Podcasts about Leonids

GB2RS News Sunday the 1st of December The news headlines: Join the final 2024 RSGB Tonight@8 live webinar Update on the RSGB strategic priority of spectrum and licensing RSGB HF Contest Committee announces changes to contests in 2025 The final RSGB Tonight@8 webinar of 2024 is being broadcast tomorrow, Monday the 2nd of December. Join Tim Hier, G5TM for a talk on the various HF antennas available for portable operating. He'll also discuss how to use very basic modelling software to ascertain the choices you have at your disposal. Tim will look at topics ranging from balancing the convenience of multi-band systems with some trade-off in performance to looking at using 40 metres portable. He'll also look at how to power your station and the advantages of operating HF portable. Tim is the RSGB RadCom Basics Editor so he will also highlight content in that publication that viewers will find helpful. Watch the webinar live on the RSGB YouTube channel or special BATC channel and ask questions via the live chat. To find out more go to the RSGB website at rsgb.org/webinars The RSGB has taken the next steps to support its strategic focus on spectrum and licensing. The Society is now formally engaged in work for the 2027 and 2031 ITU World Radiocommunication Conferences. The RSGB has introduced a new special focus page on WRC-27 and WRC-31 which you can find via rsgb.org/wrc-27 This page includes topics such as 6G telecoms and satellites, wireless power, space weather, and lunar communications. Supporting a new WRC-31 opportunity, the RSGB is also grateful to Chris Whitmarsh, G0FDZ and Roger Ray, G8CUB for a great overview of amateur innovation above 275GHz. You can read this on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/terahertz The RSGB HF Contest Committee has announced some changes to its HF contests for 2025. These cover the FT4 Series, the 1.8MHz Contests, the Commonwealth Contest, Field Day registration and also self-spotting. For full details go to rsgbcc.org/hf Youngsters on the Air Month begins today and Marlborough Scout Group will be the first team of youngsters to operate. They are on the air up until midday today, and then again after 6 pm. Also operating today is the Cambridge University Wireless Society, which is hosting the callsign GB24YOTA between 12 pm and 6 pm. Listen out for the group again on Friday the 6th and Saturday the 7th of December. Other operators this week include Wick High School Radio Club on Monday, the RSGB National Radio Centre's GB3RS station on Tuesday, Sandringham School on Wednesday and Thurso Scouts on Friday. Go to QRZ.com and search for GB24YOTA to view the full schedule and operating times. If you'd like to host the callsign, you've still got time. Visit rsgb.org/yota-month to find out more and then email Jamie, M0SDV at yota.month@rsgb.org.uk to register your interest.  Don't forget that if you want to take an exam online at home, the last date you can do that this year is Friday the 20th of December. Exams will resume on Monday the 6th of January 2025 and the booking system will be available over the festive season so you can book exams for January onwards. Book online on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/exampay The next in the series of 145 Alive events is taking place on Sunday the 26th of January 2025. The organisers are looking for volunteer Net Controllers to help cover as many Maidenhead squares in the UK as possible. Whether you've been a Net Controller before or not, the team would love to hear from you. Find out more about the events by visiting the 145 Alive Facebook Group. To volunteer, send your intended individual, group or club callsign and your intended location and Maidenhead Square to masenville@gmail.com The weekly shortwave broadcast from the Deutsche Amateur Radio Club, or D.A.R.C as it is also known, will be aired from Woofferton in England for the first time in January 2025. The broadcast will be made from an existing BBC broadcasting complex that is operated by the subsidiary company Encompass Media, where there are a total of ten transmitters and just as many antennas. The station in Austria that is currently used by the Club is ceasing its shortwave operations at the end of December this year. Thanks to successful negotiations, the first programme will be broadcast from Woofferton on Sunday the 5th of January 2025 on the previously used frequency of 9670kHz. Full details of how to access Radio D.A.R.C are on the Club's website via darc.de 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 The Wiltshire Radio Winter Rally is taking place today, Sunday the 1st of December, at Kington Langley Village Hall in Kington Langley, located just off Junction 17 of the M4. Doors open at 9 am and close at 1 pm. Admission is £3. Indoor tables are £10. Car boot pitches are £10 for a car-size pitch and £15 for a van-size pitch. Hot and cold refreshments will be available on-site. For more information email Chairman@Chippenhamradio.club The Mid-Devon Amateur Radio and Electronics Fair is on Sunday the 8th of December at Winkleigh Sports and Recreation Centre. Doors are open from 9 am to 1 pm. Entry is £3 per person and there is no charge for partners and under 16s. Free parking and Wi-Fi are available, as well as hot food and refreshments. The cost for traders is £5 per 6ft frontage with tables supplied. Booking in advance is recommended. Mains electricity is also available on request. Traders are asked to pre-book as soon as possible. Please contact Phil, G6DLJ via 07990 563147 or email wrg2024@hotmail.com The Sparkford Radio Rally is on Sunday the 29th of December at Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel, near Yeovil. Doors are open to traders from 7.30 am and from 9.30 am to the general public. Admission is £2. Refreshments and free parking will be available. For more information, please contact Luke via 07870 168197 or email m3vhv@hotmail.co.uk Now the Special Event news Ian Astley, M0IAA will be operating as GB1WH on Wednesday the 11th of December. The special event station is being run to support and promote the excellent work done by Wakefield Hospice. To donate to the hospice or to hear more from Ian, visit QRZ.com The Humber Fortress DX Amateur Radio Club will once again be running the special callsign GB0MC between the 1st and 26th of December. The ‘MC' in the callsign stands for Merry Christmas. The Club would like to invite everyone to call in and give them a hearty “HoHoHo” and tell them what radio equipment you would like from Santa this year. The Club will also be live streaming on its YouTube Channel. OR100LGE is the special callsign in use by members of the Liege Radio Club, ON5VL to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The station is active until the end of the year on the 160 to 6m bands using CW, SSB, FT8 and FT4. QSL via Logbook of the World, eQSL or via ON6YH. QSOs will also be uploaded to Club Log. Now the DX news The 9L5A team, part of the F6KOP Club, is active from Sierra Leone until the 8th of December. The members will operate on the 160 to 6m bands and QO-100. QSL via F5GSJ, Logbook of the World or ClubLog OQRS. The A35GC Team is currently active from Tonga until Friday the 6th of December. The IOTA reference is OC-049. The members will operate on the 160 to 6m bands, using CW, SSB, FT4, FT8 and RTTY. QSL via LZ1GC, Logbook of the World or ClubLog OQRS. The TO9W Team is active again from Saint Martin Island until the 13th of December. The IOTA reference is NA-105. The members will operate on the 160 to 10m bands, with a focus on the 40, 80 and 160m bands. QSL via W9ILY, Logbook of the World or ClubLog OQRS. Now the contest news The UK Six Metre Group Winter Marathon started at 0000UTC today and ends at 2359UTC on Friday the 31st of January 2025. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report and locator. On Tuesday, the 3rd of December, the RSGB 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC. Using FM on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also on Tuesday, the 3rd of December, the RSGB 144MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday, the 4th of December, the RSGB 144MHz FT8 Activity four-hour contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 2m band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Also on Wednesday, the 4th of December, the RSGB 144MHz FT8 Activity two-hour contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 2m band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest. The ARRL 160m Contest starts at 2200UTC on Friday the 6th of December and ends at 1600UTC on Sunday the 7th of December. Using CW on the 160m band, the exchange is a signal report for UK stations. US and Canadian stations will also send their ARRL or RAC section numbers. On Sunday the 8th of December, the RSGB 144MHz AFS Contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 28th of November 2024. Last weekend's CQWW CW contest was a reminder of just how good HF propagation can be near sunspot maximum. The whole world was workable on the contest bands up to 10 metres, including the Far East, Australasia, the Caribbean and South America. It was a great opportunity to increase your DXCC total and have fun at the same time. This week's solar flux index crept back above 200 again, peaking at 225 as this report was being prepared. Geomagnetic conditions have been surprisingly good over the past seven days with a peak Kp index of 3.67 on the 24th of November. There have been no X-class solar flares, but there has been a total of 13 M-class and 54 minor C-class flares over the past seven days. There have been coronal mass ejections, notably on the 25th of November, but they have not been Earth-directed as of the 28th. So, to summarise, HF conditions have been pretty good. We are now entering the Winter period for HF propagation, which tends to favour the low bands. So 160m, 80m and 40m come into their own and night-time DXing becomes the norm. Look for greyline openings to the west at sunrise on 80m and 160m, and also short, but good, openings on 40m in the late afternoon. Nighttime may bring good DX on 80m and 40m, including the Caribbean and South America. NOAA predicts that the SFI will remain in the low 200s next week, and while geomagnetic conditions are forecast to be good at first, the Kp index may rise to four on the 4th to 6th of December. This could result in reduced MUFs until the Kp index recovers. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The unsettled theme continues through most of the next week or two. The only signs of slightly enhanced prospects for Tropo are as we close this week, and even that is restricted to some eastern areas for paths across the North Sea. A second option may temporarily appear around the middle of the coming week as a weak high crosses southern areas, but this one looks to be a cold high and probably not so good as a vehicle for Tropo. The meteor scatter prospects are aided by the last throes of the Leonids which fade away by this weekend, and the Orionids which peaked on Thursday the 28th of November, but last through the coming week. The unsettled weather should offer some useful GHz bands rain or snow scatter, since there will be several active weather systems around. This early in the winter is a great time for strong shower activity around the still relatively warmer seas. The auroral prospects are worth checking after recent activity. Look for watery-sounding signals on the LF bands as a good clue along with Kp index values greater than four. Last week saw some fleeting signs of Sporadic E on the Dourbes ionosonde graphs on propquest.co.uk, especially on Monday the 25th of November. This occurred typically around the middle of the day and was probably driven by the very strong jet stream and the current meteor activity. The Moon's declination is negative, reaching minus 28 degrees on Monday and we are close to eclipse on Sunday. That's followed by two days of high 144MHz sky noise, so with path losses still high, EME operators should probably take the opportunity to check their antennas after last week's gale. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

GB2RS News Sunday the 24th of November   The news headlines: The past and the future – the RSGB releases more Convention presentations RSGB Tonight@8 on HF antennas – join the last live event of 2024 Encourage youngsters on the air during YOTA Month   The RSGB continues to share some great presentations from its recent annual Convention. The two this week look back to the important history of amateur radio and contrast that with how amateur radio might be influenced by modern technology. Don Beattie, G3BJ discussed the very different amateur radio environment of 1924, and the history and events of October that year when the first two-way trans-global radio communication between the UK and New Zealand took place. This centenary celebration is just one of a range of activities that have included RadCom articles and a re-enactment of the contact at Mill Hill School. In his presentation on using AI to write simple amateur radio applications, RSGB Board Chair Dr Stewart Bryant, G3YSX considers how using AI software can improve productivity and bring the ability to write effective software within the reach of more people. This presentation is being released separately as part of the RSGB's focus on encouraging coding and programming activities amongst the amateur radio community. You can find a range of coding resources on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/coding  To watch both presentations, go to the RSGB YouTube channel and choose the ‘RSGB 2024 Convention' playlist. The final RSGB Tonight@8 webinar of 2024 is on Monday the 2nd of December. The presentation by Tim Hier, G5TM will focus on the various HF antennas available for portable operating. He will also look at how to use very basic modelling software to ascertain the choices you have at your disposal. Tim's ethos when working portable is simple, “Five minutes from arrival to operating and no more”. Tim is also the editor of RadCom Basics and will refer to content in that RSGB publication that will help radio amateurs who want to try portable operating. Watch the webinar live on the RSGB YouTube channel or special BATC channel and ask questions via the live chat. To find out more go to the RSGB website at rsgb.org/webinars Youngsters on the Air Month begins one week today. Callsign GB24YOTA will be active for the month, hosted by a range of groups, clubs and individuals. Marlborough Scout Group will be the first team of youngsters to operate. They will be on the air before midday on Sunday the 1st of December, and then again after 6 pm on the same day. Also operating the special callsign next Sunday will be the Cambridge University Wireless Society. They will be hosting the callsign between 12 pm and 6 pm. Remember to listen out and have a QSO with a young radio amateur on the air. If you'd like to get involved, you've still got time. Go to QRZ.com  and search for GB24YOTA to check availability and then email Jamie, M0SDV at yota.month@rsgb.org.uk to register your interest.  The RSGB VHF Contest Committee is currently planning the rules for the 2025 VHF contests. Following some discussion at the RSGB Convention, the committee members have some questions on which they would appreciate feedback from contestants, with particular topics focused on VHF Field Day and the Back Packers events. You can find the survey online at tinyurl.com/VHFCC2025 and it will close on Friday the 6th of December. Members of Wokingham u3a Amateur Radio Group have secured a new club call sign, G5UTA. The group operated the callsign for the first time during the national u3a week in September. G5UTA can be used by any u3a member with a Full licence, in support of a u3a event or demonstration. You can read more about the new callsign, including how to apply for authorisation to use it, in the January 2025 edition of RadCom. To find out more about amateur radio as a subject area within u3a, you can contact its new subject adviser Paul, G0NDN via the u3a website at tinyurl.com/u3asubjects The historic VLF transmitter at Grimeton Radio Station in Sweden is celebrating one hundred years since it was put into commercial operation. The unique Alexanderson alternator operates using callsign SAQ. To mark the centenary a special transmission will take place at 1000UTC on Sunday the 1st of December using CW on 17.2kHz. The event will be livestreamed on the organisation's YouTube Channel using the handle @AlexanderSAQ. You can find out more about the event via alexander.n.se  And now for details of rallies and events The Isle of Man Amateur Radio Society Dinner is at the Creg-ny-Baa on Friday the 29th of November. Tickets are £25. For more information, including details of the menu and how to book, visit iomars.im The Wiltshire Radio Winter Rally is on Sunday the 1st of December at Kington Langley Village Hall in Kington Langley, located just off Junction 17 of the M4. Doors open at 9 am and close at 1 pm. Admission is £3. Indoor tables are £10. Car boot pitches are £10 for a car-size pitch and £15 for a van-size pitch. Hot and cold refreshments will be available on-site. For more information email Chairman@Chippenhamradio.club The Mid-Devon Amateur Radio and Electronics Fair is on Sunday the 8th of December at Winkleigh Sports and Recreation Centre. Doors are open from 9 am to 1 pm. Entry is £3 per person and there is no charge for partners and under 16s. Free parking and Wi-Fi are available, as well as hot food and refreshments. The cost for traders is £5 per 6ft frontage with tables supplied. Booking in advance is recommended. Mains electricity is also available on request. Traders, please pre-book as soon as possible. Please contact Phil, G6DLJ via 07990 563147 or email wrg2024@hotmail.com Now the Special Event news A special event callsign 9Y20TATT is active until the 29th of November 2024 to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, in collaboration with the Trinidad and Tobago Amateur Radio Society. All amateurs are invited to make contact. Limited edition QSL cards will be available, and certificates can be requested by amateurs making at least five unique contacts. Find out more on the event website via 9y20ta.tt Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the formation of Radio Beograd in 1924, members of the Belgrade Amateur Radio Club, YU1ANO in Serbia are active as YT100RB and YU1924RB until the 30th of November. For details of a certificate that is available for contacting these stations see yu1ano.org OR100LGE is the special callsign in use by members of the Liege Radio Club, ON5VL to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The station is active until the end of the year on the 160 to 6m bands using CW, SSB, FT8 and FT4. QSL via Logbook of the World, eQSL or via ON6YH. QSOs will also be uploaded to Club Log. The Humber Fortress DX Amateur Radio Club will once again be running the special callsign GB0MC between the 1st and 26th of December. The ‘MC' in the callsign stands for Merry Christmas. The Club would like to invite everyone to call in and give them a hearty “HoHoHo” and tell them what radio equipment they would like from Santa this year. The Club will also be live streaming on its YouTube Channel.    Now the DX news HC5CW and HC2AP are active as HC5CW/8 and HD8CW from San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos Islands until the 28th of November. The IOTA reference is SA-004. They will operate on the HF bands, CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via M0OXO or OQRS. The FW7AA Team is active from Wallis Island until the 29th of November 2024. The IOTA reference is OC 054. They will operate on the HF Bands. QSL via W7YAQ, Logbook of the World or ClubLog OQRS. The 9L5A Team, who are members of the F6KOP Club, will be active from Sierra Leone between the 27th of November and the 8th of December. They will operate on the 160 to 6m bands and QO-100. QSL via F5GSJ, Logbook of the World or ClubLog OQRS. Now the contest news The CQ World Wide DX CW Contest started at 0000UTC on Saturday the 23rd of November and ends at 2359UTC today, Sunday the 24th of November. Using CW on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and CQ Zone. The UK is in Zone 14. On Tuesday, the 26th of November, the RSGB SHF UK Activity Contest runs from 1930 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 13cm, 9cm, 6cm and 3cm bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday, the 27th of November, the UK and Ireland Contest Club 80m Contest runs from 2000 to 2100UTC. Using CW on the 80m band, the exchange is your six-character locator. On Thursday, the 28th of November, the RSGB 80m Autumn Series CW Contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using CW on the 80m band only, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 21st of November. We've had yet another week of relatively calm geomagnetic conditions. The solar flux index has been in the 160s and despite having 14 M-class solar flares over seven days, we haven't had any coronal mass ejections to contend with. As a result, the daytime maximum usable frequency, or MUF, over a 3,000km path has been high, reaching more than 35MHz at times. The MUF declines after sunset, as expected, settling at about 12-13MHz, meaning the only HF band open to DX has been the 10MHz or 30-metre band. DX this week has included 3D2Y in Rotuma. This Pacific DXpedition has been spotted in Europe, on 20m, 15m and 17m CW, so plenty of choice as to which band you try. E51SGC in Rarotonga on the Cook Islands has also been spotted across many of the HF bands, but they will be leaving on the 24th of November. The good news is that the team of Stan LZ1GC and Ted LZ5QZ are moving on to Tonga as A35GC from the 25th of November until the 7th of December 2024. Gerben (PG5M) is active on the Falkland Islands as VP8G and has been spotted on 20m, 15m and 10m CW. He is there until the 25th of November so get in quickly! Next week, NOAA predicts that the SFI may rise to the mid-250s again. Geomagnetic conditions are largely predicted to be good, although do keep an eye on solarham.com for updates. And don't forget the CQ Worldwide CW contest this weekend which should bring a lot of DX to the HF bands. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO. The weather is now in an unsettled phase with areas of low pressure bringing alternating spells of mild wet and windy weather interspersed with colder brighter and breezy showery weather.  This raises a couple of radio-related points; one is that we will see some very strong and potentially damaging winds in some areas, so check daily forecasts and make sure your mast guys are secure; and secondly an absence of any marked high-pressure Tropo weather.  Rain and snow scatter may be worth checking on the GHz bands in such unsettled weather. Meanwhile, meteor scatter is worthy of greater attention as next week's list of showers includes the small Alpha Monocerotids shower and the tail end of the big Leonids shower.   This introduces another potential nugget of interest in that it is widely accepted that meteors form the source material for Sporadic-E. Despite being out of season in the traditional sense, the prevalence of stronger jet streams in unsettled weather makes the next week a possible ‘watch period' for Es. If you are curious about what these might look like, check out the propquest.co.uk  website and look for the near vertical incidence skywave or NVIS tab for Wednesday the 20th of November 2024. During the two events in the middle of the day and evening, the critical frequency of the Es layer reached values of nearly 10MHz, which could equate to four-metre propagation on a good day. You will see the Es blog tab upper air charts also show a jet stream of greater than 100 knots.  For EME operators, the Moon has passed peak declination so Moon availability and peak elevation will be falling. Path losses are high and rising towards apogee on Tuesday the 26th. 144MHz sky noise is low all week. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

GB2RS News Sunday the 17th of November The news headlines: The RSGB has launched a new practical events section on its website The RSGB Awards Manager has added categories to the IARU Region 1 Award There is still time to host the Youngsters on the Air Month call sign The RSGB is keen to promote practical events for radio amateurs as a way of developing their skills and retaining their interest in amateur radio. The Society has also demonstrated that buildathons are a great way of engaging new audiences, giving people a taste of amateur radio in a fun and supportive environment. As part of its strategy, the RSGB held two workshops at the 2024 Convention to introduce individuals to radio-related usage of Micro Controller Units, or MCUs as they are often known. The Society also holds annual build-a-radio events at Bletchley Park for youngsters, with the kits provided by the Radio Communications Foundation. To support radio amateurs to try practical skills themselves or to put on their events, the RSGB has published a new section on its website that is dedicated to practical events. You'll find a guide to running a buildathon, detailed information from the MCU workshop as well as a short video to inspire you! Feedback from the RSGB's events has been wholly positive with requests for similar activities around the country. Could your club host an event and perhaps even boost its numbers at the same time? Find out more at rsgb.org/practical-events The RSGB Awards Manager has announced that, with the support of the Board, he has added new categories of achievement to the IARU Region 1 Award. These include WARC bands only, 10MHz only, 18MHz only and 24MHz only. The standard IARU Region 1 Award check spreadsheet should continue to be used for these categories. However, award chasers are advised to keep separate versions for each band or set of bands. There are no mode or power restrictions and there is no distinction between fixed and portable stations; you just have to be operating within the same country for all QSOs used in the application. There aren't any limitations on the start dates for the awards other than the dates for particular countries as identified in the check sheet. This reflects, for example, when a country became a member of the IARU. The RSGB would like to thank the award chasers who contributed to the discussions about adding new categories. With just two weeks to go until Youngsters on the Air Month, operating slots for GB24YOTA are fast filling up. The special call sign will be active throughout December and is a fantastic opportunity to get youngsters active on the amateur bands. Whether you are part of a school, university, youth group, club or individual, the RSGB would love you to be involved. The Society would be delighted to see the callsign hosted every day during December and see as many youngsters on the air as possible. Be part of this goal by visiting QRZ.com and searching GB24YOTA to check availability. Operating slots aren't fixed and can be adjusted to suit your timings, so don't delay. Email Jamie, M0SDV via yota.month@rsgb.org.uk now. Visit rsgb.org/yota-month to find out more. The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. There will also be reduced hours on New Year's Eve when the centre will be closing at 2 pm. Following the seasonal closures, the NRC will also be closed for essential maintenance works on the 2nd of January 2025. Outside of these times, volunteers look forward to welcoming visitors as usual. Remember that RSGB Members can download a free entry voucher for Bletchley Park from the RSGB website via rsgb.org/bpvoucher. Visitors to and from CEPT countries such as the UK can now operate more easily in the Cayman Islands, which has now joined the CEPT T/R 61-01 Reciprocal agreement. This change was agreed at the CEPT meeting last month. 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 The Rochdale and District Amateur Radio Winter Rally is taking place on Saturday the 23rd of November at St Vincent de Paul's Hall, Norden in Rochdale. The usual traders and caterers will be attending. Doors open at 10 am and entry is £3. Plenty of parking will be available. For more information contact the Treasurer and Rally Organiser, Martin Shore, via rally.radars@hotmail.com or call 07587 709006. The Bishop Auckland Radio Amateur's Club Annual Rally is taking place on Sunday the 24th of November at Spennymoor Leisure Centre in County Durham. The usual traders will be attending. Catering, ample parking and disabled facilities will be available. For more information, please visit barac.org.uk The Isle of Man Amateur Radio Society Dinner is at the Creg-ny-Baa on Friday the 29th of November. Tickets are £25. For more information, including details of the menu and how to book, visit iomars.im The Wiltshire Radio Winter Rally is on Sunday the 1st of December at Kington Langley Village Hall in Kington Langley, located just off Junction 17 of the M4. Doors open at 9 am and close at 1 pm. Admission is £3. Indoor tables are £10. Car boot pitches are £10 for a car-size pitch and £15 for a van-size pitch. Hot and cold refreshments will be available on-site. For more information email Chairman@Chippenhamradio.club The Mid-Devon Amateur Radio and Electronics Fair is on Sunday the 8th of December at Winkleigh Sports and Recreation Centre. Doors are open from 9 am to 1 pm. Entry is £3 per person and no charge for partners and under 16s. Free parking and Wi-Fi are available, as well as hot food and refreshments. Traders £5 per 6ft frontage with tables supplied. Booking in advance is recommended. Mains electricity is also available on request. Traders, please pre-book as soon as possible. Please contact Phil, G6DLJ via 07990 563147 or email wrg2024@hotmail.com Now the Special Event news A special event callsign 9Y20TATT is active from the 22nd of November until the 29th of November 2024 to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago in collaboration with the Trinidad and Tobago Amateur Radio Society. All amateurs are invited to make contact. Limited edition QSL cards will be available, and certificates can be requested by amateurs making at least five unique contacts. Find out more on the event website via 9y20ta.tt Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the formation of Radio Beograd in 1924, members of the Belgrade Amateur Radio Club, YU1ANO in Serbia are active as YT100RB and YU1924RB until the 30th of November. For details of a certificate that is available for contacting these stations see yu1ano.org Special callsign HB50VC is active until the 31st of December to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Swissair Amateur Radio Club, HB9VC. QSOs will be uploaded to the Logbook of the World. QSL cards will not be provided. You can download a certificate for working this special event station from tinyurl.com/HB50VC-24 Now the DX news HC5CW and HC2AP will be active as HC5CW/8 and HD8CW from San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos Islands between the 19th and 28th of November. The IOTA reference is SA 004. They will operate on the HF bands, CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via M0OXO or OQRS. The S9Z Team will be active from Sao Tome Island between the 11th and 20th of November. The IOTA reference is AF 023. They will operate on the 160 - 6m bands, CW, SSB, Digital modes, and also EME on 432MHz. The 9L5A Team, who are members of the F6KOP Club, will be active from Sierra Leone between the 27th of November and the 8th of December. They will operate on the 160 - 6m bands and QO-100. QSL via F5GSJ, Logbook of the World or ClubLog OQRS. Now the contest news Tomorrow, Monday the 18th of November, the RSGB FT4 Contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using FT4 on the 80m to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is a signal report. On Tuesday, the 19th of November, the RSGB 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 23cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Thursday, the 21st of November, the RSGB 70MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The CQ World Wide DX CW Contest starts at 0000UTC on Saturday the 23rd of November and ends at 2359UTC on Sunday the 24th of November. Using CW on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and CQ Zone. The UK is in Zone 14. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 14th of November. The solar flux index took a downturn this week, ending up at 150. The visible solar disk is looking rather bare compared with a couple of weeks ago. This is the lowest SFI value since the 2nd of May 2024, but it is only a matter of time before we see another sunspot appear as we make our way through solar maximum. The good news is that we have been pretty devoid of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, with only a few M-class flares occurring. Any CMEs were not Earth-directed and so the Kp index stayed low. As a result, the bands are still playing ball. A quick look on 10 metres at 10.00UTC on Thursday the 14th showed the 4X6TU (Israel), OH2B (Finland) and LU4AA (Argentina) International Beacon Project beacons were romping in on 28.200MHz. Going down to 15 metres it was even better, with ZL6B (New Zealand), VK6RBP (Australia) and JA2IGY (Japan) all audible on 21.150MHz. Also, the proton flux from the Sun remains low, which bodes well for polar paths. Next week the Space Weather Prediction Centre forecasts that the solar flux index will rise again, no doubt as new or returning sunspots appear, perhaps putting us into the low 200s. From a geomagnetic perspective, unsettled conditions are forecast for Wednesday, the 20th of November when the Kp index could rise to four. Looking further ahead, fingers crossed for the 23rd and 24th weekend when the CQ Worldwide CW contest takes place! And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO. It was more of the same on 50MHz last week, with what may be a mix of Es and F2-layer propagation producing morning openings in the afternoon to the Gulf States, Southeast Asia, and the Americas. On the higher bands, with the high pressure just hanging on in its colder guise, next week looks distinctly on the wintry side for some areas. The high pressure has, along with its predecessor, given us at least two weeks of Tropo conditions on the VHF bands. The expected change-over to low pressure takes place on Sunday and drives a colder northerly weather pattern down across the UK, even to southern areas. This means that the majority of next week is a good time to look for rain scatter. Regarding meteor scatter, the peak of the Leonids occurs today, the 17th of November, with rates of 15-20 per hour. Also, occasional peaks of the Kp index above four should tempt us to beam north for chance aurora openings. As usual, check the VHF beacons and clusters for signs of activity during the afternoon and evenings when the auroral oval is displaced southwards nearer to our part of the world. It's a good week for EME operators, the Moon reaches peak declination on Monday morning, but path losses are rising as we have passed perigee on Thursday the 14th. 144MHz sky noise is moderate, reaching 500 Kelvin on Sunday night. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Active NorCal's Zach O'Brien and Brien O'Brien (BOB) discuss the results of last week's ballots and their impact on Northern California, including California's $10 billion water/fire measure, South Lake Tahoe's proposed vacation home tax, and San Francisco's proposal to turn the Great Highway into a giant park.Then, they discuss the news of the week including the iconic Point Reyes Shipwreck deteriorating rapidly, a 47-pound Chinook salmon caught on the Smith River, a Sonoma hotel named the best in the world, and the upcoming Leonids meteor shower.Next, Zach sits down with Amaroq Weiss, Senior Wolf Advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, to do a deep dive on wolves, including the reason behind their population growth in California, and what the future holds for wolf packs in the region.Finally, Zach and Bob break down the controversial proposal to bring a major development to Palisades Tahoe and Olympic Valley, including its projected environmental impact.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee  Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1849 A most extraordinary presentation took place at Windsor Castle. Imagine, if you will, standing in the grand halls of Windsor Castle as Joseph Paxton (PAX-ton) presented a massive leaf and exquisite blossom of the Victoria Amazonica (vik-TOR-ee-ah am-uh-ZON-ih-kuh) to the Queen. The moment was so moving that Her Majesty enthusiastically declared, "We are immensely pleased." 1909 The Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson (WIL-sun) sent what seemed like a routine notification to the plant industry office in Seattle. Little did anyone know this simple message would set in motion one of the most delicate diplomatic situations in early 20th-century American-Japanese relations. Grow That Garden Library™  Read The Daily Gardener review of The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Cacti and Succulents by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Paul Rees Buy the book on Amazon: The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Cacti and Succulents by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Paul Rees Today's Botanic Spark 1989 The Sarasota Herald-Tribune published a story that lifted the veil on the shadowy world of rare orchid trading. The article focused on Limerick Inc. and an alleged smuggling operation of endangered Chinese orchids to Florida - but the real story runs much deeper into the heart of orchid obsession. The tale of Kerry Richards and his nursery, Limerick Inc., reads like a botanical thriller. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

