Topics and links of the broadcast 9-07-2023 11:00 am (CEST)
Control your amateur radios remotely with “Web Radio Control” (Veron shortnews)
The folks behind the Tech Minds YouTube channel put the “Web Radio Control” software package through its paces. This allows the amateur radio equipment in your shack to be operated from any corner of the world, provided there is internet.
More information, including the list of supported radio sets, can be found on this website. In addition to various HAM transceivers, antenna rotors and antenna switches are also remotely controllable.
Handy for when you're lying on the beach somewhere on the Spanish coast this summer while you also want to add that one special station to your logbook.
Source: Veron short news
Propagation expectation (VRZA)
On the website of the VRZA is a pdf for the upcoming weeks that gives some information on the radio weather as forecasts.
Also some links for future use:
https://www.voacap.com/hf/
http://www.aurora-service.eu/aurora-forecast/
RSGB and other news (by PC5D)
A short film produced by members of the Aberdeen Amateur Radio Society won an award at the 2023 Doric Film Festival. The film was joint winner in the 'Groups' category of the prestigious festival that showcases the distinctive Doric language and culture which is most closely connected with North East Scotland. The film features a specially written theme with violin music, based on Morse code.
You can find the film by searching for 'Aberdeen Amateur Radio Society Groups DFF Entry' on YouTube.
The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend is coming soon. The event is usually held on the third weekend in August, this year on August 19 and 20. It is one of the most popular amateur radio events on the calendar and in recent years has attracted more than 500 participants from over 40 different countries. More information about the event and a registration form can be found at illw.net
Omroep Brabant paid attention to Dares last week (by PC5D)
Links to those topics can be found here and here
Propagation news (by PC5D)
Propagation news is curated by Tom PC5D. In the composition he makes other use of the information relevant to the Netherlands from the weekly Propagation News of the British radio amateur association RSGB, dxinfocentre , darc.de/der-club/referate/hf/ , Make More Miles on VHF and poollicht.be. Propagation news is also part of the radio news of the South Limburg Sunday morning round. The audio recording of this round is back listened on a22.veron.nl
HF
According to the website Spaceweather.com, the average daily sunspot number was in June 2023 the highest in 21 years. This means that solar cycle 25 is its predecessor, solar cycle 24, and may be on track for one of the strongest cycles in the past 100 to be years old. At the moment, however, solar activity is quite moderate for the phase in the solar cycle. The giant group AR3354 has now turned away over the western edge of the sun, but one, a new, large group designated AR3363 appeared on the eastern edge of the sun. This caused an M1 flame on Thursday, but seems to be stable at the moment. The solar wind has usually increased somewhat in recent days, with speeds of up to 500 km / s, through the continuous high-speed flow of coronal hole CH22. The Earth's magnetic field has generally been calm to restless, but against it weekend it became quite lively with temporary Kp 4. The maximum usable frequency can therefore during the day easily fall 4 to 5 MHz lower. However, the solar wind is expected to be against Sunday will decrease. The geomagnetic activity is initially active with a Kp of 3 to 4, but has tendency to decrease. At our latitude the effects are limited, but at the higher ones latitudes, however, it remains partly turbulent. Propagation via the North Pole is therefore less Good.
The solar flux is around 160 and a significant increase will not be seen until mid week expected. This weekend the IARU HF World Championship will take place again until Sunday 12 UTC, 24 hours long, non-stop - on the classic amateur bands from 160 to 10 meters, in Morse telegraphy and SSB. The 40 to 15 meter bands promise the best DX conditions. At 10 metres Sporadic E probably, 40 meters sometimes still has a dead zone during the day and is best up the transition between day and night, 80 and 160 meters can be somewhat limited at night due to the current fast solar wind and the general geomagnetic turmoil - although by Sunday decreases.
VHF, EME
A low pressure area west of Ireland sends unstable air with thunderstorms to our region. For tropo it yields local areas of moderate to increased propagation. Showers with heavy rain are useful for rain scatter on the microwave bands. The turbulence in different regions generates strong winds at 10km altitude, which spread to above to trigger Sporadic-E propagation at about 110km altitude the E region.
So it's no surprise that Sporadic-E will be a useful one for the next week. Usually single-hop paths within Europe will produce very strong signals. multi-hop trails, for example across the Atlantic, have higher losses due to multiple such refraction points of Sporadic-E patches are required with intermediate reflections from it (sea) surface. These will usually be weak signals and probably very volatile given the complex geometry of such paths.
Random meteors can be useful in the early morning hours. Starting next week too two showers, Alpha Capricornids and Delta Aquarids, which do not peak until late July. The most notable shower this month is the southern δ-Aquarids, peaking on July 30. Maximum ZHR of this shower is around 25 per hour for about 2 days. Bright meteors can be found around the maximum, but before and after meteors are relatively faint. Two short bursts (both with ZHR=40 per hour) were observed in 1977 and 2003. For European observers, the Radiant of this squall is only above the horizon. The Alpha Capricornids are characterized by bright, low-mass meteors apparent speed, making this storm one of the most spectacular to witness visually to take. Recent observational results suggest that the maximum may continue until July 31.
Meteor scattering and Sporadic-E propagation forecasts turn up this month so better. The Moon's declination turns positive on Sunday so there will be longer Moon windows. Path losses are currently low but will rise throughout the week. 144MHz sky clutter is low to moderate throughout the week.
for the prefix hunters: during the IARU contest the Worls Radio Team Championship participants recognizable by the I41 to I49 prefixes.