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NARC Contest News 161 Friday 18th October 2024
Welcome to week one hundred and sixty one of NARC’s contest news.
Results:-
On VHF
The results of the 144MHz UKAC of 1/10/2024 were released on 15th October. The good news for us is that despite coming 7th in this one we hold on to 4th place overall. We do need more people to enter for us. Any score is better than none! We managed 7 entrants. Conditions were quite reasonable and everyone achieved good distances. Link to results here
NARC is running 10th at the moment in this year's VHF championships out of 84 clubs. Link here
In the overall UKAC we are still running 4th out of 56 in the General clubs section but our hold on 4th is being gradually eroded by Gower/Gwyr CC. Link to this here
On HF
The results of the 80m Autumn series CW contest show that we were just pipped to the post by Bristol who put up a strong team scoring 8,334 points compared to our 8,200. Third place was taken by Echelford ARS who scored 4,515 points. We still hold a large overall lead with 30,945 points compared to Bristol's 21,000. Leading points scorer for NARC in this one was Malcolm, G3PDH with 870 points coming 4th in the 100W Unassisted section. Link to results here
If people are entering other contests of whose results I am obviously unaware please e-mail me to let me know the outcome and I'll mention it here.
Contests:-
On VHF
On Tuesday 15th October the 1.3GHz UKAC ran. Some people experienced good conditions but that was not the case here in JO02!. There was deep QSB and signals were generally weak. We managed 5 entries in this one with Stewart G4AFF topping the list for NARC. None of us have ended up placed very highly on claimed scores in this one! Link to claimed scores here
The 70MHz UKAC ran on Thursday 17th October. As far as I can tell we had 7 stations turn out for this one and should get 6 logs submitted. Conditions weren't great but there were some good contacts to be had. Best DX here was Dave, G7RAU in the Lizard with Jon, GM4JTJ closely following. Everyone seemed to be struggling with noise, particularly to the South East and with rapid QSB. Link to claimed scores here
On HF
The 80m Autumn series DATA contest ran on Wednesday 16th October. Conditions were quite good and as far as I am aware we had 12 stations on the air for this one. Malcolm, G3PDH topped the number of contacts for us with 117. G6XX was not obviously present during this one so no bonus points! On a cursory check of logs received it looks like we should have won this one. Links to logs received here
Please let me know if you were on in any other VHF or HF contests and I'll put a summary in next week's news.
Upcoming contests in the next 2 weeks (all times in UTC):-
On VHF / UHF / SHF
Before each of the 2m and 70cm UKACs there is an FM leg starting 1 hour before for 55 minutes. I hear almost no activity in this from here but others may have more luck! Rules etc on RSGBCC site.
* Sun 19th Oct. 0000 for 47h 59m ARRL EME contest 6m to 1296MHz - Link to rules here
* Sun 20th Oct. 0900-1300 50MHz AFS contest - AFS Super League - Link to rules here
* Tue 22nd Oct. 1830-2130 SHF UKAC
Also of interest for some on the vhf / uhf bands are the EU FT8 activity tests - see the following link for more information. These are on the first (144 MHz), second (432MHz) and third (1.3GHz) Wednesdays of each month. 1700-2000 Hrs EU FT8 series website
On HF
* Sat 19th Oct. 0000 for 48h JARTS RTTY contest - Link to rules here
* Sat 19th Oct. 0000 for 47h 59m YBDXPI FT8 Contest - Link to rules here
* Sat 19th Oct. 0001 for 47h 58m 10-10 fall contest 10m CW - Link to rules here
* Sat 19th Oct. 1400 to SMon 21st Oct 0200 YLRL DX/NA YL Anniversary Contest - Link to rules here
* Sat 19th Oct. 1500 for 24h Stew Perry Topband Challenge CW - Link to rules here
* Thu 24th Oct. 1900-2030 80m Autumn series SSB
* Sat 26th Oct. 0000 to Sun 27th Oct. 2359 CQ WW DX SSB - Link to rules here
* Mon 28th Oct. 2000-2130 RSGB FT4 contest
See Link to WA7BNM for other contests not mentioned above. Several QSO parties in the USA etc.