WELCOME BAAAACK to THE ASTROCAST!Thanks for joining us this week! And a special thanks to our newest Patreon member, Alex, for helping support the show! Thank you Alex! If you would like to support the show and join us in the members only discord for astro talk 24/7, please feel free to donate here!This week on the show, Roo is going through the motions to get things started. Talking about a new scope from ZWO (The Seestar 130) - he soon realizes something isn't quite right! NO WORRIES! After stepping away from recording, and spending a night under Orion and Co., all is well and back to normal. We discuss imaging orion in HDR Composite fashion, and how to set various lengths of shutter speed to achieve the best effect. Also, we discuss the EPIC Leonids Meteor Storm of 2001! If you were around and saw the storm in 2001, please send your memories of the event to me at rooastrocast@gmail.com - I would love to hear them!Thanks so much for tuning in this week, and we'll be back next week with another show!Links from this weeks show:Several links to videos I found for showcasing the insane number of bright meteors from the 2001 Leonids:Leonids meteor 2001 [1minute] しし座流星群2001Leonids 20012001 Leonids Meteor Shower 獅子座流星雨Stellarium: Stellarium Astronomy SoftwareSkysafari: SkySafari 7 | Professional Astronomy Telescope Control Software for iOSPixinsight Guide for HDR Composites!The Astrocast FB Page (photos posted here regularaly! Check out the Raptors!)Also - as a reminder, another great way you can support the show is by shopping with our partner, High Point Scientific! Any time you make a purchase through our shows link - HERE - you help support the show for no added cost to you! A small percentage of the overall profit goes to support the show. Thanks so much to those of you that have been showing your love this way, it has NOT gone unnoticed!!High Point Scientific, via The Astrocast!Thanks so much Astro Fam! CLEAR SKIES!  -RooSupport the showEmail me at "RooAstrocast@gmail.com" with any questions/comments. Thanks for listening!

  GB2RS News Sunday the 10th of November The news headlines: The RSGB launches its 2025 Construction Competition The RSGB Contest Club needs volunteers for the second World Wide Award event Watch more great content from the RSGB 2024 Convention The RSGB has launched its Construction Competition for 2025. Entries to this annual competition will again be judged online to allow RSGB members from the UK and across the world to participate and demonstrate their creativity. In line with the Society's strategic priority of growth, there will be a new Outreach category this year in which members are encouraged to submit a project that can be reproduced in a school or public environment. The other five categories are beginners, construction excellence, innovation, software and antennas. A cash prize will be awarded to the winner of each section, with a bonus for the overall winner, who will also be declared the recipient of the Pat Hawker G3VA Award. The winner of the beginner category will also receive the Gavin Nesbitt, MM1BXF trophy. The results of the competition will be announced during the 2025 RSGB Annual General Meeting in April. For full details of the competition and how to enter, visit the RSGB website at rsgb.org/construction-competition The RSGB Contest Club is excited to announce that the second World Wide Award event will be taking place in January 2025 and it is looking for volunteers to take part. Last year's event included 28 RSGB members who made more than 109,000 contacts. The Society's Contest Club has confirmed there are currently special activator stations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, if volunteers from Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man would like to participate then further callsigns can be added. QSOs can be made using SSB, CW, and digital modes. To be involved you will need to be an RSGB member and hold a Full Licence. To find out more about the event search ‘RSGB Contest Club' on the RSGB website and scroll down to the section titled World Wide Award 2025. Then email contestclub@rsgbcc.org  to register your interest. The Society has released some more great content from its recent Annual Convention. In its ‘Discussion with the Board' session, the RSGB Board outlined progress with the strategic priorities and answered questions from Convention attendees about the strategy and a range of other topics. The session wasn't on the live stream, but you can see it now on the RSGB YouTube channel. On the Friday night of the Convention, the RSGB Comms Manager asked people in the bar if they had tried anything new in amateur radio during the last year. You can hear their answers in the latest Convention Chat video. What would your answer be? You can watch both videos in the RSGB 2024 Convention playlist at youtube.com/theRSGB The 19th International Amateur Radio Union Region 3 Conference was hosted by the Thailand National Society in Bangkok and concluded on Friday the 7th of November. The hybrid event saw the RSGB attending online, which included accounting for a seven-hour time zone difference. The Conference was opened on Monday the 4th of November by national and international dignitaries. Numerous papers and reports were considered including the latest proposals for a global 40m band plan, emergency communications reports, as well as modernisation of its organisation. The region which covers Asia-Pacific countries has also started its work for the next World Radio Conference in 2027. You can view papers from the event by visiting tinyurl.com/IARUR3 Ofcom has agreed to the RSGB request to extend the 146/147MHz NoV for a further year. It is available on a non-interference basis and the NoV is subject to a 30-day notice period of change or withdrawal. Full licence holders can apply for the 146/147MHz NoV on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/nov Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, also known as ARISS, will be conducting Slow Scan TV operations from the International Space Station between the 11th and 18th of November. There will be 12 images to catch during the week-long experiment, which will be on the theme of the 40th anniversary of amateur radio in human spaceflight. Find out more by visiting the ARISS social media pages or via ariss.org 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 The Rochdale and District Amateur Radio Winter Rally is taking place on Saturday the 23rd of November at St Vincent de Paul's Hall, Norden in Rochdale. The usual traders and caterers will be attending. Doors open at 10 am and entry is £3. Plenty of parking will be available. For more information contact the Treasurer and Rally Organiser, Martin Shore, via rally.radars@hotmail.com or call 07587 709006. The Bishop Auckland Radio Amateur's Club Annual Rally is taking place on Sunday the 24th of November at Spennymoor Leisure Centre in County Durham. The usual traders will be attending. Catering, ample parking and disabled facilities will be available. For more information, please visit barac.org.uk The Wiltshire Radio Winter Rally is on Sunday the 1st of December at Kington Langley Village Hall in Kington Langley, located just off Junction 17 of the M4. Doors open at 9 am and close at 1 pm. Admission is £3. Indoor tables are £10. Car boot pitches are £10 for a car-size pitch and £15 for a van-size pitch. Hot and cold refreshments will be available on-site. For more information email Chairman@Chippenhamradio.club Now the Special Event news George, MM0JNL is active as GB0GTS until the 18th of November to raise awareness of homeless military veterans in association with The Great Tommy Sleepout organised by The Royal British Legion Industries. The station will be operating on the 80 to 10m bands using SSB. There may also be some activity on the 2m band. George will operate at least one full night outside as part of the Great Tommy Sleepout. More details are available at QRZ.com Special callsign GB200LB will be active from the 4th to the 31st of January 2025 to celebrate the bicentenary of the invention of the Braille code. More information to follow. Now the DX news Maurizio, IK2GZU is active as 5H3MB from Tanzania until the 11th of November while doing volunteer work at a local school. In his spare time, he will operate SSB, CW and digital modes on the 80 to 10m bands. QSL via Club Log's OQRS, Logbook of the World, eQSL or direct via IK2GZU. A team of operators is active as XT2MD from Burkina Faso until the 11th of November. They will operate on HF bands and EME. QSL via IK2VUC, bureau or direct. VK9CV is active from Cocos in the Keeling Islands until the 15th of November. The group will operate using CW, SSB, FT8, RTTY and QO-100 on the 160 to 10m bands. QSL via OK6DJ and Logbook of the World. HC5CW and HC2AP will be active as HC5CW/8 and HD8CW from San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos Islands between the 19th and 28th of November. The IOTA reference is SA 004. They will operate on the HF bands, CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via M0OXO or OQRS. Now the contest news The Worked All Europe DX RTTY Contest started at 0000UTC on Saturday the 9th of November and ends at 2359UTC today, Sunday the 10th of November. Using RTTY on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Tuesday the 12th of November the RSGB 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC. Using FM on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also on Tuesday the 12th of November is the RSGB 432MHz UK Activity Contest which runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the 13th of November the RSGB 432MHz FT8 Activity four-hour contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Also, on Wednesday the 13th is the RSGB 432MHz FT8 Activity two-hour contest which runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest. The RSGB 80m Autumn Series SSB Contest runs on Wednesday the 13th of November from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using SSB on the 80m band only, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Thursday the 14th of November, the RSGB 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The RSGB Second 1.8MHz Contest runs from 2000UTC to 2300UTC on Saturday the 16th of November. Using CW on the 1.8MHz band only, the exchange is a signal report, serial number and district code. A list of the district codes is available on the RSGB Contest Committee website via rsgbcc.org.   Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 7th of November. We had another week of high solar flux and good conditions on HF. Solar activity remained at high levels thanks to an impulsive X2.3 solar flare around active region 3883 at 13:40 UTC on the 6th of November, but the event was not responsible for a coronal mass ejection (CME). The Kp index remained below 4.5 all week, with a solar flux index in the range of 240-260. That was more than enough to keep the ionosphere very active. A recent report on spaceweather.com  suggested that the solar cycle may have peaked in the Sun's southern hemisphere but may still have a way to go in its northern hemisphere. It's usual for there to be two peaks in a solar cycle as the two hemispheres are seldom synchronised. We will have to wait and see, but it could mean another three to six months of high SFI numbers as the northern hemisphere catches up. A solar filament located in the southwest quadrant erupted on the 7th of November. A coronal mass ejection, or CME as it is also known, occurred but appeared to be off the Sun-Earth line, so no major impacts are expected. A sunspot group turning into view from off the southeastern limb has been assigned active region 3889 and is producing M-class solar flares. The probability of further M-class flares stands at 80%. Meanwhile, the risk of an X-class flare currently stands at 35%. A coronal hole is currently Earth-facing and could cause some disruption sometime around Saturday 9th. The solar proton flux has decreased to normal levels, so polar paths should now be unaffected. Next week, NOAA predicts that the SFI could decline into the range of 165-185. Geomagnetic disturbances are forecast for the 11th and 12th, and again on the 15th, with the Kp index predicted to reach four. Meanwhile, we do urge you to get on 10 metres, which is currently experiencing some fine DX openings. This month and next will probably give the best chance of good 10-metre propagation for a while.  And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO Another week has just passed with daily F2-layer propagation on 50MHz providing morning openings to Southeast Asia, and the Americas in the afternoon. Expect more in the coming week.  The current spell of high pressure has had a good run with some excellent Tropo conditions, with the best DX along the side of the high pressure. This weekend will see the high finally giving way as weak Atlantic fronts move in from the west. This will soon be replaced by a new high building in the colder air behind the weekend fronts. It may look like Tropo should come back, but this high may be less productive. The major change of weather pattern comes before mid-week, when it may turn more unsettled as low pressure moves closer to eastern areas from the North Sea. This general move towards more unsettled conditions will continue through the end of the week. In terms of propagation, good Tropo will be replaced by some patchy rain scatter opportunities for the GHz bands from about the middle of next week. Staying with scatter modes, meteor scatter looks promising with the Taurids peaking on Tuesday the 12th and the Leonids due to peak on the following weekend on Sunday the 17th. The solar conditions continue to offer chance occurrences of aurora due to solar flares or CMEs so, as usual, keep a watch on the Kp index going above Kp=4. An occasional reminder of the possibility of out-of-season Es for the digital modes is timely. Recently the critical frequency of the Es layer has reached 7MHz on the Dourbes ionosonde plotted on www.propquest.co.uk  and in theory, this would be good enough for a 6m band path. For EME operators, Moon declination is negative but rising, going positive again on Tuesday the 12th. Path losses are falling as we approach perigee next Thursday the 14th. 144MHz sky noise is moderate to low this coming week. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Astronomy Daily - The Podcast: S03E197Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for the latest space and Astronomy news. I'm your host, Steve, and today we have a stellar lineup of stories that will take you from the mysteries of the Kuiper Belt to the cutting-edge innovations in space telescopes.Highlights:- Kuiper Belt Discoveries: The Subaru telescope has uncovered new objects beyond the known Kuiper Belt, suggesting a more complex structure at the solar system's edge. This discovery could reshape our understanding of planet formation and the search for extraterrestrial life.- Giant Unrolling Space Telescopes: Explore the future of space telescopes made from thin metal membranes that can unroll in space, offering unprecedented views of the universe. Discover how adaptive optics and laser projections could revolutionize space observation.- Expedition 72's ISS Maneuvers: The crew of Expedition 72 is preparing to relocate the Dragon Freedom spacecraft to make way for a new cargo mission. Dive into the details of their preparations and the scientific experiments aboard the ISS.- Chinese Astronauts Return: A Chinese crew has returned to Earth after a six-month mission aboard the Tiangong Space Station. Learn about their journey and China's ambitious plans for lunar exploration.- November Meteor Showers: The southern and northern Taurids are set to light up the sky this month. Find out when and where to catch these bright fireballs and what makes them unique.For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Sign up for our free Daily newsletter to stay informed on all things space. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music, Tumblr, and TikTok. Share your thoughts and connect with fellow space enthusiasts.Thank you for tuning in. This is Steve signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.Sponsor Links:NordVPN - www.bitesz.com/nordvpn - Up to 74% off and a 30-day money-back guarantee!Old Glory - www.bitesz.com/oldglory - Now with official NASA Merch!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-the-podcast--5648921/support.

Tune in to your monthly stargazing companion with Leon and Beth as they explore what's visible in the Borloo night sky this November. Catch Venus dazzling in the western sky after sunset, with elusive Mercury making a brief appearance below. Don't miss the special alignment on November 4th featuring Venus, Mercury, Antares, and the moon. Jupiter rises in the east, offering perfect viewing practice for telescope enthusiasts. Early birds can catch the Leonids meteor shower around November 18th, with meteors appearing every 5-10 minutes before sunrise. Plus, journey to the southern sky to find Mensa, the table constellation, and learn about the nearby Magellanic Clouds - dwarf galaxies visible from the southern hemisphere. Local listeners won't want to miss Astrofest at Curtin Stadium on November 9th, featuring telescopes, astronomers, and family-friendly activities.

GB2RS News Sunday the 3rd of November   The news headlines: RSGB President honoured by RAYNET-UK Watch the RSGB November Tonight@8 live webinar Encourage youngsters to get on the air during December At the recent RAYNET-UK AGM, the Brian Tindill Shield was awarded to RSGB President John McCullagh MBE, GI4BWM for his outstanding contribution to amateur radio and RAYNET in Northern Ireland. It highlighted in particular his outstanding contribution to providing emergency radio coverage during his voluntary service with RAYNET. The latest RSGB Tonight@8 webinar is tomorrow, Monday the 4th of November. Mike Griffiths will present ‘Listening to the Enemy' which looks at the experience of Scouser Harry Griffiths, G2DFH and his move to the St Erth receiving station in Cornwall. Like many other radio amateurs, Harry was drafted into the military during World War II specifically for his radio skills. During this live presentation, Mike will look at what Harry's experience was like as he started to work for MI6 and the mysterious Radio Security Service. Watch this interesting webinar live on the RSGB YouTube channel or special BATC channel and ask questions via the live chat. To find out more go to the RSGB website at rsgb.org/webinars Youngsters on the Air month is fast approaching and the RSGB would love you to take part in this annual event. Special callsign GB24YOTA will be active throughout December. Whether you are an individual, club, school or social group, this is a fantastic opportunity to host the callsign to get youngsters active on the amateur bands. The Society would love to see scouts, guides and cadet groups taking part too. Follow the lead of the two new RSGB Youth Champions and register now. Look for GB24YOTA on QRZ.com to check availability and then visit rsgb.org/yota-month  to find out how to secure your slot. Operating slots get booked up quickly, so don't delay. The Society is aiming to have the callsign hosted every day during December this year to enable more youngsters to have a taste of amateur radio, so be part of this great goal! The Society is currently looking to recruit an RSGB member to be the Company Secretary. This volunteer position plays a key role in the Society's governance and provides vital support in running Board meetings and the Annual General Meeting. Stephen Purser, GW4SHF took on the role temporarily after the previous Company Secretary stepped down. The Board is grateful to Stephen for stepping in at short notice last year and is keen to find a good candidate to take the role forward. If you feel you have the necessary skills to fulfil this important role, would like more information or to discuss what is required, please email gm.dept@rsgb.org.uk  in the first instance. The Board Chair will then contact you for a chat. If you email to apply for the position, please include a current CV. In line with all volunteer roles, the Board welcomes applications from people with diverse backgrounds. For full information please go to rsgb.org/volunteers Jamboree on the Air, or JOTA as it is also known, was very busy with large numbers of stations and callsigns active across the weekend. The RSGB would like to thank everyone who contacted the Society with details of their stations so they could be added to the RSGB website. It was great to see so many local clubs and societies, as well as individual radio amateurs, working with scouting groups to deliver a brilliant event for scouts across the country. Don't forget that there will be a report on JOTA in RadCom. If you'd like to be included, please send details and photos from your event to radcom@rsgb.org.uk by the 15th of November. If you have ever considered progressing your licence from Foundation to Intermediate, the Bath Based Distance Learning team has a great track record with passes well above the national average. The next Intermediate level course will run from January to May 2025. To take part in the course, all applicants must complete some pre-course work using BBDL systems. The closing date for applications is the 6th of December 2024. The team will also be running a Full licence course starting in August 2025. For further information on either of these please contact Steve, G0FUW via g0fuw@bbdl.org.uk Do you have some spare time to support fellow radio amateurs? Are you passionate about the future of amateur radio? Do you support the work of the RSGB? The Society currently has several volunteer vacancies within the Regional Team and would love to hear from you if you'd like to fill one of the roles. This week the RSGB is highlighting two vacancies in Region 9 for District Representatives to cover Oxfordshire and West London. If you live in one of those areas and are interested in getting involved, please contact the Region 9 Representative Ron White, G6LTT via rr9@rsgb.org.uk  If you live in a different part of the country you can see all the other Regional Team vacancies on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/volunteers The 19th International Amateur Radio Union Region 3 Conference is being held in Bangkok, Thailand, from the 4th to the 8th of November. The RSGB will join the conference remotely, represented by Spectrum Forum Chair, Murray Niman, G6JYB. There will be a special event station in operation from the conference using the call sign HS19IARU. For more information go online and search for “IARU Region 3 Conference 2024”. The ARRL has awarded a Special Recognition to the team representing the IARU at the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference in 2023. The ARRL extended its appreciation to the team and said that their outstanding contribution and results have benefited the amateur radio service worldwide. The team includes RSGB Microwave Manager Barry Lewis, G4SJH and RSGB Spectrum Forum Chair Murray Niman, G6JYB. 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 The Holsworthy Radio Rally is taking place today, Sunday the 3rd of November at Holsworthy Leisure Centre, Well Park, Western Road, Holsworthy in Devon. There are traders, a bring-and-buy area and catering. The venue has disabled access, free parking and entry is £3 per person. The doors open to traders from 8am and to the public from 10am. For more information email Chris, M0KNF at boltonbicycles@gmail.com The Twelfth Scottish Microwave Round Table GMRT will be on Saturday the 9th of November 2024 at the Museum of Communication, Burntisland in Fife. Lunch will be provided, and an optional dinner will be held in the evening at a local hotel. Online booking is available via the GMRT website at gmroundtable.org.uk or by email to Colin, GM4HWO at gm4hwo@gmail.com  Now the Special Event news George, MM0JNL is active as GB0GTS until the 18th of November to raise awareness of homeless military veterans in association with The Great Tommy Sleepout organised by The Royal British Legion Industries. The station will be operating on the 80 to 10m bands using SSB. There may also be some activity on the 2m band. George will operate at least one full night ‘roughing it' outside as part of the Great Tommy Sleepout. More details are available at QRZ.com Special callsign GB200LB will be active from the 4th to the 31st of January 2025 to celebrate the bicentenary of the invention of the Braille code. More information to follow. Now the DX news Maurizio, IK2GZU is active as 5H3MB from Tanzania until the 11th of November while doing volunteer work at a local school. In his spare time, he will operate SSB, CW and digital modes on the 80 to 10m bands. QSL via Club Log's OQRS, Logbook of the World, eQSL, or via IK2GZU. Now the contest news The RSGB 144MHz CW Marconi Contest started at 1400UTC on Saturday the 2nd of November and ends at 1400UTC today, Sunday the 3rd of November. The exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The International Police Association Radio Club invites all radio amateurs around the world to take part in its contest which takes place every year on the first complete weekend in November. This year, the CW section occurred on Saturday the 2nd of November from 0600 to 1800UTC. The SSB section takes place today Sunday the 3rd of November from 0600 to 1800UTC. More information about the contest and the award programme are available at iparc.de Tomorrow, Monday the 4th of November, the RSGB 80m Autumn Series DATA Contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using RTTY and PSK63 on the 80m band only, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Tuesday, the 5th of November, the RSGB 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC. Using FM on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also on Tuesday the 5th of November, the RSGB 144MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the 6th of November, the RSGB 144MHz FT8 Activity four-hour contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 2m band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Also on Wednesday the 6th of November is the RSGB 144MHz FT8 Activity two-hour contest which runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 2m band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest. On Wednesday the 6th of November the UK and Ireland Contest Club 80m Contest runs from 2000 to 2100UTC. Using SSB on the 80m band, the exchange is your six-character locator. The Worked All Europe DX RTTY Contest starts at 0000UTC on Saturday the 9th of November, and ends at 2359UTC on Sunday the 10th of November. Using RTTY on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday 31 October 2024. Last weekend's CQWW SSB contest showed just how good autumnal HF conditions can be. Many contestants worked more than 100 countries or DX entities on each and every HF band. With a solar flux index of 238 on Saturday and 246 on Sunday, plus low Kp indices all weekend, it was about as good as it could get. There were two three-hour periods where the Kp index hit four and 4.33, but it was otherwise in the ones and twos. An X-class solar flare occurred on Saturday the 26th at around 07:15 hrs UTC, but this had little effect and the MUF over a 3,000km path was back above 28MHz quite quickly. The rest of the week saw numerous M-class and C-class solar flares occur and a Kp index that did get up to four at times, but once again the MUF remained above 28MHz during daylight for most of the time. Interestingly, there have been times when the critical frequency over the UK has hit 14MHz, making 20m almost a local chat band via Near Vertical Incidence Sky Wave or NVIS communications! These openings may be short-lived so make the most of them should they occur. Nighttime critical frequencies have generally been around 4.5-6MHz, meaning a MUF over a 3,000km path over 14MHz in the first half of the night and around 10-12MHz in the second half. The solar proton flux has been above the 10MeV warning threshold but is now falling as of Thursday 31st. This may improve signals that pass through the polar regions, such as the UK to the far west of Canada and Alaska, and the UK to Japan. Next week NOAA predicts that the SFI will start at around 240, but perhaps fall to around 195-200 as the week progresses. ESA predicts that the solar wind speed could increase around November 4th and could cause disruption. As always, we are at the mercy of solar flares and CMEs, which could disrupt HF propagation, so we recommend keeping an eye on solarham.com for daily updates.  And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The Autumn Equinox period continued to bring F2-layer propagation to 50MHz with almost daily morning openings to VK and JA and afternoon openings to the Americas for some. Stations in the far South and West of the island were favoured. Side scatter in the Indian Ocean brought the JAs on a 90-degree beam heading, an effect noted at previous sunspot maxima. The autumn is typically a time for quiet settled weather, a season of mist, and this is where we are going for the period through to the end of next week. It's worth a couple of reminders of how it all works since, although it's likely to be pretty much the same ‘big picture' of dominant high pressure, there will be subtle differences. Firstly, there are two types of high pressure; one that builds in warm air and the other in cold air. The warm air version is the current offering, and this means quite cloudy conditions at times with moist air below the temperature inversion and very dry air above the inversion. Second, the quality of the ducting is determined by the change of the refractive index across the inversion and a large part of the refractive index change comes from a contrast of moisture, so signs of cloud and/or fog moisture are good omens for a lift. We may swap over to a cold air high later next week, which could lessen the Tropo quality. Meteor scatter prospects are on hold pending the Leonids meteor shower, which peaks mid-November. A dominant high pressure means that rain scatter is not likely to be a big player for the GHz bands next week. There is a possible heads-up for aurora since the solar conditions still offer chances for the Kp index to rise – anything over Kp=4 is worth a longer look – and don't forget that ‘watery' signals on the lower HF bands such as 40m and 80m are also a good sign. For EME operators, Moon declination reaches a minimum (that is, maximum negative declination) next Tuesday when the Moon only reaches nine degrees peak elevation and is only above the horizon for six hours between 1200 and 1800hrs. Path losses, on the other hand, are falling all week. 144MHz sky noise is moderate to high, peaking at more than 3,000 Kelvin on Tuesday the 5th before dropping back to moderate levels. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

