1 GB2RS NEWS Sunday 14 October

The news headlines

* JOTA golden jubilee

* Sputnik celebrates 50th birthday

* GB2RS drops MT63 JOTA will be celebrating its golden jubilee over the
weekend of 20 and 21 October. The theme for scouts this year is 'around
the world in 50 hours'. Many special event stations are planned in the
UK and worldwide. Around 130 UK special event callsigns have been
issued.

As announced in the September RadCom, the RSGB is actively supporting
JOTA with promotional materials. Packs containing leaflets, posters and
associated resources, are available free of charge from RSGB HQ. To
order a pack, please send a large stamped self-addressed envelope to
the amateur radio department as soon as possible. Packs will be
dispatched by return but delivery times cannot be guaranteed due to the
current postal disruption.

As you may have read in the October issue of RadCom, Sputnik 1
celebrated its 50th anniversary on October 4. AMSAT heralded the event
on the morning of 4 October by using AO-51 to retransmit the original
Sputnik-1 telemetry. Once again listeners could hear the haunting
beep-beep-beep from space.

For the last five years the GB2RS news has been transmitted using the
MT63 data mode. It was transmitted on Sunday evenings at 2015 local
time on 3600kHz and again at 2045 on 1840kHz. This proved popular
initially, but a survey carried out recently has found that few people
are now making use of it. This is probably because PC users are
downloading the news from the RSGB web site at their convenience. It
has therefore been decided that the MT63 data news bulletins will
terminate after the transmissions on Sunday 28 October. Some
experimental data bulletins will continue to be made on 5279kHz as part
of the ongoing 5MHz Experiment. Any enquiries should be directed to the
GB2RS News Manager Gordon, G3LEQ, on 01 565 652652.

In World War 2 the Colossus computer was created to help break Enigma
coded messages. The originals were destroyed after the War, but a
working example has recently been rebuilt. The work took 10 years, #1.2
million, and immense efforts from volunteers. To mark the completion of
the rebuild, a special celebration will be held on 15 and 16 November
at Bletchley Park. A series of messages will be enciphered on a WWII
Lorenz cipher machine. It is planned that the codes will be transmitted
using six tone RTTY from the Heinz Nixdorf Computer Museum in Germany,
in the same format transmitted in WWII. The signals will be received by
a replica 'Y' station and fed to Colossus for decoding. The RSGB hope
to bring you a report on the Colossus Mk 2 in a future issue of RadCom.


The November issue of RadCom will be posted during the week commencing
15 October. Due to the current disruptions within the postal service,
deliveries may be delayed. Members are asked to be patient and allow
extra time before contacting the RSGB to query non-delivery.

2 Members of the Wythall Amateur Radio Club and Contest Group will be
taking part in the CQ World Wide DX SSB Contest. They will be on the
air from the Pembrokeshire coast on October 27 and 28. The group will
be using the club's callsign MW5W and enter the contest as a
Multi-Multi entry with three stations. Some of the operators will be on
the air before the contest, signing their own callsign. For more
information log onto www.wythallradioclub.co.uk/.

And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week

[Note to newsreaders: Please use your judgement on whether to read the
14 October event, based on your time slot and distance from the event.]
On Sunday 14 October Great Lumley Amateur Radio Club are holding their
rally from 10.00 at the Great Lumley Community Centre. For more
information contact Nancy Bone, G7UUR, on 0191 477 0036 or email
. On Sunday 21 October Blackwood & District
Amateur Radio Society is running its annual Amateur Radio Rally. The
RSGB Regional Manager Gareth Price, GW3MPP, will be in attendance with
the RSGB Book Stall. He will be making a presentation to the Blackwood
& DARS, who are celebrating their 75th anniversary and the presentation
to the winner of the RSGB CDXC Cup. For rally details contact Dave,
GW4HBK, on 01495 228516 or by email to . More
details of these and future events can be found on pages 88 and 89 of
the October edition of RadCom. Now for the news of special events
Warrington Amateur Radio Club will be celebrating its 60th anniversary
year by operating the special call sign GB6WRS throughout the month of
October. The station will be active on all bands each day of the month.
The Galway Radio Experimenters Club will be running a special event
station EI100MFT on 13 to 17 October from Clifden in Ireland. The club
will be celebrating when Guglielmo Marconi sent his first commercial
message from the station at Clifden. Special event station PA50JOTA
will be active on 17 to 31 October from Nieuweroord to celebrate the
Golden Jubilee of the Jamboree On The Air. QSL via PA3EFR. The Border
Rievers Amateur Radio Society will be operating as MX0BRS/Jota on 18
October, from Cramlington, participating in the JOTA weekend. The
station will be on the air from 1000 till 1800, operating on HF, VHF
and UHF on voice and CW modes. Full details for the event can be found
on their website www.brars.co.uk. And now the HF DX news compiled from
425 DX News, the Ohio-Penn DX Bulletin and other sources.

