GB2RS News Sunday the 11th of February 2024 The news headlines: The outcome of the RSGB 2024 Board and Regional Team election process RSGB challenge for British Science Week announced RSGB Spectrum Forum updates The RSGB has announced the outcome of its 2024 Board and Regional Team election process. These results come into force at the RSGB 2024 AGM and, until that time, the current Regional Representatives remain in their roles. The announcement also contains news of the Nominated Directors put forward for endorsement by the RSGB membership next month, as well as two co-options to the RSGB Board, effective until the AGM. For full details of the announcement and the candidates go to the RSGB AGM web page at rsgb.org/agm The theme of British Science Week this year is Time. Both time and the closely related concept of frequency, are of vital importance to radio communications. The RSGB has announced a new challenge for British Science Week linked to this theme. The challenge has categories for every age group and the winner of each group will win a prize. The deadline for entries is the 1st of September and the results will be announced at the RSGB Convention in October. The challenge is as follows: “Using readily available components, material or other resources, provide a method of either measuring the frequency of a radio frequency source or signal or providing a time reference to a radio operator or radio system”. For more details about the challenge, as well as activities to inspire you and resources to help you take part in British Science Week, go to the RSGB website at rsgb.org/bsw A busy year has seen several online Spectrum Forum meetings. Two meetings held in January considered the Ofcom notice period for ‘representations’ and areas where band plan adjustments would be needed, as well as more regular items such as annual group reports. The RSGB website now has these details online. The RSGB’s reply to Ofcom has been added to its special focus page on the Ofcom licence review. Along with other recent representations, this will enable Ofcom to finalise the new licence later this month. The RSGB Spectrum Forum pages have also been updated with the January 2024 group reports and meeting notes, which included the discussions on the provisional changes. To read more, visit rsgb.org/spectrumforum As previously announced by the RSGB Examinations Standards Committee Chair, Tony Kent, G8PBH, the amateur radio licence examinations will need to change to reflect the changes to the licence conditions announced by Ofcom. The scale of the licence changes will have a significant impact on Section 1 of the syllabus, ‘Licensing’, and a small impact on Section 7, ‘Operating’. Ofcom is currently reviewing representations and will publish its final decision, including the final version of the licence, before the 21st of February. The new licence will come into effect before work on the syllabus and examination question bank is completed. The RSGB Examinations Standards Committee has gained approval from Ofcom to continue to examine the current licence conditions for a period of six months following the publication of the new licence. This will allow trainers time to update their courses in line with the new syllabus, and allow candidates that have started their training under the current licence conditions to complete their courses and take the exam. It is expected that examinations of the new licence conditions will begin on the 1st of September 2024. For full details, see the exam announcements page on the RSGB website. The first amateur radio station on the moon, JS1YMG, is now transmitting. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, landed its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon on the 19th of January 2024. The JAXA Ham Radio Club, JQ1ZVI secured the JS1YMG callsign and has been transmitting Morse code on 437.41MHz since the 19th of January. The probe uses 1W to a UHF antenna, with circular polarisati