Bruce MM/ZL1AAO ex-GM1KNP (Lanark)
UK Visit Plans
Bruce ZL1AAO and ex GM1KNP plans to be in the UK from 6th July until 14th August, during which he plans to be active both mobile and portable.
His provisional itinerary is:-
6th & 7th July - Balerno.
8th/9th July Wednesday/Thursday - Lanark
10th/11th July - Gretna Green.
12th July Sunday. touring England and Wales for about 10 days
Lake District/North Wales/Bristol/Aldershot/York
23rd & 24th July. Thursday/Friday Lanark
25th/26th July Balerno
27th July Monday - Lanark
28th July to 7th August - touring northern Scotland, including orkney Islands
7th to 10th August - Balerno.
10th August - Lanark
11th to 14th August - Liberton.
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Night of Nights
0001GMT 13th July 2009
The tenth annual Night of Nights
run by the Maritime Radio Historical Society
takes place on 12th July 2009 (US time)
Operations begin at 0001GMT 13th July
Two-way operations will continue for about 6 hours
but broadcasts on the commercial stations KPH, KFS and KSM
may continue after that.
Every year on 12 July many famous coast stations return to the air to commemorate what was then thought to be the last commercial Morse stations in the USA.
[Since then MRHS coast station KSM has taken to the air and three other commercial coast stations have received licenses for operation in the MF band (KNE, KDR and WFT). Historic ships have reactivated their radio consoles and are active on MF and HF.]
The purpose of Night of Nights is to emphasize the objective of the MRHS: to preserve the skills, traditions and culture of the men and women who came before us and who made the profession of radiotelegrapher one of honor and skill.
This year stations KPH, and KSM will be on the air.
It is anticipated that KFS will be on the air as well.
It is hoped that US Coast Guard stations NMC, NOJ and NMN will join in.
Amateur station K6KPH will guard 3550, 7050 and 14050kc for reception reports.
Preliminary information has been posted on the MRHS Web site: http://www.radiomarine.org
KPH will transmit on 426, 500, 4247.0, 6477.5, 8642.0, 12808.5, 17016.8 and 22477.5kc.
KPH operators will listen for calls from ships on ITU Channel 3 in all bands.
The Channel 3 frequencies are 4184.0, 6276.0, 8368.0, 12552.0, 16736.0 and 22280.5kc on HF and 500kc on MF.
KFS will transmit on 12695.5 and 17026.0
KFS will listen for calls from ships on HF Channel 3 (see KPH listing for frequencies).
KSM will transmit on 426, 500, 6474 and 12993kc.
KSM will listen for calls from ships on 500kc and HF Channel 3 (see KPH listing for frequencies).
WLO will transmit on 438, 500 (MF not yet confirmed), 2055.5, 4343.0, 8658.0, 12992.0 and 16968.5kc
WLO will listen for calls from ships on 500kc (not confirmed) and HF Channel 3 (see KPH listing for frequencies).
KLB will transmit on 488, 500 (A1 & A2), 2063.0, 8582.5kc
KLB will listen for calls from ships on 500kc and 8368.0kc.
For the first time since the USCG ended Morse operations NMN will be back on the air!
NMN will transmit on 448, 468, 500, 8471, 12718.5 and 16976kc
NMN will listen for calls from ships on 500kc and HF Channel 3 (see KPH listing for frequencies).
NMC will transmit on 448, 472, 500, 6383.0, 8574.0 and 17220.5kc
NMC will listen for calls from ships on 500kc and HF Channel 3 (see KPH listing for frequencies).
NOJ will transmit on 8650.0, 12889.5 and 16909.7kc.
NOJ will listen for calls from ships on Channel 3 (see KPH listing for frequencies).
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Kilmarnock and Loudoun ARC
EU-122 - Rathlin Island - WLOTA 0039
GI0ADX
July 25th and 26th
Members of Kilmarnock and Loudoun ARC will be active as GI0ADX from Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland, in the RSGB IOTA Contest (July 25-26th).
Operators include: Allan/GM3OZB, Barry/GM3YEH,
Steve/GM4OSS, John/GM0DJG and Gordon/MM0BIM.
QSL via MM0DHQ, by the Bureau is preferred.
