The Worked All Britain Awards Group has organised a special award to coincide with the passage of the Olympic flame around the country.
Various amateur radio clubs around the UK will be operating from locations along the route used by the Torch Bearers for that particular day. They will use the callsigns G4WAB and G7WAB. The main call will be G4WAB, the exceptions for this being Shetland and Orkney, Jersey and Guernsey, when both callsigns will be used on the same day.
There will be three versions of the award, depending on the number of stations worked: Bronze, Silver and Gold. The award will be issued as a PDF as standard, with the option of a paper version for those that require it.
Full details of the cost, route and club stations are available on the WAB website, http://www.worked-all-britain.co.uk/.
29 May 2012
IRTS Field Day Contests
Next weekend - Saturday and Sunday, 2nd and 3rd June 2012 - the first of the year's IRTS field day contests takes place, with CW field day, which runs from 15:00 UTC on Saturday to 15:00 on Sunday.
The IRTS CW Field Day contest coincides with similar contests in other
European countries, so there should be no shortage of QSOs.
While the emphasis in these contests is on portable operation, fixed station QSOs are welcome.
See www.irts.ie/contests for more information on this and other contests.
As previously announced by the IRTS, there are some rule changes this year - these are highlighted in the contest rules.
The Field Day series of contests continues in July with VHF/UHF Field Day, while HF SSB Field Day takes place in September.
The IRTS CW Field Day contest coincides with similar contests in other
European countries, so there should be no shortage of QSOs.
While the emphasis in these contests is on portable operation, fixed station QSOs are welcome.
See www.irts.ie/contests for more information on this and other contests.
As previously announced by the IRTS, there are some rule changes this year - these are highlighted in the contest rules.
The Field Day series of contests continues in July with VHF/UHF Field Day, while HF SSB Field Day takes place in September.
Change in the IRTS 40 Metre News Frequency
The present 40 metre radio news frequency has become increasingly busier on Sunday mornings. This has lead on occasions to some difficulty in the reception of both the bulletins and the reports on the transmissions.
It has been decided, therefore, to move the transmission of the 40 metre news to a new
frequency of 7123 kHz on and from Sunday the 1st of July. This frequency was selected after monitoring a range of frequencies over a period of time by amateurs who use this particular transmission of the radio news bulletin.
25 May 2012
New transatlantic 144MHz beacon GB3WGI
Spotted this earlier!LINK
On the 18th of May, 2012, Ofcom issued a NoV for another propagation beacon to test the possibility of a 144MHz transatlantic path from the UK.
Located at Lough Navar Forest in Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland OSI 06599 57718, 349m asl level with a clear take off over the sea, GB3WGI ("West GI" will radiate on 144.487MHz towards North America, initially with an ERP of 100 Watts relative to a dipole, with plans to increase this if licensing allows.
This beacon was made possible due to the generous donation of a transmitter by Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, the man behind the US 70MHz beacon, and NoV holder, Gordon Curry GI6ATZ who is providing the site and site services.
This NoV is particularly welcome from Ofcom in what is clearly a busy Olympic year, and the VHF weak signal community in the US and the UK thank them for their efforts.
No date is yet fixed for the installation of the beacon, but plans are well under way and an announcement will be made in due course
73
John Worsnop G4BAO
GB3WGI Project Manager
On the 18th of May, 2012, Ofcom issued a NoV for another propagation beacon to test the possibility of a 144MHz transatlantic path from the UK.
Located at Lough Navar Forest in Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland OSI 06599 57718, 349m asl level with a clear take off over the sea, GB3WGI ("West GI" will radiate on 144.487MHz towards North America, initially with an ERP of 100 Watts relative to a dipole, with plans to increase this if licensing allows.
This beacon was made possible due to the generous donation of a transmitter by Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, the man behind the US 70MHz beacon, and NoV holder, Gordon Curry GI6ATZ who is providing the site and site services.
This NoV is particularly welcome from Ofcom in what is clearly a busy Olympic year, and the VHF weak signal community in the US and the UK thank them for their efforts.
No date is yet fixed for the installation of the beacon, but plans are well under way and an announcement will be made in due course
73
John Worsnop G4BAO
GB3WGI Project Manager
13 May 2012
Logbook of the World
Logbook of the World (LoTW for short) is an online QSL
system - an alternative to paper QSLs for award
credits. ARRL, which runs the LoTW system, have
announced that LoTW now has 50,000 users. These users
include more than 100 EI radio amateurs. QSLs from LoTW
can be used towards DXCC and other ARRL-sponsored
awards. Recently it was announced that LoTW QSLs will
shortly be valid for operating awards issued by CQ
Communications.
