Amateur radio in West Sussex - Training, Exams, Contests and Special Event Stations

Weekly Bulletin – May 31 2020

THE PAST WEEK

Firstly a reminder that there will be no net on GB3WO this coming Tuesday, as Jonathan, G1EXG will be presenting a talk via the Internet, on Zoom.
Jonathan has posted details on our Discuss reflector and you should contact him via that means or direct email to book a place. Also, please allow a few minutes before the start to request entry.
NOTE the earlier start time of 7.00pm.

The current situation seems to have dragged a few Amateurs out of the woodwork. It’s noticeable that the HF bands are more busy and this has also been helped by improvements in conditions on the upper frequencies. In particular 10 metres has been wide open, as has 6 metres. Many QSOs being made on 6 metres via sporadic E. Last Friday, the 10 metre repeater HB9HD in Switzerland was very strong, and several Worthing Amateurs were heard working through it.

4 metres was also quite busy, with some good DX via sporadic E, using FT8.

Not to be outdone, 2 metres was also very lively with many sporadic E calls. When conditions were ideal, signals were S9+ and often strong than stations only a few miles away. I had a few QSOs with the best being in Bulgaria and in Sardinia, countries I’d not worked before on 2 metre SSB.

It’s worth checking Propquest from time to time for Es predictions and reports.

I hope that everyone is taking advantage of some spare time during the lockdown, to improve their stations and maybe actually having QSOs for a change. I’ve been laying in new cables ready for some major antenna changes. I was looking at making changes to the HF OSCFD and I think I’ve discovered one cause of the current issues I’ve been having, as I’ve discovered that the outer covering of the sleeve balun, has a major split in it, making it unstable!

I would be pleased to receive reports on what others have been doing.

CLUB MEETINGS AND EVENTS – All suspended for the time being and replaced by nets and online talks.

  • Interactive talk via Zoom, on SOTAbeams Laserbeam-vari SSB / CW audio filter by Jonathan, G1EXG – Tuesday 2nd June – 7.00pm onwards – NO NET on GB3WO
  • Net each evening (Mon-Thurs) on 3.712MHz – 6.00pm onwards
  • Net on GB3WO – Tuesday 9th June – 8.00pm-10.00pm
  • Net on GB3WO – Tuesday 16th June – 8.00pm-10.00pm
  • Net on GB3WO – Tuesday 23rd June – 8.00pm-10.00pm
  • Net on GB3WO – Tuesday 30th June – 8.00pm-10.00pm

For further information as it occurs, please visit the WADARC website:http://www.wadarc.org.uk

NETS

Monday – 2 metres 145.425 MHz, FM, 7.30pm (local)

Tuesday – 70cms on GB3WO, FM, 8.00pm (local)

Thursday – 40 metres 7.106 MHz +- QRM, SSB, 11.00am (local)

Saturday – 70cms on GB3WO, 7.00pm (local)

Sunday – 80 metres 3.712 MHz +- QRM, SSB, 7.30am – 8.00am (local)

Weekday evenings – 80 metres 3.712 MHz +- QRM, SSB, 6.00pm (local)

RALLIES

Local, national and some international rallies can be found by visiting this excellent website: http://www.g4rga.org.uk/All.html

RAGCHEW

Winter 2019/2020 edition published – http://www.wadarc.org.uk/ragchew/spring-2020

PROPAGATION

HF and VHF

RSGB propagation information can be found by following this link: https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/gb2rs/propagation-news/2020/05/29/propagation-news-31-may-2020/

BEACONS

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:

WADARC members (and others) can subscribe to the DX News service without joining ARRL.
Send an email to this address: w1aw-list-request@arrl.org
In the subject line put the word Subscribe followed by your email address
ARRL will send an acknowledgement and you will receive the weekly DX News as an email, usually on a Friday

VHF/UHF:

The RSGB VHF/UHF Contest and Activity calendar is available via this link: https://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/readcal.pl?year=2020

FINALÉ

A few loyal Club supporters on the Club and other nets, but where is everyone else?

Vy 73,

Alan. G4GNX