Also in GB2RS this week…
The RSGB’s Commonwealth Contest is one of the longest-running contests in the HF contesting world, having started as the BERU contest in the 1920s. It promotes contacts between stations in the United Kingdom and Crown Dependencies, Commonwealth and Mandated Territories. The 80th Commonwealth Contest will take place on 11 and 12 March, for the 24 hours starting at 1000UTC. The RSGB is delighted to have received a letter from our Patron, HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT congratulating us on this special contest anniversary and wishing everyone well who takes part. Further information about the contest rules are on the contest website.
S50A reports that the Slovenian telecoms regulator has given permission for use of the 60m band in Slovenia. First of all a temporary three-month licence is being issued to all Slovenian amateurs who apply for it. The allocation is 5351.5 to 5366.5kHz with 15W EIRP.
The Bristol 6m Repeater Net has been established to encourage 6m activity within the coverage area of the GB3ZY repeater, which extends into neighbouring counties and south Wales. It takes place at 9pm each Thursday and has successfully increased 6m activity both on the repeater and simplex. Every one is welcome to join in. See www.radisol.com/bristol-repeater-net-GB3ZY for more information.
Whilst in a meeting with officials of the Niger telecoms regulator to discuss his 5U5R DXpedition, EA5RM was informed that 60m access in the country to all Niger amateurs was now possible under the WRC-15 allocation of 5351.5 – 5366.5kHz and its subsequent footnote. Activity is expected to be around 5360kHz using CW and SSB. Unfortunately access to 6m is not possible for the 5U5R DXpedition that takes place from 8 to 21 March using all other bands and modes.
Due to ongoing propagation changes, the team of 5MHz GB2RS newsreaders have decided to revise the time of the Sunday afternoon GB2RS News bulletin in order to try and optimize reception conditions. The new transmission time will be 1500UTC. The transmission frequency remains unchanged at 5398.5kHz USB. It is hoped to commence the change from 22 January transmission.
Norway is the first country in the world to start digital switchover from FM to DAB+. National FM networks will be switched off region by region, starting in Nordland and progressing across the whole country throughout 2017. The final regions, Troms and Finnmark, will complete the process in December. Switzerland is planning for switch-over to begin in 2020 and a major promotional campaign to raise awareness starts this year. The north Italian region of South Tyrol will start its FM switch-off in 2017.
To avoid the conflict of event’s dates with the General Conference of IARU Region 1, the dates of the next IARU High Speed Telegraphy world championship has been changed. The new dates are 8 to 12 September. The venue remains unchanged. Detailed information can be found on the web page of the championship.
Category: GB2RS Headlines
