You may find this Blog of interest.

It is the account by Paul Gacek (W6PNG) of his experience down in St Kitts & Nevis a few months ago where he operated as V47P  alongside his fellow Ham Matt Holden (K0BBC).

Of cannons, beer and paradise

Radio silence due to coronavirus COVID-19: Ham Radio not taking place as planned

15.04.2020

Friedrichshafen – Due to current developments in regard to the spread of coronavirus COVID-19, Messe Friedrichshafen has been forced to make a very difficult decision: the international amateur radio exhibition Ham Radio will not be taking place in the planned period of June 26 to 28, 2020, but instead from June 25 to 27, 2021. The Federal Government and the Minister-Presidents of the Länder decided yesterday, April 15 that no major events shall take place until August 31, 2020.

“Due to current developments relating to the coronavirus, we have the unfortunate duty of announcing that we cannot hold the 45th edition of Ham Radio as planned,” explains Klaus Wellmann, Managing Director of Messe Friedrichshafen. In recent weeks, it was already necessary to make the same decision in regard to other events (Aqua-Fisch, IBO, AERO, Tuning World Bodensee, and Motorworld Classics Bodensee). Project Manager Petra Rathgeber also expressed her sadness about this turn of events: “We very much regret that this event cannot take place as planned. However, the health of all exhibitors and visitors is of utmost importance to us. Unfortunately, our trade fair calendar and the dates of other industry events leave no room for postponing this fair to another date this year.” Christian Entsfellner, Chair of the German Amateur Radio Club (DARC), adds: “Our members, domestic and foreign guests, and we ourselves have been hit hard by this decision, which now became necessary to make on short notice. Until we get together again in Friedrichshafen, we as amateur radio operators are looking forward to keeping in contact with one another using amateur radio.” However, radio amateurs do not have to do without everything the Ham Radio fair normally has to offer: On the Ham Radio website, exhibitors will be presenting product innovations in the form of a virtual trade fair. DARC will also be offering presentations there.

The exhibitors, visitors, and partners involved are currently being informed about this opportunity.

Brazil Customs Refuse Bureau cards and this is just the start to how things are going to change for shipment of Bureau cards around the world.
Since the start of the IARU Bureau service all we needed was an address in the member state to send Bureau cards. This is no longer the case.

From the 1st January 2019 The Universal Postal Union (UPU) requires you to provide electronic customs data when sending ‘goods’ across border.
Countries are adopting the submission of electronic data at variable speeds due to their existing IT infrastructure and ability to embrace change but from 2020 the expectation is that most countries will apply the changes more rigorously.
There are benefits to the legislation including smoother and more efficient transit times with fewer delays and subsequently fewer customer complaints.
What items are affected?
Untracked international items, with an intrinsic value. Including large letters, packets and e-commerce. * Printed matter is not affected.
What you need to remember:
• Goods to display an S10 barcode attached to the label as well as a customs declaration (CN22/23)
Advanced Electronic Data (AED) to be submitted, in the form of an electronic manifest advising the details declared on your CN22/23.
Harmonised System codes (otherwise known as HS or Tariff Codes) form part of the data requested on your customs declaration form (CN22/23).
The UPU requires these customs forms to be completed accurately and in full to facilitate a rapid clearance in the recipient country.

The submission of S10 barcodes and AED is a global customs requirement with the EU introducing it from January 2020.
What this means is that Bureaus MUST provide the following information:
Recipient Full Name
Recipient email address (of the bureau department)
Recipients Telephone Number
Then the sender can acquire a S10 barcode from the shipping company. This is quite an urgent matter. Already here we have had to suspend all Bureau shipments to Brazil, Argentina and Belarus as the customs refuse entry of our parcels because of no Pre-Advice Electronic Data. Ironically from our fact finding * “Printed matter is not affected” BUT and this is the big but…. if you do not use S10 barcode some customs / duane are returning the items regardless that they are * “Printed Matter” whilst others are slapping a handling fee because we have no S10 barcode. The United Radio QSL Bureau have notified the IARU on a number of occasions of these changes but have yet to put facilities in place to provide the data needed.

