity is on 80/40m, 30-10m, 6/4m
and 2m.

* Look out for special calls IO1FRE, IO1FSK, IO1HOC, IO1JUM and
IO1LUG to be aired from 10 November until December as part of the
run-up celebrations to the XX Olympic Winter Games in Torino in
February 2006. Special callsign PA2000N will be aired from 26
November to 11 December to commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the
Dutch city of Nijmegen . QSL via the Dutch QSL bureau or direct to
PA0KHS. Special event station TM4ORA will be active until 20
November to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the French Blind
Radioamateurs National Union. Ron, VE3AT, is operating special
event station VC3O until 28 November to commemorate the 150th
anniversary of the beginning of oil wells in Canada , which is
included in the Ministry of Heritage's list of significant Canadian
anniversaries.


DX News
- -------

* Compiled from the 425 DX News, Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin and other
sources:

* Denise, F6HWU, will operate CW only during her S79WU activity from
Praslin Island between 11 November and 2 December. Look for her on
10-80m. QSL via home call, direct or bureau.

* Richard, OM2TW, Rudi, OM3PC, Joe, OM5AW, and Bebo, OM5RW, will be
active as 3B8/homecall from Mauritius Island on 18-28 November. They
will operate on 160-10m CW, SSB, RTTY, PSK and SSTV with two
stations. QSL via home calls.

* Kees, PA5CW, will operate on all bands CW as 9K2/PA5CW from Kuwait
from 10 to 30 November. QSL via home call.

* Witek, SP9MRO, will be active as A61/SP9MRO from Dubai , United
Arab Emirates , on 16-26 November. He also plans to operate from the
local university club station A61AX. QSL via home call.

* Harald, DL7VSN, is operating as 5H1HS from Zanzibar Island until 17
November. He will be on the air on 10-80m, CW and RTTY.

* Look out for Salvatore, IZ1BWB, who is the operator of the Italian
Army Alpine Brigade station YA/IZ1CCK/P in Kabul , Afghanistan . He
is active on 15 and 20m CW and also 21,250kHz. QSL via IZ1BWB.

* Serge, F6AUS, is active from Mayotte on 10-80m until 7 December.
QSL via F6AUS.

* Babs, DL7AFS, and Lot, DJ7ZG, will operate as 5B/DL7AFS and
5B/DJ7ZG from Cyprus until 16 November. Activity is on 160-6m, mainly
SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via DL7AFS, direct or bureau.

* Roberto, IV3IYH, is in the Philippines until 24 November and will
try to operate as DU/IV3IYH from a few IOTA groups. He expects to be
active mostly on the high bands - CW with some SSB and possibly RTTY.
QSL via IK2ILH.

* Bill, VE3EBN, is operating as J37LR from Grenada until 16 November.
Expect activity on 40-6m CW, SSB and PSK31. QSL via home call.


Contest News
- ------------

* The Worked All Europe contest is on the air from 0000UTC on 12
November to 2359UTC on 13 November. Activity is on the 3.5-28MHz
contest bands, RTTY only. RST, serial number and QTC make up the
exchange.

* Look out for the OK/OM contest taking place between 1200UTC on 12
November and 1200UTC on 13 November on the 1.8-28MHz contest bands,
CW only. RST and serial number required for the exchange.

* The second leg of the SARL HF Field Day will be on the air over the
weekend of 12 and 13. This is the last SARL contest for 2005. The aim
of the contest is to involve Southern African stations in a
competitive and sociable event held under simulated emergency
conditions as well as to acquaint the public with the capabilities of
amateur radio. The contest is open to all licensed radio amateurs in
southern Africa . Operation is on 160, 80, 40 and 20m CW and SSB. The
complete rules can be found on the SARL website - www.sarl.org.za

* Look out for the LZ DX context taking place between 1200UTC on 19
November and 1200UTC on 20 November on the 3.5-28MHz bands, CW and
SSB only. The exchange comprises RS(T) and ITU zones

* The RSGB's 2nd 1.8MHz contest takes place between 2100 and 0100UTC
on 19-20 November, CW only. RST, serial number and district required
for the exchange.

