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G4TNU > NEWS 16.11.25 03:15l 245 Lines 11987 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: RSGB Main News - 16 Nov 2025
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GB2RS Main News for Sunday the 16th of November 2025
The news headlines:
* Nominations for the RSGB 2026 Elections are now open
* The RSGB National Radio Centre to host ‘Build your own
radio' workshops
* Ofcom has agreed to the RSGB request to extend the 146-147MHz
NoV for a further year
Could your skills and experience help to shape the RSGB's activities?
The Society's year starts and ends at the AGM, and it is seeking
proactive and enthusiastic members with the right skills who would
like to become a Director of the Society or a Regional
Representative. There are vacancies for two Nominated Directors, two
Elected Directors and three Regional Representatives. Nominated
Directors are selected by the Society's Nominations Committee and
then RSGB members vote to endorse them as part of the AGM voting. The
closing date for these vacancies is the 5th of December 2025. If
you're interested in either the Elected Director or Regional
Representative roles, you can find the candidate packs and
application forms on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/elections The
application deadline for the elected roles is the 31st of January
2026. If you'd like to find out more about any of these vacancies,
please email the RSGB Company Secretary Stephen Purser, GW4SHF at
company.secretary<at>rsgb.org.uk
The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park is hosting another
of its popular ‘Build your own radio' workshops. Morning and
afternoon sessions will be held on Sunday the 23rd of November and
will offer young people aged between 12 and 18 years the opportunity
to learn more about amateur radio and electronics. The workshops will
use simple tools for participants to build their own VHF FM broadcast
receiver, which they can take home with them. Attendance at the
workshop costs GBP 11. To find out more and to secure a place visit
bletchleypark.org.uk and search for ‘Build your own radio'.
Ofcom has agreed to the RSGB request to extend the 146-147MHz Notice
of Variation for a further year. It is available on a
non-interference basis and is subject to a 30-day notice period of
change or withdrawal. Ofcom's objective in making this spectrum
available is to encourage amateurs to experiment and test new
communications schemes and systems. The RSGB VHF Manager would
therefore welcome reports of innovative use of the spectrum to
support future discussions. Please email him via
vhf.manager<at>rsgb.org.uk Full licence holders can apply for the
146-147MHz NoV on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/nov
Listeners may also be interested to know that Ofcom has released a
video that aims to provide guidance on how to use its recently
updated licence portal. As well as other topics, the video contains
information on how to change your amateur radio callsign and how to
apply for a special event station NoV. You can watch the video
at tinyurl.com/2025ofcomÂ
The RSGB VHF Contest Committee is currently planning the rules for
the 2026 VHF contests. Following some discussion at the RSGB
Convention, the committee members have some questions on which they
would appreciate feedback from contestants. The survey will close at
11.59pm on Sunday the 23rd of November. You can find the survey
online via tinyurl.com/vhfsurvey
December is all about encouraging young radio amateurs to get on the
amateur radio bands. The month will kickstart on Monday the 1st of
December, when members of the RSGB youth team will give Tonight<at>8
viewers an insight into what a Youngsters on the Air summer camp is
like. Team members will talk about some of the activities they
enjoyed, and how they will be encouraging other young people to get
involved in amateur radio in the coming year. They will be joined by
RSGB Board Director, Ben Lloyd, GW4BML and RSGB Youth Chair and
School Youth Champion, Chris Aitken, MM0WIC, who will give an
overview of recent youth activities and engagement and outline the
RSGB Youth Team's plans for 2026. December is also your opportunity
to support young radio amateurs. One of the ways you can do this is
by hosting special callsign GB25YOTA, which will be active throughout
the month. The special event station can be hosted by individuals,
clubs, schools and universities or youth groups such as Scouts,
Girlguiding and Cadets. This is a brilliant opportunity to show young
people what amateur radio has to offer. Get involved now by going to
rsgb.org/yota-month to reserve your operating slot.
The Bath Based Distance Learning team is planning to run a new
Intermediate licence training course in January with exams in June.
The training is free but applicants must work through some pre-course
material and complete a quiz before Christmas to be eligible for a
place. This work focuses on the new Foundation topics that have been
introduced to the exam since September 2019. The deadline for
applications is Friday the 5th of December. To request full details
and an application form, email BBDL team leader Steve, G0FUW at
g0fuw<at>bbdl.org.uk
Please send details of all your news and events to
radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk The deadline for submissions is 10am on
Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.Â
And now for details of rallies and events
On Sunday the 30th of November, Bishop Auckland Radio Amateur's Club
Rally is taking place at Spennymoor Leisure Centre, County Durham.
Traders, catering, ample parking and disabled facilities will be
available. For more information and downloadable trader forms, visit
barac.org.uk
Mid Devon Amateur Radio and Electronics Fair 2025 will be held on
Sunday the 7th of December at Winkleigh Sports & Recreation Centre.
