The inaugural BSEARS Rally.

Sunday Sept 24th 2023.

Location: The Rougham Tower Museum IP32 7QB.
What 3 Words location https://w3w.co/comforted.barbarian.refreshed

If your sat nav supports Latitude and Longitude here it is 52.242761, 0.769558.

Opens 9.30am ( Traders 8am)

Trade stands, Table top sales, bring and buy, Local radio clubs displays, RSGB Book stall, Raynet.

Refreshments available from the Museum's cafeteria and toilet facilities.

Entry £3. Table top sales £6. Traders and vans £12 (no need to pre book)

The Rougham tower Museum ( 94th BG of the USAAF 8th Air Force during WW2 ) will be open to the public (free entry) So come along and make a day of it.

All enquiries to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tonight NARC Live welcomes Nick Henwood G3RWF who is going to show us how we can make a cheap, light and compact HF beam.

Before Nick's talk will be YOUR club news, stories, pictures and the solution to the latest 'What on Earth...' competition.

Dont forget to send us your pictures and news by 3pm on Wednesday!

Please send your What on earth entry together with any news, pictures and views you can share for NARC Live! to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 3pm latest on Wednesday please.

Join Tammy M0TC and David G7URP live on BATC or Facebook - everyone is welcome.

Watch live on BATC or Facebook at 19.30: 

Watch live on BATC:

https://batc.org.uk/live/NARC

or Facebook Live:

https://www.facebook.com/norfolkamateurradioclub  

WATCHING PREVIOUS NARC LIVE's...

If you missed a NARC Live we now we record most shows in the studio and upload them to Youtube within   couple of days. So you can watch almost any previous recorded NARC Live show by going to YouTube, searching for "Norfolk ARC", click on Videos and choose the programme you want to watch. https://www.youtube.com/c/norfolkamateurradio/videos 

GB2CW Morse Corner 22.09.23
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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING GB2CW LOCALLY.
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Four tutors had a meeting regarding the local CW Classes. Last year we had very few attend so we have decided to abandon the classes. We are all ready and available to run a class and it might be that there is just one class with several people attending. This will be down to YOU. If you are keen enough to learn and want a class to run, please email one of the following:
Roger G3LDI
Malcolm G3PDH
Jim G3YLA
Phil G4LPP
Let us know when you would prefer to attend a class and it MUST be a regular committment, not just once every month or two. It will have to be every week and you MUST be prepared to do homework on your own during the week until the next class. We feel we have reached a saturation point and we are not prepared to transmit Morse to fresh air.
If we receive some emails together with the committment from you we will definitely run a class or even classes.
DO NOT try to become a competent Morse operator alone. You will benefit more than you know from being taught properly.
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I shall just use the Newsletter for short announcements. There is never any feedback and I don't think it necessary to produce a lot of chat that is not read.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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CW OPS
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If you are attending the RSGB Convention don't forget to take your badge along with you. There will be a group meeting and photograph. It would be nice to see as many NARC CW OPS there as possible.
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Try joining the CW OPS Academy. This is a terrific resource and I think you will find it very helpful:
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https://cwops.org/cw-academy/
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You can join in the fun without being a member of CWOPS and it is great practice for the RSGB CC series too. It will hone your operating skills and it is a lot of fun. Once you get known and can operate at around 25wpm + you might even be nominated for membership.
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NARC NET
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Net Controllers take turns as MC to gain experience in handling a Net. The list we have is as follows and the one acting as Controller for the following Monday is in RED.
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Malcolm G3PDH
Phil G4LPP
Dick G3WRJ
Roger G3LDI
Les G0DFC
Jim G3YLA
Colin G4EYT
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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.

Welcome to week one hundred and four of NARC’s contest news. Yes, 2 years, where has it all gone?

Results:-

On VHF

The results of the SHF UKAC of 22/8/23 were released on 18th September. Our only entrant on 13cm, was, once again, Graham G3SGC. He managed 12th place out of 34 in the Restricted section scoring 562 points. This keeps NARC in 7th place in this series.Link

We remain in 6th place for the UKAC series at present. Link

On HF

The results of the second leg of the Autumn series of contests, the CW test of 13th September were released just now. NARC came first by a good margin to Bristol and have now attained first place in the series. An excellent result! Link

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

Two contests this week. The 1.3GHz UKAC ran on Tuesday 19th. As far as I can see we managed 4 entries. Myself, G3UDA, G3YLA and G4DYC. Conditions weren't great but some DX was available with OZ and DK being worked.
Link to claimed scores

The 70MHz UKAC ran on Thursday evening 21st September. Band noise was high, fading was deep and conditions were poor. For the club, 4 stations were active to submit logs and David G3MPN was also about. There was some DX to be had on CW and FSK although I, for one, haven't started using FSK in anger yet. Link to claimed scores

On HF

There were several HF contests over the weekend but no reports of any relevent entries.