GB2RS News Sunday the 27th of October The news headlines: The RSGB releases a snapshot video of the exciting Girlguiding ISS contact You can listen to the Chair of the RSGB's Propagation Studies Committee on the latest episode of the ICQ podcast The RSGB has begun releasing presentations from its 2024 Convention On the 5th of October, in her first official engagement as Girlguiding Patron, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh joined 100 excited Brownies, Guides and Rangers in making a live amateur radio contact with the International Space Station. The event was organised by The Radio Society of Great Britain and Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS as it is usually known, in collaboration with the UK Space Agency, Girlguiding Surrey West and Brooklands Museum's Innovation Academy programme. The aim was to promote the engagement and involvement of girls and young women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Everyone had a fantastic day and after the contact, the girls enjoyed a variety of STEM activities including making Snail Morse keys, playing Morse battleships, learning about the CubeSat Simulator and making stomp rockets. The RSGB has created a short video snapshot of the day which you can see on its YouTube channel at youtube.com/theRSGB – take a look! The latest episode of the ICQ Podcast is available to listen to online and features RSGB Propagation Studies Committee Chair, Steve Nichols, G0KYA. During episode 441 Martin Butler, M1MRB talks to Steve about propagation and how the sunspot cycle has taken off to impact conditions positively. They also discuss Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, which is also known as HamSCI, a collective that enables university researchers to collaborate with radio amateurs in scientific investigations. To access the interview, select episode 441 at icqpodcast.com and listen from 1 hour and 35 minutes. The RSGB 2024 Convention weekend brought together hundreds in person and thousands via the livestreams. As well as the ‘Convention in a nutshell' video released last week, the Society has now published two of the main presentations. The first is the keynote speech about the future of amateur radio licensing and education by Rafal Lukawiecki, EI6LA. The second looks at inspiring the next generation by the RSGB's two new Youth Champions Chris Aitken, MM0WIC and Rhys Williams, M0WGY. You will find both presentations, as well as the full two days of live stream content, in the RSGB 2024 Convention playlist on the Society's YouTube channel. Remember to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss additional presentations when they're published. There is also still time to share your feedback about the in-person event or the live stream, but the feedback forms will close at the end of this month. Head over to rsgb.org/feedback if you attended the event, or rsgb.org/livestream-feedback if you watched via the livestream. Let the team know what you enjoyed! If you are thinking of taking an amateur radio exam before Christmas, there are two important dates you need to be aware of. The last date you can take an exam at a club, whether online or on paper, is Friday the 13th of December. If you want to take an exam online at home, the last date you can do that is Friday the 20th of December. The RSGB Exams Team will, where possible, post-out exam results before HQ shuts over Christmas and New Year. Exams will resume on Monday the 6th of January 2025 and the booking system will be available over the festive season so you can book exams for January onwards. You can book online on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/exampay On Friday the 18th of October the RSGB, Mill Hill School and a team of radio amateurs in New Zealand took part in a special celebration to mark the centenary of the first successful two-way trans-global communication between radio amateurs in the UK and New Zealand. The original contact between Frank Bell, 4AA in New Zealand and Cecil Goyder, 2SZ in Mill Hill School in North London was re-enacted at the school on a wavelength as close as possible to the original. Members of Goyder's family watched the re-enactment and chatted to pupils. As part of wider celebrations for the day, the school put on activities including a build-a-radio workshop. Students at the school showed significant interest in amateur radio, with several students signing up to be part of a new radio club that will be set up by the school's physics teacher. The overall event was led by RSGB Life Vice-President Don Beattie, G3BJ who said that he was delighted by the success of the event and that it had allowed pupils to learn how ground-breaking that first radio contact was with New Zealand. Call sign G2SZ was operational for four days surrounding the centenary, during which operators achieved approximately 1,250 contacts. To find out more about this unique celebration go to www.gb2nz.com and search for ‘GB2NZ re-enactment' on the RSGB website. The Memorial Day QSO Party is an activity providing participants with an opportunity to honour amateur radio operators who are now Silent Key. The event is being sponsored and managed by the First Class CW Operators' Club and is open to all licensed amateurs. The event begins at 0900UTC on the 1st of November 2024 and ends at 0859UTC on the 2nd of November. More information is available at g4foc.org or by emailing mdqp@g4foc.org or michelecarlone@yahoo.it Ofcom has notified stakeholders that the next release of its licensing service will be delayed due to issues that have arisen during software development. According to the Ofcom website, the delays have impacted Phases 2 and 3 of the planned changes to the amateur radio licensing framework. Phase 2 includes changes to new Intermediate callsigns, special event station rules and restrictions on the number of callsigns an individual may hold. Revised plans are expected to be published soon. You can read the update on the Ofcom website via tinyurl.com/OFCOMOCT24 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 The Galashiels Rally is taking place today, the 27th of October at the Volunteer Hall, St Johns Street, Galashiels, TD1 3JX. The doors will be open from 11 am. The admission fee is £3 and there will be refreshments, traders and a bring-and-buy area to enjoy. For more information contact rallyqueries@galaradioclub.co.uk or visit galaradioclub.co.uk The Holsworthy Radio Rally will be taking place on Sunday the 3rd of November at Holsworthy Leisure Centre, Well Park, Western Road, Holsworthy in Devon. There will be traders, a bring-and-buy area and catering. The venue has disabled access, free parking and entry will be £3 per person. The doors will be open to traders from 8 am and to the public from 10 am. For more information email Chris, M0KNF at boltonbicycles@gmail.com The Twelfth Scottish Microwave Round Table GMRT will be going ahead on Saturday the 9th of November 2024 at the Museum of Communication, Burntisland in Fife. Lunch will be provided, and an optional dinner will be held in the evening at a local hotel. Online booking is available via the GMRT website at gmroundtable.org.uk or by email to Colin, GM4HWO at gm4hwo@gmail.com  Now the Special Event news George, MM0JNL is active as GB0GTS until the 18th of November to raise awareness of homeless military veterans in association with The Great Tommy Sleepout organised by The Royal British Legion Industries. The station will be operating on the 80 to 10m bands using SSB. There may also be some activity on the 2m band. George will operate at least one full night ‘roughing it' outside as part of the Great Tommy Sleepout. More details are available at QRZ.com Special callsign SX80FF will be used from various locations, including Crete as SV9/SX80FF until the 31st of October. The purpose of the activity is to honour the 80 fallen Greek firefighters and aerial firefighting crews who lost their lives in the line of duty. The station was spotted recently on the 60m band using FT8. QSL via Logbook of the World, eQSL and QRZ.com logbook. Paper QSL cards will not be available. Now the DX news A team of operators is active as YJ0VV from Efate, OC-035, Vanuatu until the 29th of October. The team is operating SSB, CW and digital modes on the 160 to 6m bands with two high-power stations and a selection of seven antennas. QSL via K4NHW directly or via the Bureau. QSOs will be uploaded to Clublog and Logbook of the World. Maurizio, IK2GZU is active as 5H3MB from Tanzania until the 11th of November while doing volunteer work at a local school. In his spare time, he will operate SSB, CW and digital modes on the 80 to 10m bands. QSL via Club Log's OQRS, Logbook of the World, eQSL, or  via IK2GZU. Now the contest news The CQ World Wide DX SSB Contest started at 0000UTC on Saturday the 26th and ends at 2359UTC today, Sunday the 27th of October. Using SSB on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and CQ Zone. The UK is in Zone 14.  Tomorrow, the 28th, the RSGB FT4 Contest runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using FT4 on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is your report. On Wednesday the 30th, the UK and Ireland Contest Club 80m Contest runs from 2000 to 2100 UTC. Using CW on the 80m band, the exchange is your six-character locator. The RSGB 144MHz CW Marconi Contest starts at 1400 UTC on Saturday the 2nd and ends at 1400 UTC on Sunday the 3rd Of November. Using CW on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The International Police Association Radio Club invites all radio amateurs around the world to take part in its contest which takes place every year on the first complete weekend in November. This year, the CW section will take place on Saturday the 2nd of November from 0600 to 1800 UTC. The SSB section will take place on Sunday the 3rd of November from 0600 to 1800 UTC. More information about the contest and the award programme are available at iparc.de  Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 24th of October 2024 Last week's solar conditions couldn't have been much better. We had a week of high solar flux indices, relatively calm geomagnetic conditions and, other than an X-class solar flare, not much else to report. The solar flare originated from active region 3869 and reached a strong X3.3 in the early hours of October 24th. This event was associated with a coronal mass ejection, or CME, based on solar dimming following the event, but because the flare location was located off the east limb, it was directed mostly away from Earth. Once again, all the sunspots are in the southern hemisphere, but activity appears to be growing. This could spell trouble over the next week. This weekend, the 26th and 27th, the CQ Worldwide SSB contest is taking place and conditions should be excellent, with a combination of high solar flux and autumnal HF conditions. Maximum usable frequencies, or MUFs, are generally higher than 28MHz from dawn until dusk. Nighttime MUFs over 3,000km are still just above 14MHz, although you might get better results by dropping down to 10MHz if the 20m band doesn't work for you. Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index may rise again, perhaps hitting 185 as we enter November. However, this current bunch of sunspots, which are rotating to be Earth-directed next week, appear more active and we could see more solar flares and CMEs, which could throw a spanner in the works. A solar flare could impact the ionosphere by increasing D-layer absorption, for up to an hour or so, and possibly launch a coronal mass ejection. If a CME hits the Earth, expect the MUF to plummet, at least for a day or two until the ionosphere recovers. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The Autumn Equinox period brought some amazing ionospheric propagation to 50MHz on Thursday last week with stations in the UK working morning paths to VK, JA, DS and XV among others. Typically for 50MHz DX, the skip zones were sharp and moved rapidly. Stations even a few kilometres apart experienced very different signals and paths. Those with a low noise floor had a huge advantage as signals were generally weak in the UK and only good for FT8. However, some reports of a VK station at +5 bucked this trend. Next week will offer some reasonable Tropo conditions, although not without some occasional interruptions from weak frontal systems, especially in the far southwest and the far northwest of Britain. It's not clear if these represent good rain scatter options, but they are more likely to temporarily curtail any Tropo for a while. The solar conditions continue to feed the occasional aurora alert our way, so it's always good to monitor the Kp index for signs of it increasing above 4. It won't always go on to produce a radio aurora, but it's worth keeping an eye on things. The meteor scatter prospects continue to be elevated by the decline of the Orionids, which peaked on Tuesday the 22nd, and the Taurids, which are a very low-rate shower, but technically cover a broad period into December. The Leonids are the next major shower, but that doesn't peak until mid-November. Lastly, looking at the out-of-season Sporadic-E prospects, there are always days with minor enhancements of the critical frequency of the Sporadic-E layer, as shown on the propquest.co.uk graphs. Certainly, there are stronger jet streams available in the autumn and winter, but other elements of Sporadic-E are not so favourable. It's usually a very marginal outcome at best, but good enough for the 10 or 6m bands and mostly for digital modes such as FT8.  It could well be that trans-equatorial propagation, or TEP, is a more fruitful venture. For EME operators, Moon declination is positive, but falling, going negative on Tuesday the 29th. Path losses are rising, reaching a maximum at apogee on the morning of Wednesday the 30th. 144MHz sky noise is low until Friday the 1st of November when the Sun and Moon are close in the sky. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Spend some time in a dark location and you'll see the night sky in all its glory. If you pick a night with no moon, the effect triples. Steve Fentress, recently retired director of the Strasenburgh Planetarium in New York, is our guide to the night sky this week. He'll enlighten us about the lore of the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, one of the more remarkable constellations in the sky, as well as a general tour of other notable constellations and their stories across the ages. And... he's even got a planetarium joke! Join us for this surprisingly entertaining look at the great above from a veteran storyteller. Headlines: Vulcan rocket with ULA's new BE4 engine set for debut flight, launching NASA's CLPS moon landing mission with Astrobotic's Peregrine lander Controversy over human remains onboard Astrobotic lander; Navajo Nation protests not being consulted Juno spacecraft makes close flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, capturing stunning images Main Topic: The Night Sky Steve's approach to appreciating the night sky focuses on visualization using basic math rather than just facts Overview of cultural interpretations of constellations and astronomical objects across ancient Chinese, Aboriginal Australian, and Pacific Islander cultures The 88 modern constellations officially recognized today trace back to ancient Near East, Greek, and 16th-century European traditions The Pleiades star cluster - one of the most prominent and universally viewed groups of stars Its seasonal visibility and blue color make it a prime target for binoculars Appearance ranges from 6 main stars to a sparkling cluster depending on conditions Known as the "Seven Sisters" across cultures; stories explaining its changing appearance Popular meteor showers, including the Perseids, Leonids, and Geminids How meteor showers coincide with Earth's intersecting dust trails left behind by comets Upcoming highlights: 2024 Perseids and peak viewing times Get "Sky to Space:" https://amzn.to/3OfnFM3 Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Steve Fentress Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT

Spend some time in a dark location and you'll see the night sky in all its glory. If you pick a night with no moon, the effect triples. Steve Fentress, recently retired director of the Strasenburgh Planetarium in New York, is our guide to the night sky this week. He'll enlighten us about the lore of the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, one of the more remarkable constellations in the sky, as well as a general tour of other notable constellations and their stories across the ages. And... he's even got a planetarium joke! Join us for this surprisingly entertaining look at the great above from a veteran storyteller. Headlines: Vulcan rocket with ULA's new BE4 engine set for debut flight, launching NASA's CLPS moon landing mission with Astrobotic's Peregrine lander Controversy over human remains onboard Astrobotic lander; Navajo Nation protests not being consulted Juno spacecraft makes close flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, capturing stunning images Main Topic: The Night Sky Steve's approach to appreciating the night sky focuses on visualization using basic math rather than just facts Overview of cultural interpretations of constellations and astronomical objects across ancient Chinese, Aboriginal Australian, and Pacific Islander cultures The 88 modern constellations officially recognized today trace back to ancient Near East, Greek, and 16th-century European traditions The Pleiades star cluster - one of the most prominent and universally viewed groups of stars Its seasonal visibility and blue color make it a prime target for binoculars Appearance ranges from 6 main stars to a sparkling cluster depending on conditions Known as the "Seven Sisters" across cultures; stories explaining its changing appearance Popular meteor showers, including the Perseids, Leonids, and Geminids How meteor showers coincide with Earth's intersecting dust trails left behind by comets Upcoming highlights: 2024 Perseids and peak viewing times Get "Sky to Space:" https://amzn.to/3OfnFM3 Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Steve Fentress Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT

Spend some time in a dark location and you'll see the night sky in all its glory. If you pick a night with no moon, the effect triples. Steve Fentress, recently retired director of the Strasenburgh Planetarium in New York, is our guide to the night sky this week. He'll enlighten us about the lore of the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, one of the more remarkable constellations in the sky, as well as a general tour of other notable constellations and their stories across the ages. And... he's even got a planetarium joke! Join us for this surprisingly entertaining look at the great above from a veteran storyteller. Headlines: Vulcan rocket with ULA's new BE4 engine set for debut flight, launching NASA's CLPS moon landing mission with Astrobotic's Peregrine lander Controversy over human remains onboard Astrobotic lander; Navajo Nation protests not being consulted Juno spacecraft makes close flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, capturing stunning images Main Topic: The Night Sky Steve's approach to appreciating the night sky focuses on visualization using basic math rather than just facts Overview of cultural interpretations of constellations and astronomical objects across ancient Chinese, Aboriginal Australian, and Pacific Islander cultures The 88 modern constellations officially recognized today trace back to ancient Near East, Greek, and 16th-century European traditions The Pleiades star cluster - one of the most prominent and universally viewed groups of stars Its seasonal visibility and blue color make it a prime target for binoculars Appearance ranges from 6 main stars to a sparkling cluster depending on conditions Known as the "Seven Sisters" across cultures; stories explaining its changing appearance Popular meteor showers, including the Perseids, Leonids, and Geminids How meteor showers coincide with Earth's intersecting dust trails left behind by comets Upcoming highlights: 2024 Perseids and peak viewing times Get "Sky to Space:" https://amzn.to/3OfnFM3 Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Steve Fentress Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT

Spend some time in a dark location and you'll see the night sky in all its glory. If you pick a night with no moon, the effect triples. Steve Fentress, recently retired director of the Strasenburgh Planetarium in New York, is our guide to the night sky this week. He'll enlighten us about the lore of the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, one of the more remarkable constellations in the sky, as well as a general tour of other notable constellations and their stories across the ages. And... he's even got a planetarium joke! Join us for this surprisingly entertaining look at the great above from a veteran storyteller. Headlines: Vulcan rocket with ULA's new BE4 engine set for debut flight, launching NASA's CLPS moon landing mission with Astrobotic's Peregrine lander Controversy over human remains onboard Astrobotic lander; Navajo Nation protests not being consulted Juno spacecraft makes close flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, capturing stunning images Main Topic: The Night Sky Steve's approach to appreciating the night sky focuses on visualization using basic math rather than just facts Overview of cultural interpretations of constellations and astronomical objects across ancient Chinese, Aboriginal Australian, and Pacific Islander cultures The 88 modern constellations officially recognized today trace back to ancient Near East, Greek, and 16th-century European traditions The Pleiades star cluster - one of the most prominent and universally viewed groups of stars Its seasonal visibility and blue color make it a prime target for binoculars Appearance ranges from 6 main stars to a sparkling cluster depending on conditions Known as the "Seven Sisters" across cultures; stories explaining its changing appearance Popular meteor showers, including the Perseids, Leonids, and Geminids How meteor showers coincide with Earth's intersecting dust trails left behind by comets Upcoming highlights: 2024 Perseids and peak viewing times Get "Sky to Space:" https://amzn.to/3OfnFM3 Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Steve Fentress Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT

For fans of rail travel, “meteor train” may evoke images of a classic rail line of the early 20th century, or of Amtrak's modern-day silver meteor train. For skywatchers, though, the phrase conjures different images: glowing streaks in the night sky than can last for a long time. And tonight is a good night to look for them, because the Leonid meteor shower should be at its peak. A meteor shower flares to life when Earth flies through the path of a comet. Tiny bits of rock and dirt shed by the comet slam into the atmosphere at high speeds. They quickly vaporize, forming the trails of light known as meteors. Most meteors last only a second or two. But a few leave behind longer-lasting trails, known as persistent trains. They've been known to keep glowing for several minutes. Recent studies say they may form when metal-rich bits of comet dust burn up. They react with oxygen in the upper atmosphere. That continues to heat the atmosphere well after the meteor itself has vanished. The trains seem to be a little more common among slower meteors than faster ones. The trains also produce radio waves. Today, scientists are using an array of radio telescopes to study these rare but beautiful sights — bright trains chugging across the sky. The Leonids should be at their best between midnight and dawn. Under dark skies, you might see up to a dozen or so meteors per hour — and perhaps a few persistent trains.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

GB2RS News Sunday the 19th of November 2023 The news headlines: World Radio Conference WRC-23 VHF Contest Committee survey “Taking Amateur Radio into schools” RSGB presentation released   World Radio Conference WRC-23 opens on Monday the 20th of November. Over the coming four weeks, a wide variety of agenda items will be considered, of which the 23cm band is a high-priority item for amateur radio. IARU volunteers have worked hard over the past four years in preparation for this. The RSGB will be attending as part of the Ofcom UK delegation. The RSGB's social media and special focus page at rsgb.org/wrc-23 will feature regular postings whilst the conference is underway.  Following a really productive contest forum at the RSGB Convention, and a number of suggestions generated by the committee or raised in discussions with contesters, the VHF Contest Committee would like feedback to help finalise the VHF Contest rules for next year. The survey doesn't have many questions so it shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes of your time to fill it out, but the committee would really appreciate your views. Of course, there is also an opportunity for you to give feedback outside of those specific questions. You'll find the survey at tinyurl.com/VHFCC and it will remain open until the end of the month. As part of its commitment to outreach and the growth of amateur radio, the RSGB has released a presentation from its 2023 Convention, called “Taking amateur radio into schools”. Lyall Smith GM4XID, Chris Leviston M0KPW, and Simon Harris G4WQG, share their experiences of inspiring school pupils to explore and have fun with amateur radio. Lyall set up an amateur radio club in his school whilst Chris started an afterschool club at his daughter's primary school. Simon, with the help of friends at his amateur radio club, created links with his son's technical college that have snowballed to other schools in the area. The presentation shows how individual radio amateurs and clubs can make positive and productive links with schools and will give you tips and encouragement for getting involved with your local schools. The Bath Based Distance Learning team has helped over a thousand students to pass UK amateur radio exams with pass rates consistently above the national average. The next Intermediate course will run from January to May 2024. Students will receive weekly work packages via a virtual classroom. There will be no charge for the training, but students will need to provide their own textbook, scientific calculator, electronic parts and tool kit. Students will also have to arrange their own exam at the end of the course, but advice will be provided at the appropriate time. As part of the application process, there will be some pre-course work to ensure students are able to use the online learning systems and to be sure they are ready to study in January. To receive course application details, please email Bath Based Distance Learning Team Leader Steve, G0FUW, via g0fuw@bbdl.org.uk The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. There will be reduced hours on New Year's Eve when the Centre will be closing at 2 pm. Following the seasonal closures, the RSGB National Radio Centre will also be closed for essential maintenance works between the 2nd and 5th of January 2024. Outside of these times, volunteers look forward to welcoming visitors as usual. Remember that RSGB Members can download a free entry voucher for Bletchley Park from the RSGB website rsgb.org/bpvoucher Please send details of your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk  The deadline for submissions is 10 am on Thursday before the Sunday broadcast.   And now for details of rallies and events The Coulsdon Amateur Transmitting Society Bazaar is taking place today, Sunday the 19th of November. The venue is Oasis Academy, Homefield Road, Old Coulsdon, CR5 1ES. Doors are open to the public from 10am to 2pm and the entrance fee is £3. Traders, bring and buy, club tables and car parking are available. Please forward general enquiries to bazaar@catsradio.org.uk The Wiltshire Winter Radio Rally will take place on Saturday the 25th of November from 9am to 1pm. The venue is Kington Langley Village Hall and Playing Field, Kington Langley, Wiltshire, SN15 5NJ. Entry costs £3. There is no charge for under 16s. For further information please contact chairman@chippenhamradio.club Bishop Auckland Radio Amateur Club Rally will take place on Sunday the 3rd of December. The event will be held at Spennymoor Leisure Centre, High Street, Spennymoor, County Durham, DL16 6DB. The doors open at 10.30am for visitors, with disabled access from 10 am. For more information, contact bdingle@hotmail.co.uk   Now the Special Event News Radio Club de Nice is active as TM8AB to commemorate the anniversary of the first transatlantic amateur two-way contact between Leon Deloy, 8AB and Fred Schnell, 1MO in November 1923. Listen for activity on the 80 to 10m bands using SSB, CW, FT8 and SSTV until the 10th of December. QSL via F4KJQ. Special callsign LX90RTL is in use to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Radio Luxembourg's first long-wave broadcast. It will be used by various LX operators until the end of the year. Look for activity on the HF bands using SSB, CW, digital modes, and satellite. All QSOs will be confirmed automatically via the DARC bureau. The logs will be uploaded to Club Log, Logbook of the World and eQSL on a regular basis. See QRZ.com for more information.   Now the DX news Pierre, VK3KTB and Alexey, VE1RUS are active as VY0ERC from the Eureka Amateur Radio Club station on Ellesmere Island, NA-008, until the 22nd of November. QSL via OQRS. Maurizio, IK2GZU is active again from Tanzania as 5H3MB until the 8th of December. He is operating using SSB, CW and digital modes on the 80 to 10m bands. QSL via OQRS, Logbook of the World, eQSL or via IK2GZU.   Now the contest news On Tuesday the 21st of November, the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 23cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Thursday the 23rd of November, the Autumn Series CW Contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using CW on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. The CQ World Wide DX CW Contest runs from 0000UTC on Saturday the 25th of November to 2359UTC on Sunday the 26th of November. Using CW on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and CQ zone. The UK is in zone 14.   Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 16th of November 2023 We had another roller-coaster week with periods of reasonably settled geomagnetic conditions followed by more unsettled times. Luckily, it didn't get too bad, as it did when the Kp index hit seven the week before. This, coupled with a lower solar flux index of 119 on Thursday, has meant HF conditions have not been outstanding. However, we are still buoyed by the seasonal HF conditions, which are generally good in Autumn. Propquest shows that the F2-layer critical frequency is still maxing out at more than 12MHz around noon. The F2-layer critical frequency is the highest at which radio waves are returned back to Earth when sent directly up into the ionosphere. This gives us a maximum usable frequency, or MUF, over a 3,000km path of more than 40MHz. Interestingly, it also gives us an MUF over a 500km path of more than 14.7MHz. So, look out for long-distance inter-G signals around noon, or thereabouts, on the 20m band. The 30m band remains a pretty solid inter-G band from late morning to mid-afternoon. Getting back to the geomagnetic conditions, the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field or IMF has been pointing south for long periods which is why the Kp index has been higher than normal. This means the IMF more easily couples to the Earth's magnetic field, just like two bar magnets aligned north against south. Next week, NOAA predicts the solar flux index will rise again, perhaps reaching 140 by the end of the week. However, it also forecasts unsettled geomagnetic conditions from the 22nd  to the 25th, with a forecast Kp index of up to 5. So, get your HF DXing in early next week!   And now the VHF and up propagation news The seemingly never-ending period of unsettled weather is likely to continue into the coming week. This means another week with only a limited chance of Tropo for most parts of the country. As something of a longshot, it's worth noting that southern parts of England, especially along the Channel coast, may have access to higher pressure over Biscay after the middle of next week for chance Tropo paths south into western France or northern Spain. For the rest of us, the weather pattern is rather changeable with a tendency for north-westerly winds. At this time of year, this can often mean that showers form over the surrounding seas. Rain scatter options could be worth checking for stations around the Irish and North Sea coasts. Meteor scatter is also worth considering, in view of the peak of the Leonids, on Friday the 17th and Saturday the 18th, at the beginning of this first weekend. It's quite a broad period of activity and, with the minor Moncerotids shower peaking on the 22nd, conditions could still be good throughout the new week. Lastly a thought about the chances of aurora and the busy solar activity: it's worth keeping a check on the planetary Kp index for signs of aurora – look for a Kp above six. For EME operators, Moon declination starts at a minimum but rises all week, going positive again late on Wednesday. Losses are at their lowest with Moon perigee on Tuesday the 21st. 144MHz sky noise is low all week. Perigee is when the Moon is at its closest point to Earth. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Emmy Wisz a research fellow at the Maria Mitchell Association discusses the Leonids Meteor Shower. The annual Leonids meteor shower will peak on the night of November 17th.

