Tonight we meet in the 6th form common room of CNS School for a social and informal evening as well as Bright Sparks for our younger members.

DEADLINE FOR BOOKINGS TO NATIONAL HAMFEST COACH TRIP - PLEASE HAND IN CASH BOOKINGS TONIGHT. £30 inc entrance ticket - forms available at CNS or eMail David if you would like one emailed.

And don't forget you can bring anything radio related you want to give away to others at any informal CNS meeting on our 'Show and Share' table.

As usual we meet from 1900-2130 in the CNS 6th form common room - Cold drinks and biscuits will be available to purchase and there is also a hot drink vending machine in the adjacent canteen room. Please do not enter the school until our hire from time 19.00 - thanks.

David G7URP

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Welcome to week one hundred and fifty six of NARC’s contest news.

Firstly a little about the efforts of the G2N VHF contest team last weekend. As most of you are aware, we decided to have another shot at the 144MHz Trophy contest this year having managed a 3rd place last year. The whole team worked hard to prepare for this one, not the least, Richard, G4CDN whose equipment and antennas we used and Graham G4DML who provided the linear and worked hard to get a friend's diesel generator repaired and ready. Setup commenced early in the week before the contest with arrival of the towers and initial setup, then on Wednesday the main tent and antennas were put in place. Thursday was given over to station setup and snagging of issues with towers and antenna. Friday was for proving the station and Saturday am for practice. All was ready for the big kick-off at 1400UTC, however, the beast laid plans and all that.... We were plagued by S9+ QRN from a faulty mains distribution transformer and switch a couple of fields away to the West. This led us to be unable to copy all but the strongest calling stations for the day.
Weather had been kind apart from a moderately strong wind but overnight on Saturday / Sunday the heavens opened with a massive cloudburst. Fortunately there was only minor tent leakage and an excellent side-effect of the rain (after the intense rain static had gone) was that the QRN from the transformer completely disappeared for several hours allowing a good overnight session with contacts to OK, OL and OE. As things dried out the following morning the noise crept back but never reached the peak howl that it had the previous day. We managed one good FSK441 contact to Finland in the morning giving us best DX of appx 1600Km. Overall mostly an enjoyable event. It looks like we should be in second place this year despite our issues.

Results:-

On VHF

The results of the 1.3GHz UKAC of 20/8/2024 were released on 9th September. We had 3 entrants for this one, Myself, Stewart G4AFF and Mike G4DYC. We came 6th overall and continue to be in 6th in this series. We do need more entrants in this series so if you have 1296 please consider taking part. All contacts add to the total and you don't have to do the full 2.5 hours! Link to results here 

NARC is running 10th at the moment in this year's VHF championships out of 73 clubs. Link here 

In the overall UKAC we are still running 4th out of 54 in the General clubs section. Link to this here 

On HF

The results of the first contest of the 80m Autumn series, the SSB one of 2/9/2024 were released on 8th September. I'm please to say we started as we mean to go on with a decisive win. 7,487 points with second placed Newbury on 5,391. Congratulations to all who made up our team! Link to results here 

If people are entering other contests of whose results I am obviously unaware please e-mail me to let me know the outcome and I'll mention it here.

Contests:-

On VHF

The 432MHz UKAC ran on Tuesday 10th September. NARC produced a good team with 7 entries. 121 logs have been received at RSGB so far. Our combined scores should be good enough to at least hold on to 4th place. Link to claimed scores here 

The 432MHz FT8 AC ran on Wednesday 11th entries were down this week presumably due to the concurrent 80m Autumn series CW contest. In the 2h section Terry G0BIX was on as was Roger EI8KN. In the 4h section only Terry. Link to claimed scores 2h here 

The 50MHz UKAC ran on Thursday 12th September. Conditions were fairly diabolical probably due to a strong aurora which was present fotr the first half of the contest. This did provide an opportunity for DX for some of the stronger stations. The pileups on the more distant stations were not broken with my 100W and 3 elements. Roger, G3 LDI did manage SM and OH with 400 Watts of CW so congratulations to him. We had 6 known entries in this one although there may be more I am unaware of. Link to claimed scores here 

On HF

SSB field day ran over last weekend but I gather there was no local interest this year. I was otherwise occupied on VHF. If anyone did get involved, please send me a short report.

