WADARC meets at – Lions Hall, 21 Roberts Road, Lancing. BN15 8AR.
THE PAST WEEK
Wednesday’s tea and chat brought about some lively and friendly discussion on some aspects of home construction and some possibilities for antennas at Lions Hall.
Pete, G4LKW mentioned Mills On The Air at Salvington Mill on May 12 and 13. Helpers/operators will be welcome.
Andy, M6RFE is at home and hopefully on the mend, despite some pain due to his guts being rearranged. Hope to see you at the Club soon Andy.
Ron, G3SKI is walking now and is looking forward to giving us a talk.
CLUB MEETINGS & EVENTS
Outside event – Bring Radios/Antennas and drink of choice – Meet at Mill Hill, Shoreham – 2nd Car Park – Wednesday 25th April – 7.30pm-9.30pm – Lions Hall will be closed!
Talk on Algeria trip – Chris, M0VUE – Lions Hall, Lancing – Wednesday 2nd May – 8.00pm-10.00pm
Sunday Breakfast – Goring Cafe – Sunday 6th May – 9.00am-10.00am
Moon Bounce talk – Lions Hall, Lancing – Wednesday 9th May – 8.00pm-10.00pm (see WADARC web site for details)
Mills On The Air – Salvington Windmill – Saturday 12th/Sunday 13th May – Contact Pete, G4LKW for details and times.
Tea and Chat – Lions Hall, Lancing – Wednesday 16th May – 8.00pm-10.00pm
Practical Evening-Antennas – Lions Hall, Lancing – Wednesday 23rd May – 8.00pm-10.00pm
For further information as it occurs, please visit the WADARC website: www.wadarc.org.uk
NETS
Monday – 2 metres 145.425 MHz, FM, 7.30pm (local)
Thursday – 40 metres 7.106 MHz +/-QRM, SSB, 11.00am (local)
Saturday – 70 cms on GB3WO, 7.00pm (local)
Sunday – 80 metres 3.712 MHz +/- QRM, SSB, 7.30am-8.00am (local)
RALLIES
22 April 2018 Andover Radio Club Spring Rally
Village Hall, Wildhern, Andover, Hants. SP11 0JE.
Open 09:00-sellers/10:00-public. Raffle.
Tables in the Hall £10. £8 per Boot and £2 Buyers.
further details on the website: http://www.arac.org.uk/events.html
29 April 2018 Exeter Radio & Electronics Rally [Rescheduled from 4 March]
America Hall, De La Rue Way Pinhoe, Exeter, EX4 8PW.
Open 10:30/10:15 disabled & B&B bookin – may open earlier in inclement weather.
Admission £2. Trade. B&B. Catering.
Details: Pete, G3ZVI, 07714-198374, g3zvi@yahoo.co.uk
7 May 2018 Dartmoor Radio Rally [Bank Holiday Monday]
Tavistock College, Crowndale Road, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 8DD.
Open 10:30/10:15. Admission £2, kids free-with adult. Free parking. On-site catering.
Trade and club stands. B&B.
Details: Viv Watson, G7AWG, 01752-823427, vivwatsondrc@aol.com
17-20 May 2018 Dayton Hamvention [Thursday-Sunday]
Greene County Fair & Exposition Centre, Xenia, Dayton, Ohio, 45385, USA.
Coordinates: 39.702N – 83.9420W
Open 08:00. Flea market. Trade. RSGB books. SIGs. Daily lectures. Catering &.
Family pastimes on-site. Raffle. US exams.
Further details: international@hamvention.org http://www.hamvention.org
Details of other UK rallies can be found on this excellent website: http://www.g4rga.org.uk/All.html
RAGCHEW
Winter 2017 edition published – http://www.wadarc.org.uk/ragchew/winter-201718
PROPAGATION
HF:
LATEST SOLAR NEWS (Courtesy of Spaceweather News):
INTERPLANETARY SHOCK WAVE: An interplanetary shock wave hit Earth’s magnetic field on April 19th around 23:50 UT. When the shock arrived, the density of the solar wind flowing around our planet abruptly quadrupled. Moreover, magnetic fields in the solar wind near Earth have since intensified 10-fold. These developments set the stage for possible geomagnetic storms in the hours ahead.
What is an interplanetary shock wave? It is a supersonic disturbance in the gaseous material of the solar wind. These waves are frequently delivered by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Indeed, this one might have been a minor CME that left the sun unrecognized earlier this week. Or it might be an unusually sharp co-rotating interaction region (CIR). CIRs are transition zones between slow- and fast-moving streams of solar wind. They contain plasma density gradients that often do a good job of sparking auroras.
For further info please visit: http://spaceweather.com
Propagation news from RSGB:
The predicted unsettled geomagnetic conditions arrived on Tuesday and continued with the K-index hitting five on Wednesday. This was due an elongated coronal hole on the Sun, with the escaping plasma causing the solar wind to pick up in both speed and density. The wind peaked at more than 550 kilometres per second and widespread visual aurora were reported at high latitudes.