GB2RS News Sunday the 12th of November 2023 The news headlines: RSGB Construction Competition RSGB 2023 Convention videos RSGB QSL Bureau    Now the nights are drawing in, don't forget about the RSGB Construction Competition. To enable members across the country, and even the world, to take part, entries will again be judged over the internet rather than in person. This year two new categories have been introduced so there are six categories you can enter: Antennas; Beginners; Most creative and/or elegant PCB Design; Construction Excellence; Innovation; and Software and Systems. Special recognition will be given to entries submitted by radio amateurs under the age of 24, and to those who have just gained their Foundation licence. A cash prize will be awarded for the winner of each section, with a bonus for the overall winner, who will also be given the Pat Hawker G3VA Award. The deadline for entries is the 1st of March 2024 and you can find out more, including how to enter, on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/construction-competition The RSGB has released three presentations from its 2023 Convention. The first is the keynote speech in which Colonel John Doody talks about his life in the RF Spectrum during the last 60 years and asks, “Is this a life for you?”. The second presentation is by the RSGB President, John McCullagh, GI4BWM who talks about his experience of 50 years of RSGB membership and explains the wide range of services that are offered to members. He finishes with an overview of the four strategic priorities that the RSGB Board has set until the 2024 AGM. The third presentation is the Discussion with the Board session that was hosted by Don Beattie, G3BJ who has been both an RSGB President and President of IARU Region 1. This builds on the four strategic priorities, includes questions from those attending this discussion forum and answers from the Board Directors. Although the three presentations are separate, the presentation by the RSGB President was immediately before the Board session at the Convention and is referred to in that discussion. You can find all three on the RSGB YouTube channel at youtube.com/theRSGB The RSGB QSL Bureau is pleased to advise that a replacement QSL sub-manager is now in place for the  M1, M3, M5, M6 and M7 QSL sub-groups. Ann Eastwood, M7ERT has kindly volunteered to take on all five busy groups. Members can again send 2nd Class stamped, C5-sized collection envelopes to the new address. Contact details are available from the RSGB website. Please remember to number each envelope and indicate your callsign and membership number in the top-left corner as usual. Essex CW Amateur Radio Club's activity week runs from Monday the 13th of November to Sunday the 19th of November 2023. This is a friendly non-contest style event to encourage both experienced and new Morse operators. Slow speed operators are especially welcome. Whilst the objective is to contact as many radio amateurs as possible in a week, it is hoped that QSOs go beyond just an exchange of signal reports and become longer chats. Anyone who works at least 25 other stations qualifies for a free PDF award certificate. The stations worked don't have to be Essex CW Amateur Radio Club members. So, please dust off your key or paddle and get on the air! Listen out for Essex CW club callsigns GX1FCW and GX8CW during the event. More information, and a list of preferred frequencies, can be found at essexcw.uk Please send details of your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk  The deadline for submissions is 10am on Thursday before the Sunday broadcast. And now for details of rallies and events The Rochdale and District Amateur Radio Society Winter Rally will take place on Saturday the 18th of November. The venue will be St Vincent de Paul's Hall, Norden, Rochdale, Lancs, OL12 7QR. The doors open from 10am and entry will be £3. The usual traders, caterers and plenty of free parking will be available. All proceeds from this rally will go to a local charity. Last time £1000 was given to the Rochdale Springhill Hospice. For more information, please contact Dave Carden, G3RIK on 01706 633 400 or email dave@cardens.me.uk The Coulsdon Amateur Transmitting Society Bazaar will take place on Sunday the 19th of November. The venue will be Oasis Academy, Homefield Road, Old Coulsdon, CR5 1ES. Doors open for the public from 10am to 2pm and the entrance fee will be £3. Traders, bring and buy, club tables and car parking will be available. Tables cost £12, with additional tables priced at £8. Please forward general enquiries to bazaar@catsradio.org.uk The Wiltshire Winter Radio Rally will take place on Saturday the 25th of November from 9am to 1pm. It will take place at Kington Langley Village Hall and Playing Field, Kington Langley, Wiltshire, SN15 5NJ. Depending on the weather, there may be a small car boot section. Entry costs £3. There is no charge for under 16s. For further information please contact chairman@chippenhamradio.club Now the Special Event News Special callsign HB8DELOY is in use by members of the Swiss Air Force Museum's Radio Club, HB4FR, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first transatlantic amateur two-way contact between Leon Deloy, 8AB and Fred Schnell, 1MO in November 1923. Listen for activity until the 31st of December. QSL via HB9ACA, preferably via the bureau. RAF Waddington Amateur Radio Club is operating Special Event Station GX3LQS/P from the 17th to the 19th of November. The event is being held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the RAF receiving its first Typhoon on the 18th of December 2003. To help commemorate the event, members of the former RAF Coningsby Amateur Radio Club will be putting GX3LQS/P on the air from various locations during November and December. Some former club members, supported by RAF Waddington Amateur Radio Club, will be operating the callsign from RAF Binbrook from the 17th to the 19th of November. For more details visit QRZ.com Now the DX news Ken, LA7GIA and Shani, HA5DDX are active as 7O8AD and 7O8AE respectively, from Socotra Island, AF-028, in Yemen until the 16th of November. The team plans to have up to three stations working on the 160 to 10m bands and will operate using SSB, CW and FT8. QSL via OQRS and Logbook of the World. A team of amateurs is active as TJ9MD from Cameroon using CW, FT8 and SSB. QSL direct to IK2VUC or via Logbook of the World. For more information visit mdxc.support/tj9md Now the contest news The Worked All Europe DX RTTY Contest started at 0000UTC on Saturday the 11th and ends at 2359UTC today, Sunday the 12th of November. Using RTTY only on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Today, the 12th, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on 1.3 to 3.4GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Tuesday the 14th, the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC. Using FM on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also on Tuesday the 14th, the 432MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the 15th, the Autumn Series SSB Contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using SSB on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Thursday the 16th, the 70MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Saturday the 18th, the second 1.8MHz Contest runs from 1900 to 2300UTC. Using CW on the 160m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and District Code.   Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 9th of November 2023 Last week was characterised by very unsettled geomagnetic conditions which took their toll on the high-frequency bands. The Kp index hit seven on the 5th of November, sparking visible aurora all over the UK. This also caused auroral conditions on the bands with many people commenting on the auroral flutter on the lower HF bands and hearing auroral-type signals on the 10m band. Unfortunately, these conditions didn't improve very quickly, and the upper bands were badly affected as the subsequent geomagnetic storm continued. By late afternoon on the 6th, HF began to return to normal with MUFs over a 3,000km path hitting more than 28MHz again. The solar flux index, at this point, was 146, with eleven C-class flares being detected on Monday, but nothing worse. Unsettled geomagnetic conditions continued on and off until the morning of Thursday the 9th when the Kp index finally got down below four and stayed there. A quick check of the 10m band on Thursday afternoon revealed the W1AW CQ practice transmissions on 28.0675MHz, plus two to ten-watt beacons audible from Gibraltar, Italy, Greece and the Eastern seaboard of the USA. The band was open, but not exactly humming! Also on Thursday, the data feed to Propquest.co.uk failed, resulting in a lack of graphs for the F2-layer critical frequency and extrapolated MUFs. Let's hope it returns quite quickly. Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will be around 150 and the Kp index will be around 2 or 3. If that is the case, we can expect conditions to be a little better. But, as always, a coronal mass ejection could soon put an end to the fun with an increased Kp index and decreased MUFs. And now the VHF and up propagation news The current spell of unsettled weather is likely to continue for another week at least, with some fairly strong weather systems possible, which could bring gales and heavy rain. With fast-moving systems it's pointless, with such a long lead time, to try and nail down the exact timings of each individual system. Once again, Tropo will not be a big player in VHF/UHF operating this week, except perhaps over this weekend, the 11th and 12th, as a transient weak ridge crosses the country. You might still see the odd 'spike' of higher E-layer critical frequencies on the propquest.co.uk NVIS charts when it comes back online. Lately, these have been during the mid-morning period so maybe give the 10m and 6m bands a cursory check during the coming week. It's not entirely clear why the bands have been so reliable during the recent week, but may be a response to meteor input. We are approaching the peak of the Taurids meteor shower over the 12th and 13th of November. This is followed by the much larger Leonids towards the end of next week on the 17th and 18th of November. This also means that it's worth listening for some meteor scatter signals throughout the next week or so. There was a nice auroral opening on 6m up to 2m late in the afternoon on the 5th of November, with the planetary Kp index reaching 6 to 7. This produced rare visual aurora sightings down to the south coast. Auroral CW and SSB signals sound  ‘watery' on the LF bands and very raspy and whispery on HF and VHF. For EME operators, Moon declination is negative and falling again, reaching a minimum on Thursday the 16th. Path losses continue to fall and 144MHz sky noise is low, apart from Monday the 13th when the Sun and Moon are close in the sky. From Wednesday, it rises to a high of 2,900 Kelvin on Thursday. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

The first known crowdsourced scientific study began one morning 190 years ago when it looked like the stars were falling from the sky. Nobody knew yet just what meteors are. A professor's letter asking people to tell him what they saw set scientists on the path to figuring it out.

From Jupiter's perigee to meteor showers, there are a lot of reasons to be looking skyward this November. Newsline with Brigitte Quinn spoke with Dr. Jackie Faherty, Senior Scientist and Senior Education Manager jointly in the Department of Astrophysics and the Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History about what to expect.

What's in the Night Sky for November presented by Paul Evans and Sinéad Mannion. Highlights for November's podcast include details of the annual Mayo Dark Sky Festival taking place the 3rd - 5th November, a great weekend in the Irish Astronomical calendar - https://www.mayodarkskyfestival.ie/. Early risers will be treated to a visible Venus while Saturn and Jupiter are evening stars. Also visible will be Uranus and Neptune. A full moon on the 27th of the month and a day-time Venus Lunar Occultation. Also, a chance to see the Leonids meteor shower, their peak is on the 18th, and on the 10th Comet C/2023 H2 (Lemmon) will reach its closest approach...May your skies be clear...Paul & Sinéad

GB2RS News Sunday the 20th of November 2022 The news headlines: December is YOTA Month Transatlantic Centenary Tests 2022 RSGB Construction Competition   December is Youngsters On The Air month. This is an opportunity for individuals, clubs, groups and schools to run an amateur radio station with the aim of getting youngsters active on the air. The RSGB is inviting applications to host the special callsign GB22YOTA. To register your interest email Jamie, M0SDV at yota.month@rsgb.org.uk with details of the activity you are planning. Please include your name, organisation and the callsign of the Full licensee who will host the activation. To see the GB22YOTA activation schedule, visit the GB22YOTA page at qrz.com. The RSGB is hosting the Transatlantic Centenary Tests 2022 on the HF bands for the month of December. Unlike those of the 1920s, which consisted of one-way communication, this event will encourage worldwide two-way communication with UK and Crown Dependency stations. There will be a series of awards available for making QSOs with those who are activating historic RSGB callsigns. The Club Log team has kindly agreed to provide the supporting infrastructure for this. The Society is looking for RSGB members to take part and make this historic event a success. You can read more on page 54 of the December RadCom and be inspired by the RSGB Convention Transatlantic Test presentation on the RSGB YouTube channel. To find out how to take part, go to rsgb.org/tct Do you enjoy amateur radio construction? Would you like to try making something for the first time? The RSGB's Construction Competition welcomes entries in four categories – Beginners, Construction Excellence, Innovation, and Software. Special recognition will be given to entries submitted by radio amateurs under the age of 24, and to those who have just gained their Foundation licence. A cash prize will be awarded for the winner of each section, with a bonus for the overall winner who will also be declared the winner of the Pat Hawker G3VA Trophy. The deadline for entries is 1 March 2023 so you have plenty of time to construct something during the long winter evenings. To find out more, including how to enter, see the full details on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/construction-competition Most of you will have experienced RF interference problems of one sort or another over the years. In this world of advanced digital technology and increasing wireless connectivity, the probability of interference is high and increasing rapidly. This is giving rise to an ever-increasing pollution of the radio spectrum which is threatening all wireless communication. To counter these problems, the RSGB EMC Committee makes the relevant authorities aware of issues by taking measurements and surveying any available documents and reports. The committee needs volunteers to help with that task. Deep technical knowledge or experience in EMC work is not necessary, but ideally, candidates should have a good understanding of radio. If you are an RSGB member and would like to help, please contact emc.chairman@rsgb.org.uk The RSGB's National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed from Tuesday the 22nd of November until Friday the 25th of November for the upgrading of essential equipment and the installation of a new fire alarm system. The Society apologises for any inconvenience this causes. The RSGB's Examination Standards Committee has published its annual report, covering the operation of amateur radio exams during the calendar year of 2021. Search for Examination Standards Committee on the RSGB website at rsgb.org and you can read the report in the minutes, papers and reports sub-page. The RSGB was saddened to learn that John Bazley, G3HCT passed away on the 11th of November in a nursing home in Queensland, Australia. John was President of the RSGB in 1979 and was a Life Member. In 1995 he was made a Life Vice President. He was also the IARU Region 1 representative to the CEPT Working Group on Frequency Management. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. And now for details of rallies and events The 43rd Coulsdon Amateur Transmitting Society Radio and Electronics Bazaar will be held today the 20th of November. The venue will be Oasis Academy, Homefield Road, Coulsdon, Surrey CR5 1ES. For more information contact bazaar@catsradio.org.uk Bishop Auckland Radio Amateur Club Rally will be held next Sunday, the 27th, at Spennymoor Leisure Centre, High Street, Spennymoor, County Durham, DL16 6DB. Doors open at 10.30 am for everyone and 10 am for disabled visitors. Admission is £2 and free to under-14s who are accompanied by an adult. Talk-in will be on S22. Contact Bob Dingle, G0OCB on 07710023916. Now the Special Event News Leyland and District Amateur Radio Club will be active as GB9LD for Lancashire Day on Sunday the 27th of November 2022. Activity will take place on the 40m to 70cm bands. At 1500UTC the club will read the Lancashire Day Proclamation on HF and toast His Majesty King Charles III, Duke of Lancaster. All are welcome to join in. Enquiries to ladar@mail.com On Thursday the 1st of December, GB1WH will begin operating. The Special Event Station has been established to promote the work done by Wakefield Hospice. For more information, visit the GB1WH QRZ.com page. GB1LJF begins its on-air activities on Thursday the 1st of December. The Special Event Station is operating to celebrate the manufacturing of the English Electric Lightning aircraft in Lancashire. More information is available via the GB1LJF QRZ.com page. Now the DX news Christopher, HB9FIY will be active as ZD7CA from Saint Helena Island, AF-022, until the 26th of November. He will be operating SSB, PSK, RTTY, VarAC and CW on the 40 to 10m bands. QSL via EA5GL. Don, K6ZO will be active as 7Q6M from Malawi until the 29th of November. He will be available on the 160 to 6m bands using SSB and CW. QSL via Logbook of the World or direct to K6Z0. Ed, N2HX will be active as PJ7PL from Sint Maarten, NA-105, until the 10th of December. He will be operating SSB, CW, RTTY and FT8. QSL via his home call. Now the contest news On Thursday the 24th of November, the Autumn Series CW Contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using CW only on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Tuesday the 22nd of November, the SHF UK Activity Contest runs from 1930 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 2.3GHz band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Next weekend the CQ Worldwide DX CW Contest runs for 24 hours from 0000UTC on Saturday. Using CW only on the 160 to 10m bands, where contesting is permitted, the exchange is signal report and CQ Zone. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday the 18th of November 2022. The good HF conditions continued last week with a low Kp index and a reasonable solar flux. But is that all about to change? The problem is a large coronal hole in the Sun's southern hemisphere, which became geoeffective on Thursday. The hole is at mid-latitude, so is not completely in line with Earth. But its large size means that we could see a strong solar wind, which may hit the Earth this weekend, potentially pushing the Kp index up for a couple of days at least. Sunspots have been adequate rather than outstanding. The main active groups have now rotated out of view, but there are some new ones just appearing over the Sun's limb. The HF bands have been excellent and many newer amateurs have had their first taste of 10m in full flow. Next week NOAA predicts that the solar flux index could decline to the range 105-115. The Kp index is predicted to rise to four at least until the 22nd. We may then get respite for a day or two before it rises again to three or four. In other words, we have probably seen the best of the settled HF conditions for a while. Just what effect the enhanced solar wind and increased Kp index this weekend will have on maximum usable frequencies is hard to predict. Typically, an increased Kp index can result in reduced MUFs, but whether we will see it impact 10 metres, especially with the predicted lower SFI, we will just have to wait and see. And now the VHF and up propagation news After last weekend's excellent tropo, with 24GHz propagation from the South East of England to the near continent, we now have a seemingly never-ending period of unsettled weather continuing through the coming week. This is driven by a strong jet stream flow across the Atlantic. Since it's a low pressure and rain scatter period once again, it's worth a reminder that, although we are way out of season with regards to Sporadic-E, it can still be seen on the foEs graphs on the Propquest.co.uk website and can be particularly useful for the LF bands. Focusing back on VHF and above, the prevalence of low pressure during the week suggests Tropo is unlikely to entertain us. The only modes remaining to discuss are meteor scatter as we slowly fade from the peak of the Leonids, and finally the prospect of a random aurora if we have further disturbed solar conditions. This week's active meteor showers are the Alpha Monocerotids which are active until November the 25th and reach a low ZHR maximum on Monday the 21st of November. Also, the November Orionids, are active until December the 6th but don't peak until the 28th. Moon declination went negative on Saturday so Moon windows will shorten and zenith angles decrease. Path losses are still low but with perigee on Friday, path losses will fall all week. 144MHz sky noise slowly increases, reaching a maximum of over 2,500 Kelvin on Friday. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

The Leonid meteor shower peak is coming. Actually, we could have multiple peaks as Earth passes through three old trails. A southerly bird on the celestial dome is a little hard for northern hemisphere observers to see, but you can try.

GB2RS News Sunday the 13th of November 2022 The news headlines: Transatlantic Centenary Tests A Signal Across Space RSGB Convention Videos   The RSGB is hosting the Transatlantic Centenary Tests 2022 on the HF bands for the month of December. Unlike those of the 1920s, which consisted of one-way communication, this event will encourage worldwide two-way communication with UK and Crown Dependency stations. There will be a series of awards available for making QSOs with those who are activating historic RSGB call signs. The Club Log team has kindly agreed to provide the supporting infrastructure for this. The Society is looking for RSGB members to take part and make this historic event a success. You can read more on page 54 of the December RadCom and be inspired by the RSGB Convention Transatlantic Test presentation on the RSGB YouTube channel. To find out how to take part, go to rsgb.org/transatlantic-tests The Wales Millennium Centre is hosting a 360-degree virtual reality experience inspired by the wireless signals Marconi and Kemp exchanged between Flat Holm Island and Lavernock Point in 1897. Called ‘A Signal Across Space', the experience takes the audience on a multi-layered journey that includes the history, mythology, language and nature of the area surrounding Lavernock. RSGB Regional Representative Glyn Jones, GW0ANA recorded a talk about Marconi which appears in snippets throughout the piece. In Welsh and English, it runs until the 20th of November and is free but you need to book tickets in advance. Go to www.wmc.org.uk and search for ‘A Signal Across Space'. The RSGB has just released two videos that feature a wide range of interesting interviews that took place at its recent convention. In the first, you can hear from three amateur radio Presidents, RSGB Board members and other volunteers, as well as representatives of the European Space Agency and AMSAT-UK. The RadCom team introduce themselves, Convention attendees explain what they were looking forward to, and the RSGB General Manager and Convention Chair, Steve Thomas M1ACB, talks about the importance of the event. The second video focuses on the RSGB-affiliated special interest groups and introduces RSGB SIG Manager Philip Hosey, MI0MSO. It was great to talk to them all and find out what they do and how you can get involved. You can find both videos in the RSGB 2022 Convention playlist on the Society's YouTube channel at youtube.com/theRSGB The Bath Based Distance Learning team has helped over a thousand students to pass UK amateur radio exams with pass rates consistently above the national average. Their next course will be for the Intermediate level and it will run from January to May 2023. The deadline for applications is the 7th of December 2022. There will be no charge for the training but students will need to provide their own textbook, scientific calculator, electronic parts and tool kit. As well as weekly work packages via a virtual classroom, there will be weekly online tutorials, revision quizzes and lots of practical exercises to bring the theory to life. Students will also have access to one of the remote tutors who will provide feedback and additional guidance when required. As part of the application process, there will be some pre-course work to ensure students are able to use the online learning systems and ensure they are ready to study in January. To find out more and receive course application details, email Team Leader Steve, G0FUW via g0fuw@bbdl.org.uk  The team will also run a Full Licence course, which will start in August 2023, but a further announcement will be made when that course is ready for enrolment. The RSGB's National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed from Tuesday the 22nd of November until Friday the 25th of November for the upgrading of essential equipment and the installation of a new fire alarm system. The Society apologises for any inconvenience this causes. Earlier in the year, the RSGB was approached by the BBC to find experts to contribute to two episodes of its planned series, ‘The Secret Genius of Modern Life'. In this week's episode, Neil Smith, G4DBN re-created the Great Seal Bug. The RFID technology developed for the bug is what allows contactless card payments to work. You can catch up with the programme on BBC iPlayer. And now for details of rallies and events The Rochdale and District Amateur Radio Winter Rally will take place on Saturday the 19th of November. The venue will be Saint Vincent De Paul's Hall, Norden, Rochdale OL12 7QR. Doors open at 10 am with entry for £3. The usual traders and caterers will be there and plenty of free parking is available. For more information, contact rozallin@gmail.com or dave@cardens.me.uk The 43rd Coulsdon Amateur Transmitting Society Radio and Electronics Bazaar will be held on Sunday the 20th of November. The venue will be Oasis Academy, Homefield Road, Coulsdon, Surrey CR5 1ES. For more information contact bazaar@catsradio.org.uk Now the Special Event News Leyland and District Amateur Radio Club will be active as GB9LD for Lancashire Day on Sunday the 27th of November 2022. Activity will take place on the 40m to 70cm bands. At 1500UTC the club will read the Lancashire Day Proclamation on HF and toast His Majesty King Charles III, Duke of Lancaster. All are welcome to join in. Enquiries to ladar@mail.com On Thursday the 1st of December, GB1WH will begin operating. The Special Event Station has been established to promote the work done by Wakefield Hospice. For more information, visit the GB1WH QRZ.com page. GB1LJF begins its on-air activities on Thursday the 1st of December. The Special Event Station is operating to celebrate the manufacturing of the English Electric Lightning aircraft in Lancashire. More information is available via the GB1LJF QRZ.com page. Now the DX news Stan, LZ1GC and Ivan, LZ1PM will be active as A35GC from Tongatapu, OC-049, Tonga until the 20th of November. They will operate CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8 on the 160 to 6m bands. QSL via Club Log, Logbook of the World or via the Bureau. Janusz, SP9FIH and Lech, SP9FUY will be active as FJ/SP9FIH and FJ/SP9FUY, respectively from Saint Barthelemy, NA-146, until tomorrow, Monday the 14th. They will be active on the 30, 20, 15 and 12m bands using SSB. QSL via Club Log. Now the contest news The Worked All Europe DX RTTY Contest ends its 24-hour run at 2359UTC today, the 13th. Using the 80 to 10m bands, where contesting is permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Today, the 13th, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Tuesday the 15th of November, the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the 16th of November, the Autumn Series SSB Contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Thursday the 17th of November, the 70MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Saturday the 19th of November, the 1.8MHz Contest runs from 1900 to 2300UTC. Using CW only, the exchange is signal report, serial number and District Code. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday the 11th of November 2022 Last week was a mixed bag in terms of space weather. Yes, the solar flux index increased to 138 by Thursday the 10th, but at the same time, we had a fast solar wind and a solar flare from active region AR 3141 to contend with. The Kp index hit five on Monday the 7th after a prolonged period with the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field pointing south. When the Bz points south it more easily couples with the Earth's magnetic field, allowing solar plasma to flood in. The Bz component of the IMF then shifted north, which helped conditions improve over the week. In fact, the Kp index was down to zero for the latter half of Wednesday and Thursday. With no coronal holes, this was about as good as it could get for HF and the bands didn't disappoint. The MUF over a 3,000km path reached 38MHz around lunchtime on Thursday. DX worked from the UK including A35GC in Tonga, 7X3WPL in Algeria and P29RO in Papua New Guinea. The KQ2H 10m FM repeater on 29.620MHz is acting like a beacon this Autumn, often hitting S9 plus in the early afternoon. Running 1.5kW from the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, it is a good indicator of trans-Atlantic conditions. Next week NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will decline a little, placing it in the region of 120. Geomagnetic conditions may remain settled, at least until the 18th when NOAA predicts the Kp index could rise to five. That said, it would only take a solar flare, and associated coronal mass ejection, from one of the large sunspots visible at the moment to spoil things. And now the VHF and up propagation news The main weather theme for this weekend is the very long moist airflow from the Azores to the UK and onwards to western Scandinavia. Because high pressure will be just to the east of the UK at first this will probably lead to some potentially long-range Tropo conditions from western Europe down to the Canaries and Spain/Portugal. A cold front will probably cut the Azores out of the best conditions. However, we should also be able to make use of good conditions into Europe and particularly across the North Sea to southern Scandinavia and perhaps parts of the Baltic. All this is fine until the next change-over to unsettled weather rolls in from the Atlantic on Monday night and during Tuesday. After then, it will be windy with rain or showers and a small chance of some fast-moving rain-scatter from heavy showers. The Leonids meteor shower peaks on Thursday the 17th, plus expect an encounter with a dust trail on November the 19th. It's predicted to occur at around 0600UTC with a short-lived high ZHR between 50 and 200, but activity level is uncertain. This is a good week to check out meteor scatter options and there have continued to be some occasional reminders that the solar conditions are capable of sending some higher Kp indices our way with an attendant chance of auroral conditions, so stay alert to the Kp index values. The Moon is at maximum declination so we have long Moon windows and zenith angles up to 65 degrees in the UK. Path losses are still low but with apogee today, path losses are at their highest. 144MHz sky noise is low all week. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

There's a total lunar eclipse this week. Start looking for Leonids. Earth is expected to pass through a few dense streams from hundreds of years ago. The designers of a monument to veterans in Arizona used astronomy to make something special happen at 11:11am on November 11.

