Good morning. It's Sunday the 25th of April and here is the GB2RS news broadcast, prepared by the Radio Society of Great Britain. First the headlines:- BT supports amateur radio; a radio amateur is prosecuted; and a there's a possible licensing hitch for married amateurs. British Telecom has indicated its support for the RSGB's Project YEAR by donating videos and booklets to help with Novice training. Project YEAR - Youth into Electronics via Amateur Radio - is an ongoing initiative by the Society aimed at encouraging young people into the hobby. It involves several books, the Novice Licence, a video - Amateur Radio for Beginners - which is available to clubs from the RSGB Audio Visual Library, and a magazine D-i-Y Radio. If your club is holding an event which is particularly suited to the beginner or Novice licensee, the RSGB can provide publicity for the event in D-i-Y Radio. Details of relevant meetings, rallies or open days should be sent to Marcia Brimson at RSGB HQ, marked D-i-Y Radio. And don't forget to tell us about any committee members with special responsibility for newcomers and Novices. The Radiocommunications Agency of the DTI has announced a successful prosecution under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949. On the 25th of March, at Lisburn Magistrates Court in Northern Ireland, a radio amateur was fined a hundred pounds with ten pounds costs and had to forfeit his transceiver said to be worth five hundred pounds. The prosecution, which was for using frequencies not covered by the defendant's licence, came about following television interference complaints and followed several warnings. Next Thursday, at Dudley Magistrates Court, the RA will be prosecuting another radio amateur in a case which involves abuse of the amateur repeater network in the Midlands. The RA says that information supplied by the RSGB's Amateur Radio Observation Service was particularly helpful in preparing the case. The RSGB '93 Show takes place on Sunday the 16th of May at the National Exhibition Centre, near Birmingham. There will be the usual trade stands in a single huge hall, plus a large display of the work of RSGB Headquarters and of the Society's committees. The National Vintage Communications Fair is also being held that day in the NEC complex. Many visitors will wish to visit both shows and reduced rates are available for this. The May edition of Radio Communication will be posted to all RSGB members in the next few days. It contains the latest on RAEN Ltd, repeater licensing and VHF awards. The full text is given of the amendment to the Amateur Radio Licence, concerning the 430MHz band, which we announced recently on GB2RS. The organisation which processes amateur radio licences, Subscription Services Ltd, has said that it regrets that, at present, it can collect only one Direct Debit from a bank account for licence renewal fees. This has caused difficulty where two licensees sharing a joint bank account have different renewal dates. The situation is likely to be resolved shortly but in the meantime anyone who is in this position is advised to make alternative payment arrangements. Now some items of HF DX news from the weekly RSGB DX News Sheet which is edited by Brendan McCartney, G4DYO. From Bahrain, DL1WH will sign A92WH from now until the end of June 1993. He may also use the club callsign A92C. From Crete, a group of Greek amateurs will use the callsign J49GI from Gavdos Island, starting on Sunday the 2nd to Friday the 7th of May. Check these frequencies: On CW 1835, 3525, 7025, 14025, 21025 and 28025kHz and for SSB 1845, 3795, 7045, 14195, 21295 and 28495kHz. They also hope to be on the WARC bands. From Sierra Leone, K5LBU is now active as 9L1CB. His tour with of 2 years with the Baptist Mission ends in early 1995. From Kampuchea, HA7VK is now active as XU7VK from now until the end of June. From Tromelin Island, FR5ZQ/T is said to be active around 14.120MHz after 1700GMT. From Guadeloupe Island, the XF1G team now expect to be active from now until Thursday the 29th of April. We know of three rallies scheduled for today, Sunday the 25th of April: The Bridlington and District Amateur Radio Society's East Yorkshire Rally is being held at The Spa, Bridlington. Doors open at 11.00am, or 10.30am for disabled visitors. There are many traders, club stands and a bring & buy stall. Refreshments are available. The Bury Radio Society Hamfeast is being held at the Bury Leisure Centre, Bolton Street, Bury, Lancs. The Dacorum Amateur Radio and Transmitting Society Car Boot Sale is being held at the Heath Park Hotel, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Rallies for Sunday the 2nd of May: The Anglo-Scottish Rally is to be held at Tait Hall, Kelso. Further details can be obtained from Bruce, GM4UIB, by telephoning 0573 224654 (evenings only). The British Amateur Television Club Rally is to be held at Harlaxton Manor, Near Grantham, Lincolnshire. It is just one mile off the A1 (signposted). Doors open at 10.00am. There will be the usual traders inside and an outside flea market. The event features a lecture programme and demonstrations, and refreshments will be available. Talk-in will be on Channels S22, SU22 and via GB3GR on RB11. The entrance