WADARC meets at – Lions Hall, 21 Roberts Road, Lancing. BN15 8AR.
THE PAST WEEK
Despite being a bit damp and windy from time to time, Wednesday’s hilltop meeting seems to have been popular, with over 10 people attending. Please boast about any DX via the Discuss reflector.
Today is the birthday of Samuel Morse who is claimed to be the originator of Morse Code. The unsung hero in the story of Morse Code was Alfred Vail – who pretty much invented the dot-dash code as we know it, as
well as the hand key, but it’s Morse’s name, as owner of the company that paid for it, on the patents. Sic transit Gloria.
Ted, G3EUE has suggested that we might try 10 metres for a local net, which might also get further round the country for distant members. If someone would like to run a net, please discuss via the reflector or contact a member of the committee.
CLUB MEETINGS & EVENTS
- 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
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):
SOLAR WIND GRAZES EARTH: A weak stream of solar wind is grazing Earth’s magnetic field today. The gaseous material is flowing from a northern hole in the sun’s atmosphere, pointing not-quite-directly at our planet. NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% chance of polar geomagnetic activity in response to this grazing event.
For further info please visit: http://spaceweather.com
Propagation news from RSGB:
The Sun remained spotless this week, other than the hint of a new sunspot coming around its limb as this report was being written.
The solar flux index reflected this, sitting around the high 60s, although it did reach 71 on Thursday morning. Geomagnetic conditions were quiet at the beginning of the week, but a solar wind stream from a large solar coronal hole was predicted to hit Earth later on Thursday, the 19th. This normally means noisy HF bands, and depressed maximum usable frequencies (MUFs) after a possible initial positive phase.
We are now seeing a shift towards more summer-like ionospheric conditions in the northern hemisphere. At this time there is a chemical change towards more diatomic molecules in the F2 layer and fewer monatomic species. The diatomic molecules are more difficult to ionise and as a result MUFs can suffer.
Coupled with the lack of sunspots, we are now seeing daytime MUFs struggling to get above 16-17 Megahertz at times, despite the quiet geomagnetic conditions.
The upside is that night-time MUFs are staying higher, with seven Megahertz possibly staying open to DX over a 3,000km path through the night. A phenomenon that has been spotted is that the MUF is sometimes rising again for a short period after sunset. It might be worth checking 14MHz around 2000hrs UTC as this has showed itself a few times on the ionosonde data.
Next week, NOAA predicts the solar flux index will remain around 69 and geomagnetic conditions are predicted to be quieter from Monday onwards after the weekend’s high K-indices.
These settled conditions could bring better DX from Tuesday or Wednesday, once the ionosphere has settled. As we’ll explain in the VHF section, you may still have to wait a week or two before the start of the summer sporadic E season.
VHF/UHF:
Last week ended with high pressure near southern areas declining during the weekend as low pressure moved in from the Atlantic towards northern areas.
There may be slightly enhanced tropo conditions around at first but these could weaken as the low takes over. This could introduce showery weather with a prospect for rain scatter on the Gigahertz bands.
The 2018 sporadic E season is nearly here! It usually starts with a few fleeting SSB and CW signals across southern Europe, possibly not within range of UK stations, but with new digital modes, we might be lucky this early.
Since the location of sporadic E geographically can be influenced by the position of the jet stream, there may be some possibility of paths from the UK to the south-east into the Balkans and east to the Baltic states. The other possibility, based on expected jet stream positions, might be from Spain down to the Canaries.
Anyway, before it all kicks off, it is worth making that list of useful beacons on 10m or 6m so that you can quickly find the openings—just Google “G3USF beacons”. Also, use propquest.co.uk to find the daily jet stream positions.
Now we are in April, meteor activity is picking up again. The first significant shower, the Lyrids, peaks Sunday, 22 April sometime between 1000 and 2100 UTC.
Moon declination is still positive, but decreases all week, going negative—that is, south—this coming Friday. Losses will also increase as the Moon heads out to apogee, its furthest point from Earth. It’s another good week for EME then, with long windows and high Moon elevations.
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 he 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.
NIGER, 5U. Torbjon, SM7RME is QRV as 5U7R from Niamey. Activity is on the HF bands in his spare time. His length of stay is unknown. QSL via SM7EHU.
JAMAICA, 6Y. Chris, VO1IDX will be QRV as 6Y5IDX from Negril, IOTA NA-097, from April 29 to May 6. Activity will be on 80 to 6 meters using SSB and FT8. QSL to home call.
