Fifth force? - NOT amateur radio

Southgate News reports that a possible fifth force in nature may have been discovered.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/december/possible-fifth-force-of-nature-found.htm#.XgSDduiTLnE

Deep solar minimum

According to Southgate News which carries a piece from Space Weather, this sunspot minimum is officially "deep" with very few spots this year. This minimum could go on until next April! At the moment experts think the next cycle could peak in 2025 with a similar peak to the last one - low, but still a peak.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/december/sunspots-break-a-space-age-record.htm#.XfiiKOiTLnE

Find OPS-SAT

Southgate News has a piece on finding this satellite due to be launched December 17th.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/december/calling-radio-amateurs-help-find-ops-sat.htm#.XfUraOiTLnE

IARU Newsletter

Southgate News has a piece on the IARU newsletter with the outcomes from WRC-19 in Egypt as it effects amateur radio.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/december/iaru-r1-vhf-uhf-microwave-newsletter.htm#.XfS9aeiTLnE

SDRs and amateur radio

Southgate News has a piece about the impact of SDR on our hobby, mentioning that it will soon be possible to buy a 3.5GHz transceiver for about £50. As the piece says, we live in exciting times.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/december/foundations-of-amateur-radio-07-12.htm#.Xetv3eiTLnE

VDSL interference

Some people suffer horrendous interference that make operating HF and 6m virtually impossible. At the moment I am not one of these, but will I soon be affected too?

Southgate News has links to a recent RSGB survey published by OFCOM.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/november/spectrum-assurance-analysis-of-bt-openreach-vdsl.htm#.XeGKQOiTLnE

6m in Region 1

As reported earlier, the WRC-19 has ended. One of the outcomes, as reported in Southgate News, should be more countries on 6m in Region 1, as this is to become a proper Region 1 amateur allocation.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/november/more-countries-gain-access-to-50-mhz.htm#.Xdu0P-2TLnE

More on WRC-19

Southgate News has a further piece relaying the RSGB's blog about WRC-19 meeting on spectrum issues. This meeting is in Egypt.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/november/wrc-19-day-15--a-long-weekend.htm#.XdJjFu2TLnE

WRC-19

As you may know, this conference in Egypt to discuss spectrum matters is well under way. Southgate News has a piece on this and links the regular updates by the RSGB.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/november/rsgb-wrc-19-update--23cms-and-a-long-day.htm .

5MHz newsletter

Southgate News reports that the 5MHz newsletter is now available for free download. I have tried 5MHz WSPR in the past.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/november/latest-edition-of-5-mhz-newsletter.htm

SAQ (17.2kHz CW) transmission on Oct 24th

Southgate News reports that there will be a special CW transmission from SAQ to commemorate UN day on October 24th.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/october/saq-to-transmit-on-un-day.htm

80m chirps?

Southgate News has a report from the IARU about odd chirps that have recently appeared on 80m.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/october/mysterious-chirps-in-80m-band.htm

UK VHF/UHF-only beginners licence?

Southgate News has a piece on a possible "beginners licence" to encourage VHF/UHF activity. This would be non-technical and with restrictions on power and bands. Certainly a casual look at our VHF and UHF bands would suggest these are not well used and maybe we should be encouraging use of these bands. Back in the 1980s, these bands were busy.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/october/new-uk-entry-level-licence-proposed.htm

CME triggered auroras?

Southgate News reports that there is a risk of a coronal mass ejection causing auroras this week. In the past I have worked stations via auroras with QRP on 6m CW and 10m SSB. A geomagnetic storm is likely even if the CME debris misses Earth.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/september/minor-cme-impact-could-spark-auroras-this-week.htm

CEPT position at WRC 2023

Although several years off, CEPT has agreed on the items to be on the agenda of WRC-23 according to Southgate News. It seems likely that bands under threat may be safer.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/cept-cpg-decides-position-on-144-50-and-1240-1300-mhz.htm

Telford Hamfest - new location

Southgate News has a piece on the new venue for this Sunday's Telford Hamfest.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/telford-hamfest-at-new-venue.htm

2023 WRC threat to 23cm band?

Southgate News reports that the 23cm band could be threatened at the 2023 WRC (World Radio Conference). The main issue is possible interference to Galileo satellite systems.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/threat-to-amateur-radio-23cm-band.htm

Chinese lunar orbiter satellite

According to Southgate News, one of the aims of a Chinese lunar orbiting satellite was to map the interference in the HF spectrum on Earth as seen at the Moon.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/chinese-satellite-gives-rf-spectrum-of-earth-seen-from-moon.htm

Amateur signals from the Moon?

Southgate News reports on an AMSAT and ARISS initiative to get amateur involvement in the next NASA visits to the moon. They calculate path losses will be about 30dB higher than low earth orbit stations.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/amsat-and-ariss-designing-amateur-radio-system-for-lunar-gateway.htm

New release of WSJT-X with FT4

According to Southgate News there is new release of this free software that includes FT4. I shall have to download it as I was waiting for the fully released version.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/july/new-wsjt-x-with-ft4-released.htm