The second contest in the RSGB 80m Autumn series, CW, ran on Wednesday 11th. So far 140 entries have been received at RSGB with 12 from NARC. The band was quite noisy with storms in the North sea just off the coast. Despite this our scores were good and most of us managed the bonus station G6XX. Link to logs received here 

For those who missed it last week, I have left in, John, G8VPE's article, which he wrote to introduce the new year of AFS contests - these include both HF and VHF tests:-

New AFS Season for 2024/2025
.
The new season of AFS (Affiliated Societies) Contests known also as the AFS Super League begins on 15th September 2024 and runs until February 2025.
The whole event comprises 4 VHF/UHF contests and 4 HF contests with teams of 4 people forming each society entry as in previous years. More than one entry is permitted from each affiliated society, denoted as "Norfolk ARC A", "Norfolk ARC B" etc..
.
In order to be well placed in the AFS Super League final results, an affiliated society has to be able to field teams in all 8 constituent events, including all VHF events, not just the 80m/40m events in January. NARC will compete in the Local division of this combined contest series.
.
2024/25 Dates:
Sun 15/09/24 70 MHz AFS Contest 0900 to 1200 utc. (note B6) NEXT WEEK !
Sun 20/10/24 50 MHz AFS Contest 0900 to 1300 utc. (note B6)
Sat 09/11/24 1.8 MHz AFS (Club Calls) 2000 to 2130 utc.
Sun 08/12/24 144 MHz AFS Contest 1000 to 1400 utc.
Sat 04/01/25 80/40m CW AFS Contest 1300 to 1700 utc.
Sun 12/01/25 80/40m DATA AFS Contest 1300 to 1700 utc.
Sat 18/01/25 80/40m SSB AFS Contest 1300 to 1700 utc.
Sun 02/02/25 432 MHz AFS Contest 0900 to 1300 utc.
.
NOTE B6 :
A new points scoring bonus, in addition to the normal 1 point per km. total, has been introduced for the 70MHz and 50MHz AFS events this year in which a 200 point bonus is awarded for each different DXCC country, each U.K. postcode area, and each large (4 character) QTH locator square, (e.g. JO02,IO92 etc.). This is designated "B6" in the RSGB rules.
.
For stations using N1MM Logger+ , a new profile/template is available by downloading 'VHFRSGB.zip' from the Hamdocs website and unzipping this into your 'UserDefinedContests' folder within your Documents\N1MMLogger+ folder. You will find the new udc file listed as 'VHF_AFSB6.udc'.
When setting up for the contest after clicking 'New Log in Database' search for "VHF_B6" and fill in the details as normal.
This is ONLY for the 4m and 6m AFS contests.
.
.
A Little Bit of History:
The AFS Super League Series began in 2010/11 with just 4 events, 80m CW, 80m SSB, 144MHz and 432MHz and was won by Bristol Contest Group; with NARC in a lowly 23rd out of 88 entries because they entered only 80m and no VHF events.
The AFS series has been largely dominated by the Camb-Hams contestants who have won the Local section of this series in 10 of the 14 years that it has run, with Bristol Contest Group winning in the other 4 years, the winners collecting the Hadley Wood Contest Group Trophy.
From the very first series (4 events) 50MHz AFS and 160m ClubCalls were included in 2011/12 and an 80m DATA modes contest was added in 2017/18 (won by NARC "A" and on 2 further occasions) and 70MHz AFS added in 2019/20.
.
Norfolk ARC has consistently upgraded their performance over the past 5 years by improving the quantity and quality of VHF operators taking part, although more competitors are always needed (CW is permitted in VHF contests !).
.
NARC placings:
2010/11 23rd... 2011/12 27th... 2012/13 25th.
2013/14 16th... 2014/15 24th.
2015/16 8th..Honourable Mention Certificate awarded.
2016/17 11th... 2017/18 7th... 2018/19 12th.
2019/20 8th... 2020/21 8th... 2021/22 7th.
2022/23 5th..Certificate of Achievement awarded.
2023/24 4th..Certificate of Achievement awarded.
2024/25 ???
.
.
73 John G8VPE

**************************

Please let me know if you were on in any other VHF or HF contests and I'll put a summary in next week's news.

Upcoming contests in the next 2 weeks (all times in UTC):-

On VHF / UHF / SHF

Before each of the 2m and 70cm UKACs there is an FM leg starting 1 hour before for 55 minutes. I hear almost no activity in this from here but others may have more luck! Rules etc on RSGBCC site.

* Sat 14th Sep. 1800 to Mon 16th Sep. 0300 - ARRL September VHF contest 6m and up - (maybe some 6m activity workable in the UK) - Rules here 
* Sun 15th Sep. 0900-1200 70MHz AFS contest - (see G8VPE's message above re this series) Rules here 
* Sun 15th Sep. 1300-1330 (70cm for half an hour) then 1330-1500 (2m) IRTS (Ireland) Counties Contest FM and SSB - Maybe hear some activity if any Tropo - Rules here (70cm)  and here (2m) 
* Tue 17th Sep. 1900-2130 1.3GHz UKAC
* Thu 19th Sep. 1900-2130 70MHz UKAC
* Sat 21st Sep. 0000 for 47h59mins ARRL EME Test 2.3 GHz up - Link to rules 
* Tue 24th Sep. 1830-2130 SHF UKAC

