Amateur Radio Contesting News 1 April 2017. From DXNews.com

As the first Southern Hemisphere host, NZARG is excited to announce some new and ground breaking innovations.

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April 2017: Ionospheric Propagation Predictions

Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels and the geomagnetic field activity will be rather quiet, except for a few days due to some class C solar events. General propagation conditions will be fair for the rest of the forecast period.

 

 

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Midway and Kure Islands are Now Deleted DXCC Entities

Source ARRL web site

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Midway and Kure Islands have been placed on the list of DXCC deleted entities, effective August 26, 2016. This came about as an unintended consequence of action last summer by then-President Barack Obama that expanded the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to include the northwestern Hawaiian Islands west of Ni’ihau Island, making it the largest contiguous protected conservation area under the US flag.

Midway (KH4) had qualified for DXCC status by virtue of its being governed by a separate administration. Because it is now under the administration of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, however, it becomes a deleted entity. Approximately 50 people live on Midway, including US Fish and Wildlife Service staffers and contractors. The Battle of Midway, a turning point in the Allied World War II Pacific Campaign, took place in June 1942.

Now uninhabited, Kure Island (KH7K), a part of Hawaii, is separated from the rest of the state by Midway; because of that, it qualified for DXCC status under Section II, 2 (b) (iii) of the DXCC Rules — separation from its “parent” Hawaii. Midway Island’s change in DXCC status in turn made Kure Island no longer eligible for DXCC status, since Kure no longer is separated from the rest of Hawaii by intervening land or islands that are part of another DXCC entity.

Kure Island once was home to a US Coast Guard LORAN station, remnants of which are still evident. It has been a state wildlife sanctuary since 1981.

The relevant parts of Section II of the DXCC Rules follow:

A Geographic Separation Entity may result when a single Political Entity is physically separated into two or more parts. The part of such a Political Entity that contains the capital city is considered the Parent for tests under these criteria. One or more of the remaining parts resulting from the separation may then qualify for separate status as a DXCC Entity if they satisfy paragraph a) or b) of the Geographic Separation Criteria, as follows.

b) Island Areas (Separation by Water):

A new entity results in the case of an island under any of the following conditions:

iii) The island is separated from its Parent by intervening land or islands that are part of another DXCC entity, such that a line drawn along a great circle in any direction, from any part of the island, does not touch the Parent before touching the intervening DXCC entity. There is no minimum separation distance for the first island entity created under this rule. Additional island entities may be created under this rule, provided that they are similarly separated from the Parent by a different DXCC entity and separated from any other islands associated with the Parent by at least 800 km.

Neither Midway nor Kure was able to be activated without prior permission and only for a planned DXpedition. Only contacts made on August 25, 2016, or earlier will count for these two entities.

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RSGB AGM 2017:

The 90th RSGB AGM will be held at the Angel Hotel, Castle St, Cardiff CF10 1SZ on Saturday, 22 April 2017, commencing at 12 noon. Details of those standing for elections, the accounts and the Minutes of the 2016 AGM appear in the April RadCom.

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Focus on Compliance -- ACMA Tune-Up Presentation:

The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) recently (15/3/2017) presented an overview and results of its ongoing work to investigate interference and ensure that equipment used in Australia complies with the law. Attended by industry representatives and the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA), the tune-up covered the ACMA Standards and operational staff activities for the 2016 calendar year. The ACMA staff had found that most attention was on the telecommunication sector, which represented the highest economic and social impact of interference in Australia.

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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2057 for Friday, March 31, 2017:

The following is a QST. Amateur radio continues its advances in digital technology. In Italy, one amateur creates a detailed online map that locates repeaters — and it’s time for an exclusive report from our roving correspondent, Pierre Pullinmyleg, who’s back to break some exclusive April Fool’s Day news! All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2057 comes your way right now.

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Propagation Forecast Bulletin #13 de K7RA:

Solar activity rose over the past week, with average daily sunspot
numbers rising from 3.4 to 29.7 and solar flux from 71.2 to 77.9.
Average daily planetary A index increased from 10 to 18.3, and
average mid-latitude A index went from 7.1 to 13.6.

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