Dave, G3TBK, will be active again using callsign J88DR from Wednesday
11 October until the end of the month. Activity will be on all HF
Bands, using CW, SSB and RTTY. SSTV can be operated on request. QSL
either direct to home call or via RSGB Bureau. Leo, IZ5FSA, Stefano,
IW5DPF and Luca, I5IHE, will be active as S79LL, S79SO and S79LC from
Praslin Island (AF-024), Seychelles on 14 to 19 October. QSL via home
calls, direct only.

3 Look for Ermanno, SV0XAN/5, to be active from the islands of Lipsi,
Agathonisi and Arkoi, Dodecanese, EU00 until 20 October. QSL via
IK2WZD. John, KE6GFF, will be in Afghanistan for the third time and
will operate from Kabul as T6EE from 18 October to 12 November. Look
for him on or around 14210kHz. QSL via home call John Kountz, 1065 van
Dyke Dr Laguna Beach, CA 92651, US. Igor, VE3ZF, Ken, VE3FDX, Bill,
K5YG, Travis, W5GED, John, VA2MCJ and Eugene, N2AA, will be active from
Orleans Island (NA-128) on 18 to 21 October. They will be signing
VE3ZF/2 CW and SSB and W5GED/VE2 RTTY and PSK, while during the W/VE
Islands QSO Party 20 to 21 October the callsign will be VE2IDX. QSL
VE2IDX via VE3ZF, others via home call. Haru, JA1XGI, will be active as
VK9GLX from Lord Howe Island (OC-004) on 19 to 22 October. He plans to
operate CW, SSB and digital modes on 40, 30 and 20 metres. QSL via
JA1XGI, direct or bureau or W8XGI direct only. Christoph, DK2CRN,
(VK2AM) and George, DL1ECG, (VK2ALU) will be active from Australia
until 27 October. QSL via home calls, direct or bureau. Now the contest
news The RSGB 50MHz Contest takes place on 14 October from 0900 to 1200
on all modes. The exchange takes the form of RST, serial number,
locator and postcode. The RSGB 1.3 and 2.3GHz Activity takes place on
16 October from 2000 to 2230 on all modes. The exchange takes the form
of RST, serial number and locator. The JARTS WW RTTY Contest takes
place from 0000 on 20 October to 2359 on 21 October, on 3.5 and 28MHz
bands, RTTY mode. The exchange takes the form of RST and age of
operator. The Worked All Germany Contest takes place from 1500 on 20
October to 1459 on 21 October, on 3.5 to 28MHz bands, on CW and SSB.
The exchange takes the form of RST and serial number. Now the solar
factual data for the period from 1 October to 7 October, compiled by
Neil Clarke, G0CAS For another week solar activity was once again very
low. Like last week another small sunspot group appeared but nothing
came of it. Solar flux levels varied little day to day and averaged 68
units. The 90 day solar flux on the 7th was 69 units, that's the same
level as last week. X-ray flux levels remained yet again remained below
the minimum level. Geomagnetic activity started at quiet levels but on
the 3rd a coronal hole disturbance arrived and lasted through to the
4th. The 3rd was the most disturbed day with an Ap index of 18units.
The rest of the period the geomagnetic field was quiet and the average
was Ap 8 units. The ACE spacecraft saw solar wind speeds increase from
400 kilometres per second on the 2nd to 600 by the 4th. Particle
densities were low throughout. Bz varied between minus 3 and plus 2
nanoTeslas on the quiet days and between minus 7 and plus 8 nanoTeslas
during the disturbance. The increase in geomagnetic levels was enough
to take the edge off HF propagation but not sufficiently for aurora at
VHF. However, although there were very few signals on 28MHz, there were
occasional openings to Africa on 21 and 24MHz and to the Pacific and
the Far East on 14MHz. Australia and New Zealand were