  GB2RS News Sunday the 6th of November 2022 The news headlines: Next RSGB Tonight@8 Webinar RSGB Annual General Meeting RSGB Morse Test Coordinator   The next RSGB Tonight@8 webinar will be live-streamed on Monday the 7th of November at 8 pm. Terry, G4POP, will present ‘Log4OM: The first decade' – a look at the popular free logging software Log4OM. Suitable for all levels of expertise, Terry's talk will consider the software's history, its developers and its in-built features. There will be a live demonstration and a chance to ask questions. Tonight@8 webinars are live-streamed on BATC and on the RSGB YouTube channel. For more information about all RSGB webinars go to rsgb.org/webinars The RSGB has announced that its 96th AGM will take place on Saturday the 15th of April 2023. Full details of the AGM, the voting process and the calling notice will appear in the April 2023 issue of RadCom. In the coming weeks, the Society will publish details of the roles that will form part of the elections and how you can get involved. The RSGB has appointed Eric Arkinstall, M0KZB as its Morse Test Coordinator. Eric has been interested in electronics since he was young and he built his first crystal set when he was about 11 years old. Eric now teaches Morse code on the air each week. For further information about Morse and the Morse test, see the RSGB website at rsgb.org/morse Amateur Radio Digital Communications is a private foundation that exists to support amateur radio and digital communication science and technology. It has two standing committees for which it seeks volunteers each year: the Technical Advisory Committee and the Grants Advisory Committee. Applications should be received by the 12th of November 2022. International applications are welcome. Details of how to apply can be found under the News tab at ampr.org The Bath Based Distance Learning team has helped over a thousand students to pass UK amateur radio exams with pass rates consistently above the national average. Their next course will be for the Intermediate level and it will run from January to May 2023. The deadline for applications is the 7th of December. There will be no charge for the training but students will need to provide their own textbook, scientific calculator, electronic parts and tool kit. As well as weekly work packages via a virtual classroom, there will be weekly online tutorials, revision quizzes and lots of practical exercises to bring the theory to life. Students will also have access to one of the remote tutors who will provide feedback and additional guidance when required. As part of the application process, there will be some pre-course work to ensure students are able to use the online learning systems and ensure they are ready to study in January. To find out more and receive course application details, email Team Leader Steve, G0FUW via g0fuw@bbdl.org.uk The team will also run a Full Licence course, which will start in August 2023, but a further announcement will be made when that course is ready for enrolment.   And now for details of rallies and events The Holsworthy Radio Rally will take place today Sunday the 6th of November, at Holsworthy Leisure Centre, Well Park, Western Road, Holsworthy, Devon EX22 6DH. There will be traders, a bring-and-buy sale and catering. The venue has disabled access. Doors open for traders at 8 am and to the public at 10. For more information email m0omc@m0omc.co.uk Now the Special Event News On Thursday the 1st of December, GB1WH will begin operating. The Special Event Station has been established to promote the work done by Wakefield Hospice. For more information, visit the GB1WH QRZ.com page. GB1LJF begins its on-air activities on Thursday the 1st of December. The Special Event Station is operating to celebrate the manufacturing of the English Electric Lightning aircraft in Lancashire. More information is available via the GB1LJF QRZ.com page. Now the DX news Today, the 6th is the last chance to catch Eiki JH8JWF operating as 5R8AS from Madagascar, AF-013. Eiki will be operating using SSB. QSL via Logbook of the World and Club Log. A team of operators will be active as P29RO from Loloata Island, Papua New Guinea, OC-240, until the 10th of November. They plan to operate the 160 to 6m bands using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. QSL via the bureau, Club Log or directly to DL4SVA. PA900UTR will be active until the 11th of November on various bands and modes. The station is operating to celebrate the 900th anniversary of Utrecht being granted city rights in 1122. QSL via the bureau to PI4UTR. Now contest news Today, the 6th, the 144MHz CW Marconi Contest ends its 24-hour run at 1400UTC. CW only, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Tuesday the 8th of November, the 432MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also on Tuesday the 8th, the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Wednesday the 9th of November, the FT8 Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. The exchange is a report and a four-character locator. On Thursday the 10th of November, the 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Next weekend the Worked All Europe RTTY Contest runs for 24 hours from 0000UTC on Saturday the 12th. Using the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are allowed, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Sunday the 13th of November, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO They write, we had yet another week of good HF propagation, despite a strong solar wind that threatened to push the geomagnetic Kp index up, but it generally never managed more than a four in the first half of the week. The solar flux index managed to hit 130 on Thursday, having been in the 120s all week, but the sunspots have been quite weak and small. On Thursday the Kp index rose again, hitting five due to the enhanced solar wind from an Earth-facing coronal hole. Nevertheless, the Fairford Digisonde registered a critical frequency of 9.925MHz, giving a maximum useable frequency in excess of 35MHz over a 3,000km path around lunchtime. This may have been a pre-auroral enhancement as it didn't last very long – the MUF was soon down to 28.8MHz. Please note the Chilton Digisonde has been down again, so if this continues please switch to Fairford at Propquest.co.uk. The upper HF bands have been very lively with much DX being worked. 5V7RU Russian DXpedition team in Togo have made it into many logs, as has J28MD team in Djibouti. Transatlantic 10m signals remain very strong during the daylight, reflecting the good HF propagation at this point in the year, switching to South America as the Sun is setting. Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will probably remain in the 120s. It also predicts unsettled geomagnetic conditions on the 10th, 11th and 12th when the Kp index may once again rise to five. If you have been putting off getting onto HF you are really missing out! Now the VHF and up propagation news. The unsettled weather pattern is still the dominant story for the coming week with a series of lows either across the country or sitting over the nearby Atlantic, bringing periods of rain and strong winds and showery interludes in between. This raises the issue of rain scatter for another week on the GHz bands. There are probably just two periods with ridges of higher pressure. The first crosses the country on Friday night at the start of the week and the second develops over the English Channel at the end of next week, so limited Tropo options once again. November is a good month for meteor scatter with the Leonids shower starting today and peaking around the 16th. Expect some increasing signs of meteor scatter activity as the week progresses. The solar conditions continue to provide coronal holes and the prospect of geomagnetic storms, so keep a watch on the Kp index, with a high index warning of auroras. As for Sporadic-E, we are in the doldrum month of November which rarely provides anything dramatic, but the usual procedure of monitoring the foEs graphs on Propquest should reveal what's happening. Moon declination is positive again with Moon windows lengthening as the week progresses. Path losses are still low but increasing and apogee is still over a week away. 144MHz sky noise is low in the coming week. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

If the skies are clear enough, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will all be visible during November; there are a couple of meteor showers in prospect - the Taurids and Leonids - and there may even be some fireballs visible! After the music break, Howard shares latest updates from the world of space exploration, and there's an invitation to a fascinating talk on 19 November at The Observatory, organised by the IOMASO - booking details can be found on Eventbrite or email howardparkin@manx.net in case of difficulty.

GB2RS News Sunday the 30th of October 2022 The news headlines: RSGB Construction Contest RSGB ICQ Podcast Interviews Next RSGB Tonight@8 Webinar   The RSGB has launched this year's construction competition. To enable members across the country, and even the world, to take part, entries will be judged over the internet rather than in person. There are four categories – Beginners, Construction Excellence, Innovation, and Software – and the deadline for entries is the 1st of March 2023. Special recognition will be given to entries submitted by radio amateurs under the age of 24, and to those who have just gained their Foundation licence. A cash prize will be awarded to the winner of each section, with a bonus for the overall winner who will also be declared the winner of the Pat Hawker G3VA Trophy. To find out more, including how to enter, see the full details on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/construction-competition The RSGB President Stewart Bryant, G3YSX and General Manager Steve Thomas, M1ACB were interviewed by ICQ Podcast at the National Hamfest. Steve talked about this year's first hybrid RSGB Convention which brought hundreds of people together again. The two days of live stream content is still attracting thousands of views from radio amateurs across the world. The President discussed the RSGB's international and standards work with the IARU, as well as the need to use and protect the spectrum. You can find Episode 388 at icqpodcast.com and the RSGB interview starts at one hour, thirty minutes and fifty-two seconds. The next RSGB Tonight@8 webinar will be live-streamed on Monday the 7th of November at 8 pm. Terry, G4POP, will present ‘Log4OM: The first decade' – a look at the popular free logging software Log4OM. Suitable for all levels of expertise, Terry's talk will consider the software's history, its developers and its in-built features. There will be a live demonstration and a chance to ask questions. Tonight@8 webinars are live-streamed on BATC and on the RSGB YouTube channel. For more information about all RSGB webinars go to rsgb.org/webinars The RSGB VHF Contest Committee is currently planning the rules for next year's VHF contests. Following some discussion at the RSGB Convention, they have some questions on which they would appreciate feedback from contestants. You can find the survey online at thersgb.org/go/vhf2023. The survey will close on Sunday the 13th of November. The RSGB is sad to learn of the passing of Richard Brunton, G4TUT. For countless years, Richard was editor of the popular Southgate Amateur Radio News website. Every single day, he searched the world's amateur radio and technology resources for stories of interest and published them. Richard offered his platform inclusively, commissioning non-commercial podcasts and blogs to promote opinion alongside conventional news items. He also compiled the ‘CQ Serenade' weekly programme which was broadcast throughout Europe on Shortwaveradio.de and other public-facing media. Richard was an intensely private man who had no close family, but he reached thousands of friends daily through his website. Amateur radio has lost a true communicator. And now for details of rallies and events Scotland's biggest Rally for this year is being held in Galashiels today the 30th of October. The Rally takes place at the Volunteer Hall, St John Street, Galashiels. Admission is £2.50 per person, with free entry for those under 16s. Doors open for general admission at 11 am with disabled and accessible entry and early book-in of bring-and-buy items at 10.45 am. There will be an RSGB bookstall and catering is available on the site. The Hack Green Radio Surplus Hangar Sale takes place today, the 30th, at Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 8AL. The event will include the sale of electronic equipment, amateur gear, components, military radio items and vehicle spares. Doors open at 11 am. For more details visit www.hackgreen.co.uk The British Vintage Wireless Society's Golborne Swapmeet will take place today the 30th of October. The venue is Golborne Parkside Sports and Community Club, Rivington Avenue, Golborne, Warrington, Cheshire WA3 3HG. Doors open at 10 am with stallholder entry from 9.30 am. Contact Mark Ryding via markryding100@hotmail.co.uk for additional information. Holsworthy Radio Rally will take place next Sunday, the 6th of November, at Holsworthy Leisure Centre, Well Park, Western Road, Holsworthy, Devon EX22 6DH. There will be traders, a bring-and-buy sale and catering. The venue has disabled access. Doors open for traders at 8 am and to the public at 10 am. For more information email m0omc@m0omc.co.uk Now the Special Event News The Norfolk Tank Museum Radio Group near Long Stratton has been granted the permanent special callsign of GB2NTM and will be on the air for the last day of the Museum's 2022 season from 11 am until 5 pm today, the 30th of October. Operation is planned on 80, 40 and 20m plus 70.450MHz FM using radios from the museum's collection. More details via the QRZ.com page for GB2NTM. Now the DX news Bill, K9HZ will be active as J68HZ on Saint Lucia, NA-108, until the 5th of November. He will be available for contact during the CQ Worldwide DX SSB Contest. QSL via Logbook of the World, eQSL, Club Log or directly to K9HZ. Take, JI3DST will be active from Shodo Island, AS-200, until the 4th of November. He will be using SSB and CW. He will operate as JI3DST/5, JJ5RBH and JS6RRR/5 as well as JS6RRR/P on FT8. QSL via Logbook of the World and Club Log. Tjeerd PE1OJR will be active as PJ4TB from Bonaire, SA-006, until Monday the 31st of October. He will be operating on the 40 to 6m bands using SSB and FT8. QSL via Logbook of the World and Club Log. HB175RAIL will be active until the 31st of October to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Swiss Railways. Multiple bands and modes will be in operation and a number of certificates will be available. QSL via Logbook of the World. OR1050HERZ will be active until the 31st of October to mark the 1,050th anniversary of the foundation of the town of Herzele in the Belgian province of Flanders. Activity will be on all bands and modes. QSL via the bureau. Now the contest news Today, the 30th, the CQ Worldwide DX Contest ends its 24-hour run at 2359UTC. Using SSB only on the 1.8 to 28MHz bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and CQ Zone. On Tuesday the 1st of November, the Silent Key Memorial Contest runs from 0600 to 0900UTC. Using CW only on the 80 and 40m bands, the exchange is a signal report and a Silent Key callsign. On Wednesday the 2nd of November, the UKEICC 80m Contest runs from 2000 to 2100UTC. Using SSB only on the 80m band, the exchange is a six-character locator. Next weekend, the 144MHz CW Marconi Contest runs for 24 hours from 1400UTC on Saturday. Using CW only, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday the 28th of October 2022 Good conditions on HF have continued with only a short geomagnetic disturbance to dull things a little. The planetary Kp index got up to five on the 25th, due to plasma from a geo-effective coronal hole, but luckily it recovered quite quickly. Two days later it was back to one and the upper HF bands came alive again. The ionosphere was disturbed on the 23rd and 24th, with the MUF over a 3,000km path dipping in and out of the 10m band. But by the 25th things were pretty much back to normal. The solar flux index dropped down to 105 on the 22nd but recovered a little to end at 122 on Thursday. It has once again been a good week for 10m with openings to the US being commonplace. This is a good opportunity to up your Worked All States score with the 14, 18 and 21MHz bands remaining open long after sunset. 28MHz is also shining during daylight hours. Other notable contacts were AH7C Hawaii on 10m FT8 long path by Darren, G0TSM. Darren also worked P29RO, the German DXpedition to Papua New Guinea, on all bands from 18 to 28MHz. Next week NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will remain in the 100-118 range. Unfortunately, the Kp index is expected to rise to five on Saturday the 29th due to an enhanced solar wind stream from a trio of coronal holes on the Sun's equator. This may no doubt impact conditions for the CQ Worldwide Phone Contest this weekend. NOAA thinks the unsettled conditions could linger until Thursday, November the 3rd when the Kp index may return to two. And finally, please note that the data feed from the Chilton Digisonde has not been reliable this week. To circumvent this, on Propquest.co.uk we recommend selecting FF051 Fairford to maintain the graphs. And now the VHF and up propagation news The autumnal weather remains in control and the basic pattern changes very little over the coming week. This places low pressure to the southwest of the British Isles and a mild south-westerly wind bringing periods of rain as fronts cross the country with intervening spells of showery weather in between. The result of all this for VHF and UHF propagation is that rain scatter continues to have a look-in on the GHz bands. But this is very little comfort for tropo operators since high pressure does not really feature at all in the coming week, other than occasional weak transient events alongside weather fronts. The ever-present chances of aurora are always a possibility, so keep up to date with VHF cluster reports of current activity levels to ensure you don't miss out on any openings. The Propquest.co.uk graphs have shown isolated occasions with Sporadic-E recorded on the foEs plots, so always worth a check on 10m and 6m for strong short skip European signals, especially on digital modes. Random meteor scatter in the hours around dawn is always a banker for propagation and we are still in the tail end of the Orionid and Leonis Minoris showers to add to the mix. Next Sunday, the 6th, marks the onset of the big Leonids shower, peaking around the 16th. With the Moon at minimum declination this weekend, Moon windows will be short but lengthening as the week progresses. Perigee was yesterday, Saturday, so path losses are at their lowest. 144MHz sky noise is low in the coming week. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Data on 824 fireballs observed by the digital cameras of the European Fireball Network in 2017-2018 II Analysis of orbital and physical properties of centimeter-sized meteoroids by J. Borovicka et al. on Sunday 25 September Meteoroids impacting the Earth on a daily basis are fragments of asteroids and comets. By studying fireballs produced during their disintegration in the atmosphere, we can gain information about their source regions and the properties of their parent bodies. In this work, data on 824 fireballs presented in an accompanying paper and catalog are used. We propose a new empirical parameter for the classification of the physical properties of meteoroids, based on the maximum dynamic pressure suffered by the meteoroid in the atmosphere. We then compare the physical and orbital properties of meteoroids. We find that aphelion distance is a better indicator of asteroidal origin than the Tisserand parameter. Meteoroids with aphelia lower than 4.9 AU are mostly asteroidal, with the exception of the Taurids and alpha Capricornids associated with the comets 2P/Encke and 169P/NEAT, respectively. We found another population of strong meteoroids of probably asteroidal origin on orbits with either high eccentricities or high inclinations, and aphelia up to ~ 7 AU. Among the meteoroid streams, the Geminids and eta Virginids are the strongest, and Leonids and alpha Capricornids the weakest. We found fine orbital structures within the Geminid and Perseid streams. Four minor meteoroid streams from the working list of the International Astronomical Union were confirmed. No meteoroid with perihelion distance lower than 0.07 AU was detected. Spectra are available for some of the fireballs, and they enabled us to identify several iron meteoroids and meteoroids deficient in sodium. Recognition and frequency of fireballs leading to meteorite falls is also discussed. arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.11254v1

In this podcast Jennifer Williams talks to the poet Isobel Dixon about the universal and the particular, collaboration and making space in a busy schedule to write, how to bring in the personal in poetry and much more. Please note: unfortunately there is a buzz from a mobile signal through some short sections of this podcast. We hope it won't detract from your enjoyment in listening. Many thanks. Isobel Dixon was born in South Africa. She studied in Edinburgh, and now lives in Cambridge and works as a literary agent in London, returning frequently to Cape Town and her family home in the Karoo. Her fourth collection Bearings is published by Nine Arches, along with re-issues of A Fold in the Map and The Tempest Prognosticator (later in 2016). Her new pamphlet, The Leonids, is published by Mariscat. She has been published in The Paris Review, The Manhattan Review, The Guardian, The Dark Horse and Prairie Schooner, among other publications. Many thanks to James Iremonger for the music in this podcast.

GB2RS News Sunday the 21st of November 2021 The news headlines: IARU presents award to Don, G3BJ Make a date for Tonight @ 8 Amateur radio tops BBC News report   Former IARU Region 1 President and RSGB Past-President Don Beattie, G3BJ, was recently presented with the prestigious Michael J Owen Award by the IARU Administrative Council. The award recognises those outstanding volunteers whose exceptional service to the IARU reflect the spirit, hard work and dedication of the late Michael Owen. IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH offered his congratulations to Don. On Monday 6 December, Tonight @ 8 will feature Noel Matthews, G8GTZ who will be presenting on the latest developments in the ever-evolving world of amateur TV. Noel will give an overview of ATV activity in the UK and, in particular, how the use of Reduced Bandwidth signals has enabled ATV QSOs on the lower VHF bands. This free webinar can be seen on the RSGB's YouTube channel or on the special BATC stream and you'll be able to ask your questions live. Amateur radio was the lead item in a BBC News article on what made people happy during the pandemic. John Emery, 2E0HWE was pictured in front of his radio, microphone in hand, describing how he had made new friends thanks to amateur radio. You can read the full article at tinyurl.com/GB2RS-1121 Galway Radio Club is running a DMR Challenge, which is open to all DMR operators. The DMR challenge requires nine tasks to be fulfilled. There is no time limit, so you can work on it in your own time. Rules and a log sheet may be obtained from Steve, EI5DD, whose email address is correct on QRZ.com. Those interested in digital radio can download a copy of the Digital Radio Operating Manual from the Galway Radio Club web page, www.galwayradio.com. The manual is packed with information about digital modes, information about repeaters and gateways, maps, and lists of EI, GI and UK Talk Groups. It's not too late to register your interest for December YOTA Month 2021. We have been granted the callsign GB21YOTA, for allocation to youngsters to operate throughout December. To see what operating slots are still available please look up GB21YOTA on QRZ.com. You can register your interest by emailing yota.month@rsgb.org.uk. You must be a Full licence holder or have one willing to supervise the activity. Caradon Hill Repeater Group has upgraded the 70cm equipment at their site in Cornwall. GB3CH has changed to a 7.6MHz split, now operating on RU70 with 77Hz CTCSS. An Allstar node, number 43678, has been added to allow remote access. A new 70cm DMR repeater, GB7LK, has also been installed. Connected to the Phoenix DMR network, GB7LK uses channel RU65 and colour-code 5. The 2m voice repeater GB3JL continues to work well on channel RV63, using 77Hz CTCSS for access. For more information on the group and its repeaters, email gb3ch.repeater@gmail.com. And now for details of rallies and events Some rallies have been cancelled, as previously publicised, including the Bishop Auckland RAC rally, originally due to be held on the 28th of November. The next rally we have details for is the Sparkford Wireless Group Rally, due to take place on the 2nd of January at Davis Hall near Yeovil. Now is the perfect time to let us know your group's rally or event plans for 2022. Email radcom@rsgb.org.uk with details and we'll publicise your event for free. Now the DX news Ali, EP3CQ is on the air as 6O1OO from Mogadishu in Somalia until the first week in December. Activity is mostly on 40, 30 and 20 metres using FT8 and FT4, but also CW and SSB. QSL direct to his home call. Lee, DS4NMJ is QRV as DT8A as part of a scientific team on the King Se-Jong Korean Antarctic Base on King George Island, IOTA AN-010, until December 31. Activity is on the HF bands using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via DS5TOS. John Paul, KN6NNF is QRV as 5X3Z from Kubamitwe, Uganda. Activity is on 80 to 10 metres using FT8. QSL via LoTW. Damian, G4LHT is QRV as V31HT from San Pedro Ambergris Caye in Belize until the 29th of November. Activity is on 40 to 10 metres using SSB and FT8. QSL via G4LHT. Don, K6ZO will be QRV as D60AB from Comoros, IOTA reference AF-007, from the 22nd to the 29th of November. Activity will be on the HF bands using CW and SSB. This includes an entry in the upcoming CQ World Wide DX CW contest. QSL direct to his home call. Dario, KP4DO is QRV as FJ/KP4DO on St Barthelemy, NA-146, until the 24th of November. Activity is mainly on 20 metres, but also on 40, 17, and 10 as propagation permits. QSL direct to home call. Ulmar, DK1CE is QRV as TZ1CE from Bamako in Mali until the 8th of December. Activity is on 160 to 6 metres using CW, possibly SSB, and FT8. QSL to home call. Now the Special Event news The Quantum Technology Club and Southport & District Amateur Radio Club will jointly run GB5LD to celebrate Lancashire Day on the 27th of November. The station is at St Marks Church Hall, Scarisbrick, near Ormskirk. New licensees are particularly invited to visit, bringing a copy of their licence so they can experience operating different modes. From 2.30 pm there will be a Lancashire Day net on 2m. Details are at www.quantumtech.club Special event station AU2JCB will be on the air until the 14th of December to commemorate Jagadish Chandra Bose's birthday. Activity will be on 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metres using SSB, with FM on 10 metres and 6 metres. QSL direct to VU2DSI. AM500ESP will be active until the 27th of November to commemorate Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe. Activity will be on the HF, VHF and UHF bands using CW, SSB, SSTV and various digital modes. QSL via EA7URF. E7BOSNIA is QRV from the ancient royal cities of Bobovac, Visoko, and Jajce until the 28th of November to celebrate Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina. QSL via the bureau. Now the contest news When operating in contests, please keep yourself and fellow amateurs safe by following relevant pandemic-related government recommendations. On Tuesday the SHF UKAC takes place from 1930 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 2.3 to 10GHz bands, the exchange is a serial number, signal report and locator. Wednesday sees the UKEICC 80m CW contest, which runs from 2000 to 2100 UTC. Using CW only on the 80m band, the exchange is your 6-character locator. The Autumn Series continues on Thursday with the CW leg on 80m from 2000 to 2130UTC. The exchange here is a serial number, signal report and locator. Next weekend it's the CQWW DX CW contest, running from 0000UTC on Saturday until 2359UTC on Sunday. Using CW only on the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is a serial number, signal report and CQ Zone, which for the UK is 14. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday the 19th of November 2021. We had a week of lower sunspot activity, almost back to the days of sunspot minimum. The solar flux index ranged from 78 on Sunday 14th to 79 on Thursday 18th with a high of 80 on the 16th. So, nothing to write home about there. Geomagnetic conditions were mainly unsettled, with a maximum Kp index of four, mainly due to an enhanced solar wind from an expected coronal hole stream. There was a C-class solar flare event on the 13th, but this caused us little harm. Despite the relatively low solar flux numbers the ionosphere has been quite respectable. Propquest shows that extrapolated MUFs over a 3,000km path have continued to exceed 28MHz around lunchtime and early afternoon. Next week NOAA's space weather prediction centre has the SFI in the low to mid-80s with a maximum Kp index of two. It doesn't seem to think that we will see a rise in sunspot numbers for at least another week. Let's hope that geomagnetic conditions remain settled for the CQ Worldwide CW contest next weekend, as this offers the best chance of DX even without higher sunspot numbers. And now the VHF and up propagation news. This week is going to be one of weather contrasts, with a change to proper cold weather from midweek. We have seen some useful areas of high pressure giving some Tropo during the second half of the week just finishing. This weekend a cold front will bring colder and more unsettled weather south across the country, but soon a new high will build in from the Atlantic for the beginning of next week, so perhaps a little Tropo again. It all changes midweek as a more active weather system moves south and will introduce very much colder air, with talk of wintry weather for some areas and strong northerly winds. This could mean some rain scatter conditions are possible, but overall fairly flat conditions otherwise. With the Leonids meteor shower past its peak, all eyes will be on the upcoming Geminids, which start to build up from the beginning of December. With a ZHR of 120+, it's a big one! Until then stick to the period around dawn for the best random meteor scatter conditions. For EME enthusiasts, the Moon is at apogee today and reaches maximum declination on Tuesday so expect long Moon windows and high peak elevations reaching 64 degrees on the day. Path losses are also at maximum, getting lower as the week progresses. And that's all from the propagation team this week.  