I've had no reports of other contests being entered by NARC members.
There were no significant RSGB HF contests this week.
If any other contests have been worked by NARC members writeups are always welcome here. Please e-mail content to me at the address below.
We are always on the lookout for new contesters to add to our team and welcome people of any ability who either wish to add their score to ours or develop their skills.
Note, NARC contest net takes place every Friday evening at 9pm clock time on 145.250MHz. This is a useful place to exchange contest information and get help with logging and station setup issues etc.

Upcoming contests in the next 2 weeks:-

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.

* Sat 23rd Sep. 1400-1700 AGCW VHF/UHF contest 144MHz and 1700-1800 432MHz CW - see WA7BNM
* Sun 24th Sep. 0700-1000 UBA ON Contest 6m CW and Phone - see WA7BNM
* Tue 26th Sep. 1830-2130 SHF UKAC
* Tue 3rd Oct. 1900-2200 144MHz UKAC
* Wed 4th Oct. 1700-2100 144MHz FT8 AC 2 & 4hr sections

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 https://ft8activity.eu/index.php/en/

On HF

* Sat 23rd Sep. 0000 for 48h CQ WW DX RTTY - see WA7BNM
* Thu 28th Sep. 1900-2030 Autumn Series DATA
* Sat 30th Sep. 1200 for 24h UKEI DX SSB Contest - RSGB HF Championship
* Sat 30th Sep. 0000-2359 Feld Hell sprint - see WA7BNM
* Sat 30th Sep. 0600 for 24h Worked all Provinces of China, CW - see WA7BNM
* Sat 30th Sep. 2200 for 24h AWA Amplitude Modulation QSO party - see WA7BNM
* Sun 1st Oct. 0600-0900 UBA ON SSB contest 80m - see WA7BNM
* Sun 1at Oct. 2200-2359 Peanut power sprint CW, SSB 80/40/20m QRP - see WA7BNM
* Mon 2nd Oct. 1900-2030 Autumn series CW

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 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
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

HF News

Last week’s space weather was very disturbed from a geomagnetic point of view. The Kp index hit 6.67 on September 19th, spawning reports of visible aurora from around the UK once again. This was the result of a CME passing Earth, which caused a period of strong (G3) storming very early that morning.

The ionosphere was badly affected with MUFs over a 3,000km path down below 18 MHz for most of the day. By Wednesday 20th things began to improve and MUFs were back to 21, even 24MHz, by late morning. By Thursday 21st the Kp index was down to 2.67.

Meanwhile, we had numerous C- and M-class solar flares to contend with as well - a total of 39 from the 18th to the 20th.

So last week was not exactly a good time for HF operations!

Next week, commencing the 24th, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will be in the range 135-145, although if the past month is anything to go by, it could easily be higher. The Kp index is forecast to be two, apart from the 28th/29th when it could rise to four.

In reality, with so many sunspots we could have a solar flare and associated coronal mass ejection at any time, so take these predictions with a pinch of salt!

The good news is we are now past the autumnal equinox so the ionosphere is improving. Expect better worldwide HF conditions as we head towards October/November.

VHF and up

The recent unsettled weather seems to have set a trend for us with a likely repeat process through the coming week, commencing September 24th Although there may be a few drier interludes, the next low in the sequence will soon be arriving to keep the rather unsettled theme in play.

This means that rain scatter is a good choice for operators during the period.

There is usually some uncertainty in such a complex pattern and recent model runs have been changing between a return of high pressure during the next week, with a chance of Tropo, and the continuation of lows with fronts bringing rain and showers.

It is, however, in a ‘keep the lows coming’ mindset at the moment, so don’t build your hopes of Tropo too high. Such uncertainties in long lead-time forecasts is quite typical at this time of the year when ex-hurricanes can get involved in the Atlantic flow pattern and disrupt the forecasts very easily.

The other modes to monitor are aurora, which has been seen recently from southern Britain, so definitely one to keep in mind; and meteor scatter, which can be productive.

We are approaching the ‘busy season’ for meteors with several good showers between early October and December. However, the last week in September does not hold much promise. There are always random meteors to keep interest alive, but this week might be better used getting equipment ready for the next few month’s activity.

Having reached its lowest declination of the lunar month, the Moon is now beginning its slow climb back up. With the Moon out of Sagittarius sky noise will decrease and is lowest mid-week. Path loss (degradation) will be lowest on the 27th, with the Moon at perigee, its closest point to Earth. The full Moon is on the 29th.

Altogether, it looks like a good week for EME operations, especially if you can elevate your antenna or dish reflector.

This is our regular competition where we show an unusual object, tool, gadget or thing-me-bob sent in by one of the NARC members and you have to guess (or you know!) what this piece of equipment is or what it is for.

Have a good look at the picture below - what on earth is this or what is it used for...?!

You have until 3pm on the next NARC Live Wednesday to let Tammy and David know.

Please email your answers with the subject 'What on earth' to David & Tammy This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 3pm on WEDNESDAY OF OUR NEXT NARC LIVE and we will read out all of the entries and tell you what it is!

And please send a picture of anything you may have which might fox fellow members of NARC - please send to the address above

73 

David G7URP & Tammy M0TC  

Remember please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. not reply to the newsletter or any other email address or Facebook or David & Tammy will not receive it directly and may never receive it!