Wednesdays throughout the year, CW ops 1 hour mini tests 13:00, 19:00, Thurs 03:00 and 07:00, exchange Name and G if not a member or CWOPS number if you are a member.
See CWOPS website for more details.
Also on Fridays 2000 to 2100 and Mondays 0000 to 0100 each week CWops runs the K1USN slow speed CW contests. Any speed up to 20wpm is acceptable. For rules see :- CW OPs SST page these contests are open to anyone.
All RSGB contest rules and further details plus log submission at RSGB contest site
Look to WA7BNM’s contest calendar for other contests and links to rules etc at WA7BNM weekly contest calendar
A link to John 2E0TWQ’s site’s Narc contest history page - 2E0TWQ's NARC contest results page
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Contesting can be great fun but I know there's a reluctance to step into unknown waters. It's a great way of improving many aspects of our hobby including one's own performance and the quality of your station. If you have any interest whatsover please call in to the contest net on Friday evening at 9pm on 145.250MHz FM or speak to any of the regular contesters on 450. Or indeed email me!
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Submissions or comments for this news to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
73 until next week,
Phil G4LPP
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GB2CW Morse Corner 18.10.24
GB2CW Morse Corner 18.10.24
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Morse Classes.
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Classes have started once again. Jim G3YLA reports that his class was successful with around three attending and a promise from another. The schedule is below so that if you are thinking about learning Morse, you can choose the class most suitable for you. As usual I am not expecting a large amount doing just that, but now is a great time to start. It really is ALL down to you personally however, with the BIG P word.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE TIMES HAVE CHANGED IN SOME INSTANCES.
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Key of the Week.
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Again I am using another key from the stable of IK4EWX.
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It is a McElroy 1938B marbelised De Luxe. Note that even in 1938 the marbelised finish was used. Also take note of the finger and thumb pieces. It really is a pity these are not used on modern keys. This particular model is being sold on Ebay for around $300.
There is a more modern maker of Morse keys using bases similar to this and that is Valery RA1AOM.
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The NARC CW Monday Night Net.
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This now takes place on 3543 at 8 p.m. on Monday evenings. We have a Net controller each week and the idea is to encourage you to conversational Morse. If you can read and send at 23wpm, do come and join us. 23wpm is the speed at present and we may be increasing that as time goes by. The overs are short but protocol is adherred to and just a few comments from each attendee is all that is needed. Give it a try!
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CW OPS
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The 4 a.m. session just has Mike G3DYC and myself on it. Propagation varies and 40m seems to be the bread and butter band. UK TIME will be changing soon so the times of the CW OPS sessions will change accordingly.
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That's it, open the cage, play the music.
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If you have any input, please email me.
73 de Roger, G3LDI GB2CW Coordinator. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. May the Morse be with you.
Author Roger Cooke
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Propagation News, Thursday 17th October 2024
HF News
The last week has been characterised by a low geomagnetic Kp index and excellent conditions on HF, including 10 metres. With a solar flux index between 168 and 195, and a Kp index that never rose above four, conditions have been better than the previous week, which suffered from the bad effects of solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
This came as NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the International Solar Cycle Prediction Panel announced that the Sun has reached its solar maximum period, which should continue for the next year.
The announcement was not unexpected and the exact period of maximum activity won’t be known for some time. But it was a wake-up call for radio amateurs to get on the bands and make the most of the conditions!
NOAA anticipates additional solar and geomagnetic storms during the current solar maximum period and during the declining phase of the solar cycle.
The solar flux index fell from its 200+ highs to be in the range 160-195 last week. But this was still more than enough to keep the ionosphere running and maximum usable frequencies over a 3,000km path have been consistently over 28MHz during daylight, falling to around 11MHz overnight.