Royal Mail has a page on the website updated for “International Incident Bulletins” this link will take you to the page so that you can see what restrictions are in your country and where delays may apply.

Updated 24/03/2014 – As air flights around the world reduce very significantly to avoid the spread of Covid-19. This has a knock on effect on a restriction of air freight available to send post around the world. International Post WILL be more expensive and will also experience delays as most flights are not available to carry mail. 

Thee below images (courtesy of Flightradar24) show the decreased capacity from February 26th to March 25:

This WILL affect outgoing mail from my service. In these uncertain times we are all worries about how things will continue so should you have a question about postage please drop me an email at any time.

Very sadly, the Belize Amateur Radio Club (V31HQ) cabin has caught fire. No one was injured, however Andre V31DL (cabin owner) lost all equipment.

OFCOM engineers shine a light on interferencecaused to Aircraft

23 March 2020

Ofcom’s spectrum assurance team recently solved a sky-high interference case that took more than a little detective work to crack.
The team were contacted by National Air Traffic Services to let them know that aircrafts flying in and out of Glasgow airport were being affected by interference when they were between 6,000 and 10,000 feet in the air.
The interference was affecting voice communications between the controllers on the ground and the aircraft. Whenever the aircraft were in the vicinity of the interference the crew would not hear any air traffic control messages as the signal was swamped by the noise of the interference.

Needle in a haystack

But what was causing the problem – and crucially, where was it? The next step was for the team to locate and identify the source of the interference.
However, due to the height of the aircraft (not to mention the speed of their flight!), the team described how identifying a potential cause would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Our spectrum engineering officers spoke to the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) in order to narrow down the search area.
They were able to create an ‘area of probability’ on a map, in which they could focus the search for the source. This was done by using flight-tracking software, which allowed them to make a note of where the aircraft were when they reported the issue – and this in turn helped to identify a corresponding location on the ground.
Following this discovery, the search turned into a ground-level investigation centred on a small town.
This monitoring involved using vehicle mounted receivers and driving the suspected area until the interference was heard. Once the team have located a location where the signal is strongest they then use hand held equipment to cover the remainder of the search area on foot. The team visited a number of properties that were adjacent to the property where they eventually located the source. After a search phase, the source of the interference was found to be a home. Specifically, the cause was four ‘vintage’ lightbulbs that the homeowner had recently bought online.

What’s that noise?

Due to the construction of the bulbs, they were found to be radiating a ‘noise’ when they were switched on that affected a wide range of spectrum, rather than just one frequency. The house was directly underneath the flightpath of the aircraft and therefore every time an aircraft passed and the bulbs were in use, the crew suffered the interference.
Unfortunately for the owner – but fortunately for the crew and passengers of flights in and out of Glasgow airport – the bulbs were removed from the sockets and checks with NATS and aircraft operators confirm that the area is now free of interference.
Now our spectrum enforcement team will follow up the case with the lightbulb suppliers, to make sure the bulbs aren’t sold to any more unwitting customers.

Our #QSL Manager Charles #M0OXO just uploaded all QSOs with our pre-donors to #LOTW 😁

#hamradio #hamr #DXPedition

I have had several inquiries about how Covid-19 affects the delivery of your QSL cards. It is a fluid situation and after taking advice from Royal Mail i can inform you that posting from the UK is continuing as normal.
Nearly all mail is sorted by machine so is not touched by human hands. Large mailings are bagged from here and sent directly to London Heathrow Distribution Centre and the bags put on onward flights to the destination country.

Royal Mail has a page on the website updated for “International Incident Bulletins” this link will take you to the page so that you can see what restrictions are IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY and where delays may apply or indeed occur.