Narc Contest News (10) Friday 3rd December 2021

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Published: 03 December 2021

Last Updated: 03 December 2021

 Welcome to week ten of NARC’s contest news.

If you would like anything mentioned or have any news please contact me on the email address at the end of this article.

Firstly another reminder that the 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.

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.

This year we have won the local club section of the CC contest series which runs on 80m including CW, SSB, and RTTY/PSK modes.

NARC members have participated last weekend in the big ARRL CQ WW DX CW contest. There were some truly massive scores posted by the big teams - results may take a while to be published as there have been thousands of entries. The 9 Norfolk club stations who took part were G3WRJ, G0OOR, G3YLA, G4DYC, G4LPP, G4PFZ, G8OO, M0WEL and M0RYB.

There were no notable VHF and up contests in the past week.

Results were published for the 144MHz CW Marconi contest which took place on 6/11/2021 this is part of the RSGB VHF CW Championship. Marshall, 2E0TTN was awarded a rosette for 5th position in the single operator fixed section, Jim G3YLA came 12th in the 6 hour single operator fixed section running 100W and this station came 3rd in that section running 400W. Congratulations to Marshall.

The day after this newsletter was written last week the results of the 2nd 1.8MHz contest of 20/11/2021 were announced with entries from G8VPE, G3LDI and G4LPP in the UK Assisted section and G3YLA and G0TMT in the UK- Unassisted section. This contest was part of the RSGB HF championship series. Results are here:- 2nd 1.8MHz test results

The Autumn series of 80M RSGB contests is now complete and we look to be in overall first place in the local clubs section having stretched our lead in the last four sections. Thanks to all who turned out for these, we decided to make this the year we won both the CCs and the Autumn series and we look like we've done it with a fantastic turnout on the final CW leg. Final results are awaited.....

No further results for the UKACs

I have received the following e-mail from Peter M0RYB:-

CQ WW DX CW Contest report

A few words:

I decided I could not compete against those stations that run >1kW (even the UK ones 😉) and with only a wire antenna thought I would run QRP and enter the Classic section. Unfortunately, in the final results the power levels are not categorised, but the other factor was I knew I would not be doing more than 24 hours operating.

Mostly S&P but some periods running, so even at 5W it is possible. The best runs were on 80m, the peak was 100/hour, although that was only for 10 minutes. 20m was difficult, I think mainly because the bands were so full that my signal just could not get through the wall of noise that must have been at the other end, from all the calling stations. But going higher up the band gave some good results, even a 9G!

I thought I might be able to persuade the rig to run at 5W on Top Band but an OCFD cut for 80m was just too much to handle, even with the Elecraft tuner which is supposed to tame just about anything.

Some reports have suggested 15 and 10m were wide open, but very little heard here on those bands, and my only contact on 10m was with one of those G stations, so in the table below that explains zero QSO points but a zone and country multiplier.

Countries worked were mostly EU and NA, a handful in Africa and Asiatic Russia.



Peter
M0RYB

 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.

Sun 5th Dec 1000 to 1400, 144MHz AFS - this is part of the overall AFS league and plenty of entries would be helpful.
Tue 7th Dec 2000 to 2230, 144MHz UKAC
Thu 9th Dec 2000 to 2230, 50MHz UKAC
Tue 14th Dec 2000 to 2230, 432MHz UKAC
Thu 16th Dec 2000 to 2230, 70MHz UKAC

As well as the UKACs continuing the RSGB have arranged a series of XMAS contests for the 4 days from Boxing day. Details on RSGB site or here in the next couple of weeks.

On HF

The RSGB HF contests are taking a rest this month but see WA7BNM for others.

Wednesdays throughout the year, CW ops 1 hour mini tests 13:00, 19:00, Thurs 03:00 exchange Name and G or CWOPS number.
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 this contest is open to anyone.

Dec 3rd 2200 to Dec 5th 1600 ARRL 160m CW contest - See WA7BNM for rules etc.

All RSGB contest rules and further details plus log submission at RSGB contest site
Look to WA7BMN’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

Monday Tonight @ 8 - Using the Raspberry Pi 4 and Pluto for Narrowband Amateur TV

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Published: 02 December 2021

Last Updated: 02 December 2021

Free RSGB Live webinar

Following on from his “Advances in Amateur Television” talk at the 2017 RSGB convention, Noel Matthews, G8GTZ will be presenting on the latest developments in the ever-evolving world of Amateur TV.

Noel will give an overview of ATV activity in the UK and in particular how the use of Reduced bandwidth (RBTV) signals has enabled ATV QSOs on the lower VHF bands.  He will give an introduction to the QO100 geostationary satellite which has enabled QSOs with fellow DATV operators as far away as Brazil, India and South Africa.

Noel will also be describing how the development of Software Defined Radio (SDR) based hardware and powerful single board computers such as the Raspberry Pi has revolutionised the development and capabilities of amateur radio dedicated products.

He will describe how it is possible for radio amateurs to build an advanced touch screen multimode narrowband and Digital ATV transceiver covering 50 MHz to 10GHz for under £350.

About Noel

Noel Matthews is currently the secretary of the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) and TV manager and Deputy Chair of the RSGB Emerging Technology Co-ordination Committee (ETCC).

Noel can mainly be found operating on frequencies above 1 GHz and has constructed equipment of all microwave bands up to and including 122GHz.

Noel was a member of the ARISS team who visited ten schools during the Tim Peake Principia mission and was responsible for reception of the live video received from the ISS during the school contacts, including the contact NARC worked on with the contact at CNS in Norfolk.

Watch live

Tonight @ 8 webinars are live-streamed for free on the RSGB YouTube channel and special BATC channel, allowing you to watch the presentations and ask questions online.