 A quiet but steady meteor shower is building toward its peak tomorrow night. The gibbous Moon will steal most of its luster, though. Only a few “shooting stars” will shine through the moonlight. The shower is called the Leonids because its meteors appear to “rain” into the sky from Leo. The lion climbs into view in the wee hours of the morning. But there's no relation between the meteors and the constellation. Instead, the meteors are the offspring of a comet. The comet was first seen by Ernst Tempel, in December 1865, and Horace Tuttle a few weeks later, so it carries both of their names — Tempel-Tuttle. Not long after the discovery, several astronomers noted a similarity between the orbit of Tempel-Tuttle and the Leonid meteor shower. They realized that the comet must somehow spawn the shower. And they were right. A comet is a ball of frozen water and gases mixed with bits of solid rock. When it gets close to the Sun, some of the ice vaporizes, releasing solid particles. When Earth crosses the comet's path, these particles slam into the atmosphere, forming the glowing streaks known as meteors. The Leonids are best when the comet is closest to the Sun, and when Earth passes through a dense part of the stream of comet dust. Neither of those will happen this year, so the shower is pretty weak. Even so, if you have a dark, safe viewing spot, it's worth looking for those few meteors — the offspring of a comet.  Script by Damond Benningfield   Support McDonald Observatory

GB2RS News Sunday the 14th of November 2021 The news headlines: Bletchley filming will disrupt NRC days Canadians mark transatlantic first Newsreader ‘Jon Island Jon' goes SK The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed to all visitors this coming Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. This is due to filming taking place at Bletchley Park and no visitors will be on-site during this time. Please check the Bletchley Park site before planning your visit. NRC staff and volunteers plan to re-open as normal on Saturday the 20th of November. CF3BP will be operating from the York region near Toronto until the 12th of December. It will mark the anniversary of the first transatlantic amateur radio transmission from Canada by Edward Rogers Senior using the call 3BP. He was one of the few amateurs to successfully transmit across the Atlantic in an ARRL-sponsored test and the only Canadian to succeed, using a 500W spark gap transmitter. Operated by members of the York Region ARC, a schedule will be available at yrarc.org/cf3bp. You can also read more about the historical event at the same place. The RSGB has learned, with sadness, that Jon Hague, GM3JIJ, has become a Silent Key. Jon was a member of the Society for 72 years. Affectionately known as ‘Jon Island Jon' to his many on-air friends, he delivered the GB2RS News from his QTH at Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis for 26 years, his big signals covering the Highlands & Islands on 80m, 40m and 2m each Sunday. Our thoughts are with Jon's family and many friends. On Saturday the 13th of November, Barry ARS was featured in a programme on Channel 4 at 8 pm called Britain by Beach. The club was shown doing a recreation of Marconi and Kemp's CW transmissions from Lavernock Point in South Wales. You can watch the episode on the Channel 4 website by searching for Britain by Beach. The RSGB HF Contest Committee is going to use the information from a short survey to inform its planning. The committee is considering some changes to an existing contest and may introduce a new contest. Additionally, the RSGB VHF Contest Committee is finalising the VHF Contest rules for next year. It is not proposing major changes to the rules, but have a few areas where it would appreciate your feedback. You can answer both surveys, before the 17th of November, by going to thersgb.org/gb2rs/013/ The RSGB held its second online Convention on the 9th of October. A new video, RSGB 2021 Convention: Unwrapped, gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how we created the event. Months of planning went into this online event, which provided 15 presentations across two live streams throughout the day as well as regular content from the RSGB National Radio Centre. You can find it on the RSGB YouTube channel or on the Convention web page at rsgb.org/convention. And now for details of rallies and events Before travelling to any rally or event, please check the event's website as there may still be alterations or cancellations due to the pandemic, even as we head into the 2022 diary. The next rally we have details for is in 2022. The Sparkford Wireless Group Rally is due to take place on the 2nd of January at Davis Hall near Yeovil. More dates for 2022 as we get closer to the end of the year. Some rallies have been cancelled, as previously publicised, including the Bishop Auckland RAC rally, originally due to be held on the 28th of November. Now is the perfect time to let us know your group's rally or event plans for 2022. Email radcom@rsgb.org.uk with details and we'll publicise your event for free in RadCom, on the RSGB website and in GB2RS. Now the DX news TM60ANT will be on air from the 16th to the 30th of November to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty signature. Operated by François, F8DVD from Mâcon, JN26JH, operations will be on the 10 to 40m bands. Information about the event and the QSL route can be found on QRZ.com. Robert, S53R is now stationed in Kathmandu, Nepal for the foreseeable future, and will be active as 9N7AA (a reissued callsign, previously used by UA3AA in 2014). He is waiting to move to a permanent residence and for part of his equipment to arrive. He says that for the time being only limited operation is planned, but the pace should pick up by end of November. QSL via LoTW, or direct to S57DX. Oleh, KD7WPJ will be active as PJ7/UR5BCP from Sint Maarten, IOTA reference NA-105, from 18-24 November. He will operate CW, SSB and FT8 on 40 to 6m. QSL via KD7WPJ. Abie, AB1F will be active as VU2ABE from Shillong, in the Indian state of Meghalaya, between 6 November and 18 December. He will be QRV on 40, 20, 15 and 10m. QSL via home call, direct or bureau and LoTW; he will upload his log also to eQSL, QRZ and Club Log on a regular basis. Now the Special Event news OQ05PHI is the special callsign for the UBA Section de Philippeville to celebrate its 5th anniversary. It will be active until the 22nd of November. QSL via ON4PHI. Celebrating Saint Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, Welland Valley ARS will be active as GB0SA between 6 November and 3 December. QSL via G4XEX, LoTW and eQSL. Now the contest news When operating in contests, please keep yourself and fellow amateurs safe by following relevant pandemic-related government recommendations. The WAE DX RTTY contest ends its 48 hour run at 2359UTC today, the 14th. Using the contest bands between 3.5 and 28MHz, the exchange is signal report and serial number. The UK Microwave Group Low Band contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC today. Using all modes on the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Tuesday the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Thursday sees the 70MHz UK Activity Contest, also running from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Saturday, the Second 1.8MHz contest runs from 1900 to 2300UTC. It is CW only and the exchange is signal report, serial number and your District code. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on Friday the 12th of November. This last week was a little more settled than the previous one. The solar flux index remained in the high 80s and geomagnetic conditions were mostly quiet, with a maximum Kp index of three. That isn't to say that the Sun has been inactive – far from it. A long-duration M2.0 solar flare took place on the 9th of November around region 2891, which is now located behind the northwest limb. Its associated CME was luckily not Earth-directed, so it looks like we escaped that one. As a result of the settled conditions maximum usable frequencies have remained quite high. On Thursday lunchtime they were topping out at just over 28MHz over a 3,000km path. Manubhai, VU2XO in India has been logged on 10m SSB on a few occasions and Stuart VK8NSB has also found his way into many logbooks according to the 10m UK Net group on Facebook. The 10m Australian beacon VK8VF/B in Darwin has also been logged in Southern Ireland on 28.268MHz. According to the Propagation Studies Committee's beacon listing on RSGB.org the beacon runs only 25W. Next week, NOAA predicts more of the same, with the solar flux index rising from around 80 to perhaps around 90 as the week progresses. Geomagnetic conditions are currently predicted to be unsettled around the 15th when the Kp index could rise to four. But at this point in the cycle, it is hard to be precise as CMEs can disrupt the ionosphere approximately two days after a solar flare and CME event, and they are very hard to predict with any accuracy. The best advice is to keep an eye on solarham.com for news of solar events. And now the VHF and up propagation news. High pressure will build in from Scandinavia as we move into early next week. This high should bring some Tropo opportunities but suffer a brief knockback midweek as a new low pushes a weakening front south. After this, a new high will build, but this time from the Azores High with a moister surface airflow and a better prospect for Tropo. The Tropo prospects will favour southern UK regions, whereas the north will remain closer to low pressure and be less likely to generate Tropo. Rain showers may again provide some rain scatter on the GHz bands. The Leonids meteor shower peaks this week, so obviously a good chance to test out those meteor scatter techniques using digimodes MSK144 and FSK441 if you've not tried them before. SSB and fast CW on the lower VHF bands will also be possible for well-equipped stations using the right techniques. For EME enthusiasts, Moon declination goes positive again on Monday, but path losses are rising as we head for apogee a week today, the 21st. The Moon will be at 34 degrees elevation this evening, Sunday, at its zenith, getting higher as the week progresses. And that's all from the propagation team this week

It is time to look skyward at night again. Some of you may have been noticing some meteors recently. The Leonids Meteor Shower began on November 6th and will run through the 30th. The shower will peak on the night of November 17th and early morning hours of the 18th with perhaps 15 meteors or so per hour. A nearly full moon, however, will make only the brightest of meteors clearly visible.

The Astronomy, Technology, and Space Science News Podcast.SpaceTime 20211105 Series 24 Episode 126*Study suggests the earth tipped over 84 million years agoA new study suggests the Earth tipped on its side 84 million years ago. The phenomenon known as true polar wander tilts planets relative to their spin axis causing the geographic locations of the north and south poles to change, or "wander".*NASA calls for new players to fly crew to the space stationThe ongoing problems with Boeing's CST100 Starliner spacecraft has forced NASA to call for other company's interested in providing crew transport services to the International Space Station.*China's new spacecraft or a hypersonic missile testChina is denying persistent reports that it's just tested a new hypersonic cruise missile -- claiming the test involved a new reusable spacecraft.*November SkyWatchThe Andromeda galaxy, the first exoplanet 51 Pegasus B and the Orionids, Taurids and Leonids meteor showers are among the highlights of November skywatch.For more SpaceTime and show links: https://linktr.ee/biteszHQ If you love this podcast, please get someone else to listen too. Thank you…Your support is needed...SpaceTime is an independently produced podcast (we are not funded by any government grants, big organisations or companies), and we're working towards becoming a completely listener supported show...meaning we can do away with the commercials and sponsors. We figure the time can be much better spent on researching and producing stories for you, rather than having to chase sponsors to help us pay the bills.That's where you come in....help us reach our first 1,000 subscribers...at that level the show becomes financially viable and bills can be paid without us breaking into a sweat every month. Every little bit helps...even if you could contribute just $1 per month. It all adds up.By signing up and becoming a supporter at the $5 or more level, you get immediate access to over 240 commercial-free, double, and triple episode editions of SpaceTime plus extended interview bonus content. You also receive all new episodes on a Monday rather than having to wait the week out. Subscribe via Patreon or Supercast (you get a month's free trial with Supercast to see if it's really for you or not)....and share in the rewards. Details at Patreon www.patreon.com/spacetimewithstuartgary or Supercast - https://bitesznetwork.supercast.tech/ Details at https://spacetimewithstuartgary.com or www.bitesz.com Sponsor Details:This episode is brought to you with the support of NameCheap…cheap domain names is just the beginning of your own online presence. We use them and we love them. Get our special deal…just visit: https://spacetimewithstuartgary.com/namecheap and help support the show.For more SpaceTime visit https://spacetimewithstuartgary.com (mobile friendly). For enhanced Show Notes including photos to accompany this episode: https://www.bitesz.com/show/spacetime/blog/ RSS feed: https://www.spreaker.com/show/2458531/episodes/feed Email: mailto:SpaceTime@bitesz.comTo receive the Astronomy Daily Newsletter free, direct to your inbox...just join our mailing list at www.bitesz.com or visit https://www.bitesz.com/p/astronomy-daily/Help support SpaceTime: The SpaceTime with Stuart Gary merchandise shop. Get your T-Shirts, Coffee Cups, badges, tote bag + more and help support the show. Check out the range: http://www.cafepress.com/spacetime Thank you.https://spacetimewithstuartgary.comhttps://bitesz.com

For our colourful November episode, we celebrate winter's brightest flowers, chrysanthemums. We share a recipe for bonfire toffee apples, explore nature's November fireworks - the Leonids meteor shower - and spend time with the remarkable Atlantic salmon, who will be swimming upriver this month. 'As the Season Turns' is a podcast created by Ffern and presented by the nature writer and author of the Seasonal Almanac Lia Leendertz. Each episode, released on the first of every month, is a guide to what to look out for in the month ahead - from the sky above to the land below. *RECIPE* Bonfire toffee apples Bonfire toffee is the dark toffee rich in black treacle, associated with Bonfire Night and particularly loved in the North of England. It is so hard that it has to be smashed into pieces when made in a tray, but it is slightly easier to eat wrapped around apples on sticks. Only partake if you are confident of your fillings! Any eating apples will work, but those with a sharp or very distinctive flavour will be particularly good. You will need a sugar thermometer. Makes 8 toffee apples Ingredients 8 apples 8 sticks (apple tree prunings look great) Sunflower oil 125ml hot water 450g muscovado sugar 115g black treacle 115g golden syrup ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar Method Put the apples into a large bowl, pour a kettle of boiled water over them, and leave for a few minutes to remove the waxy coating that would prevent the toffee from sticking. Pour away the water and pat the apples dry, then remove their stalks and push a stick into each. Put parchment paper on a flat baking tray with baking parchment, and rub it all over with oil. Line a small baking tray with baking parchment, and oil that well, too, ready for any excess toffee. Gently heat the water and the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, without stirring (you can swish the pan a little if you need to) until the sugar has dissolved. Oil a bowl and measure the black treacle and golden syrup into it, then pour that into the sugar and water mixture. Add the cream of tartar, and swish again to lightly mix everything. Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to the boil. Continue boiling until it reaches 140 C on the sugar thermometer, sometimes labelled ‘soft crack' (this may take some time but don't leave the toffee unattended). As soon as it reaches that point, remove it from the heat and work quickly to roll your apples in the toffee, letting the excess drip off (you want as thin a coating as possible) and then placing them ‘stick up' on the oiled parchment. Pour any excess onto the small lined baking tray. Leave to cool completely. The toffee in the small baking tray will have to be smashed into shards with a hammer, in the traditional manner.

GB2RS News Sunday 31st of October 2021 The news headlines: Exams committee clarifies supervision Have you changed to GMT? Volunteer at the NRC   The RSGB Exam Standards Committee has clarified the licence conditions regarding the supervised operation of Foundation licence candidates. The full announcement can be found on the examination announcements page of the RSGB website, thersgb.org/gb2rs/012 Don't forget that in the UK the clocks changed to UTC or GMT today. The clocks went back 1 hour at 2 am this morning, the 31st of October. The RSGB National Radio Centre welcomes thousands of people through its doors each month. They need to expand the team of volunteers and are particularly looking for people who can be part of the team during the week. If you're interested in becoming an NRC volunteer you should enjoy meeting people and be prepared to work a minimum of one, preferably two, days per month. Full training is given. Please contact NRC Coordinator Martyn, G0GMB for further information via nrc.support@rsgb.org.uk. The RSGB online Convention's keynote presentation is now available separately on the Society's YouTube channel. This inspiring talk by Professor Cathryn Mitchell, M0IBG explores the connections between radio and space and also looks at the many ways in which everyone can get involved. The seven presentations from the Introduction to stream have also been uploaded individually so that it will be even easier to find the presentation you'd like to watch. That full day's stream has received over 5,000 views already, with some great reviews. We'll be releasing the Learn more about stream presentations next week. Go to youtube.com/theRSGB and choose the RSGB Convention 2021 playlist. The Quantum Technology Club, in West Lancashire, will be resuming Foundation licence training courses on the 11th of November. The training sessions will continue on the second and fourth Thursday of the month thereafter with a few exceptions for holidays. Different topics, as well as practical demonstrations and interactive sessions, will take place. Everyone is welcome; you do not have to be a member of the club to join. Please contact them via quantumtech.club before attending. A new QSL sub-manager has been appointed for the G4TAA-ZZZ series. You can send your C5 sized stamped addressed envelopes using 2nd class stamps to Pete Rivers, G4XEX, whose details are on the RSGB website under the On The Air tab. Please remember to put your callsign and Membership number in the top left corner of each envelope. Can you lend a generator? The Kilmarnock & Loudoun ARC Team at Ardrossan are trying to borrow a generator for an event in early December. They are looking to borrow a 240V generator with an output of 5 to 10kVA. Please email klarcinfo@gmail.com if you can help. And now for details of rallies and events Before travelling to any rally or event, please check the event's website as there may still be alterations or cancellations due to the pandemic. The Holsworthy Radio Rally will take place on the 7th of November at the Holsworthy Leisure Centre, Well Park, Western Road, Holsworthy, Devon EX22 6DH. Doors open at 10 am. There will be traders, a Bring & Buy and catering will be available on site. The next rally we have details for is in 2022. The Sparkford Wireless Group Rally is due to take place on the 2nd of January in Davis Hall near Yeovil. Some rallies have been cancelled, as previously publicised. These are the Bush valley ARC rally due for the 7th of November and the Bishop Auckland RAC rally due to be held on the 28th of November. Now the DX news Remo, HB9SHD will be active as 8Q7RM from the Maldives, IOTA reference AS- 013, throughout November. He will operate mainly FT8, with some SSB and slow CW, on the 6 to 40m bands. QSL via his home call either direct or via the bureau, Club Log's OQRS and Logbook of the World. Richard, NN2T and Linda, KN4KJC will be active as C6AHB from the Bimini Islands, NA-048, until the 3rd of November. They will operate SSB and digital modes. QSL via Logbook of The World, Club Log's OQRS, or direct to NN2T. Janusz, SP9FIH will be active as PJ7P from Sint Maarten, NA-105, until the 3rd of November. He will operate SSB, FT8 and RTTY on the 30, 15, 12 and 10m bands. QSL via Club Log's OQRS or via his home call. Now the Special Event news Until the 2nd of November, West of Scotland ARS will be running a special event station GB4GDS, celebrating 90 years of the Guide Dog Association. More information about the station can be found at www.wosars.club. OQ05PHI is the special callsign for the UBA Section de Philippeville to celebrate its 5th anniversary. It will be active until the 22nd of November. QSL via ON4PHI. Now the contest news When operating in contests, please keep yourself and fellow amateurs safe by following relevant pandemic-related government recommendations. The 48-hour CQ World Wide DX SSB contest ends at 2359UTC today, the 31st, using the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands. The exchange is signal report and your Zone, 14 for the UK. On Monday the data leg of the 80m Autumn Series runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. The exchange is signal report and serial number. Also, on Monday is the Silent Key Memorial that runs from 0600 to 0900. It's CW only on the 3.5 and 7MHz bands. The exchange is a signal report and a silent key callsign. Tuesday sees the 144MHz FM Activity Contest run from 1900 to 1955UTC. It is followed by the all-mode 144MHz UK Activity Contest from 2000 to 2230UTC. The exchange is the same, signal report, serial number and locator. The UK EI Contest Club 80 contest takes place on Wednesday from 2000 to 2100UTC. It is SSB only and the exchange is your 6-character locator. Also, on Wednesday is the 144MHz FT8 Activity Contest. Running from 1900 to 2100UTC, the exchange is your report and 4-character locator. Next weekend the Marconi CW Contest runs from 1400UTC on the 6th to 1400UTC on the 7th. It's CW-only on the 144MHz band and the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on Friday the 29th of October. Well, we had another topsy-turvy week, with the sunspot number going from a lowly 10 to a much more impressive 91. We started last week with a virtually spotless solar surface, but this week the Sun is peppered with spots, with five active regions in place on Thursday. The net result is the maximum usable frequencies have been climbing, with 3,000km-plus paths being reached at times on 24 and even 28MHz, according to the Propquest website. There has been plenty of DX to be worked as well, with HD8R in the Galapagos Islands, VK9DX on Norfolk Island, both on CW, and 7P8RU in Lesotho making it into many amateur's logs. The first two were on 30 metres, which is well worth a look. Special event station HS400OZ in Thailand has also been putting in an appearance on 30m FT8 and has been workable from the UK. With Solar Cycle 25 now well underway, it is always worth checking the higher bands too, such as 12 and 10 metres. Next week NOAA predicts the solar flux index will be in the range 85-96, starting the week at the higher end and then declining. Geomagnetic conditions are predicted to be quiet, with a maximum Kp index of two. However, this could change if a coronal mass ejection occurs. For example, Region 2887, which was Earth-centric on Thursday, has unleashed one M-class and several C-class flares. A large flare, accompanied by a CME, could easily disrupt the HF bands for days. And now the VHF and up propagation news. The current spell of unsettled weather will become more widespread and affect much of the country during the first half of the coming week. There had been a hint of Tropo in the southeast last week, but we'll have to wait for the second half of the week before there is a return of weak Tropo in the south as a transient ridge crosses the country. This will be replaced by further unsettled weather by the weekend. In propagation terms, this means that rain scatter on the GHz bands may be on offer again through much of the coming week. Otherwise, it is the chance of aurora or meteor scatter that could entice us onto the VHF bands. The Orionids meteor shower is coming to an end and the Taurids are in progress, but with a ZHR of not more than five, there's little to get excited about. We have to wait until mid-November for the Leonids, so stick to the time around dawn to maximise your chances with random meteors until then. For EME enthusiasts, Moon declination is high early this week, going negative on Tuesday. Path losses are at their lowest with perigee on Friday but this coincides with low negative declination, meaning the Moon will be low in the sky at zenith. This trend of lowest declination getting closer to perigee reverses in June next year, but not until June 2026 will we see maximum declination coincide with perigee. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Jordan and Leann talk about the big cats: Leo! Are they the kings of the jungle or do they just THINK they are? You’ll want to listen to the very end on this one.    Contact Us Twitter: @byscorpios Instagram: @byscorpios Email us at ForScorpiosByScorpios@gmail.com Follow Jordan on Twitter: @KeyTenavast Art by Kelsey Heaton: @kelsey.heaton on Instagram NEW! BUY OUR MERCH!   Timestamps  00:20 — shocking life discoveries feat. Jason Mamoa, Lisa Bonet, Pete Davidson, and Avatar: The Last Airbender  7:25 — horoscopes  9:44 — FMK Leos 15:00 — main topic LEO 20:00 — mythology of Leo 24:50 — ecology side note about the environment of Lions and climate change  28:00 — art history corner: Peter paul rubens, the first labour of Hercules  34:30 — Leo constellation  36:36 — Leo in astrology  45:50 — Leo moons  46:20 — Leo rising  49:20 — D&D corner roving mauler  52:48 — Leo wrap up and thoughts  55:46 — closing statements    Bibliography You Were Born for This by Chani Nicholas The Secret Language of Astrology by Roy Gillett The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need by Joanna Martine Woolfolk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_(astrology)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_(constellation)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulus  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonids  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lens  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Horseshoe  Snodgrass, E (1997). Signs of the Zodiac : A Reference Guide to Historical, Mythological, and Cultural Associations. Greenwood Publishing Group.

You've probably heard the phrase, "Let the cat out of the bag" - well, what if the cat IS the bag? This week we'll hear about a Japanese woman who designs handbags that look like real cats. We'll also visit the Celebrity Car Museum in Branson, Missouri; check out the body paint art work of Johannes Stotter; and some crazy furniture creations by a New Zealand man. Are you familiar with words like vicissitude and Leonids? Then you will do great with our trivia questions! Get your horoscope for the week and learn about Naomi Osaka, Wedding Cake Rock, and a special children's carousel in Paris.

Meteor showers often are tales of good news and bad news. And that’s the case for this month’s Leonid shower, which should be at its best tonight. On the good side, the Moon is just past new, so it won’t get in the way of the fireworks. On the bad side, there won’t be that many fireworks to interfere with. The Leonids are spawned by a comet, 55P/Temple-Tuttle. When the comet gets close to the Sun, some of its icy crust vaporizes. That releases small bits of dust and rock, which surround the comet. Over time, some of this “comet dust” spreads out along Temple-Tuttle’s orbit. Earth flies through this trail of debris every November. Some of the grains plunge into our atmosphere at high speeds. They quickly vaporize, forming the glowing slashes of light known as meteors. The clouds of dust are thicker near the comet. So the Leonids are better when the comet is passing through the inner solar system. At those times, the shower can produce a “storm” of thousands of meteors per hour. That last happened a couple of decades ago. Today, though, Temple-Tuttle is racing away from the Sun, so the showers are much less intense. This year, you might see a peak rate of a dozen or so meteors per hour, in the wee hours of tomorrow morning. The lack of moonlight, though, at least ensures that you can see whatever meteors the shower produces. But you need a skywatching site with dark skies, away from city lights, to see the Leonid meteor shower. Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

There is a new moon on November 15! And, if the sky is clear over the next week or so, the dark sky should make for good conditions to see falling stars. The Northern Taurids Meteor Shower began on October 20 and runs until December 10. It is not one of the more well-known meteor showers, producing maybe 5-10 meteors per hour. It peaked on the evening of the 11th and early morning hours of the 12th, but there is still more to see. And the Northern Taurids are known to occasionally produce some unusually showy displays.

