Presentations at the 2026 RSGB Convention

The 2026 RSGB Convention in the UK was held on the weekend of the 11th and 12th of October and the various presentations are now available on the RSGB YouTube channel.

There are a wide range of topics on offer and there should be something of interest there for most people. There are also a few interviews and items of interest in between the full presentations.

These are the presentations with the associated timestamps...

Day 1 - Saturday 11 October 2026

0:18:56 RSGB President Bob Beebe, GU4YOX

00:32:55 What is next for the amateur radio service? – IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH

01:44:32 Understanding FT8 through DNA sequencing parallels – Ian Henry, G0LFT

02:44:08 Amateur TV – getting started – Dave Crump, G8GKQ

04:44:15  3Y0K, the Bouvet Island DXpedition – Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA

05:44:05 Tuners and antennas: what’s going on? – Peter Duffet-Smith, GM3XJE

06:59:12 Have you estimated your EMF exclusion zones recently? – John Rogers, M0JAV and Peter Zollman, G4DSE

07:59:58 WRTC 2026 – Lee Volante, G0MTN

YouTube video HERE

Day 2 - Sunday 12 October 2026

00:15:44 LEO Satellites – Patrick Wood, 2E0IFB

01:30:43 A modular approach to construction – Paul Marks, G8FVK

02:30:44 Where is contesting going in the 21st Century? – Chris Tran, GM3WOJ

04:30:59 An update on the latest developments in the microwave community – Heather Nickalls, M0HMO and Brian Coleman, G4NNS

05:30:44 The results of 12 August 2026 eclipse propagation experiment – Steve Nichols, G0KYA

YouTube video HERE

IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH highlights ageing amateur radio population

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is the representative body for radio amateurs worldwide. The IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH made a presentation at the 2026 RSGB Conference titled 'What is next for the amateur radio service?'

One of the key challenges that VE6SH highlighted was the ageing amateur radio population. One  of the graphics that he used was the age profile of membership of the URE, the national society for radio amateurs in Spain.

There are some caveats here. One, this is the membership profile for members of the URE which may not be an exact match for radio amateurs in Spain. Two, this is an example for one country and that may not exactly match the age profile for membership of amateur radio organisations in other countries.

However, I think it's safe to assume that it's reasonably representative of the general amateur radio population in most countries A large percentage of radio amateurs are now between 55 and 79 and there are a lot fewer aged below 50 becoming radio amateurs.

The presentation by VE6SH was part of a live stream of the conference on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiUs-aSVTBU&t=10068s

It starts at 0:33 and runs until 1:11. There is a follow up panel discussion which then runs until 1:39.

VIDEO: Solar Cycle 25 - predictions V reality ...by Steve Nichols, G0YKA

At the recent RSGB Convention, there were a number of presentations given on the live stream. On the stream for Sunday 13th October 2024, Steve Nichols, G0YKA gave a presentation titled 'Solar Cycle 25 - predictions V reality'.

In the presentation, G0YKA looks at what the predictions for the peak of solar cycle 25 were, what the peak is actually turning out to be like and what the near future might hold.

The live stream for Sunday 13th Oct is embedded below. Use the controls to move forward to 5:31:52 for the start of the presentation. 

The talk is about 45-minutes in length and ends at 6:16:35.

See video below, just press the red play button...