RSGB GB2RS News Bulletin for 17th August 2025

GB2RS News

Sunday, the 17th of August 2025

The news headlines:

• Read daily updates from the RSGB’s YOTA summer camp team
• ‘Women in amateur radio’ panel to be held at RSGB Convention in October
• The RSGB Awards Manager announces a new awards series

This year’s Youngsters on the Air summer camp begins tomorrow, Monday, the 18th of August, and the RSGB is sending a team of four young members to take part. YOTA camps are an amazing opportunity for young people to operate the latest amateur radio equipment, take part in construction activities and make international friendships. The Society will be keeping you up to date with the group’s progress by sharing daily updates and photos. This year’s camp is taking place near Paris and is being organised by REF, the French national amateur radio society, and the IARU. Read the daily blog updates by visiting rsgb.org/yota-camp  and selecting ‘YOTA Paris 2025’ from the right-hand menu. The Society will also be sharing updates via its Facebook and X channels. If you’d like to get involved with getting young people on the air, why not participate in YOTA Month in December 2025? If you’d like to host special callsign GB25YOTA or if you’d like to find out more, email the YOTA Month Coordinator, Jamie, M0SDV via yota.month@rsgb.org.uk

The list of confirmed speakers for this year’s RSGB Convention continues to grow, with a further round of names released. If you haven’t already purchased your tickets, be sure to book online now to secure your place and watch Dan McGraw, M0WUT, explain PCB design for low-voltage switched-mode power supplies. You’ll also be able to get an insight into what has been learnt from Solar Cycle 25, with a presentation by the Chair of the RSGB Propagation Studies Committee, Steve Nichols, G0KYA. The Society has also confirmed that RSGB RadCom Technical Editor Peter Duffett-Smith, GM3XJE, will be presenting a lecture on the importance of understanding the input impedance of your transmitter. The IRTS Youth Officer Ana Cañizares, EI5IXB, will be sharing her experience of getting young people in Ireland involved in amateur radio. In addition, the RSGB has announced that it will be holding a ‘women in amateur radio’ panel discussion. This exciting session will highlight five women who enjoy different aspects of amateur radio and will discuss the various opportunities, challenges and potential barriers that may exist in engaging more girls and women with amateur radio. Find out more about these thought-provoking presentations by going to rsgb.org/convention  and selecting RSGB 2025 Convention speakers from the right-hand menu. The Convention takes place between the 10th and 12th of October and is a must-do on every radio amateur’s calendar.

The RSGB Awards Manager has introduced a new awards series for amateur radio contacts with stations across all UK country and Crown Dependency prefixes. The Worked All UK and Crown Dependency Prefixes Award offers several different sub-sets, with the rules varying slightly for each. The idea for the award was put forward as a way of encouraging, or tapping into, intra-UK activity as well as encouraging contact with UK amateurs. Get involved with this new award by going to rsgb.org/awards  and selecting ‘Worked All UK and Crown Dependency’ from the right-hand menu. You can find details of other awards offered by the Society using the same link.

National Coding Week takes place during the third week of September, and the RSGB is dedicating the whole of the month to amateur radio and coding activities. This year, the Society has created two new activities for you to try. Both build on worksheets it shared in previous years; however, you don’t have to have done those first. The Python Pocket Morse activity has been developed by the RSGB Maker Champion Tom Wardill, 2E0JJI and is a low-cost opportunity to learn some Morse and programming together. The exercise will cover using a BBC Micro:bit V2 and the ‘more advanced’ Python programming instead of the previous block programming mode. It is intended as a gentle introduction to both Python and small computer programming and can be done without any previous knowledge of the micro:bit. You can download the full instructions by going to rsgb.org/coding  and selecting ‘Python Pocket Morse’ from the right-hand menu. The other new activity is the LoRa balloon challenge. As well as the manual, which guides you through the process of building your own LoRa tracker and seeing how far your signal can reach, the Society has released a video in which Fraser, MM0EFI, demonstrates the process. Find both on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/lora-balloon

International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend started at 0001UTC on Saturday, the 16th and ends at 2400UTC today, the 17th of August. The event usually attracts more than 500 lighthouse entries located in over 40 countries. To find out more and to view a list of participating stations, visit illw.net

This year’s British Inland Waterways on the Air event will run from Saturday, the 23r,d until Monda,y the 25th of August. The event is open to amateurs who use canals, towpaths, rivers, lakes or reservoirs for work or recreation. To find out more, visit Nunsfield House Amateur Radio Group’s website at nharg.org.uk  and follow the ‘BIWOTA 2025’ link.

Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk. The deadline for submissions is 10 am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week. 