There was a brief ionospheric enhancement on Tuesday evening that saw the critical frequency rise to more than 5 MHz, with the predicted MUF reaching 18 MHz around 1900 UTC. But maximum usable frequencies struggled to get to 14 MHz on Wednesday during the subsequent ionospheric storm. This shows that we can get a brief ionospheric enhancement as the solar material first hits, so it is worth watching the bands.
Otherwise, the Sun remained spotless with the solar flux index sitting in the high sixties.
Next week the solar flux index will remain around 67 and HF propagation will largely be dominated by solar wind effects again. NOAA predicts reasonably settled conditions for the first half of the week, but unsettled conditions again from around the 19th.
SB PROP ARL ARLP016
ARLP016 Propagation de K7RA
At 0631 UTC on April 20 the Australian Space Forecast Centre issued
a Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning.
“Earth is currently under the influence of a high speed stream from
a negative polarity equatorial coronal hole. Geomagnetic activity at
Quiet to Active levels is expected and at times may reach up to
Minor Storm levels if there are notable southward Bz periods.
“INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY EXPECTED DUE TO CORONAL HOLE HIGH
SPEED WIND STREAM FROM 20-21 APRIL 2018
“GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST
20 Apr: Quiet to Active
21 Apr: Quiet to Active”
This link to Space Weather Live explains the reference to “southward
Bz periods” above:
https://bit.ly/1S6H68D
Average daily sunspot number over the recent reporting week (April
12-18) rose from 0 to 5.4. Of course, any non-zero sunspot number
lower than 11 is imaginary, because of the arcane method used for
calculating sunspot numbers.
Every sunspot group counts for 10 points, and each sunspot within
that group counts as one point. So one sunspot in one group yields a
sunspot number of 11. Three sunspots in two groups yields a daily
sunspot number of 23. The last time we saw a sunspot number greater
than 22 was February 9-12 when the numbers were 23, 35, 24 and 26.
So an average daily sunspot number lower than 11 must include at
least one zero-sunspot day. In the past reporting week, only three
days had any sunspots.
Average daily solar flux rose from 67.7 to 69.9. Average daily
planetary A index declined from 9.4 to 6.1, while average
mid-latitude A index went from 8.1 to 5.6.
Predicted solar flux for the next 45 days is 72 on April 20-26, 71
on April 27, 69 on April 28 through May 5, 70 on May 6-12, 72 on May
13-19, 69 on May 20 through June 1, and 70 on June 2-3.
Predicted planetary A index is 15, 12 and 8 on April 20-22, 5 on
April 23-25, 8 on April 26, 5 on April 27 through May 5, 10 on May
6, 15 on May 7-8, 10 on May 9-10, 5 on May 11-15, 12 and 10 on May
16-17, 5 on May 18 through June 1, then 10 and 12 on June 2-3.
F.K. Janda, OK1HH of the Czech Propagation Interest Group brings us
his weekly geomagnetic activity forecast for the period April 20 to
May 15, 2018.
“Geomagnetic field will be:
Quiet on April 24-25, 27-28, May 13-14
Mostly quiet on April 22-23, May 15
Quiet to unsettled on April 26, 29-30, May 1, 3-5, 9, 12
Quiet to active on April (21,) May 2, 7-8, 10-11
Active to disturbed on April (20,) May 6
“Solar wind will intensify on April (24)-25, May (2-3,) 5-6, (7-11)
VHF/UHF:
The cold misty weather across the northern North Sea into the Baltic may have set up a few tropo paths, but so far it has seemed fairly quiet. This initial phase of the Scandinavian high will decline over the weekend, but early next week the high will rebuild over the North Sea. It will be better placed and could be more useful during the rest of the week for tropo along the east coast, say from East Anglia to north-east Scotland and eastwards across the North Sea to the Low Countries.
There will also be some occasional thundery developments, mainly in the lead up to this weekend with a hint of potential rain scatter on the Gigahertz bands.
It is mid-April and the 2018 sporadic E season beckons, so it is worth repeating a few basic rules to help those who have never worked it before. Start by checking the European beacons on 10m and 6m during the morning and late afternoon. A classic opening will usually have two phases, one say from 1000 to 1200 UTC and a second in the late afternoon and early evening from 1600 to 1900 UTC. Of course it can happen at other times, so put 10m and 6m in your shack routine during these summer months. Keep QSOs brief, so report and locator will do in these transient events.
April also brings increased meteor activity. The first significant shower, the Lyrids, peaks on 22 April, sometime between 1000 and 2100 UTC.
Moon declination is positive and increasing this week and the Moon is at perigee again on Friday at 368,717km from the earth. It is a good week for EME then, with long windows and high Moon elevations, meaning low ground noise with low path losses.
Beacons often heard in our area:
VHF:
GB3WSX – IO80QW – 70.007 MHz
GB3BAA – IO91PS – 70.016 MHz
F1ZXK – JN18KF – 144.438 MHz
F5ZSF – IN88GS – 144.409 MHz
GB3VHF – JO01EH – 144.430 MHz
ON0VHF – JO20HP – 144.418 MHz
UHF:
F5XBA – JN18KF – 432.830 MHz
GB3UHF – JO01EH – 432.430 MHz
ON0UHF – JO20ET – 432.567 MHz
DX NEWS
HF:
This week’s bulletin was made possible with information provided by S50U, WB6Z, The Daily DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, DXNL, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all.
