AURORA ALERT!

Aurora conditions are expected to be very high tonight across Northern Europe giving spectacular light shows in the sky and possible Auroral Propagation on CB and Amateur Radio bands!

So if you happen to to be awake late, take a look out your window and remember to switch your radio on as well!!!!

Expected Aurora levels for Europe can be seen on this website: http://www.aurora-service.eu/aurora-forecast/

RSGB - Exams Standards Committee Report

From the RSGB website:

"The first annual report of the RSGB Examination Standards Committee has been released.

It includes details such as committee membership, results statistics and reports from officers.

The full report can be found on the RSGB website (12-page/88.2KB PDF)"

An interesting report which among other things show how many people passed he various stages on Amateur Radio exams between 2006 and 2015:

 

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As an example, in 2015, 84.9% of those taking the Foundation Exam, 92.5% of those taking the Intermediate Exam and 68.2% of those taking the Advanced Exam achieved the required level to gain the qualification. 

So, with around 9 out of 10 people passing the Foundation and Intermediate exams there is no excuse for not giving it a go if you are someone who's been thinking about it!!!!

 

Tim Peake's FINAL School Contact

Just a quick reminder that Tim Peake's FINAL school contact will take place on Monday 9th May at 09:26 GMT (That's 10:26 BST) with The Kings School, Ottery St Mary, Devon.

Tim can be heard in the UK and across Europe on 145.800Mhz.

Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:

1. Lara, aged 13 – You have missed Christmas and Easter with your family and friends – how have you celebrated big events in space?

2. Harry, aged 12 – We have seen videos of you playing about in microgravity on the ISS – what is your favourite thing to do when ‘weightless?’

3. Elizabeth, aged 18 – From your elevated advantage point, looking down on the Earth, has your perception of the events on our planet, such as conflicts and wars been altered? Does the change in perception give any insight that we could learn from?

4. Eleanor, aged 11 – Having spent many months looking at the Earth from afar, where is the first place you would go for a family holiday when you get home?

5. Freddie, aged 12 – Over 500 astronauts have been into space, but only 12 have set foot on the moon. Do you think that we will return people to the moon again in the future? How will your research on the ISS help us if we did?

6. Naomi, aged 13 – We have learned about your experiments on how the human body adapts to conditions in space. How will the research improve our quality of life on Earth?

7. Robert, aged 13 – Taking into account Einstein’s theory of relativity, do you think you are ageing slower because you are travelling faster then the Earth?

8. Ben, aged 11 – I often stare into the inky blackness of space and wonder.. if the universe is expanding, then what is it expanding into? Has your time in space given you any insight?

9. Robbie, aged 14 – Is the sunrise more spectacular from your perspective?

10. Emily, aged 13 – After 6 years of training to be an astronaut, I bet it’s all been worth it. The experiments you are doing are amazing, but did you ever struggle with Science at school? What would you say to anyone that finds it difficult?

11. Josh, aged 12 – How do you get your air in space? Do you bring it up in tanks, or do you make it in the space station, if so, how? Also, do you have a special ‘space mixture’ of air or is it the same as we have on earth?

12. Tristan, aged 12 – Do you and the other astronauts onboard control the space station, or is it controlled from Earth?

13. Katie, aged 12 – Research shows that your sleeping position can affect the kind of dreams that you have. Have you noticed any difference in your sleep patterns or dreams during your time in space?

14. Chloe, aged 12 – I am reading ‘The Astronaut’s Handbook’ at the moment, which is fascinating. If you could take one thing into space to make life more comfortable, or easier, what would it be?

15. James, aged 12 – We have enjoyed listening to your music choices on ‘Space Rocks’ – what is your all-time favourite song to listen to in space?

16. Jessica, aged 12 – How do you keep the temperature constant inside the space station?

17. James, aged 12 – What would happen to a goldfish if you took it up to the ISS? Would it just float around in a bubble of water?

18. Josh, aged 12 – Do you have a special ‘space mixture’ of air or is it the same as we have on earth?

19. Freddie, aged 12 – How will your research on the ISS help us return people to the moon?

CRT ONE N - On eBay £45.99

eBay link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162059433513

The new updated version of the popular CRT ONE CB radio, which now comes with an S-Meter, has been spotted on eBay with the great price of £45.99

Features:

Modes - AM / FM European Multinorms

Power - 4 Watts AM / 4 Watts FM Channels 40

S-METER - Yes ( TX / RX )

SQUELCH - Manual or Automatic (ASQ)

RF GAIN - Yes

RX SCAN function Yes : automatic search of busy channels Various functions Direct access to channel 9/19 + Keypad lock Bonus Backlit keys + Jack plug for external loud speaker

Mike UP/DOWN selection

Display - LCD display

Size 10.2 x 10 x 2.5 cm
Weight 470 gr

 

Sirio Gainmaster HW Antenna Review

Video: YouTube/M0OGY

Dave, M0OGY, takes a look at the Sirio Gainmaster Half Wave antenna.  