4 again workable on the lower bands by well-equipped stations around
about 0600 to 0700UTC. And finally the solar forecast. This week solar
activity is expected to continue at very low levels with no sign of an
end to the present period of inactivity. When activity does increase it
will happen without any warning and is almost impossible to forecast.
Solar flux levels should be in the high 60's all week. Geomagnetic
activity is expected to be quiet until around Wednesday when a coronal
hole disturbance should arrive. Even though the disturbance is not
expected to be strong, it should last until the weekend. MUFs during
daylight hours at equal latitudes should be around 19MHz for the south
and 16MHz for the north. The darkness hour lows should be about 8MHz.
Levels could be slightly lower during the second half of the week.
Paths this week to Japan should have a maximum usable frequency with a
50 per cent success rate of about 18MHz. The optimum working frequency
with a 90 per cent success rate will be around 14MHz. The best time to
try this path will be between 0800 and 1100 hours UTC. And that's all
for this week from the propagation team.

5 Next, the Local News:

Please note that details of all RSGB-affiliated clubs and societies can
be found on the RSGB website, including e-mail addresses

and website links where known.

[Note to newsreaders: Please read the local news items appropriate to
the service area of your

transmission.]

NEWS FOR THE SOUTH-EAST

and EAST ANGLIA On Sunday 14 October Southdown Amateur Radio Society is
operating at the Beachy Head Site. Contact John, G3DQY, on
01424,424,319, or by email to .

On Monday 15 October Burnham Beeches Radio Club is having a talk on
test equipment for the amateur. Contact G4XDU, on 01628625720.

On Monday 15 October Surrey Radio Contact Club is having its Fix-It,
advice, Chin Wag, Move-It-On evening. Contact Ray, G4FFY, on 020 8644
7589.

On Tuesday 16 October Maidenhead and District Amateur Radio Club is
having a club night. Contact John, G8RYW, on 01628 628 463, or by email
to .

On Tuesday 16 October Stevenage and District Amateur Radio Society is
having a software defined radio demo. Contact Neil, M0ARH, on 01438 217
077.

On Tuesday 16 October Verulam Radio Club is watching the video of the
3YOX DXpedition. Contact Norman, G8ATO, on 07773 628 912.

On Wednesday 17 October Chesham and District Amateur Radio Society is
having a 2m pedestrian portable perambulation with cryptic clues set by
G3XZG. Contact Terry, G0VFW, on 01442 506 344, or by email to
.

On Wednesday 17 October Dover Radio Club is having an operating night.
Contact Brian, G4SAU, by email to .

On Wednesday 17 October Fareham and District Amateur Radio Club is
having a final planning session for JOTA. Contact Ken, M0KLS, on 02392
797 240.

On Wednesday 17 October Havering and District Amateur Radio Club is
having a review of 2007 event pictures with Dave, M0TAZ. Contact Dave,
2E0EBV, on 07956 594 514.

On Wednesday 17 October Norfolk Amateur Radio Club is having an
informal evening. Contact Mark Taylor, G0LGJ, on 01362 691099, or by
email to .

On Wednesday 17 October Southdown Amateur Radio Society is operating at
the Halisham shack. Contact John, G3DQY, on 01424,424,319, or by email
to .

On Thursday 18 October Colchester Radio Amateurs is having a meeting at
St Helena School. Contact Kevan 2E0WMG at
or on 07766543784.

On Thursday 18 October Cray Valley Radio Society is having a visit to
the vintage Wireless Museum with G0UKN. Contact Bob, BRS32525, on 020
8265 7735 after 8pm.

On Thursday 18 October Shefford and District Amateur Radio Society is
having its autumn junk sale. Contact David, G8UOD, on 01234 742 757.