MAURITIUS, 3B8. Giulio, IW3HVB is QRV as 3B8MB until April 27. Activity is on 2 meters and 23 cm using EME. QSL to home call.
ISRAEL, 4X. Artur, 4X4DZ, Alex, 4Z4AK, Hilik, 4X6YA and Jan, 4X1VF will be QRV with special event call 4X0BG on April 20 and 21 during the Holyland contest. QSL via bureau.
ZAMBIA, 9J. Brian, 9J2BO plans to be QRV in the CQMM DX contest. QSL direct to G3TEV.
SIERRA LEONE, 9L. Mark, KW4XJ plans to be QRV as 9L/KW4XJ near Freetown in the CQMM DX contest. QSL to home call.
NEPAL, 9N. Sergei, R4WAA is QRV as 9N7WA until April 27. Activity is on the HF bands using CW and various digital modes. QSL to home call.
MOROCCO, CN. A large group of operators are QRV as 5C5AF from Ile de Mogador, IOTA AF-065, until April 22. QSL via I8LWL. In addition, special event station 5C13SIA will be QRV from April 24 to 28 to commemorate the 13th International Exhibition of Agriculture being held in Meknes City. QSL direct to CN8WW.
BOLIVIA, CP. Enrique, CP6UA plans to be QRV in the CQMM DX contest. Activity will be with CW and SSB. QSL direct to home call.
SAINT BARTHELEMY, FJ. Rick, AI5P, Barry, N0KV, Gregory, W0ZA and James, WD0E are QRV as FJ/AI5P and FJ/N0KV until April 27. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, with some Satellite activity as well. QSL to home calls.
SOLOMON ISLANDS, H4. Bernhard, DL2GAC and Cezar, VE3LYC will be QRV as H44R from Mbanika Island, IOTA OC-168, from April 22 to 25. Activity will be on 40 to 17 meters using CW and SSB with two stations active. QSL direct to VE3LYC.
ST. VINCENT, J8. Brian, GW4DVB will be QRV as J88PI from Palm Island, IOTA NA-025, from April 21 to 29. Activity will be on 40 to 6 meters using only SSB. QSL direct to home call.
JAPAN, JA. Special event station 8J1ITU is QRV from Honshu Island, IOTA AS-007, until May 31 to commemorate World Telecommunication and Information Society Day that will be held on May 17. QSL via bureau.
SLOVENIA, S5. Special event station S50RTVS is QRV until December 31, 2018 to celebrate 90 years of radio broadcasting and 60 years of television programs broadcasting by the Public Institute Radio and Television Corporation of Slovenia. QSL via bureau.
TURKEY, TA. Ben, DL7UCX and Bernd, DL7VBJ are QRV as TA0/homecalls from Marmara Island, IOTA AS-201, until April 26. Activity is on the HF bands. QSL to home calls. In addition, special event station TC23TC will be QRV on April 21 to 23 to celebrate the 23rd April Children Fest. QSL via operators’ instructions.
ST KITTS AND NEVIS, V4. Alex, W1CDC will be QRV as V47CDC from St. Kitts, IOTA NA-104, from April 23 to May 5. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using only CW. QSL to home call.
MICRONESIA, V6. Sho, JA7HMZ is QRV as V63DX from Pohnpei Island, IOTA OC-010, until April 24. Activity is on the HF bands with a focus on 160 meters using FT8. QSL direct to home call.
CHRISTMAS ISLAND, VK9X. James, N1YC and Wilbert, PE7T are QRV as VK9X/homecalls until April 21. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL VK9X/N1YC via W5UE and VK9X/PE7T via PE7T.
KOSOVO, Z6. Uwe, DG8NCO plans to be QRV as Z66EME from April 21 to 30. Activity will be on 2 meters and 70 cm using EME. QSL to home call.
THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The NCCC RTTY Sprint, NCCC CW Sprint, Holyland DX Contest, ES Open HF Championship, Worked All Provinces of China DX Contest, QRP to the Field, CQMM CW DX Contest, YU DX Contest, Nebraska QSO Party, Michigan QSO Party, EA-QRP CW Contest, Feld Hell Sprint and the Ontario QSO Party are all on tap for this weekend.
The CWops Mini-CWT CW Test, 432 MHz Spring Sprint, UKEICC 80-Meter CW Contest, Phone Fray and SKCC CW Sprint are scheduled for April 25.
The ARRL International Grid Chase runs during all of 2018.
Please see April QST, page 84, and the ARRL and WA7BNM Contest Web Sites for details.
VHF/UHF:
21st/22nd April – 1st MGM Contest – 14.00-14.00
13th May – 70MHz CW Contest – 09.00-12.00
19th/20th May – 144MHZ VHF Championship – 14.00-14.00
20th May – 1st 144MHZ Backpackers – 11.00-15.00
27th May – 70Mhz Cumulatives # 3 – 14.00-16.00
FINALÉ
Keep your eyes on the WADARC website for details – we will be clearing out the WADARC store and there will be goodies to be had.
73,
Alan. G4GNX