A review of LoTW users shows that call signs from all
but one of the 340 current DXCC entities have, at some
stage or other, uploaded logs to LoTW - the one entity
that has no participation in LoTW is Mount Athos. Most
major DXpeditions upload their logs to LoTW, some
immediately the DXpedition finishes and others after a
delay of a few months. Experience has shown that
contest stations have a particularly high
participation in LoTW.
While paper QSL cards are still popular, anyone
interested in maximising DXCC credits should consider
using the Logbook of the World system.
system - an alternative to paper QSLs for award
credits. ARRL, which runs the LoTW system, have
announced that LoTW now has 50,000 users. These users
include more than 100 EI radio amateurs. QSLs from LoTW
can be used towards DXCC and other ARRL-sponsored
awards. Recently it was announced that LoTW QSLs will
shortly be valid for operating awards issued by CQ
Communications.
A review of LoTW users shows that call signs from all
but one of the 340 current DXCC entities have, at some
stage or other, uploaded logs to LoTW - the one entity
that has no participation in LoTW is Mount Athos. Most
major DXpeditions upload their logs to LoTW, some
immediately the DXpedition finishes and others after a
delay of a few months. Experience has shown that
contest stations have a particularly high
participation in LoTW.
While paper QSL cards are still popular, anyone
interested in maximising DXCC credits should consider
using the Logbook of the World system.
European Football Championship 2012 on the AIR
EFC 2012 is an on-the-air activity which promises to be
a great deal of fun, organized by Polish and Ukrainian
amateurs affiliated with PZK and UARL.
From June 1st to July 5th 2012, there will be numerous
special event stations active on the air. They will be
operating concurrently with the 2012 European Football
Championship, which this year is organized jointly by
Poland and Ukraine.
More detailed information about our activity can be
found on website http://efc2012.pzk.org.pl There are
two awards which can be earned during this period, as
well as many interesting QSL cards and prizes.
a great deal of fun, organized by Polish and Ukrainian
amateurs affiliated with PZK and UARL.
From June 1st to July 5th 2012, there will be numerous
special event stations active on the air. They will be
operating concurrently with the 2012 European Football
Championship, which this year is organized jointly by
Poland and Ukraine.
More detailed information about our activity can be
found on website http://efc2012.pzk.org.pl There are
two awards which can be earned during this period, as
well as many interesting QSL cards and prizes.
10 May 2012
Huge sunspot AR1476
Huge sunspot AR1476 is crackling with M-class solar flares and appears to be on the verge of producing something even stronger.
The sunspot's 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field harbors energy for X-class flares, the most powerful kind.
Radio operators are recording strong bursts of shortwave static from the sunspot as it turns toward Earth.
Visit http://spaceweather.com for sample recordings and forecasts.
- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
The sunspot's 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field harbors energy for X-class flares, the most powerful kind.
Radio operators are recording strong bursts of shortwave static from the sunspot as it turns toward Earth.
Visit http://spaceweather.com for sample recordings and forecasts.
- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
6 May 2012
Locating Power Line Noise
Ham Radio Now have released a video of a 2010 Dayton presentation by Ed Hare W1RFI.
From the ARVN "Vault of Video we never got around to editing..." - the ARRL's Ed Hare W1RFI's seminar on locating Power Line Noise.
Ed made this presentation at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention.
Watch Ham Radio Now - Episode Ten: Locating Power Line Noise
From the ARVN "Vault of Video we never got around to editing..." - the ARRL's Ed Hare W1RFI's seminar on locating Power Line Noise.
Ed made this presentation at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention.
Watch Ham Radio Now - Episode Ten: Locating Power Line Noise
GB3LV repeater back on the air
GB3LV - the north London 70cm, IRLP and Echolink enabled repeater, is back on the air again after having been off air for a day or so with an intermittent fault. GB3NL and GB3EN were unaffected. The fault has been rectified by the rapid actions of Roger G8IUC.
Roger indicated that an upgrade/maintenance action was due on GB3EN (the Amateur TV repeater in Enfield) and that a new antenna, feeder and other sundries would be installed. The time scale for the installation is not known.
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