6 On Thursday 18 October Sutton and Cheam Radio Society is having a
talk on radio astronomy by Evan Duffield, M3TJU. Contact John, G0BWV,
on 020 8644 9945, or by email to .

On Friday 19 October Cambridge and District Amateur Radio Club is
having part 2 of the aerial extravaganza by Mike, G8VCN. Contact David,
G8JKV.

On Friday 19 October Mid-Sussex Amateur Radio Society is having its AGM
and wine and cheese evening. Contact Sue, G6YPY, on 01273 845 103, or
by email to .

On Friday 19 October Wey Valley Amateur Radio Group is taking a light
hearted look at early electrics with Stan Casperd, G3XON. Details on
the web at www.weyvalleyarg.org.uk.

On Saturday 20 October Fareham and District Amateur Radio Club is
operating its JOTA station at Fort Widley from 10am. Operations will be
on 2m, HF, SSB and, if facilities permit, on Echolink and slow scan TV.
Contact Ken, M0KLS, on 02392 797 240.

On Sunday 21 October Itchen Valley Amateur Radio Club is taking part in
JOTA with Liz, M0ACL. Contact Liz, M0ACL, on 02380 254599.

NEWS FOR THE SOUTH-WEST On Monday 15 October Appledore and District
Amateur Radio Club is having a radio quiz set by Dave, G0GPK. Contact
Beryl, G1SVP.

On Monday 15 October Wyke Regis Training Centre is commencing its last
Foundation Course of the year. The course will run from 6.30pm till
8.30pm for 4 to 5 Monday evenings. Contact Neville, M5NEV, by email to
.

A new radio club is being proposed for Bath and surrounding areas. On
Wednesday 17 October there will be a meeting for all interested parties
to discuss the proposals for Bath Amateur Radio Club. All amateurs from
the area are encouraged to participate. For more information please
contact Rob on 01225 351 016 or by email to .

On Wednesday 17 October Exmouth Amateur Radio Club is having an
operating night. Contact .

On Wednesday 17 October South Bristol Amateur Radio Club is discussing
club events and contest planning for 2008. Contact Len, G4RZY, on 01275
834 282.

On Wednesday 17 October Taunton and District Amateur Radio Club is
preparing for JOTA. Contact William, G3WNI, on 01823 666 234, or by
email to .

On Wednesday 17 October Thornbury and South Gloucestershire Amateur
Radio Club is having a video night. Contact Tony, G0WMB, by email to
.

On Thursday 18 October Swindon and District Amateur Radio Club is
having a talk on the Somerset range of kits by Tim Walford, G3PCJ.
Contact Mike, M5CBS, on 01793 826 465.

On Thursday 18 October Yeovil Amateur Radio Club is having a talk on
vintage broadcast receivers by M0WOB. Contact Gary, 2E0BFJ, by email to
.

On Friday 19 October Bournemouth Radio Society is having its AGM.
Contact John, G0HAT, on 07719 700 771.

On Sunday 21 October Taunton and District Amateur Radio Club is taking
part in JOTA from Huish Wood, operating as GB0THW. Contact William,
G3WNI, on 01823 666 234, or by email to .

7

NEWS FOR THE MIDLANDS On Monday 15 October Gloucester Amateur Radio and
Electronics Society is having a mini DF Hunt. Contact Anne, 2E1GKY, on
01452 548478, daytime.

On Tuesday 16 October Derby and District Amateur Radio Society is
having an illustrated talk by Keith, G3TTC, on broadcast transmitting
aerials. Contact Martin, G3SZJ, on 01332 556 875.

On Tuesday 16 October Loughborough and District Amateur Radio Club is
on the air. Contact Chris, G1ETZ, on 01509 504 319.

On Tuesday 16 October Wythall Radio Club is having its AGM. Contact
Chris, G0EYO, on 07710 412 819, or by email to ,
or on the web at www.wythallradioclub.co.uk.

On Wednesday 17 October Telford and District Amateur Radio Society is
having a nostalgia night, where members are invited to bring something
old and interesting. Contact Mike, G3JKX, on 01952 299 677, or by email
to .

On Thursday 18 October Salop Amateur Radio Society is having its pre
AGM discussion. Contact Glenda, G1YJB, on 01939 235 412.