CompareTheBaofengs.Com

Those guys at BaofengTech have produced a handy guide to the different Baofeng Radios to held you choose the one that's right for you:

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I must say that I own most of the radios on the chart and I find them all to be very capable radios. They are certainly amazing value for money!

 

CB Radio - The Big Multimode Nets 2016

Just a heads up that The Big Multimode Nets will take place on Monday 27th June 2016 between 6-10pm.

This event is to celebrate the legalisation of AM and SSB in the UK and this year takes on a special role showing that CB is alive and well following news from the ECBF that CB frequencies may be under threat if operators don't make good use of the allocation spectrum - See: LINK  

AM and SSB modes have proved popular in many parts of the UK since legalisation and a number of 'Midweek Nets' have sprung up. I would suggest that for one week only any groups running 'Midweek Nets' could change days and have their weekly net on Monday 27th June, thereby increasing the number of stations on the air at the same time. It would be helpful to keep a log of all the stations who take part in the event so we can show that there are still plenty of CB radio users here in the UK and across Europe.

AM calling will take place on 27.125Mhz - Channel 14

USB calling will take place on 27.275Mhz - Channel 27

PLEASE REMEMBER TO QSY FROM THE CALLING CHANNELS ONCE CONTACT IS MADE

All net activity will take place on the LEGAL Mid Band.

LET'S KEEP CB RADIO ALIVE - USE IT OR LOSE IT!

 

CB Radio Frequencies Under Threat?

The following rather disturbing message has been posted by the ECBF (European Citizens Band Federation):

"Last week, a meeting of the European Communications Committee (ECC) was held in Vilnius (Lithuania). The ECC Decision (11) 03 which recommends the free use of CB and the application of the standard EN300433 (AM-FM 4W and 12W pep SSB) has been revised. (Link to document: http://www.ecbf.eu/Docs/ECCDEC1103.PDF)

The ECBF participated in that meeting, (Mr. Oscar Espallargas, President of the ECBF and Mr. Martijn Verhoef, Member of ECBF in Netherlands) denouncing the non-application of the Decision (11)03 in several countries member of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT).

The most surprising thing was that some participants warned us of the "off the record", that the countdown had started to make disappear the CB 27 MHz in less than 10 years.


The first step has been to delete the record of users.


A series of groups have forced several administrations to stop: to register, to issue licenses and authorizations. Several manufacturers and importers, influenced by these groups and with the belief of increasing their sales, have supported these measures.


As a result, if before CB had little or no protection from administrations against interference from other services being in industrial scientific and medical band, now that the administrations no longer know the number of users, what will happen in the future? If the users are no longer protected, it means more QRM in the 27 MHz band.


The next step will be in five years or sooner (every five years, decisions are revised by ECC). They will start to propose other uses of the 27 MHz band (it is already happening), and as there are no users and as it is an ICM band, they can easily declare the free frequency for any kind of use. In the next revision of the ECC Decision (11) 03, the little support to CB can simply be cancelled and disappear.


How can we avoid it? It has been suggested us that only the figures can stop this process; number of users, number of CB transceivers sold and manufactured, number of accessories, etc. We must provide these figures to the CEPT in order to justify the existence of a real market.


The administrations can’t facilitate the number of users, only the federations can provide this type of information. We must provide these numbers to the CEPT.


The other numbers belong to private industry, which datas are confidential and hard to get. We should try to get this type of information to continue giving life to the CB.


The ECBF has a lot of work ahead"

So it would appear that some countries are already eyeing up the 27MHz CB frequencies for other uses? Without any official or accurate user information it would be easy for governments to just say 'There's no-one using it, so give the frequencies to someone else".

If they are seriously considering allowing other users onto the frequencies this could be a very worrying time for CB users across Europe, and don't just think this will affect those who use the 'legal' system - Freebanders/Pirates will be affected just the same when they deploy paging systems or other commercial broadcasts all across the 26-28MHz band!

ECBF Website: LINK
ECBF Facebook Page: LINK

Tim Peake Heard On The Space Station 05/05/2016 (Yaesu FT-857D)

So this was Tim's penultimate school contact, the last one being on Monday 9th May at 10:26 BST (09:26 GMT).

Tim Peake's FINAL School Contact Announced!

It's hard to believe but Tim's FINAL contact has been announced....

"The ARISS UK Operations team are delighted to announce that the final ARISS Schools contact of the Principia Mission will be between The King’s School in Ottery St Mary, Devon and Tim Peake GB1SS on the International Space Station.

The date and time has now been confirmed as Monday, May 9 at 0926 GMT (10:26 am BST)"

Don't forget that Tim has a contact scheduled with Ashfield Primary School GB1APS in Otley, West Yorkshire on Thursday, May 5 at 0808 GMT (9:08 am BST).