CROATIA, 9A. Jan, PA4JJ will be QRV as 9A/PA4JJ from April 27 to June 8. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters using FT8. QSL to home call.
RWANDA, 9X. Alan, 9X0TA is QRV until December 31. He has been active on the HF bands using FT8. QSL via N4GNR.
BHUTAN, A5. Kay, WA0WOF and Mio, JR3MVF will be QRV as A52YL from April 29 to May 6. They will be active on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. They are joined by Junichi, JH3AEF and Jusei, JA3IVU who will be QRV as A52AEF and A52IVU, respectively, on 80 to 6 meters
using CW, SSB and various digital modes. QSL A52YL via WA0WOF, A52AEF via JH3AEF, and A52IVU via JA3IVU.
MOZAMBIQUE, C9. Vasily, R7AL, Vasily, RA1ZZ, Al, RZ3K and Vlad, RK8A will be QRV as C96RRC from Mozambique Island, IOTA AF-088, from April 29 to May 3. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and various digital modes. QSL via R7AL.
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, DA. Special event station DM152ZYA is QRV until the end of 2018 to commemorate the rollout and maiden flight 60 years ago of the first German passenger aircraft equipped with a jet engine that was built in Dresden. QSL via bureau.
TEMOTU PROVINCE, H40. Cezar, VE3LYC will be QRV as H40D from Taumako Island, IOTA OC-179, from April 29 to May 3. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call.
ITALY, I. The UN Global Service Center ARC, 4U1GSC, in Brindisi, Italy, will change its call to 4U29MAY from May 1 to June 30. This promotes the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, which is May 29. Despite the UN call sign, it will count as Italy. QSL to 9A2AA.
OGASAWARA, JD1. Harry, JG7PSJ will be QRV as JD1BMH from Chichijima, IOTA AS-031, from April 29 to May 4. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL direct to home call.
MARKET REEF, OJ0. Pasi, OH3WS will be QRV as OJ0W from April 27 to May 4. Activity will be in his spare time on the HF bands using CW and some SSB. QSL to home call.
SABA, ST. EUSTATIUS, PJ5. Rick, AI5P will be QRV as PJ6/AI5P from Saba Island, IOTA NA-145, from April 28 to May 5. Activity will be on the HF bands. QSL to home call.
SEYCHELLES, S7. Michael, VK4EF is QRV as S79LD from Mahe Island and La Digue Island, both IOTA AF-024, until May 31. Activity is in his spare time on 80, 40, 20 and possibly 10 meters using SSB, JT65, FT8 and QRS CW. QSL direct to home call.
CRETE, SV9. Seppo, OH1VR is QRV as SV9/OH1VR from Stalos Island, IOTA EU-015, until May 2. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters. QSL direct to home call.
ST. KITTS AND NEVIS, V4. Alex, W1CDC is QRV as V47CDC from St. Kitts until May 5. Activity is on the HF bands. QSL to home call.
INDIA, VU. Special event call VU8FOC will be QRV from May 1 to 31 to celebrate the FOC’s 80th anniversary. QSL via operators’ instructions.
LAOS, XW. Bruce, 3W3B is QRV as XW4XR from Vientiane until May 4. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters, and possibly 6 meters, using CW, RTTY and JT65. QSL via E21EIC.
INDONESIA, YB. Look for YB3MM/8 and YB3LZ/8 to be QRV from Tinabo Island, IOTA OC-242, from April 28 to May 1. On May 1 and 2, they will also be active from Salayar Island, IOTA OC-236. Activity will be on 40 to 15 meters with two stations active. QSL via operators’ instructions.
OPERATION APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operation is approved for DXCC Credit: Socorro Island, Revillagigedo, 4B4B, 2018 operation.
THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The 10-10 International Spring Digital Contest, NCCC RTTY Sprint, NCCC CW Sprint, SP DX RTTY Contest, Helvetia Contest, Florida QSO Party, BARTG Sprint 75 and the AGCW QRP/QRP Party are all on tap for this upcoming weekend.
The Phone Fray and CWops Mini-CWT Test are scheduled for May 2.
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:
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
Thanks to those club members who have given a talk at one of our club meetings and to those who have volunteered for the future. However, we’re still in desperate need of people to give a talk and keep the club interest going. If you would like to give a talk on your favourite subject or area of expertise or if you know someone else who would be willing, please contact Alex, 2E0UMD or me to book a slot in the club calendar.
73,
Alan. G4GNX