WATCH this on YouTubeLISTEN as a podcast on Podbean, Stitcher, or iTunes Social Media: @mrwebbpv on Twitter and Instagram @pvplanetarium on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram            November this year is quite the month of change.  We have an election, daylight savings time ends, and the nights quickly get longer and longer.  All five naked-eye planets are easily visible at different parts of the night, the Leonids will grace the mid-month skies, and the Moon makes its monthly visits in line with the planets.          Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night.    Naked-eye PLANETS... Sunset – Saturn, Jupiter Saturn, Jupiter (S) – Just look South or Southwest after sunset, but before 10:30pm (8:30pm at the end of the month) and find the two really bright points of light fairly close together. In fact, they start off 5˚ apart (three finger-widths) and end up on November 30th being just 2˚ apart (two pinky-widths).  To find Jupiter, just look for the brightest spot no more than 30˚ above the horizon.  Saturn will be to the left.  These make a great pair for getting your binoculars and telescopes out.  You can see the rings of Saturn and moons of Jupiter fairly easily, and you don’t have to do too much to switch from one planet to the other.  In fact, get your practice in now, because on December 21st, these two planets will have a brilliant conjunction! Throughout the night – Mars Mars (ESE-S-W) – Look East or South East around sunset or South around 10:30pm to find the non-twinkling reddish-orange dot, much brighter than everything around it. If you’re looking in the morning, look West, but make sure you get out there before it sets at 5am at the beginning of the month and 3am at the end of the month. Morning – Venus, Mercury Venus (E) – Venus rises in the East around at 4:30am on Nov 1st, and 5:45am on the 30th. Bright, brilliant, and gorgeous. Get your looks in now, since it dives closer and closer to the Sun through December, and stays close to the Sun until Summer of 2021. Mercury (E) – Always tough to see since it’s close to the Sun, but this is a good month to find it, especially right in the middle of November when it’s furthest from the Sun. Get out to look after 6:45am but before sunrise about an hour later and look ESE. It will be low on the horizon, down and to the left of Venus, and dimmer than Venus but brighter than surrounding stars.  The last week of November it dives back toward the Sun and is lower and harder to find.   EVENTS... Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night) Last Quarter Moon – 8th (Visible from midnight into the morning) Morning Crescents (look East in the AM) New Moon – 15th (darkest skies) Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset) First Quarter Moon – 22nd (Visible until midnight) Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset) Full Moon – 30th (Visible all night)   11th – 13th – Close Encounter – Moon, Venus, Mercury – Make sure you have a nice view of the Eastern horizon at least 45 minutes before sunrise (6:45am). Venus and the Moon should be easy to spot, with Venus being VERY bright, and the Moon being its big beautiful crescent.  On the 11th, the Moon will be about two fist-widths above Venus, with Mercury below Venus.  On the 12th, the Moon will move to within 6˚ or about three finger-widths above Venus. THE BEST PART is on the morning of Friday the 13th! The Moon will be BETWEEN Venus and Mercury!   17th – Leonid Meteor Shower – This annual, weak (10-15 per hour), meteor shower can have some wonderful years. 2020 appears to be decent. Why? We essentially have a New Moon, so there’s no extra light pollution to interfere with our observing.  This year, you want to get up early in the morning on Thursday the 17th, between 3:00 and 5:30am, and take a nice look at the sky in general, noting that the meteors will appear to go from the radiant in the head of Leo and outward.   18th – 19th – Close Encounter – Moon, Jupiter, Saturn – Get out after sunset and find the Moon toward the Southwest, low on the horizon, and a thin waxing crescent. On the 18th, the Moon will be down and to the right of Jupiter, the brightest point nearby, with Saturn to the left of Jupiter and also bright.  Then, on the 19th, the Moon moves to the left of Saturn, forming a very flat triangle with Jupiter and Saturn.  Definitely an easy and worthwhile sight, but get out there before 8pm when they set.   25th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mars – Get out there after sunset and find the waxing Gibbous Moon in the SE with red, ruddy Mars close and bright just 5˚ above it.      CONSTELLATIONS... Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out. After Dinner: Pegasus & Andromeda - Look pretty much straight up you’ll be able to see the Great Square of Pegasus, with Andromeda curving off of one corner. If your skies are decently dark, you might catch the faint fuzz that is the Andromeda Galaxy. Before Bed: Andromeda, Perseus, Triangulum, Aries – Find Pegasus off to the West a little bit to find the cornucopia shaped Andromeda again. Keep following the cornucopia shape to find Perseus, which has kind of a similar shape, except opening up toward the southern horizon and the Pleiades.  Below Perseus and Andromeda will be Triangulum, a small thin triangle, and Aries the Ram, which looks more like a curved walking cane on its side. Before Work: Orion – Look southwest to find the vertical bow-tie that is Orion the Hunter.   Don’t forget this podcast is found on my Podbean page, Stitcher, and iTunes.  There’s also a video version on my YouTube Channel and I can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @mrwebbpv. The Pequea Valley Planetarium and its events and updates are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as @pvplanetarium.

GB2RS NEWS Sunday the 15th of November 2020 The news headlines: Hope QSO Parties over Christmas RSGB responds to Ofcom’s second EMF consultation RCF help is available Following the successful Hope QSO Parties earlier in the year, the HF Contest Committee is launching two further short Christmas Hope Party series to run as part of the Society’s ‘Get on the air for Christmas’ campaign with the NHS. The first starts on Monday the 21st of December and the second on Monday the 4th of January. Each series has two phone, two CW, two RTTY and two FT4 events. For more information, including a link to the rules, see the RSGB website www.rsgb.org/gota4c. RSGB has responded to Ofcom’s second consultation document on limiting Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields. Our response can be found on the RSGB website http://rsgb.org.uk/emf. Please remember the deadline is tight; all responses need to be in to Ofcom by 5pm on Monday the 16th of November. The RSGB would encourage you to respond yourself and thank all those who have done so already. The Trustees of the Radio Communications Foundation have noted the surge in newcomers to amateur radio since lockdown. Newcomers may not be aware that RCF is a charity that is committed to supporting radio clubs in schools, colleges and universities. If any readers need help in establishing, resurrecting or improving a school, college or university amateur radio club they should contact the RCF. Details can be found at https://commsfoundation.org/contact-the-rcf/. The RCF continues to sponsor a number of Arkwright Engineering Scholarships and works with the UK Electronics Skills Federation. The IARU Region 1 Political Relations Committee attended an European workshop that is drafting the next radio spectrum programme for the 2025 – 2030 period. Topics included strategic spectrum issues, climate change and EMF. The IARU was pleased to be able to submit a contribution that is now available with inputs from other stakeholders at www.iaru-r1.org/2020/rspg-workshop-on-rspp. We received sad news this week. John Devoldere, ON4UN became a Silent Key on the 9th of November. Well-known as a lowband DXer, he had been in failing health for some time. In addition to his enthusiasm for operating, he may be best known as the author of Low-Band DXing and HF Ethics and Operating that was adopted by the IARU. Our thoughts are with his family and friends around the world. Dave Johnson, G4DPZ gave an online satellite talk to Mid Ulster ARC and the video is now available on the club’s YouTube channel. He covered the many amateur satellites in Low Earth Orbit that operate in the 145.8-146MHz and 435-438MHz satellite bands, plus the QO-100 geostationary satellite that uses 2.4GHz and 10GHz. Another talk is an evening with Laurie Margolis, G3UML, the BBC journalist and News Editor who was the radio amateur that broke news of the Falkland Islands invasion in 1982. See www.youtube.com/MuarcMedia/videos. The RSGB is taking part in December YOTA Month but the Covid-19 restrictions will make the event very different this year. If you are a parent with a newly-licensed youngster in your family, you can apply to host the callsign GB20YOTA safely from your own home. You must be a Full licence holder to apply for the callsign. You can book an appointment slot within a set calendar shown on the GB20YOTA page on QRZ.com. To register your interest, or to reserve an operating slot, contact RSGB YOTA Month Coordinator Jamie, M0SDV via email to yota.month@rsgb.org.uk. Now the special event news The 2nd of November marked the centennial of US radio station KDKA. The station originally began operations in 1916 as an amateur radio station, callsign 8XK. After WW1, the operators reorganised the station as a commercial AM radio station. To celebrate this historic milestone, Pittsburgh area amateur radio operators will take to the airwaves with a series of special event stations, K3A, K3D, K3K, and W8XK. These will be set up at several locations in Pennsylvania during November. Members of UBA Section KTK will be active as OP0PEACE until the 30th of November to commemorate the end of World War I. QSL via the operator's instructions and logsearch on Club Log. Now the DX news Remo, HB9SHD plans to be active as 8Q7RM from Kandolhu Island, IOTA reference AS-013, until the 29th of November. Activity will be holiday-style on HF using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL via HB9SHD. Robert, S53R plans to continue working in his spare time as T6AA in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, until mid-December. Giorgio, IU5HWS is stationed in Iraq with the Italian Army and expects to remain there until around the 20th of January. The Iraqi Amateur Radio Society has authorised him to operate as YI9/IU5HWS until his requested callsign of YI9WS is granted by the National Communications and Media Commission. Now the contest news Please remember to check before the contest for any new rules due to lockdown and social distancing, which may differ around the world. The RSGB strongly advises obeying your own national and local government’s advice. The WAE DX RTTY contest ends its 48-hour run at 2359UTC today, the 15th. Using the 3.5 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Today, the 15th, the UK Microwave group’s Low Band contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC. Using the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Monday, the 9th FT4 series contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using the 3.5MHz band, the exchange is signal report and 4-character location. On Tuesday the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Thursday sees the 70MHz UK Activity Contest running from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Next Saturday, the 21st, the Second 1.8MHz contest runs from 1900 to 2300UTC. It’s CW only and the exchange is signal report, serial number and District code. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on Friday the 13th of November. The Sun really shone last week, in more ways than one. Large sunspot group 2781 pushed the solar flux index to 91 with a sunspot number of 40 at the weekend, a figure that we haven’t seen for many years. This was coupled with quiet geomagnetic conditions with a maximum Kp index of two, but frequently it was at one or zero. These figures, coupled with a seasonal upturn in HF propagation, meant there was DX to be worked. 7Q7RU, the Russian Robinson Club DXpedition to Malawi, has been logged in the UK on many bands, including 15 metres. Australia has also put in an appearance on 10 metres, with VK6NC being worked on SSB with a 5 and 8 signal for Gary, G0FWX. New Zealand has also been workable on the short path with John, ZL2JBR being very loud on 20m SSB around 14.210 to 14.215MHz on many days around 0830 to 0930UTC. There probably hasn’t been a better time for HF propagation for quite a few years. As this report was being written, new sunspot group 2782 was just showing around the edge of the Sun and this could develop as the weekend goes on. NOAA predicts the SFI will be in the range 78-80 next week, although this rather depends upon how region 2782 develops. Geomagnetic conditions are unlikely to be quite as quiet next week, with NOAA predicting a maximum Kp index of three, rising to five on Friday the 20th. The first part of the week might therefore be the best choice for HF DXing. And now the VHF and up propagation news. The Leonids meteor shower reaches its peak in the hours before dawn on Tuesday, the 17th of November. So be ready for some good but short-lived meteor scatter conditions. The shower has a Zenithal Hourly Rate of 15, but it is known for producing meteor storms at various times in recent history. The last Leonid Storm was in 2001, but the first great meteor storm of modern times was the 1833 Leonids, kicking off the scientific study of meteors. The current spell of changeable weather is likely to set the template for terrestrial propagation this coming week. That is to say, periods of wet and windy weather when active weather fronts cross the country interspersed by brighter showery interludes. All of these features are capable of providing some good rain scatter conditions on the GHz bands. Because of this unsettled pattern, high pressure is banished to the south of the UK, over France, so if there are any vestiges of Tropo it will be most likely from southern England across the Channel. The Moon was at perigee yesterday, so path losses are still low, but with minimum declination on Wednesday, Moon visibility windows are short. 144MHz sky noise peaks at nearly 3300K on Tuesday but drops back to below 300K again by the end of next week. And that’s all from the propagation team this week.

On This Day in Weather History, on November 12, 1799, Andrew Ellicott, an early American astronomer, was on earth but looking up. By looking up to see what else is out there besides just us, he witnessed the Leonids meteor shower for the first time from a ship off the Florida Keys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On November 12, 1799, Andrew Ellicott, an early American astronomer, was on earth but looking up. By looking up to see what else is out there beside just us, he witnessed the Leonids meteor shower for the first time from a ship off the Florida Keys….this day in weather history.

Comets came from all over the place.DON MACHHOLZ Podcast-45-Map-1Download Podcast-45-Map-2Download Podcast-45-A-Decade-of-Comets-Part-6Download

The annual Taurids and Leonids meteor showers are set to light up skies all month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The most famous meteor shower--the Leonids--happens in November. Astronomers never used to be interested in meteors. Then one morning, there was a Leonid meteor shower so intense, it terrified! And it taught. Astronomers learned that meteors are, in fact, astronomical phenomena. They have a relationship with comets.

Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what you should check out later this month… at night. November this year is quite the month of change.  We have an election, daylight saving time ends, and the nights quickly get longer and longer.  All five naked-eye planets are easily visible at different parts of the night, the Leonids will grace the mid-month skies, and the Moon makes its monthly visits in line with the planets.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://astrogear.spreadshirt.com/ for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Astrosphere New Media. http://www.astrosphere.org/ Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

GB2RS NEWS Sunday the 8th of November 2020 The news headlines: RSGB preps reply to 2nd EMF consultation Convention: Learn More About… stream on YouTube ARRL opposes new $50 licence fee The RSGB is currently working on detailed comments and suggested amendments to the second Ofcom EMF consultation. The Society is also preparing guidance to help all UK radio amateurs to assess compliance and keep the necessary records. Go to https://rsgb.org/emf and click on the link for the latest update. The keynote lecture and the presentations from the ‘Learn more about’ stream at the RSGB’s 2020 Convention Online are now on the Society’s YouTube channel. Catch up on what you missed or watch again. You can find them on www.youtube.com/theRSGB. US amateurs have been exempt from application fees for several years. The ARRL will file comments in firm opposition to an FCC proposal to impose a $50 fee on amateur radio licence and application fees. Under the proposal, amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio application. This would apply for new licenses, licence renewals, upgrades to existing licences, and to vanity callsign requests. The ARRL is encouraging members to file comments that stress amateur radio’s contributions to the country and communities. For more information, go to http://www.arrl.org/news. The RSGB is taking part in December YOTA Month but the Covid-19 restrictions will make the event very different this year. If you are a parent with a newly-licensed youngster in your family, you can apply to host the callsign GB20YOTA safely from your own home. You must be a Full Licence holder to apply for the callsign. You can book an appointment slot within a set calendar shown on the GB20YOTA QRZ.com page. To register your interest, or to reserve an operating slot, contact RSGB YOTA Month Coordinator Jamie, M0SDV via email to yota.month@rsgb.org.uk. If you are on the lookout for interesting lectures, then a talk given to South Dublin Radio Club could be for you. Joe Ryan, EI7GY gave a presentation on the radio experiments by Colonel Dennis, EI2B, from 1898 to the late 1930s. Find out more at https://southdublinradioclub.weebly.com. The RSGB has made available the video of the Introduction to GNU Radio talk by Heather Lomond, M0HMO, which is one of Society's Tonight @ 8 Webinars. It joins all the previous Tonight@8 talks and the RSGB Convention Online talks, so there are many hours of interest for all radio amateurs. Go to www.youtube.com/theRSGB for all the videos. The RSGB National Radio Centre 80m net continues to run Monday to Friday at 10.30 am around 3.727MHz. All NRC volunteers are welcome to join the net and they actively encourage other amateurs to call in as part of the RSGB’s Get on the air to care campaign. If you haven’t got an 80m station, why not listen in using one of the many webSDR sites? Now the special event news Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club will be running GB2REM on Sunday the 8th and Wednesday the 11th of November for Remembrance Day. The club will be focusing on keeping the station active on these two days but may be heard from Saturday the 7th until Thursday the 12th. More details at https://taarc.co.uk. Larry, G4HLN will be active as GB4CKS until the 14th of November. The station marks the 85th anniversary of the death of Australian record-setting aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. He disappeared on the 8th of November 1935 off the coast of Myanmar, then known as Burma, whilst trying to break the England-Australia speed record. Larry will operate CW and some SSB on 40 to 10m. QSL via G4HLN, direct or via the bureau. Special event station 4X0RMN will be active on the 13th and 14th of November from Ramon Crater, Israel's largest national park. QSL via 4X6ZM, Logbook of The World and eQSL. Now the DX news Remo, HB9SHD plans to be active as 8Q7RM from Kandolhu Island, IOTA reference AS-013, until the 29th of November. Activity will be holiday style on various HF bands using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL via HB9SHD. Robert, S53R plans to continue working in his spare time as T6AA in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, until mid-December. Giorgio, IU5HWS has been stationed in Iraq with the Italian Army since September and expects to remain there until around the 20th of January. The Iraqi Amateur Radio Society has authorised him to operate as YI9/IU5HWS until his requested callsign of YI9WS is granted by the National Communications and Media Commission. Now the contest news Please remember to check before the contest for new rules due to lockdown and social distancing, which may differ around the world. The RSGB strongly advises obeying your own national and local government’s advice first and foremost. This weekend, the Marconi CW contest ends its 24-hour run at 1400UTC today, the 8th. Using the 144MHz band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Tuesday the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC. It is followed by the all-mode 432MHz UK Activity Contest from 2000 to 2230UTC. The exchange is the same for both: signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the Autumn Series runs from 2000 to 2130UTC using SSB on the 3.5MHz band. The exchange is signal report and serial number. Thursday sees the 50MHz UK Activity Contest taking place from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Saturday the 14th, the Club Calls contest runs from 2000 to 2300UTC. Using SSB and CW on the 1.8MHz band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and your club information. Next weekend, the WAE DX RTTY contest runs from 0000UTC on the 14th to 2359UTC on the 15th. Using the 3.5 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Sunday the 15th, the UK Microwave group’s Low Band contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC. Using the 1.3 to 3.4GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Friday the 6th of November. Sunspots are a bit like buses. You wait forever and three come along at once! Last week we had active regions 2778 and 2779, which pushed the solar flux index up to 88. This week we have sunspot region 2781, which is a monster. At the time of writing, this region had pushed the SFI to 88 again, but it has been active in terms of solar flares. These have been minor C-class events, so not too much to worry about. The good news is that geomagnetic conditions have been very settled over the past week, with the Kp index running between zero and two. This no doubt helped ionospheric propagation. There was some good DX reported over the past seven days. TX0T, the DXpedition to Tatakoto Atoll, OC-298, in French Polynesia, has been worked by several stations in the UK. The Far East has also been workable, especially on FT8, where Indonesia, China and Japan have all been spotted. Next week, NOAA predicts the SFI will be in the range 72-76. The good news is that geomagnetic conditions are predicted to be quiet with a maximum Kp index of two. We may get some radio blackouts or sudden ionospheric disturbances as a result of M- or C-class solar flares from active region 2781, but these are difficult to predict. Radio blackouts occur when the strong, sudden burst of X-rays from a solar flare hits the Earth's atmosphere, blocking high-frequency radio signals in the D-region of the ionosphere. NOAA puts the probability of an R1/R2 radio blackout at 15%, and an R3 radio blackout at just 5%. Overall then, it looks like a good week for HF propagation. And now the VHF and up propagation news. There was a brief return of Tropo at the end of the last week. The first of this autumn’s opportunities was complete with fog below the inversion layer. Unfortunately, the related high and its Tropo is not due to last and indeed will have probably moved away during the weekend. It does, though, show the capability of a good temperature inversion with foggy air trapped below it to produce good Tropo. The last vestiges of it are now clearing away across the northern North Sea, but may still be just worth exploring for the 48th Marconi Memorial VHF CW Contest on Sunday. During the weekend, the weather pattern changes to a more unsettled type, which remains dominant through the coming week. This will bring GHz band rain scatter, but also some strong winds at times. As we approach the Leonids meteor shower on the 17th we also have a smaller shower, the Northern Taurids, peaking this Thursday, so meteor scatter conditions should be above average. It is also worth the occasional check for Sporadic-E on FT8 on 10m and 6m. The Moon’s declination is high but starting to fall, going negative on Thursday, so Moon visibility windows will shorten. The Moon is at perigee next Saturday so path losses are low. 144MHz sky noise is low for most of the week. And that’s all from the propagation team this week.

GB2RS NEWS Sunday the 1st of November 2020 The news headlines: GNU Radio on Tonight@8 Introduction to presentations go online Yahoo Groups closes soon The next Tonight@8 is this Monday, the 2nd of November. Heather Lomond, M0HMO will give a beginners’ introduction to using GNU Radio to create simple amateur radio projects. Starting from the beginning, Heather will introduce the GNU Radio programming environment, develop a little of the theory needed to understand SDRs, and then go on to use some simple GNU Radio blocks to build a receiver based on one of the super-cheap SDRs. Finally, she will show how to build more complex radio systems and where to go to take things to the next level. Do encourage people to listen to this webinar, particularly if they are a new or returning licensee. More information is on our website at www.rsgb.org/webinars. The individual presentations from the “Introduction to…” stream at the RSGB Convention Online that took place on the 10th of October are now available to watch. You can catch up on ones you missed or take the opportunity to see again the ones you enjoyed most. Find them at www.youtube.com/theRSGB. Just a reminder for listeners who use or who have subscribed to a Yahoo group. On the 15th of December, groups.yahoo.com, or Yahoo Groups, and its list service will shut down. Many amateurs are still using Yahoo groups and not groups.io. If you want more information, go to https://help.yahoo.com/kb/groups/SLN35505.html. The RSGB sometimes receives complaints regarding incidences of deliberate jamming and foul or inappropriate language on the air and is trying to quantify the size of the problem. A Freedom of Information request to Ofcom showed only three identifiable reports submitted between the 1st of January 2015 and the 31st of December 2019. The RSGB would like to hear from radio amateurs who have reported similar problems directly to Ofcom, not the RSGB, during this period, and after following the Operating Advisory Service’s advice. For further information, including how to submit your reports to the Society, please see the RSGB website via tinyurl.com/rsgb-oas-reports. Results of the IRTS 80 metre Counties Contest held on 6th October have now been published. Band conditions were good for this contest, which kept local and overseas stations busy for the hour. 35 logs were submitted, showing participation from 22 EI and GI counties, as well as 12 overseas DXCC entities. See www.irts.ie/results for full details. The RSGB will once again be participating in the annual YOTA Month activities in December. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we will not be encouraging large group events and all participants should remain within national and local guidelines. GB20YOTA is available for Full licence holders to book an appointment slot within a set calendar shown on the GB20YOTA QRZ.com page. 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. The proceedings from the 19th of September RSGB Board meeting are now online. Of particular note is that media and public interest in amateur radio continues, RSGB Membership numbers are still rising and examination numbers are still buoyant with an increasing number of candidates progressing to the next licence level. See https://tinyurl.com/gb2rs-board. Now the special event news Members of the HCDX Group will be active as HD1X from a remaining tropical rainforest in Ecuador, grid reference FI09IV. Active until the 3rd of November at 1700UTC they will use various HF bands including 30, 17 and 12m, using SSB, SSTV and FT4/FT8. Larry, G4HLN will be active as GB4CKS between the 1st and the 14th of November. He will operate CW and some SSB on 40 to 10m, marking the 85th anniversary of the death of Australian record-setting aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who disappeared on the 8th of November 1935 off the coast of Myanmar, then known as Burma, whilst trying to break the England-Australia speed record. QSL via G4HLN, direct or via the bureau. Pittsburgh radio station KDKA will celebrate 100 years of radio broadcasting in November, and Pennsylvania radio amateurs will run a multi-station special event. Special event stations K3K, K3D, K3A and W8XK will set up and operate at several locations in Pennsylvania during November. Stations will determine their own modes and schedules. Visit the W8XK profile on QRZ.com for information on certificates and QSLs. Now the DX news Remo, HB9SHD plans to be active as 8Q7RM from Kandolhu Island, IOTA reference AS-013, from the 2nd to the 29th of November. Activity will be holiday style on various HF bands using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL via HB9SHD. Bob, W0YBS will be active as V31CO from Cay Caulker in Belize until the 13th of November. Activity will be on the 80 to 10m bands including 30, 17 and 12m, using CW, SSB, FT8 and RTTY. QSL via W0YBS and Logbook of The World. Robert, S53R plans to remain in the Afghan capital city working in his spare time as T6AA until mid-December. Now the contest news Please remember to check before the contest for new rules due to lockdown and social distancing, which may differ around the world. The RSGB strongly advises obeying your own national and local government’s advice first and foremost, especially in the instance of local lockdowns. The UK EI Contest Club DX Contest ends its 24-hour run at 1200UTC today, the 1st of November. This is SSB only and also has a 12-hour option. UK and EI area codes are multipliers for DX stations and all QSOs made by UK or EI stations between the hours of 0100 and 0500UTC are worth double points. For the rules and other information, follow the links from www.ukeicc.com. On Monday the Autumn Series contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. It’s data only on the 3.5MHz band, with the exchange being signal report and serial number. On Tuesday the 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 1955UTC. It is followed by the all-mode 144MHz UK Activity Contest from 2000 to 2230UTC. The exchange is the same for both, signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the UK EI Contest Club contest runs from 2000 to 2100UTC. Using the 3.5MHz band only, the exchange is your 6-character locator square. Next weekend, the Marconi CW contest runs from 1400UTC on the 7th to 1400UTC on the 8th. Using the 144MHz band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Friday the 30th of October. Last week saw more evidence that Solar Cycle 25 is definitely underway. Large sunspot group 2778 caused the solar flux index to rise to 82. And it then got even better when it was joined by active region 2779, which pushed the SFI up further to 88 on Thursday. This is the first time we’ve seen the SFI in the 80s for some time and a clear indication that things are changing for the better. Both regions were responsible for B and C-class solar flares, but nothing that impacted the ionosphere too much. In addition to the sunspots, we did have the lingering effects of a high-speed solar wind stream from a coronal hole, which saw the Kp index rise to four across the weekend. This corresponded with the SSB leg of the CQWW contest and did have an adverse impact on propagation. The elevated Kp index continued until late in the week and was still at three on Thursday, preventing the ionosphere from completely recovering. Nevertheless, Propquest.co.uk shows that over a 3,000km path maximum usable frequencies often exceeded 24 and were even 28MHz at times. Ten metre FT8 proved popular with the eastern states of the USA, Mexico, South America, Cuba, Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, as well as India, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea all of these being logged on Thursday. As for next week, the STEREO ahead spacecraft shows a couple of sunspots returning to the Earth-facing solar disk. Regions 2775 and 2777 are coming back, but it is difficult to know how active they will be. So as we enter November, NOAA predicts the SFI will be roughly 74-75 with quite calm geomagnetic conditions. The Kp index is predicted to be two by Monday, which bodes well for HF. With the seasonal improvement in ionospheric conditions, a quiet geomagnetic field and possible sunspot activity, the next seven days could be quite good for HF propagation. And now the VHF and up propagation news. We ended the previous week with very unsettled conditions bringing rain and strong winds at times. This pattern will continue into the first half of next week, so once again we expect GHz bands rain scatter to be on the propagation guest list. There is a suggestion that a ridge of high pressure will move into Scotland midweek, gradually extending its influence southwards to make Tropo a consideration. That said, the ridge may get overwhelmed by returning low-pressure next weekend. Recent unsettled weather, which is usually driven by strong jet streams, would be perfect for summer Sporadic-E, and it's worth saying that even out of the traditional Sporadic-E season, FT8 may bring the occasional surprise. Definitely worth a periodic check on 10m and up. The Moon’s declination is still rising, reaching maximum late on Thursday, so Moon visibility windows continue to be long. The Moon is just past apogee so path losses are still high. 144MHz sky noise peaks at 500K on Wednesday. Continue to keep an eye out for low-VHF auroral propagation and remember, we are just over two weeks from the peak of the big Leonids meteor shower. And that’s all from the propagation team this week.