 And now for details of rallies and events

Today, the 17th, Finningley Amateur Radio Society Rally opens its doors at 10 am. More details are available at g0ghk.com

Also today, the 17th, the West Manchester Radio Club Red Rose Summer Rally is taking place at Mather Hall, Mather Lane, Leigh, WN7 2PJ from 10 am. More information is available by following the ‘Red Rose Rally’ tab at wmrc.co.uk

On Sunday, the 24th the Milton Keynes Amateur Radio Society Rally is taking place at Heron’s Lodge Guide Activity Centre, Bradwell Road, Loughton Lodge, Milton Keynes. Free on-site parking, catering and disabled facilities will be available. The entrance fee is £3. The doors open to the public from 9 am. For more information, visit mkars.org.uk/mkrally

Also on Sunday the 24th, the Torbay Amateur Radio Society Rally is taking place at Newton Abbot Racecourse. The doors open at 10 am and entry costs £3. You can find out more via torbayars.org

Now the Special Event news

Leicester Radio Society is active as GB8OVJ until tomorrow, the 18th, to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day. The station is operating on the HF, 2m and 70cm bands. Operators are using CW, phone, FT4, FT8, SSTV and RTTY. More information is available at QRZ.com

4U0ITU is the callsign in use by the International Amateur Radio Club at ITU HQ in Geneva. The station is active in celebration of the 160th anniversary of the International Telecommunication Union. QSL via Logbook of the World and OQRS.

Now the DX news

Steve, ZL2KE, is active as E51KEE from Rarotonga, OC-013, on the South Cook Islands until tomorrow, the 18th of August. He is operating CW and some SSB on the 40 to 10m bands. QSL directly to IK2DUW. QSOs will be uploaded to Club Log and Logbook of the World.

Phill, C21TS, is active in Nauru until September 2025. He has made over 83,000 QSOs so far and hopes to reach 100,000 contacts before leaving the island. Recently, the station was spotted on the HF bands using FT8. QSL via Logbook of the World and OQRS.

Now the contest news

On Tuesday the 19th, the RSGB 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130 UTC. Using all modes on the 23cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Thursday the 21st, the 70MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130 UTC. Using all modes on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On Sunday the 24th, the UK Microwave Group 5.7 and 10GHz Contest runs from 0600 to 1800 UTC. Using all modes on 5.7 and 10GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday the 14th of August

Last weekend was characterised by unsettled geomagnetic conditions caused by a massive coronal hole on the Sun.

At one point, the Kp index got up to 6, with a corresponding decrease in maximum usable frequencies, or MUFs. The Dourbes Digisonde failed to record much at all over six hours. Luckily, that disruption had passed by Monday the 11th as the ionosphere started to get back to normal.

Meanwhile, the solar flux index reached a peak of 153 on the 10th, before dropping back to 140 on Thursday, the 14th. There have been numerous C-class solar flares and ten M-class events over the past five days, but nothing of note.

The MUF over a 3,000km path exceeded 24.9MHz at times, but has generally been between 21 and 24MHz.

Another coronal hole is Earth-centric at the moment and could cause some disruption, with increased Kp indices by tomorrow, the 18th or Tuesday the 19th.

HF DX has been good at times, with the stand-out station being T30TTT in Western Kiribati. The station has been worked on many bands, including 20, 15 and 10m using CW, as well as FT4 and FT8. After two weeks, there will be just one operator who is there until mid-September. So you have plenty of time to work him.

Stanley, AH6KO, in Hawaii, has also been spotted on the 15m band using CW. This is a relatively rare opportunity and good for anyone chasing their Worked All States award.

A little closer to home is Henri, OJ0JR on Market Reef, who has been easily workable on the 30m band using FT8. Get in quick, though, as he is only there until tomorrow, the 18th.

Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will remain in the 140 to 150 range. Unsettled geomagnetic conditions are forecast for tomorrow, the 18th, until Wednesday the 20th, probably caused by the coronal hole mentioned earlier. Better conditions are predicted for the 23rd to the 27th with a maximum Kp index of 3.

And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO

Last week’s propagation highlights were SSB and CW QSOs between the UK and Las Canarias on both the 23 and 13cm bands between G4GLT, EA8DMF, ED8BRZ and EB8AYA. 

There may be more Tropo next week with high pressure close to, or over, the British Isles. However, at this time of the year, any Tropo will be due to temperature inversions. These can be at the surface and are especially persistent over water, so look for marine paths across the North Sea or up the east coast to Scotland.

Other potentially good marine paths might be across the Channel or Biscay to Spain and beyond. The hot days of high summer break down these surface inversions over the land during the day so, if your station is inland, your best chances of Tropo in summer will often be overnight and until mid-morning.

Inversions can also be elevated in the region of the high pressure, say between 1 and 2km above ground, giving good DX prospects that are not affected by the heating of the summer day. In this high-pressure period, it is much more likely to be a surface inversion that drives the Tropo.

There will be little rain in prospect except for parts of Ireland, South Wales and southwest England, where a few thundery showers are possible. However, these will not be particularly good for rain scatter.

There continue to be some aurora alerts, so monitor the Kp index and if it is rising to, say, 6, try beaming north on the 10, 6, 4 and 2m bands in turn to see if any genuine auroral signals are coming back.

Lastly, the Sporadic-E season is coming into its closing weeks. 10m is a good band to check first. If Sporadic-E is very short-skip there, try moving up to 6m or beyond for a strong event. Digital modes are best, so use these to get clues as to where the CW and SSB paths might show up next.

Meteor scatter operators have been very busy during the Perseids meteor shower. The Perseids should still provide some activity in the coming week.

Moon declination is positive and rising until Tuesday the 19th, so Moon window lengths and peak elevation will follow suit. Path losses are rising again as we are now past perigee. 144MHz sky noise is low to moderate all next week.

And that’s all from the propagation team this week.