Also of interest for some on the vhf / uhf bands are the EU FT8 activity tests - see the following link for more information. These are on the first (144 MHz), second (432MHz) and third (1.3GHz) Wednesdays of each month. 1700-2000 Hrs EU FT8 series website 

On HF

*Sat 14th Sep. 0000 to Sun 15th Sep. 2359 WAE DX Contest SSB - Rules here 
* Sat 14th Sep. 1200 for 36h SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, CW - Rules here 
* Sun 15th Sep. 0000-0400 (If you're up late!) North American RTTY Sprint - Rules here 
* Sun 15th Sep. 1700-2059 BARTG PSK63 Sprint contest - Rules here 
* Mon 16th Sep. 1900-2030 RSGB FT4 Contest
* Sat 21st Sep. 1200 for 24h Scandinavian CW Activity contest - Link to rules 
* Sat 21st Sep. 1800-1959 Feld Hell Sprint - Link to rules 
* Thu 26th Sep. 1900-2030 Autumn series DATA

See Link to WA7BNM for other contests not mentioned above. Several QSO parties in the USA etc.

Wednesdays throughout the year, CW ops 1 hour mini tests 13:00, 19:00, Thurs 03:00 and 07:00, exchange Name and G if not a member or CWOPS number if you are a member.
See CWOPS website for more details.
Also on Fridays 2000 to 2100 and Mondays 0000 to 0100 each week CWops runs the K1USN slow speed CW contests. Any speed up to 20wpm is acceptable. For rules see :- CW OPs SST page these contests are open to anyone.

All RSGB contest rules and further details plus log submission at RSGB contest site
Look to WA7BNM’s contest calendar for other contests and links to rules etc at WA7BNM weekly contest calendar
A link to John 2E0TWQ’s site’s Narc contest history page - 2E0TWQ's NARC contest results page 

************************

Contesting can be great fun but I know there's a reluctance to step into unknown waters. It's a great way of improving many aspects of our hobby including one's own performance and the quality of your station. If you have any interest whatsover please call in to the contest net on Friday evening at 9pm on 145.250MHz FM or speak to any of the regular contesters on 450. Or indeed email me!
************************

Submissions or comments for this news to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

73 until next week,

Phil G4LPP

ROC24 Event Overview

The United Kingdom Bunkers on the Air (UKBOTA) is excited to announce the ROC24 special event, which is open to all amateur radio operators and shortwave listeners. This event serves two significant purposes:

1. Commemoration of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC): We honour the dedication and selfless service of the thousands of volunteers who were part of the ROC for nearly 67 years. These individuals played a crucial role in monitoring the skies over the UK during both wartime and peacetime, acting as vigilant eyes and ears for the nation.

2. Celebration of UKBOTA’s First Anniversary: In addition to honouring the ROC, this event marks the first anniversary of UKBOTA, celebrating our community and the shared passion for amateur radio.

Event Details

The ROC24 event encourages amateur radio operators to set up portable or mobile stations and activate various Royal Observer Corps bunkers across the UK. Meanwhile, hunters and shortwave listeners are invited to participate by "chasing" these activations, tuning in to hear the communications from these portable stations and log the QSO’s.

Point Multiplier System

To add an exciting element to the event, we will utilize the ROC's final organizational structure, which consisted of 25 geographic locations, each identified by a unique three-letter group area code. This system will serve as the basis for a point multiplier during the event, allowing participants to earn additional points based on the different group areas activated or hunted. 

In total, there are 1,602 ROC bunker locations eligible for activation during the ROC24 event. Notably, the Norfolk group (NOR) features an impressive 64 valid locations, making it a prime area for participants to explore.

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How to Get Involved

1. Participate as an Operator: If you are an amateur radio operator, prepare your equipment and plan to activate one or more ROC bunkers. This is a fantastic opportunity to engage with fellow enthusiasts and contribute to the celebration of the ROC's legacy and be involved with a new “on the air” activity.

2. Join as a Hunter by tuning in to the activations and grab those all-important QSO’s or as a shortwave listener capture and log those QSO’s, helping to create a vibrant atmosphere of communication and camaraderie. 

3. Access Resources: For more information about UKBOTA, including details on all our award schemes, downloadable location maps, and bunker reference files in various formats, please visit our websites:

www.bunkersontheair.org

www.bunkerbase.org

4. Connect with the Community: Join our Facebook group, UKBOTA – UK Bunkers on the Air, to engage with other participants, share experiences, and stay updated on event details.

We look forward to your participation in the ROC24 event, where we will celebrate the legacy of the Royal Observer Corps and the first anniversary of UKBOTA, while fostering a spirit of community and exploration in the world of amateur radio!

HF News

Last week showed that HF conditions are improving as we head into Autumn.

With a solar flux index still above 200, there was plenty of DX available to work. CDXC members reported working VP6WR on the Pitcairn Islands, KH8T on American Samoa and 3D2USU on Fiji, which is not a bad catch for early September.