* The RSGB's 1.3GHz/2.3GHz activity contest is on the air between
2000 and 2230UTC on 15 November. All modes covered. RS(T), serial
number and locator make up the exchange.

* The complete RSGB HF and VHF / UHF 2005 Contest Calendars are
published in the January RadCom. Details of RSGB HF contests are at:
www.rsgbhfcc.org and VHF/UHF contests at: www.blacksheep.org/vhfcc

* Suitable freeware logging programs for RSGB HF and VHF contests is
available from a number of sources - see the 'Links' section of the
VHF Contest Committee website.


Propagation News
- ----------------

* The solar factual data for the period from 31 October to 6 November
, prepared by Neil Clarke, G0CAS.

* Once again, solar activity was very low. No significant solar
flares occurred. Solar flux levels increased slightly from 77 units
to 82 by the 6th. The average was 78. The 90-day solar flux average
on the 6th was 84, that's two units down on last week. X-ray flux
levels increased slightly from A2.9 units on the 31st to A4.3 by the
6th. The average was A3.5 units. Geomagnetic activity started at
quiet levels with an Ap index of 6 units on the 2nd. However, due to
a recurring coronal hole, activity increased. The most disturbed day
was the 3rd with an Ap of 24. The average was Ap 13 units. The ACE
spacecraft reported solar wind speeds of around 400 kilometres per
second, but late on the 2nd speeds increased to around 700 kilometres
per second due to the coronal hole. Particle densities were below 10
particles per cubic centimetre every day. Bz varied between minus and
plus 8 nanoTeslas. The 2nd, however, saw fluctuations to minus and
plus 15 nanoTeslas. On the 3rd, VHF aurora was reported from the
north of England . Otherwise, it was reported only from high
latitudes. During the event on the 3rd, signals on the HF bands took
on a rough auroral sound for a time. The contest weekend produced
high levels of activity at HF and a weak 28MHz opening to North
America , but propagation fell rather below expectations.

Solar forecast

* This week solar activity should be very low to low. No sudden surge
in solar activity looks likely to take place just yet. This present
state of very low solar activity with no solar flares taking place
will not last throughout solar minimum, which is due around the end
of 2006. When an upsurge comes along, it will arrive with very little
warning. All it takes is one active sunspot region while the
remainder of the Sun remains dormant. Solar flux levels should be in
the 70s for most of the week. Geomagnetic activity could be unsettled
today but then quiet conditions should prevail for the remainder of
the week. MUFs during daylight hours at equal latitudes should be
about 24MHz for the South and 21MHz for the North. The darkness hour
lows should be around 7MHz. Paths this week to the Middle East should
have a maximum usable frequency with a 50 per cent success rate of
around 27MHz. The optimum working frequency will be about 21MHz with
a 90 per cent success rate. The best time to try this path is between
0900 and 1400UTC.

* The RSGB propagation news is also available in a Saturday update,
posted every Saturday evening and for more on propagation generally,
see http://www.rsgb.org/society/psc.htm.

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* GB2RS is the weekly news service of the RSGB, broadcast by radio
amateurs. *

* News items from this week's script may be reproduced freely in
printed
matter, provided the source - the Radio Society of Great Britain - is
clearly identified. The news may not be reproduced on the Internet
without
prior written permission, though webmasters are welcome to provide a
link
to this, or any other page on the RSGB site. *

* News for GB2RS must be sent in by 0900UTC on the Tuesday before the
broadcast. You can use post, phone, fax or e-mail. *

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© 2005 Radio Society of Great Britain

Main Home page: http://www.rsgb.org
Members Only Home Page: http://www.rsgb.org/membersonly/lo-news.htm

Posted by Jim, G4RGA.

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