The doors will be open from 9am to 1pm. Entry costs GBP 3 per person
and there is no charge for partners and under 16s. For more details
contact Phil, G6DLJ on 07990 563 147 or email wrg2024<at>hotmail.com
Now the Special Event news
Special callsign GB50AUK is active until the 28th of November to
celebrate the 50th anniversary of AMSAT-UK. QSOs will be uploaded to
at least eQSL, Logbook of the World and the QO-100 DX Club. To find
out more visit amsat-uk.org
To celebrate the 39th anniversary of the European DX Foundation, a
number of special callsigns are active until the 30th of November. To
view a list of participating stations, and read information about an
award that is available for working them, visit tinyurl.com/eudxf39
Now the DX news
Maurizio, IK2GZU is active as 5H3MB from Tanzania until the 20th of
November. He is operating using CW, digital modes and SSB on the 80
to 10m bands. QSL via OQRS, Logbook of the World, eQSL, or directly
to IK2GZU.
Stan, LZ1GC is active as ZL7/LZ1GC from the Chatham Islands, OC-038,
until the 20th of November. He is operating CW, SSB, FT4 and FT8 on
the 160 to 10m bands. QSL via OQRS is preferred, or via LZ1GC
directly. For more information and updates visit c21gc.com
Now the contest news
Tomorrow, the 17th, the RSGB FT4 Series Contest runs from 2000 to
2200UTC. Using FT4 on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are
permitted, the exchange is your report.
On Tuesday the 18th, the RSGB 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from
2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on 1.3GHz frequencies, the exchange
is signal report, serial number and locator.
On Thursday the 20th, the RSGB 70MHz UK Activity Contest runs from
2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 4m band, the exchange is
signal report, serial number and locator.
Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO
on Thursday the 13th of November 2025
Last week saw one of the most dramatic auroral events of this cycle.
Three X-class solar flares, which sparked coronal mass ejections,
joined together to give us a peak Kp index of 8.67, with a solar wind
speed in excess of 950 kilometres per second.
The result was extensive visible aurora in the US and Canada,
although clouds prevented much of its visibility in the UK. The good
news from a radio point of view was that the solar wind's Bz, or
interplanetary magnetic field, mostly pointed north or was neutral in
the latter stages. This saved the Earth from a lot of its effects.
The next day, HF propagation appeared to be almost normal with
maximum useable frequencies, or MUFs, over a 3,000km path still
exceeding 24MHz at times. By Thursday the 13th, it was mostly over
28MHz, although there were times it dropped dramatically, and signals
were weak and watery at best.
You could tell that there had been some disruption to HF by a lack of
spots on the CDXC Slack group. While Stan, ZL7/LZ1GC on Chatham
Island had been spotted on the 11th, there was very little to report
the next day as the Kp index rose to 5.
Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux will remain in the 160
to 170 range. However, we can expect a repeat of unsettled
geomagnetic conditions this weekend, possibly due to a large coronal
hole that became Earth-facing on the 13th.
Likewise, the 20th and 21st of November may be unsettled, with a
predicted maximum Kp index of 4. After the following weekend, we can
also expect more unsettled conditions, especially around the 24th to
the 27th, which could see the Kp index rise to 5 or even higher.
Expect decreased MUFs and less HF activity if this is the case.
And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO
The current spell of unsettled weather is likely to continue into the
coming week.
High pressure is always being kept at arm's length, so there is no
real tropo flavour to proceedings. The rain prospects are very strong
with, if anything, too much rain in some areas. During the coming
week, colder northerly air will mean that some snow is possible on
northern hills. So there remains a possibility of rain scatter on the
GHz bands.
After the recent auroral activity, the prospects are worth
considering, although it would be surprising if a repeat of the
exceptional event of last week were to happen. Nonetheless, stay
alert to the Kp index going above 5 and check for activity on the 10,
6, 4 and 2m bands. The event of last week was triggered by three
successive days of X-class flares, so for an early ‘heads-up' start
with the Sun.
The foEs graphs on propquest.co.uk were interesting for the evening
of the Autumn Series contest on the 12th of November. There were some
rapid changes in propagation as paths were affected by the F2-layer
one minute and Sporadic-E the next.
It is occasionally worth examining the graphs now and again to relate
perceived conditions from the radio speaker to actual measurements of
the ionosphere. Of course, the data from Dourbes is not necessarily
what would have been recorded over the UK, but it gives a good
flavour. The takeaway message is that although we think of Sporadic-E
as a summer phenomenon it can play a role outside the main season.
Meteor scatter is certainly in the frame this week since the Leonids
meteor shower peaks tomorrow, the 17th of November. Since meteors
also play a part in Sporadic-E propagation, there is another reason
to check the foEs graphs for out-of-season activity.
For EME operators, the Moon's declination went negative again on
Saturday the 15th, so Moon window lengths and peak elevation fall
accordingly. Path losses are increasing to a maximum at apogee on the
20th of November. 144MHz sky noise is low during all of the coming
week except for the whole of Thursday, when the Sun and Moon are
close in the sky.
And that's all from the propagation team this week.
And that's the end of the main news for this week prepared by the
Radio Society of Great Britain. Items for inclusion in subsequent
bulletins can be emailed to radcom<at>rsgb.org.uk to arrive by
10:00 on the Thursday before transmission.
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