A little closer to home, 9A168TESLA in Croatia has been popping up for short periods celebrating the 168th anniversary of the birthday of electrical pioneer Nikola Tesla. Watch DX Summit closely for operating times.

The daylight MUF over 3,000 kilometres remains above 28MHz on the whole, although a raised Kp index tends to reduce this.

Geomagnetic conditions remained relatively calm with the Kp index below three all week.
That changed on Thursday the 12th as material from a coronal mass ejection (CME) passed the ACE spacecraft in the early hours.

The solar wind speed increased to more than 500 kilometres per second and the Bz swung south. At the time of writing the Kp index was five and the Met Office Space Weather department forecasts potentially unsettled conditions for the weekend of the 13th, 14th and 15th of September.

At the same time, an X-class flare occurred, with lowered MUFs due to increased D-layer absorption.

Two large coronal holes on the Sun’s surface are also now Earth-facing and threaten to add to the solar wind this weekend.

According to NOAA’s predictions, the solar flux index should stay in the range 210-225 next week, although a large number of spots are about to rotate off the Sun’s visible disk.

This may be compensated by an active region that’s about to rotate into view. This has been emitting C-Class and lower-level M-Flares and could potentially be the same region that produced a number of energetic eruptions off the far side of the Sun over the past week. Time will tell.

VHF and up

The recent days of heavy showers at the end of last week produced some good rain scatter, but no QSOs in the UK were noted due to the showers not coinciding with GHz contests and few suitable home stations active to take advantage of them.

After a gradual build-up of pressure over the weekend of the 14th and 15th, high pressure is suggested by most models during next week, but with some uncertainty in the position of the high.

Currently, models are favouring the north of Britain and this means that in the south, although still on the edge of high pressure, there could be a brisk northeasterly breeze, which may weaken the inversion prospects. It’s not clear if the Tropo will be functioning in time for the 70MHz AFS on Sunday morning, the 15th September, but should be helpful for the 1.3GHz UKAC on Tuesday 17th and the 70MHz UKAC on Thursday the 19th.

Solar conditions are still likely to offer the chance of the occasional elevated Kp index, which is a good sign of possible aurora. It will be interesting to see how things evolve on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th at the start of this first weekend as a series of expected CMEs are due to reach Earth.

The amateur bands between 10m and 2m are the ones to check as well as looking out for ‘watery’ sounding signals on the HF bands, and remember it doesn’t have to be dark for radio aurora, so don’t wait for dusk before checking.

Meteor scatter is mainly down to random activity this week, but with the September Epsilon Perseids stream still active until the 21st, having peaked on the 9th, conditions may be slightly enhanced.

For EME operators, Moon declination is negative but rising, and going positive again next Wednesday the 18th. Moon visibility windows will continue to rise while path losses decrease as we approach perigee, also on Wednesday the 18th. 144MHz sky noise is moderate for the whole of next week.

There seems to be some confusion over this trip, but I am pleased to confirm we are definitely going and anyone can still book a place for £30 including entrance ticket!  Read on or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for a booking form.

73, David

National Hamfest coach trip Norwich to Newark: Friday 27th September

I have booked a large coach with free parking at pickup points in Blofield on the East of Norwich and The Village Inn on the West of the City. We plan to arrive there at 10.30 and will leave when it closes at 16.00 so there will be over 5 hours to look around, have a mardle and some lunch - there will be comfort breaks on the way there and the way back. The coach is a large 49 seater coach with plenty of room for people in the top and mobility scooters and purchases underneath!  

The Trip is open to anyone at the same price, not just NARC members, so feel free to share the booking form and invite friends along to what is now the main Annual Radio Festival in the UK.

BOOK NOW!!!   

The cost of the trip is £30, plus potentially a £5 extra charge will be asked on the coach to help make up the shortfall, however with 22 booked so far (9.9.24) I am hopeful that 3 more people will book. If we get 25 or more by the day of the trip we will not have to make the extra charge, so please only pay £30 now as everyone else has done.

The booking form contains all of the information you need to book and pay - if you pay by BACs or PayPal please be sure to complete and email me your booking form.

If you prefer to pay cash, just put the right amount in a sealed envelope containing your booking form and FEST + your callsign or name written on the outside and hand to me at CNS meeting on September 18th or drop it in our house.

Please do not send us a cheque as this incurs a high extra fee from our bank and our treasurer has to find a bank to deposit it - we have to have a business account which is not free banking. If you cannot pay by BACs, PayPal or cash please contact David and we will defianately find another way.

David G7URP  

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PS  If you do not receive the newsletter, just drop me an email and I will email you a PDF of the booking form.

Hi added a new forum at forum.norfolkamateurradio.org you will need to register to post. 

Any questions drop me an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
73 de Mark