Details, Links and past webinars at:  rsgb.org/webinars

Tonight @ 8 is a monthly webinar produced and hosted for the RSGB by NARC's David G7URP and Tammy M0TC

NARC Club news, previous NARC Live recordings and show notes...

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Published: 02 December 2021

Last Updated: 02 December 2021

73 88

David G7URP & Tammy M0TC  

NEW

Weekly CW Training by NARC, all on repeater GB3NB:

Mondays 1000 – 1100: Head Copy with Roger G3LDI. This will encompass a wide range of copying ability. i.e. 15 – 25 WPM.

Tuesdays 1000 – 1100: Higher Intermediate Class with Chris G4CCX 20 – 25 WPM

Tuesdays 2000 – 2100: Lower Intermediate Class with Jim G3YLA 10 – 15 WPM.

Thursdays 1000 – 1100: Intermediate Class with Chris G4CCX 15 – 20 WPM

Thursdays 1500 - 1600 Sending practice on ZOOM, NEW!! see below.

Thursdays 2000 – 2100: Advanced Class with Malcolm G3PDH 25 – 30 WPM

Fridays 2000 – 2100: Raw Beginners Class with Phil G4LPP which will be for just beginners, those knowing absolutely nothing up to 10 WPM

What on Earth is this....?

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Published: 02 December 2021

Last Updated: 02 December 2021

This is our competition where each week we show an unusual object, tool, gadget or thing-me-bob from one of the NARC members and you have to guess (or you know!) what it is for...

Have a look at this weeks object which an amateur has made and sent a picture to us - Can you work out what on earth is this, or what on earth is this for?!  

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 midday on Wednesday LATEST and on NARC Live we will read out all of the entries and tell you what it is!

Whats your mystery object?

We also need your photos of unusual items to feature in future weeks. To enter please send us a good quality photo of your 'What on earth is this' along with a brief description and ideally at the same time include a second photo of it in use by email to the same email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Surely everyone has one of those 'must-have' kitchen gadgets they bought at a show or one of the strange inventions by Ronco or KTel that you just had to have at the time, but only used once! Please use your own photo if you possibly can, but if you do send us a photo from someone else please be sure to tell us who owns the © copyright.

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!   

Last weeks WOEIT was a component lead forming tool - our thanks to Steve G3EVA for sending us this

NARC Live Wednesday 8th December - Solving Urban QRM...

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Published: 02 December 2021

Last Updated: 02 December 2021

Following last weeks excellent talk on cleaning up interference using a special filter, this week Tony G2NF examines local urban QRM outside the station - what the main causes are and what you can do about it.

As usual Tony will be with us live and you will be able to ask questions and make comments throughout, either on Facebook or BATC.

Plus we need your news, views and pics please, and we reveal What on Earth is this....

Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  for everything to do with NARC Live by 3pm Wednesday lates - thank you

73

Tammy M0TC and David G7URP

Join us Live at 19.30:

On BATC:

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

or Facebook Live:

www.facebook.com/norfolkamateurradioclub

Propagation News, Friday 3rd December 2021

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Published: 02 December 2021

Last Updated: 02 December 2021

HF News

The last week was characterised by unsettled geomagnetic conditions, but a reasonable solar flux index of 92, falling to 86.

Despite NOAA predicting that the Kp index would be around two, we had an excursion up to five on Tuesday. This was due to an enhanced solar wind stream containing a sector of southward Bz, which kicked up a minor (G1) geomagnetic storm.

The southward direction of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) meant that it could more easily couple with the Earth’s magnetic field, allowing solar plasma to flood it.

This continued until the end of Wednesday with the Kp index finally returning to one on Thursday morning.

Last weekend was the CQ Worldwide CW contest and HF conditions were aided by a very low Kp index. This was beneficial, especially for signals going over the pole. As a result many stations were able to put KL7RA, the North Pole Contest Group, in Alaska on 20 metres into their logs, where their signal was reasonably free of polar flutter.

Next week NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will start in the high 80s, but may tail off as the week progresses. Once again it predicts that the Kp index will be around two, but this is very dependent on there being no coronal mass ejections, which could add to the solar wind.

A large coronal hole was Earth-facing on Thursday, which could possibly result in an elevated Kp index over the weekend and reduced maximum usable frequencies. Keep an eye on solarham.com for details.

And finally, the darker and longer nights means the low bands can start to come alive, so don’t ignore 160, 80 and 40 metres.

VHF and up

Testing times for antennas during this current spell of unsettled weather, which looks as though it will stay with us through all of the coming week.
This means periods of wet and windy weather will bring a hint of rain scatter at times, but effectively rules out any tropo opportunities.

Once again, it will be down to the slim chance of aurora and reliable random meteor scatter, to liven up VHF operating.

The big Geminids meteor shower with a ZHR of 120+ is under way, but won’t hit it’s peak until the morning of December 14th. Predictions show a ZHR of 150 at peak as ZHR has shown a slight increase over the last decades. It reached 140-150 in recent years.

The Geminids peak is broad, and close-to peak rates persist for several hours. Expect several days of good meteor scatter activity in the days up to the 14th and expect it to decay fairly quickly after the maximum.

It’s an inconvenient period for EME enthusiasts, especially on the GHz bands, with the current phase of lowest path loss coinciding with lowest declination continuing.

Perigee was last Friday, so path losses will increase as the week progresses. With Moon declination at minimum today, Moon windows will be short and it will not get above 15 degrees elevation until Wednesday. 144MHz Sky temperatures are high during the early part of the week, and combined with the low elevation, VHF EME will be a noisy affair.

In all, it’s looking like a very good week to try some satellite operation!