Amateur radio has been in the news again this week and this time it has
projected a positive image. Radio amateurs have provided the sole means of
communication between the beleaguered villages in Bosnia and the United
Nations relief agencies. The March edition of Radio Communication also refers
to this in a feature about a relief convoy involving British radio amateurs.

The date for the RSGB International HF Convention, originally planned for
September, has been changed to the 8th to the 10th of October. This is due to
circumstances beyond the Society's control and any inconvenience is
regretted. A knock-on effect of this change is a move of the RSGB 21 and
28MHz SSB Contest which will now take place on the 3rd of October.

The 2 Metre beacon GB3VHF at Wrotham, Kent was returned to service a week
last Thursday after four months off-air. During this period some minor
modifications were carried out and it should now be more compatible with the
co-sited UHF repeater, GB3NK. The beacon is returned to service at its
original power level of 60 watts ERP.

The North West London Repeater, GB3NW, on channel RB5 has temporarily closed
down for maintenance and improvements, including the adding of a CTCSS tone
facility and an increase of power.

News now of a name change to the recently appointed RSGB QSL Sub-Manager for
the G0BAA - BZZ series: Mr Tom Hunt, G0PRN, has now changed his surname to
Bruin. The address is still:- Seaford, 38 Kirkley Cliff Road, Lowestoft,
Suffolk, NB33 0DB.


Next, a couple of dates for your diary:

International Marconi Day 1993 is scheduled for the 24th of April and is
sponsored by the Cornish Radio Amateur Club. Several special event staiions
will be active worldwide. Following the success of last year's event, the
RSGB is holding another Open Day at its Headquarters in Potters Bar,
Hertfordshire. This will be held on Saturday, the 19th of June. Details will
be published nearer the date in RadCom and on GB2RS.



Now some items of HF DX news from the weekly RSGB DX News Sheet which is
edited by Brendan McCartney, G4DYO: From Galapagos Islands, WS7I and WV7Y will
sign HC8A from Monday the 15th until Saturday the 27th of March. From Aruba,
VE3MR will sign P40MR until Saturday the 13th, on the 12 and 17 metre bands,
SSB only. From the Marianas Islands, JA6VZB will sign AH0AL, from the island
of Rota, from the 10th to 13th of March, mainly on RTTY and the WARC bands.
From Lord Howe Island, DJ5CQ, and others, will be active as VK9LM from now
until Tuesday the 16th of March on all bands, mainly CW, 25kHz up from band
edges. Also check 14.195 and 21.295MHz on SSB. From Cayman Islands, W2HKM will
be on as ZF2TX from Saturday the 13th to Sunday the 21st. Check 21.300MHz and
28.495MHz SSB.

HF Contest news :

The ARRL International SSB DX Contest takes place this weekend from 0000GMT
on the 6th to 2400GMT on the 7th. It takes in all bands from 1.8MHz to 28MHz
excluding the WARC Bands. The idea is to work stations in the USA and Canada.
The exchange is RS and three figures indicating power output. For more
information see February's RadCom, page 15. The Commonwealth HF Transmitting
and SWL Contest takes place next weekend, from 1200GMT on Saturday the 13th
to 1200GMT on Sunday the 14th. Bands in use are 3.5MHz to 28MHz, excluding
the WARC Bands. The exchange is RST and serial number commencing at 001. See
October's RadCom for full details. The BARTG Spring RTTY contest is scheduled
to take place over the weekend of Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st.
Contact G3UFY or G4SKA for contest rules.



VHF Contest news:

This weekend the RSGB's 144/432MHz Contest is taking place. It started at
1400GMT yesterday, the 6th, to 1400GMT today, Sunday the 7th of March. Full
details can be found in February's RadCom on page 66. The fifth and final
RSGB 70MHz Cumulative Contest of the series is scheduled for next Sunday the
14th of March from 1000 to 1200GMT. See December's RadCom page 61 for further
details.

Finally in the main news, SSL has informed the Society that as of last
Wednesday morning, the latest callsigns issued were in the G0 T F
and G7 O Q series, and Novice calls in the 2 0 A E and 2 1 B O series.