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GPS Jamming - North of Scotland
July 6th to 16th
GPS to be jammed in Scotland
The Ministry of Defence conducts occasional tests on military systems
that may result in some loss of service to civilian users of the
Global Positioning System. This may affect equipment such as in-car
navigation devices and other networks which rely on GPS signals
The MoD will be conducting such a GPS jamming exercise in northern Scottish waters in the period July 6th to 16th for limited periods
between 11.00 and 15.00 UTC. The location for the exercise is to sea
westwards from 58.57.4N 3.13.9W,
which is about 60 nautical miles west of Kirkwall.
This could therefore affect GPS receivers
in the far north of Scotland and the Orkney Islands
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GB250RB
The Kilmarnock and Loudoun Amateur Radio Club
has been issued the special event call GB250RB
as a one-of, year-long event for the club.
This call provides a good opportunity to publicise
the club and other Scottish clubs.
The main event will be from the club house
but the call can be taken all over Ayrshire and Scotland
as part of the Burns 250th Anniversary celebrations.
For more information contact the Kilmarnock club chairman, Arthur MM0DHQ.
Find out more about GB250RB and about the Bard himself on a special website www.gb250rb.co.uk
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Australian Callsign Confusion
Confusion is being caused by Australia's new Foundation Class Amateur Radio Licences - which are being issued with four letter suffixes, beginning with the letter F for Foundation.
Foundation Class licens permit a maximum of 10-watts power on 80, 40, 15 and 10m only and CW or SSB only and commercially made equipment must be used (i.e. no homebrew).
Raj / VK4FRAJ is one Australian Foundation licencee - but he may be a bit unusual in that his love is for CW and contesting. However, he is somewhat frustrated by those who question his legality - and those who do not take the time to listen carefully to his callsign (not VK4FJ, not VK4RAJ, not VK4FRA, not VK4FR, not VK4FRJ.. etc.. )
VK4FRAJ's frustration has been made known to the world, not by Raj himself, but by his father Eddie / VK4AN ! |
New Repeaters Now Active
Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire NS731802
GB3SL - R50-2 - 50.730MHz/51.230MHz - 1750/103.5Hz (G) Access
Lowther Hill, Dumfries and Galloway NS890107
GB3LA - RV57 - 145.7125/145.1125 - 1750/103.5Hz (G) Access |
Broadcasts in English
The Summer 2009 edition of
Broadcasts in English
has just been published by the British DX Club
more info here |
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Design of IRCs to change
The current design of International Reply Coupons will expire at the
end of year.
Unlike the old style coupons, the current types all have an expiry
date, giving them a maximum life of 3 years. If you purchased a
current IRC today, they will still expire on 31st December 2009. The
current issue is known as the Beijing 2 IRC and may be exchanged up
to 31st December 2009, which is the date printed on coupon. In
principle, Beijing 2 coupons will no longer be sold from 31st August
2009.
The new international reply coupon will be known as the Nairobi Model
and is due to go on sale from 1st July 2009. It will be valid for
exchange until 31st December 2013.
Some 2.2 million International Reply Coupons are sold each year by
121 postal administrations. While not all countries sell IRCs, all
the postal operators of the Universal Postal Union's 191 member
countries, and their territories, are required to exchange them.
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7100 to 7200kHz
The International Amateur Radio Union has thanked short wave
broadcasters for achieving a high degree of migration away from the
now-worldwide amateur-exclusive band of 7,100 to 7,200kHz by the
mandated date of 29th March.
IARU Secretary Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, has been quick to acknowledge the
compliance by most broadcasters to QSY out of that band, as required
by a decision of the World Radio Conference in 2003. He also noted
that he is certain that the few remaining broadcast transmitters
operating on 7,200kHz and below will be addressed in the coming
weeks.
The departure of broadcasting from this spectrum has resulted in an
enormous improvement in the usefulness of 40 metres for amateur radio
communication.
At the end of March, a portion of the 40-metre band from 7100 to 7200kHz became exclusive to the Amateur Radio Service. The allotting of this segment to the amateur service is as a result of a resolution at the World Conference of the Radio Communications of the UIT in 2003
American Radio Amateurs are being heard in this sub-band as late as 1000 hours UTC in the North of the UK.
In France, the 7100-7200kHz section of 40m was discussed recently at the Commission of Planning of Frequencies (CPF). The modification of the National Table of Distribution of the Frequency bands was approved, allotting this segment to the amateur service on an exclusive basis. This modification must now be the ratified then the decision will have to be approved by ministerial decree. This procedure usually takes a few weeks and one can look forward to the publication of this decree before the summer.