Next week, the Space Weather Prediction Centre thinks the SFI will rise into the 200s again, but we may also get some geomagnetic disturbances, namely on the 22nd and 23rd when the Kp index might rise to around four.
Meanwhile, October can be one of the best months for HF propagation with good 10-metre openings to Australasia in the morning and North and South America in the afternoon.
VHF and up
The current unsettled spell of weather seems likely to continue into next week and is not atypical at this time of year. We should expect a more changeable pattern around the autumn as the main polar front jet stream migrates south across the UK into its winter state over the Mediterranean.
That said, there may well be some brief interludes when the extended region of high pressure across Europe influences conditions over the British Isles, more specifically the southeastern corner.
This is shown by some models around midweek for potential Tropo from southeastern England into the continent or across the North Sea to northern Europe and southern Scandinavia.
The obvious mode to result from this unsettled weather will be rain scatter and it is probable that the GHz bands will enjoy this period of weather.
Meteor scatter in October has a few showers to maintain interest – the Orionids and the Taurids are both active during the coming week. In fact, the Orionids, associated with the comet Halley, peaks on Monday and Tuesday.
Just a final note about sporadic-E, which is ‘out of season’, but remember that there are no ‘zero ‘ Es months and recent indications have tended to show the response of raised foEs to occur around the middle of the day (Oct 9th) on the propquest.co.uk NVIS graphs.
You may also see peaks earlier in the day around dawn, which is the peak time for meteor input. Beware, it easy to get hooked on out-of-season Es hunting!
For EME operators, Moon declination is positive and rising. Path losses are rising again after perigee on Thursday 17th. So we have increasing peak Moon elevations and longer Moon windows until Tuesday 22nd. 144MHz sky noise is low to moderate for the rest of the week.
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Chris Holloway G0GGF...
As announced at NARC on Wednesday, long time member of NARC Chris G0GGF is now sadly silent key following several years of ill health.
We have sent a NARC card to his wife Judith which was signed by everyone who was at the club.
His long time friend Kim G4WUG has sent us details of the funeral:
Friday 1st November at 14.00 at St Mary's Church, Burgh next Aylsham.
Followed by the wake at the Reading rooms almost next to the church - club members will be welcome at both.
The family would appreciate an idea of how many people will be going to the wake, so please let me know if you intend going and I will pass approx numbers to them a week before the funeral. Thanks David G7URP - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Rest in Peace Chris.
73 de, NARC
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RSGB Convention THIS WEEKEND - travel advice and more
I am sure many members will be going to the RSGB Convention at Milton Keynes next weekend... If you are going please avoid the A421 around Bedford as you may have seen on the news it is closed through bad flooding and will likely be closed for many weeks. The best idea is to plot the route via AA advice etc before you go, or even better use a live dynamic map like Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze to take you there the best way.
If you are going to the Gala Dinner on the Saturday night then NARC reserve table(s) for members to sit together, so if you would like to do this please contact Andy M0NKR: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tammy M0TC, Kevin M0UJD and David G7URP will be there hosting a live stream from the event both days, including the keynote, a selection of some of the 'Getting Started' talks as well as interviews and you will be able to watch these live by visiting the RSGB YouTube Channel (although its not as good as being there!).
Finally if you have not booked but would like to, you only have TODAY to book in advance online (October 7th) - there are still hotel rooms from £80 at Kents Hill, or you can stay elsewhere as there are many other local hotels. But don't worry you can buy tickets on the door on Saturday or Sunday. Full details and booking here:
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Wednesday October 16th - NARC meeting at CNS school
Tonight we meet at CNS School for a social and informal evening.
And don't forget you can bring anything radio related you want to give away to others at any informal CNS meeting on our 'Show and Share' table - very popular!
As usual we meet from 1900-2130 in the CNS 6th form common room - Cold drinks and biscuits will be available to purchase and there is also a hot drink vending machine in the adjacent canteen room. Please do not enter the school until our hire from time 19.00 - thanks.
David G7URP
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