On Thursday 18 October Solihull Amateur Radio Society is having its AGM
at the Shirley Centre, 274 Stratford Road. Contact Paul, G8AYY, on 0121
783 2996.

On Friday 19 October Hucknall Rolls-Royce Amateur Radio Club is having
a 2 meter VHF mobile fox hunt. Details on the web at www.hrrarc.com.

NEWS FOR THE NORTH OF ENGLAND

On Sunday 14 October Great Lumley Amateur Radio And Electronics Society
is holding its rally at the Great Lumley Community Centre, Front
Street, Great Lumley, near Chester Le Street, County Durham. Contact
Nancy, 0191 477 0036, 07990 760 920, or by email to
.

On Monday 15 October Sheffield Amateur Radio Club is having a talk by
G3VOT on antennas for new people. Contact Trevor, M0TWS.

On Monday 15 October Thornton Cleveleys Amateur Radio Society is having
its AGM. Contact Jack, G4BFH, by email to
.

On Tuesday 16 October Chester and District Radio Society is having a
talk on tunnel communications by Eric Walton and Jock McEwan. Details
on the web at www.chesterdars.org.uk, .

On Tuesday 16 October Pontefract District Amateur Radio Society is
having a construction evening, making low pass filters for HF
transmitters. A PCB and kit of parts will be provided. Contact Colin,
G0NQE, on 01977 677 006, .

On Tuesday 16 October Stockport Radio Society is having a surplus
equipment review evening. Contact David, M1ANT, on 0161 456 7832.

On Wednesday 17 October Denby Dale Amateur Radio Society is having its
AGM. Contact David, G6OCD, on 0700 5947317, or by email to
.

On Wednesday 17 October Great Lumley Amateur Radio and Electronics
Society is holding a post mortem on the rally. Contact Nancy, 0191 477
0036, 07990 760 920, or by email to .

8 On Thursday 18 October Grimsby Amateur Radio Society is having its
annual junk sale. Contact Brian, G4DXB, on 01472 231 383.

On Thursday 18 October Wakefield and District Amateur Radio Society is
on the air. Contact Dave, G4CLI, on 07748 221 855, or by email to
.

On Friday 19 October South Manchester Radio and Computer Club is having
a video show "The Spitfire Fighter". Contact Ron, on 0161 969 3999.

On Friday 19 October Tynemouth Radio Club is having a virtual Morse and
JOTA briefing by Glen G0SBN. Contact Tony, G8YFA, by email to
.

On Saturday 20 October Tynemouth Radio Club is taking part in Jamboree
on the air with Tynemouth Scouts. Contact Tony, G8YFA, by email to
.

On Saturday 20 October Wakefield and District Amateur Radio Society is
taking part in Jamboree on the air with the Wakefield 23rd Scout Group.
Contact Dave, G4CLI, on 07748 221 855, or by email to
.

NEWS FOR SCOTLAND

On Wednesday 17 October Paisley (YMCA) Amateur Radio Club is having a
demonstration of how to operate the shack radio gear. Contact Jim,
GM3UWX.

On Thursday 18 October Aberdeen Amateur Radio Society is having mini
talks. Contact Lewis, GM4AJR, on 01224 575 663, or on the web at
www.aars.freeserve.co.uk.

On Friday 19 October Cockenzie and Port Seton Amateur Radio Club is
having a video night. Contact Bob, GM4UYZ, on 01875 811 723.

On Friday 19 October West Of Scotland Amateur Radio Society is having
its technical forum. Details on the web at www.wosars.org.

On Saturday 20 October Moray Firth Amateur Radio Society is taking part
in JOTA from Fochabers. Contact Jim, MM0SMD, on 01340 820 134.

NEWS FOR WALES On Tuesday 16 October Carmarthen Amateur Radio Society
is having a talk on air traffic engineering. Contact Les, GW8PSJ, on
01239 811 922.

NEWS FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

On Saturday 20 October Bangor and District Amateur Radio Club is taking
part in Jamboree on the air. Contact Mike, GI4XSF, on 028 4277 2 383.

And that's the end of this week's GB2RS news broadcast,

prepared by the Radio Society of Great Britain.