The Foreningen Sveriges Sandareamatorer (SSA), Sweden's IARU Member Society, also announced that as of 1 April, Swedish amateurs will gain access to 7.0 - 7,2MHz, bringing Sweden into line with the WRC-03 decision to shift broadcasting stations in Regions 1 and 3 out of the 7 100 - 7 200 kHz band and to reallocate the band exclusively to the Amateur Service in those two regions as of 29 March.
Each country in Regions 1 and 3 is permitted to determine their own timeline for the amateur allocation. While the band has been vacated by commercial broadcasters, no country is required to give amateurs privileges on those frequencies.
In the UK, 7,100-7,200 kHz is already allocated to the Amateur Service, currently on the basis of a Secondary User, with 26dBW power permitted. This is available on the basis of non interference to other services (inside or outside of the UK). A new bandplan for 7MHz is scheduled for March 2009.
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500kHz Memorial Band
May 2009
The RSGB President, Colin Thomas, G3PSM is has been appointed CEPT Lead Coordinator for the 500kHz proposal,
which is Agenda Item 1.23, at
the 2011 World Radio Conference.
This appointment
is unusual in that agenda item coordinators are normally selected
from administrations, ie Ofcom. This is a great honour for Colin and
the role that the RSGB and the IARU play within the international
telecommunications community.
The Norwegian Radio Relay League has been successful in persuading
the nation's licensing authority to add new bands to the amateur
radio band plan, with changes expected to take place in the spring of this year.
Included in the new offerings is a CW-only allocation of 490 to
510kHz on a secondary basis with a maximum power of 100 watts PEP.
April 2009
In the Republic of Ireland, the regulator has agreed to a limited
number of permissions to operate in the region of 500 kHz under a
licence to be issued to IRTS.
Expressions of interest are being sought equally from both non IRTS
and IRTS members. Participants will be expected to keep a separate
full detailed log of all experiments conducted. It should be noted
that only a relatively small number of permissions will be granted.
During the late hours of Friday 24th and the early hours of Saturday
25th April 2009, GB4FPR was operated from the Fort Perch Rock Marine Radio
Museum in the Wirral. Using a newly obtained 501kHz to 504kHz NOV
licence, they managed a transatlantic QSO on 502kHz with a station in
St. John's, Newfoundland. The operators used Marconi marine equipment
and Morse and received a 539 report from V01MRC. It was a crossband
QSO with GB4FPR transmitting 1 watt ERP on 502kHz and receiving the
Canadian station on 3566kHz.
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Paisley YMCA Amateur Radio Club
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50/144 Aurora |
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Log |
144MHz e's |
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Log |
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Fact of the Day
Propagation
On Monday 22nd June a new solar cycle 24 sunspot group emerged in the southwestern quadrant of the Sun near S22E41. We have seen 6 solar cycle 24 sunspot groups in the last 30 days, 4 of these in the month of June..
Sunspot numbers from May 31 through June 5 ranged from 13 to 23,
then the Sun was blank for two days, followed by sunspot numbers of
12 for both June 8 and 9. This fleeting sunspot was number 1020,
and like last week's spot, 1020 had the magnetic signature of a new
Cycle 24 spot. Alas, it was another of the frequent sunspots we've
seen lately which appear briefly, then vanish.
The last Cycle 23 spot was number 1016, which appeared April 29-30.
For this week, geomagnetic conditions should remain very quiet.
Solar flux is estimated to be about 68, rising above 70 June 24
through July 1.
Sunspot numbers for June 4 through 10 were 17, 13, 0, 0, 12, 12, and
0 with a mean of 7.7. 10.7 cm flux was 71, 70.1, 69, 68.9, 69,
69.1, and 69.2 with a mean of 69.5. Estimated planetary A indices
were 6, 6, 5, 6, 4, 3 and 5 with a mean of 5. Estimated
mid-latitude A indices were 5, 5, 2, 3, 2, 2 and 2 with a mean of 3.
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Radioarena are a Glasgow company offering an equipment repair and maintenance service to Radio Amateurs
More Info |
What GM-related events
are you planning?
Let us know
and we'll tell the world
Visiting GM ?
If you are visiting Scotland anytime,
in advance and we'll try to spread the word. |