GB2RS NEWS Sunday the 25th of October 2020 The news headlines: Back to GMT today New Zealand loses 5MHz New RSGB Convention talks on YouTube Don’t forget, in the UK, the clocks went back one hour at 2 am today Sunday the 25th of October. We will then we back to Greenwich Mean Time, or UTC until the clocks change again in March 2021. The New Zealand national amateur society NZART reports that, unfortunately, the New Zealand Defence Force has advised they are not willing to approve another renewal of their 5MHz trial allocation and licence. As a result, all use by New Zealand amateurs of the two trial frequencies, 5353 and 5362kHz, cease from midnight on Saturday the 24th of October 2020. Although the trial is over, NZART will continue to work with the regulator to see if there are other ways of providing New Zealand amateurs with access to 5MHz frequencies. The individual presentations from the Introduction To... stream at the successful RSGB 2020 Convention Online are now available on the Society’s YouTube channel. You can catch up on ones you missed, or take the opportunity to watch again the ones you enjoyed most. The keynote presentation and the individual talks in the Learn More About… stream will be released next week. Find them at www.youtube.com/theRSGB. The German town of Bad Bentheim is taking nominations for the Golden Antenna Award. For 50 years, the town has hosted German-Dutch Amateur Radio Days, during which the town stresses the importance of amateur radio as a public service. A committee headed by the mayor of Bad Bentheim will choose the winner. The recipient will be invited to receive the award on the 28th of August 2021. They would favour candidates who did something special related to the Covid-19 pandemic, but other candidates are welcome. Send nominations via email to juerriens@stadt-badbentheim.de. The new IARU Monitoring Service Region 1 Coordinator Gaspar, EA6AMM has appointed Peter, HB9CET, as Vice-Coordinator. Both have been working together in IARUMS for more than a year. More on the work of the Monitoring Service can be found at www.iaru-r1.org. The RSGB will once again be participating in the annual YOTA Month activities in December. 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. Now the special event news As a tribute to Eddie Van Halen passing on the 6th of October, PA5150EVH will be on air from the 28th of October until at least the 31st of January. It will be operated by Van Halen fan Frank, PF1SCT. URE San Fernando, EA7URF, is participating in the official celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the Earth. AM500ETS will be active from the 31st of October to the 8th of November. During fighting around Ypres in WWI, much of Sanctuary Wood, Hill 62, Armagh Wood and Mount Sorrel was taken at the expense of many casualties. The Great Reconstruction in the Westhoek is commemorated during November with the callsign OP20FENIKS. The station is located in the immediate vicinity of the memorial of Hill 62, and will be on HF and VHF using SSB, CW and some data modes. Full details are on QRZ.com Larry, G4HLN will be active as GB4CKS between the 1st and the 14th of November. He will operate CW and some SSB on 40 to 10m, marking the 85th anniversary of the death of Australian record-setting aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who disappeared on the 8th of November 1935 off the coast of Myanmar, then known as Burma, whilst trying to break the England-Australia speed record. QSL via G4HLN, direct or via the bureau. Now the DX news Cezar, VE3LYC will be active as TX0T from one of the new IOTAs in French Polynesia, Tatakoto Atoll, OC-298, between the 29th of October and the 5th of November. He will be primarily on 40, 30, 20 and 17 metres CW and SSB. QSL via Club Log’s OQRS, or via VE3LYC. Now the contest news Please remember to check before the contest for new rules due to lockdown and social distancing, which may differ around the world. The RSGB strongly advises obeying your own national and local government’s advice first and foremost, especially in the instance of local lockdowns. The CQWW DX SSB contest ends its 48 hour runs at 2359 today, the 25th. It’s SSB-only on the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands. The exchange is signal report and Zone, which is 14 for the UK. On Tuesday the SHF UK Activity Contest takes place between 1830 and 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 2.3 to 10GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the UK EI Contest Club 80m contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using CW only, the exchange is your 6 digit locator. On Thursday the 80m Autumn Series runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using SSB only, the exchange is signal report and serial number. The UK EI Contest Club DX Contest takes place for 24 hours beginning at 1200UTC on Saturday the 31st of October. This is SSB only and also has a 12-hour option. UK and EI area codes are multipliers for DX stations and all QSOs made by UK or EI stations between the hours of 0100 and 0500UTC are worth double points. For the rules and other information, follow the links from www.ukeicc.com. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Friday the 23rd of October. The last week was dominated by sunspot region 2776, which pushed the solar flux index to 75. Geomagnetically, it was a mixed bag though, with the Kp index peaking at four on Wednesday, but otherwise being relatively quiet and showing zero on Tuesday. The sunspots, plus the October seasonal enhancement, meant that the HF bands were quite active. There were reports of Australia being worked from the UK on 10m FT8. Alek VK6APK was worked at 0920UTC by Tony, G4HZW. Mario, FR4QT on Reunion Island was also worked on 28.380MHz SSB by Gary, G0FWX, according to the 10m UK Net Facebook group. If you like 10 metre operation the group is definitely worth signing up to. These 10-metre contacts bode well for the future and we look forward to other reports of VK/ZL as the solar cycle progresses. Next week, NOAA predicts the solar flux index will be the range 72-74. Sunspot region 2776 will have almost rotated off the visible disk by the time this report is published and there are no other spots at the moment. However, it does look like we are in for a disturbed weekend with poor geomagnetic conditions. This is due to a large polar coronal hole on the solar surface that has returned after a 27-day rotation and which could cause the Kp index to rise to five. The solar wind will likely increase in speed and density, resulting in an adverse effect on the ionosphere after a potential pre-auroral enhancement. Expect maximum usable frequencies to decline and conditions to be poor this weekend. Do look out for potential 10 metre auroral contacts though. And now the VHF and up propagation news. We are about to enter a phase of very disturbed weather with a series of deep lows dominating the charts, especially in the nearby Atlantic. Their influence will bring strong winds and periods of heavy rain or showers. At long range it’s pointless to try to time such events precisely, but nonetheless the general characteristics suggest that Tropo will again be a rare feature in the coming week other than transient weak ridges between successive fronts or lows. On the upside, rain scatter could do rather well for the GHz bands. The Moon’s declination is rising and goes positive on Thursday so Moon visibility windows will lengthen. The Moon reaches apogee on Friday where path losses are at maximum. 144MHz sky noise is low all week. With the Kp index set to rise to five thanks to the returning coronal hole, it might be worth keeping an eye out for low-VHF auroral propagation again. There are no significant meteor showers this week but get ready for the Leonids, peaking on 16th and 17th of November. And that’s all from the propagation team this week.

Join Tiffany for an overview of the astrological weather in November 2020 November 3rd - Mercury Direct in Libra [Astro-Hacking the Election]November 10th - Mercury enters ScorpioNovember 10th -11th - Taurids meteor shower peaks November 11th - The Astrology of Yoga: lecture by Sasha BoyleNovember 13th - Mars Direct at 14-AriesNovember 15th - New Moon in ScorpioNovember 17-18 -  Leonids meteor shower peaks November 21st - Venus enters Scorpio, Sun enters SagittariusNovember 29th - Neptune DirectNovember 30th - Full Moon in Gemini Want to book a private reading? We're game! https://wiseskiesadvice.com/services/ Feeling the love? Virtual tips are greatly appreciated through venmo @Tiffany-Harelik or via paypal at: https://www.paypal.me/tiffanyharelik

Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′00″ Algenüberzug by minae minae 7′15″ Sad Alron by Mark pritchard 9′30″ Broken Clouds by Gaussian curve 13′20″ southern by don't dj 16′25″ Terrazzo  (feat. Motion Graphics) by Visible Cloaks 21′00″ Fukiya   吹矢 by Meitei   冥丁 23′00″ Workaround One by beatrice dillon 24′00″ (Kinda On Some Funk Edit) by Brazilintime 24′50″ Slow Down by - 27′30″ Brown Bag by Luchbox 29′30″ 10101 by James Holden 33′20″ Gaswerksiedlung by Thomash,Ground 42′00″ barreras (powder remix) by iury lech 49′00″ where it falls by David Last 50′00″ suburban tribal by pavel milyakov 53′29″ Crime Jazz by - 56′00″ Empty Skies by Build Buildings 57′30″ tekuno by foodman 59′00″ yami nabe by foodman 60′20″ Beihelfer by Denzel + Huhn 64′00″ First Nations Drums Feat. Ahmed Sosso (Original Mix) by Fluida,Ahmed Sosso 68′00″ Dreamtime Lullaby by blue tech 74′00″ comos los cerdos by Drujm 78′30″ Monday Mellow by Juju & Jordash 81′00″ Waltz (A Lonely Crowd) by masayoshi fujita 82′30″ Cut Up Piano and Xylophone by Fridge 84′20″ anfuhrt by minaeminae 89′00″ Blue Deal by Minor Science 94′00″ live at google data center by sam kidel 98′00″ Gossip by Lyra Pramuk 101′00″ katharsis impossible by siriusmo 102′40″ pressurizor by badawi 107′20″ Jacob's House by Jab 111′40″ Leonids by fila brazilia

Want to discover more awesome tunes? Already 75 episodes to date presenting 877 different tracks and counting…Just subscribe to get your weekly fix of fine selected electronic music. New show every Thursday Don’t forget to share the good vibes by smashing that like button! Tracklist (Time – Title – Artist – Label): 00:00 – Splash – Brassica – Vivod 04:41 – Select, Operate – Submotion Orchestra – Counter Records 08:20 – Atria – P.leone – Work Them Records 16:18 –...Lire la suite Lire la suite

Today we celebrate the botanist who bred more than 40 types of pears - including our most popular varieties. We'll learn about the cultural meanings associated with the chrysanthemum and the Swedish botanist who posed as a Dutchman to botanize in Japan. We'll hear some thoughts on November from one of my favorite garden writers And, we Grow That Garden Library with one of the best books on Gardening for Butterflies I'll talk about straightening your ornamental trees, and then we'll wrap things up with the story of the woman who loved blueberries so much she shared them with the world.   But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.     Gardens, Paradise, & Kashmir| Searchkashmir.org | @SearchKashmir   It's no surprise that the word 'paradise' was first used to describe a garden.   This Farsi poem about Kashmir by Amir Khusrau does the same:   If ever there is Paradise on Earth, It is here! It is here! It is here!       How to grow orchids by Alys Fowler| @guardian @guardianweekend This is an excellent post about orchids, and I always love to hear how people approach caring for their orchids. Alys says: "An east-facing window... plus consistent watering (every week in the growing season, every other during winter) & Lou’s Poo, dried alpaca poo." Every gardener reading this now will search online for Lou's Poo... but just a heads up - they don't deliver to the US.       Vermont Garden Journal: Some New Ideas For Perennial Garden Care| @charlienardozzi @vprnet I couldn't agree more! Love this post from @charlienardozzi @vprnet The first thing I tell my student gardeners is that plant material doesn't leave the property. The second thing I teach them is Chop & Drop. https://buff.ly/32aL8TI     Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck - because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community.So there’s no need to take notes or track down links - the next time you're on Facebook, just search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.     Brevities   #OTD  Today is the birthday of Jean-Baptiste Van Mons, who was born on this day in 1765. The name of the game for Van Mons was selective breeding for pears. Selective breeding happens when humans breed plants to develop particular characteristics by choosing the parent plants to make the offspring.   Check out the patience and endurance that was required as Van  Mon's described his work:   “I have found this art to consist in regenerating in a direct line of descent, and as rapidly as possible an improving variety, taking care that there be no interval between the generations. To sow, to re-sow, to sow again, to sow perpetually, in short, to do nothing but sow, is the practice to be pursued, and which cannot be departed from; and in short, this is the whole secret of the art I have employed.”   Jean-Baptiste Van Mons produced a tremendous amount of new pear cultivars in his breeding program - something north of forty incredible species throughout his lifetime. The Bosc and D'Anjou pears, we know today, are his legacy.          #OTD On this day in 1790, Chrysanthemums are introduced to England from China. Chrysanthemums are the November birth flower and the 13th wedding anniversary flower. The greens and blossoms of the chrysanthemum are edible, and they are particularly popular in Japan, China, and Vietnam. Generally, chrysanthemums symbolize optimism and joy - but they have some unique cultural meanings around the world. Back in the Victorian language of flowers, the red chrysanthemum meant "I Love," and the yellow chrysanthemum symbolized slighted love. In China, the chrysanthemum is a symbol of autumn and the flower of the ninth moon. During the Han dynasty, the Chinese drank chrysanthemum wine - they believed it made their lives longer and made them healthier. As a result, the chrysanthemum was often worn to funerals. On Mother's Day down under, Australians traditionally wear a white chrysanthemum to honor their moms, and Chrysanthemums are common Mother's Day presents. In Poland, chrysanthemums are the flower of choice to be placed on graves for All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Finally, in 1966, Mayor Richard Daley declared the chrysanthemum as the official flower of the city of Chicago.       #OTD  On this day in 1799, the Leonids meteor shower was seen from Europe and South America. The famous German explorer and botanist Alexander Humboldt had just arrived in South America to begin his great five-year exploration, and he wrote this in his journal from Chile as he saw the Leonids: The night between November 11 and 12 was calm and beautiful... During 4 hours, we observed thousands of huge fireballs, often with a brightness like Jupiter. Long smoke trails were left behind, lasting 7-8 seconds, often the meteors exploded, leaving trails too. It wasn't just Humboldt who witnessed this event. Andrew Ellicott Douglass, an early American astronomer who was born in Vermont, observed the Leonids from a ship off the Florida Keys. Douglass, who later became an assistant to the famous astronomer Percival Lowell, wrote the first- known record of a meteor shower in North America in his journal, saying that the, "whole heaven appeared as if illuminated with skyrockets, flying in an infinity of directions, and I was in constant expectation of some of them falling on the vessel. They continued until put out by the light of the sun after daybreak."        #OTD  Today is the anniversary of the death of the father of South African botany, the botanist Carl Peter Thunberg, who died on this day in 1828.   As fellow Swedes, Carl Linnaeus had taught Thunberg, and Linnaeus encouraged him to continue his work by visiting other parts of Europe.   Eventually, Thunberg joined the Dutch East India Company, and he botanized in South Africa for three years. After South Africa, he set his sights on Japan. But, before he went, Thunberg needed to become Dutch.    Averse to the influence of Christianity, the Japanese had closed their country off to all European nations except for Holland - because they valued the medicinal plant knowledge of the Dutch botanists.   So, when Thunberg went to Japan, he hid his Swedish heritage and posed as a Dutchman.   In fact, during the 18th century, Thunberg was Japan's only European visitor, and his Flora Japonica published in 1784 was a revelation to botanists around the world.    During his time in Japan, Thunberg discovered the Easter Lily growing near the city of Nagasaki. He also found Forsythia in Japan, and he named it to honor William Forsyth.   And, during his entire time in Japan, Thunberg was confined to a small artificial island in Nagasaki harbor. So how did he manage to learn so much about the country's flora?   Ever the clever end-rounder, Thunberg came up with a unique strategy to obtain botanical samples. Thunberg knew that goats are picky plant-eaters. So, while staying on the island, Thunberg asked to have some goats. Then, he asked his Japanese assistants to collect plants to feed the goats.   It was through the guise of feeding the goats that Thunberg was able to collect all kinds of plant specimens. The most impressive examples were a total of five different species of hydrangea that were previously unknown to the West. These hydrangeas included the lace caps – they're the ones that produce the beautiful UFO ring of blooms around the flowerhead of small florets -  Japan was very private about them. Can you imagine his excitement? The entire time Thunberg was away, which amounted to an incredible nine-year journey -  from his native Sweden to South Africa and then Japan - Thunberg sent plants and letters to his old teacher and friend, Linnaeus, who wrote that he had never received, "more delight and comfort from any other botanist [than Thunberg]."     Unearthed Words   "Most people, early in November, take last looks at their gardens, are then prepared to ignore them until the spring. I am quite sure that a garden doesn't like to be ignored like this. It doesn't like to be covered in dust sheets, as though it were an old room which you had shut up during the winter. Especially since a garden knows how gay and delightful it can be, even in the very frozen heart of the winter, if you only give it a chance." - Beverley Nichols, garden author   It's time to Grow That Garden Library with today's book recommendation: Gardening for Butterflies by The Xerces Society The subtitle for this book is How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects. In this 2016 book, gardeners get practical and expert advice from the Xerxes Society on all things butterflies. You will learn why butterflies matter, why they are in danger, and what simple steps we can take to make a difference.   Gardeners will appreciate learning about the best blooms for attracting the garden's prettiest winged visitors, like Penstemon, Pearly Everlasting, and Golden Alexanders. There are sections on designing a butterfly garden, creating shelter, observing and conserving, even tagging butterflies to help track migration. Gardening for Butterflies  provides home gardeners with everything they need to create a beautiful, beneficial, butterfly-loving gardens.      Today's Garden Chore It's the perfect time to stake your ornamental trees. While you are outside wrapping your boxwoods, arborvitaes, and shrubs in burlap, take the time to stake your trees - especially your smaller ornamentals like lilacs and hydrangea. It's something you can do now that can actually mean one less thing to do in the spring.      Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart Today is the anniversary of the death of the Queen of Blueberries, Elizabeth Coleman White, who died on this day in 1954. When Elizabeth was a little girl, growing up on her dad's Cranberry Farm in the Pine Barrens of Burlington County, New Jersey, she would take walks and gather blueberries - wild blueberries. There wasn't any other way to procure them.  Over time, Elizabeth began to wonder about creating a blueberry crop - something that would fit in nicely with the cranberry harvest, which happened at the end of the season. Cranberries grow in highly acidic soil, which is also perfect for growing blueberries. Elizabeth began by having the local blueberry pickers keep their eyes out for the plants with the biggest berries, and then she would have them transplanted to her father's field. She wrote: "I used to call them swamp huckleberries and thought an occasional one - half an inch in diameter - huge. They always grew luxuriantly about the margins of our cranberry bogs, and as a girl, I used to hunt the largest and best-flavored berries and dream of a field full of bushes as good. I knew it was a wild dream."   As fate would have it, in 1910, the chief botanist at the USDA, Frederick Colville, was also working on blueberries at his summer home in New Hampshire. When Elizabeth read about his efforts, she reached out, and the two worked out a deal where Elizabeth would use her land and labor. Colville would supply his technical expertise, especially when it came to propagation. Together, they crossbred the largest New Jersey blueberries with the largest New Hampshire blueberries, and the rest, as they say, is history. "Enough of the puzzle has been fitted together to show that my old dream was but a faint shadowing of the possibilities. Now I dream of cultivated blueberries shipped by the trainload, - blueberry specials - to every part of the country.    She continued:   The little berries of today's dreams are half an inch in diameter. And the big ones? - Well, it is hard to measure a dream accurately, but they are at least an inch across. And raising all these blueberries will give healthful remuneration and employment to lots of people. But you can dream for yourself - [but] only if you are to share my confidence that this dream is not wild. Some day it will come true."   It took Elizabeth five years to develop the first blueberry crop. The wastelands around the pines districts in New Jersey where  Elizabeth grew her blueberries increased in value from 50 cents an acre to $500 an acre after the blueberry was cultivated. That first harvest yielded 21 bushels of berries, and it sold for $114. By 1947, more than 8,000 bushels were harvested.  In 2016, a total of 690 million pounds of cultivated wild blueberries were harvested in the United States, and annual revenue was s around $80 million. In addition to cultivating the first blueberry in 1916, Elizabeth was the first person to use cellophane to protect and market blueberries. The Whitman chocolate company inspired her because that was how they packaged their chocolates. Whitman's also partnered with Elizabeth; they helped her source the cellophane from France so that people all around the country could see her blueberries - right through the packaging. And there's one more footnote to the Elizabeth Coleman White story. She was a champion of native plants. She fought to save the American holly, and in 1947, Elizabeth helped found the Holly Society of America.   Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

In which we learn about ESA's planned Lagrange mission to send a spacecraft to monitor the Sun's activity so as to give us warning of potentially threatening spaceweather events; why laser beams shine over Sussex skies; how the Royal Astronomical Society will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2020; and how to observe meteor showers, particularly the Leonids and Geminids in November and December 2018.

Learn where you can catch the Taurids and Leonids meteor showers this month; how working out could boost your willpower; and where the world’s billionaires got their fortunes. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: The Taurids and the Leonids Are Nature's Meteor Shower Double-Feature — https://curiosity.im/2DbZr2g Working Out Can Boost Your Willpower — https://curiosity.im/2Dc1ELd Marie Curie Got Her Education at the Flying University — https://curiosity.im/2Dh31be Please tell us about yourself and help us improve the show by taking our listener survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/curiosity-listener-survey If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! Learn about these topics and more on Curiosity.com, and download our 5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable our Alexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!

WATCH this on YouTubeLISTEN as a podcast on Podbean, Stitcher, or iTunes          Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night.  Don’t forget to check out my Podbean page, YouTube Channel, and Twitter feed, or get my podcast feed on Stitcher, or iTunes. Venus switches over to a morning star, and a brilliant morning star at that, Mars dominates the evening sky, Saturn tries to stay visible for another month, the Leonids try to break through the gibbous moonlight, and the Moon passes by Mars and Saturn.   Naked-eye PLANETS... Around Sunset – Saturn (SW), Mars (S) Throughout the night – Mars (SàW) Morning – Venus (E)   Mercury Lost in the glare of the Sun this month Venus Becomes a brilliant morning star for the next half year or so. Even as a very thin crescent in the beginning of the month, it is VERY bright, and easily visible just above the ESE horizon starting late the first week of the month. It’ll get up to about 30˚ above the horizon by the end of November, and visible as early as 4:30am. If you have binoculars or a telescope, you should easily see it transform from a very thin crescent to a smaller but thicker crescent throughout the month, about the size of Jupiter in your view. Mars Mars is already in the S around sunset, traveling toward the W and setting around 11:30pm each night. Moves from Capricornus to Aquarius throughout the month. Absolutely gorgeous and bright and red right now, but not so breathtaking in a telescope. Jupiter Lost in the glare of the Sun this month, and probably next Saturn Starts to dive lower in the sky quickly this month. Already up around sunset. Look about 20˚ above the SW horizon in evening above Sagittarius. Sets around 8pm in the beginning of the month, and 6pm at the end of the month. Get binoculars or a telescope out to check out the rings.   EVENTS... 4th – Daylight Savings Time Ends New Moon – 7th (darkest skies) 11th – Close Encounter – Moon, Saturn – Find a thin crescent Moon off in the SW after sunset and you’ll see Saturn only 3˚ off to the right and down a little bit, both just above the teapot of Sagittarius. First Quarter Moon – 15th (Visible until midnight) 15th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mars – A half-lit Moon will get to within 3˚ of Mars tonight. 17th – Leonid Meteor Shower – You might just catch a couple meteors coming from Leo, if you get out early in the morning and look at the whole sky in general, like other meteor showers.  However, this meteor shower is losing steam throughout the years, but still producing about 15 per hour. The Gibbous Moon will make it hard to see many of the fainter meteors in the early evening. Full Moon – 23rd (Visible all night) Last Quarter Moon – 30th (Visible from midnight into the morning)   CONSTELLATIONS... (see sky map link at the bottom for a Star Map for this month)    After Dinner: Pegasus & Andromeda - Look pretty much straight up you’ll be able to see the Great Square of Pegasus, with Andromeda curving off of one corner. If your skies are decently dark, you might catch the faint fuzz that is the Andromeda Galaxy. Before Bed: Andromeda, Perseus, Triangulum, Aries – Find Pegasus off to the West a little bit to find the cornucopia shaped Andromeda again. Keep following the cornucopia shape to find Perseus, which has kind of a similar shape, except opening up toward the southern horizon and the Pleiades.  Below Perseus and Andromeda will be Triangulum, a small thin triangle, and Aries the Ram, which looks more like a curved walking cane on its side. Before Work: Orion – Look southwest to find the vertical bow-tie that is Orion the Hunter. Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.  

November brings planets, an asteroid, a comet and the Leonids

November brings planets, an asteroid, a comet and the Leonids

The Discussion: Jeni’s tells us about her gig at the Cardiff Book Talk and an upcoming talk at Usk Astronomical Society, Paul had a hairy moment giving a talk on the Herschels only to find their descendants in the room and we run through listeners’ emails The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Low metallicity stars seem to harbour the rocky exoplanets A possible satellite galaxy to Mirach’s Ghost may have been discovered by amateur kit Aliens may not be green but purple A plume-like cloud of water ice over Mars A review of the Galileo data shows no signs of cryovolcanic plumes on Europa The slowest rotating pulsar found Magnetism around Cygnus A supermassive black hole gives us some clues Has the first exomoon been discovered? Sky Guide: Taking a look at the astronomical objects above our heads this month that you can enjoy with a small telescope or binoculars. Paul: Saturn, Mars, Uranus, Neptune & a risky greatest elongation of Mercury on 6th November. And Comets 46P Wirtanen and 38P Stephan-Oterma may well provide some distractions too. Ralph: Northern Taurids meteor shower peaks on 12th November and the Leonids peak on the 17th. Jen: Mirach’s Ghost in Andromeda and two galactic members of the Local Group NGC147 & NGC185. And we finish off with a spotlight on Venus which will be its brightest all year at the end of the month. Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at accepted wisdom vs the evidence: Did a collision with the Earth create the moon? Is it fact or still a hypothesis? Andrew Osborn in London.

Interview Starts 54:45   Joshua Black of grief dreams.ca joins us to chat about his research into grief dreams. Joshua is on his last year of ph.d study into this under researched topic. He explains why people dream of deceased love ones and how this can be a healing process, the different types of dreams we have, remembering dreams, and visitation dreams. We also chat about the divide in Religion, Jung’s work, and Joshua’s own dream experience. Graham mentions his sister’s dreams about visitation with their deceased father and how profound that was.   http://www.griefdreams.ca/what-we-do/  http://www.griefdreams.ca/    In the intro David Mathisen for a new segment “Skies over Grimerica”, which we do some video…. so if you want to see it it’s on youtube. We talk about the myth and constellations over the area of Grimerica. Graham talks about his CSETI experience a couple weeks back.    See the links below stuff we talked about during the show and the intro:   http://www.davidmathisen.com/  http://sky.org/ https://stellarium.en.softonic.com/mac    Please help support the show…. Grimerica’s DoBeDoBeDo List: Grimerica is fully and solely listener supported. We adhere to the Value for Value model.  0 ads, 0 sponsorships, 0 breaks, 0 portals and links to corporate websites… just many hours of unlimited content for free. Thanks for listening!!   Join the chat / hangout with a bunch of fellow Grimerican’s  www.grimerica.ca/chats   Support the show directly http://www.grimerica.ca/support   Leave a Voicemail http://speakpipe.com/grimerica Leave a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-grimerica-show/id653314424?mt=2# http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-grimerica-show    Sign up for our newsletter http://www.grimerica.ca/news Leave a comment, ideas and guest/topic suggestions under any episode or blog http://www.grimerica.ca/   SPAM Graham = and send him your synchronicities, feedback, strange experiences and psychedelic trip reports!! graham@grimerica.com InstaGRAM  https://www.instagram.com/the_grimerica_show_podcast/    Tweet Darren https://twitter.com/Grimerica   Connect through other platforms: https://www.reddit.com/r/grimerica/  https://gab.ai/Grimerica    Purchase swag, with partial proceeds donated to the show www.grimerica.ca/swag Send us a postcard or letter http://www.grimerica.ca/contact/ Thanks to Wayne Darnell for help with the website. http://www.darnelldigitalink.com/ http://www.lostbreadcomic.com/ link to Napolean Duheme's site  Felix’s Site sirfelix.bandcamp.com       MUSIC Grimerica Theme - Lock & Key  Something Jah - Broke for Free Immortal Tortoise - Sir Felix Ortega II