fee covers access to the new Harlaxton Gardens which is an ideal family venue. A substantial reduction in entrance fee is available on production of a copy of Radio Communication or CQ-TV magazines. Further details are available from Paul, G8MJW on 0522 703348. Rally for Monday the 3rd: The Mid Cheshire Amateur Radio Society Rally is to be held at the Civic Hall, Winsford, Cheshire. Doors open at 11.00am, or 10.30 for disabled visitors. Full catering and ample car parking. Further details can be obtained from David, G4XUV on 0606 77787. News now of a cancelled Rally: The Scarborough Amateur Radio Electronics and Computer Rally scheduled for Sunday the 25th of July has had to be cancelled by the organisers. They will now concentrate on finding a suitable new venue for July 1994. Further details from Ross, G4ZNZ on 0723 514767. HF contest news next: The RSGB's 1993 National Field Day, the Golden Jubilee event, takes place in June. All Groups intending to participate are reminded that they need to send details of their site to Chris, G3SJJ, QTHR, to arrive no later than the 1st of May 1993. See February RadCom page 66 for further details. The next RSGB Slow CW Cumulative Contest takes place on Thursday the 29th, from 1830 to 2000GMT, using 3.530 to 3.580MHz only. See March RadCom, page 81 for the rules. The AG CW DL QRP/QRP Party is scheduled to run from 1300 to 1900 on Saturday the 1st of May using 3.510 to 3.560MHz and 7.010 to 7.040MHz CW only. See April Radcom page 13 for band and class details. Now some UHF contest news: The RSGB 432MHz to 24GHz Contest starts next Saturday the 1st at 1400GMT and finishes at 1400GMT on Sunday the 2nd of May. Also during Saturday the 70cm Trophy Contest will take place from 1400 to 2200GMT. See February RadCom page 66 for details, but note that the date for the 70cm Trophy is printed incorrectly; it should read the 1st of May. Special event stations this week include: GB2AMN which will be aired by RAF Finningly Amateur Radio Society during today Sunday the 25th to celebrate the opening of Newark Air Museum 20 years ago. The station is operating from two aircraft in the static display at the Museum; the HF station from a Varsity and the VHF SSB station from a Shackleton. All contacts plus SWL reports will receive a QSL card. And now the solar factual data There is an extended period this week - the 9th to the 18th of April - due to catching up with the missing holiday data. Solar activity collapsed on the 13th when the sun spot count dropped to only 15, and further declined to only 12 by the 14th; this is the lowest level since February 12th 1988. Levels improved slowly and the count reached 67 by the 18th. The period meaned about 68. There has only been 1 flare of any note during the period, an M8.7/1B on the 18th, which was accompanied by types 2 and 4 radio wave sweeps. These are mainly in the HF region down to about 5MHz. Solar flux levels were up to 136 units on the 12th, but declined to only 88 units by the 15th. However levels were recovering by the 18th when they reached 106, the period averaged 105 units. The geomagnetic Ap index has been mainly unsettled throughout the period, but the 9th was up to a sub storm level of 32 units, and the period 13th to 15th was up to sub storm levels of 28 units. The period averaged 19.8 units. The state has been nil, nothing to report, all the period. The radio quality indices have declined almost every day from just normal down to very poor by the 18th; all circuits have at various times been down to very poor. This week we have not yet received the aa indices. The X-ray flux declined to the lowest levels so far since this data has been broadcast. On the 15th and 16th levels declined to only A7.8 but recovered to B2.0 by the 17th; the period averaged about B2.9. Now the ionospheric data for Central France: The F2 daytime critical frequencies at Poitiers, as reported by Meudon, declined and levels averaged 7.4MHz, though some days were down to 6.8MHz. The darkness hour lows averaged 3.0MHz and have not varied much day to day. The lows are now about 0400 hours but the highs are anything between 1200 hours up to 1900 hours varying considerably day to day. Now the ionospheric data for the north: Since the 10th April we are now getting the F2 daytime critical frequencies from Ekaterinberg again - it is not known why they stopped - so for the daily highs levels averaged 7.8MHz. The darkness hour lows averaged 3.1MHz. And lastly the solar forecast: This week it seems that a major restructuring is taking place on the sun and until this is established it is very difficult to say what is likely to happen. It looks likely that a more active part of the sun will be looking our way. Solar flux levels are likely to be about the 120s. Geomagnetic levels are expected to be just unsettled. Past history of the radio quality indices suggests that ionospheric conditions should be up to normal. And that is the end of the solar information. 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 O and G7 O V series, and Novice calls in the 2 0 A F and 2 1 B Q series. You're listening to GB2RS, the news broadcasting service of the Radio Society of Great Britain, transmitting in the 80, 40, 6 and 2 metre bands.