Also in GB2RS this week…

| October 9, 2020

The IARU Region 1 General Conference, originally scheduled to take place in Serbia, is taking place online, starting this Sunday, the 11th. Taking advantage of online access, well over 200 delegates and observers have registered from nearly 50 national societies. Nearly 90 papers are scheduled for discussion, several from the RSGB. The conference will be formally opened by IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH. A day-by-day report of the proceedings at the Conference will be published throughout the coming week on the IARU Region 1 website, beginning Sunday evening.

On United Nations Day, 24 October 2020, the SAQ very low frequency transmitter in Grimeton, Sweden, will again send out a message. Startup and tuning of the Alexanderson Alternator will be from 1430UTC. The message will be transmitted from SAQ on 17.2kHz CW at 1500UTC. Live streaming can be seen on YouTube.

The RSGB will once again be participating in the annual YOTA Month activities in December. Normally we would encourage large youth groups, schools, Scouting associations and amateur radio clubs to participate. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be encouraging large group events. We do hope that smaller groups will be able to participate in the event, whilst remaining within national and local guidelines. GB20YOTA will be available for Full licence holders to book an appointment slot within a set calendar. This calendar will be available on the GB20YOTA QRZ.com page for you to choose when you want to operate. All operations should be focused with the intention to get young people on the air. To register your interest or to reserve an operating slot contact Jamie, M0SDV, via email to yota.month@rsgb.org.uk.

According to a spaceweather.com report on 6 October 2020, Canadian amateur Scott Tilley, VE7TIL received a signal from the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it flew just 274km above the red planet’s surface. The signal was an X-band carrier containing no data or telemetry. Such a detection is possible because, right now, Mars is unusually close to Earth. Visit spaceweather.com and look at the archive for 6 October 2020 for more information.

Category: GB2RS Headlines