Issue 01 - Oct 14

QUAlite Welcome, to the ‘revamped’ October 2014 edition of the Stockport Radio Society (SRS) Newsletter Written and compiled by SRS members, ‘QUA’ (Have you news of… ?) is your source of news, views and informed opinion on all matters relating to - and about - your hobby.

If you have news, events, contest information etc that you would like to share with your fellow members, please email : srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk

Sad News for SRS

Diary Dates

Sat/Sun 20/21 Sept 2014 Foundation Course Weekend Tues 23 Sept 2014 On the Air from HQ Mon 29 Sept 2014 See Hear Promotion Week At Walthew House Tue 7 Oct 2014 Foundation & Newcomers Evening Thurs 16 Oct 2014 On Air from Home QTH Tues 21 Oct 2014 HF Propagation Part 2 Tues 28 Oct 2014 On the Air from HQ Tues 4 Nov 2014 Tales from the Orkneys Peak Contest Group Thurs 13 Nov 2014 On Air from Home QTH Tues 18 Nov 2014 Society Meeting

Sadly, last month we had to announce that our President Harry Arnfield G3LX passed away on Sunday 10 August 2014. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this sad time.

Members, Tony M0SAV, Alan G0ROW and John 2E0GCX paid their respects, on behalf of Stockport Radio Society, at the funeral at St Georges Church, New Mills

Harry Arnfield G3LX - A great loss to the Society.

Website : www.g8srs.co.uk / Tel : 07506 904422 @G8SRS

@G50Contest

www.facebook.com/StockportRadioSociety

Tues 25 Nov 2014 On Air from HQ Tues 2 Dec 2014 Society Meeting Thurs 11 Dec 2014 On Air from Home QTH Tues 16 Dec 2014 AGM and Social Evening Sunday 28 Dec 2014 Xmas & New Year Special On the Air from Walthew House - 2m and 40M HF Nets

Stockport Radio Society - Review of Events

Tatton Park VW Event - 3 August

IOTA 2014 - PCG in the Orkneys

SRS Links: Stockport Radio Society www.g8srs.co.uk RSGB - www.rsgb.org RSGB Region 3 www.rsgb-region-3.org.uk UK FM Group Western www.ukfmgw.org.uk Ofcom www.licensing.ofcom.org.uk ARRL - www.arrl.org QRZ.com - www.qrz.com

Buddy and members from SRS were at Tatton Park for the VW Festival.

We had a trade stand set up in front of ‘Buddy’ with the Tentech Corsair and FT857 on show. Mike was doing morse and the team were on 145.375 +/-. We had quite a few people coming to the stand who were previous ‘G’ call signs, but had let their callsign renewal lapse, we also had a couple of ‘CBers’ asking questions about converting over to Ham.

The Peak Contest Group (The Contesting Arm of Stockport Radio Society) have been to the Orkneys contesting in IOTA.

A big thank you goes to Mike M6MPC for arranging the event, and thanks to Tony M0SAV, Nigel 2E0CKA, Andy 2E0GCL and Heth (SWL) for assisting in setting the stand up and helping out with the day. Also thanks to Nigel G0RXA, Rob M0TKT, Lee M0ZPZ, Nigel M6YKK John G4GEY and Jack (SWL) for coming and supporting us today.

Well done to (Sarah Steinhofel 2E0KUH, Tom Spence M0DCG, Carsten Steinhofel G0SYP, Pete Ridley M1PTR, Kieron Murphy M5KJM, Dave Bates G0LZL, Evan Duffield M0TJU, Bernard Naylor .

We are all looking forward to the next outdoor activity that the team can take part in. Hope to see you at the next event.

UK Repeaters www.ukrepeater.net Raynet - www.raynet-uk.net

All the members involved in IOTA spent a week travelling to Orkney, setting up the antenna’s, then a continuous 24 hours contesting, and then the lovely job of dismantling all the kit.

At the end of it all, the guys (and not forgetting Sarah) did extremely well getting 2227 QSO’s - over 7,690,000 points.

Thank you to our hosts on Orkney Winnie and eil Rendall GM0HTW at Skaill Farm, in the bay is the Bay of Isbister.

And finally not forgetting Tom's brother Roderick Spence GM7RDH and John (Donnie) Grieve GM0HTH who also supported us.After such a good contest I am sure that they will be planning the 2015 event soon.

On the Air from QTH - 11 September 2014 Another ‘on the air’ from QTH took place on Thursday 11 September, with Alan G0ROW taking the chair. General chat about antennas, Ofcom consulting papers and other subjects took place The net was on for over an hour and half.

They then went over to 2m SSB for a trial net.

Big thanks to all who came on the SRS net - Alan G0ROW (for chairing the net), Tony M0SAV, Roy G6RSU, Nigel 2E0CKA, Andy 2E0GCL, Mike 2E0MBV, Neil M6CLU, Evan M0TJU, and Peter M3ROU - Check the website for the running commentary of the night, and don’t forget to join us on air either at HQ or at our own QTH 2

Summits on the air www.sota.org.uk

Local Radio Clubs: GB3PZ.com Macclesfield Wireless Society GX4MWS Manchester Wireless Society, G5MS Mid Cheshire ARS, G3ZTT North Cheshire RC, G0BAA Northern Amateur Radio Societies Association (NARSA) Oldham Radio Club RSGB Region 3 Website Radio Millennium Lodge, M0RML Rochdale & DARS (R.A.D.A.R.S), G0ROC South Cheshire ARS, G6TW South Lancashire ARC, M0SLR South Manchester Radio & Computing Club The Simpson Amateur Radio Society, M0SRA Warrington Radio Club West Manchester RC, G4MWC

Stockport Radio Society - Forthcoming Nights / Events

Society Nights .

October 7 - Foundation and Newcomers evening.

With our latest Foundation Course being completed just a week or so ago, this is an opportunity for successful candidates to view and participate in various aspects of the hobby and perhaps contemplate signing up for the next Intermediate Course October 21 - HF Propagation, Part 2 with MOTJU/G0SYP. In the last presentation we discussed the nature of propagation on the shortwave bands. This time we’ll be applying the theory to the real world. By using beacons, broadband receivers, the Internet – and some good old-fashioned intuition – you can get a feel for propagation conditions, as will be explained.

November 4 - Tales from the Orkneys with the Peak Contest Group The contesting arm of SRS give us a evening on their events in the Orkneys for IOTA 2014.

November 18 - Society Meeting Social evening for members to get together and discuss the hobby.

On the Air / Skills Nights

Local Repeaters in and around Stockport 6m 

GB3SX (Stoke on Trent)

2m 

GB7MA (Bury)



GB3MN (Stockport)



GB3MP (Denbigh)



GB3VT (Stoke on Trent)

70cm 

GB7DV (St Helens)



GB3CR (Widnes)



GB3LI (Liverpool)



GB3LL (Llandudno)



GN3MA (Bury)



GB3MF (Macclesfield)

Thursday 16 October 2014 SRS On the air from home QTH - In the Chair for this net is Steve G8YTP - Using the club call sign G8SRS listen in on 145.375 plus or minus QRM starting 1930 hrs local time



GB3MR (Stockport)



GB3PZ (Dukinfield)



GB3SM (Stoke on Trent)

Tuesday 28 October 2014



GB3ST (Stoke on Trent)



GB7WC (Dukinfield)



GB3WP (Hyde)

SRS On the air from Walthew House - 70cms Repeater - using the Stockport Repeater GB3MR Output Frequency 433.350MHz (Input 434.950 MHz - also CW with Mike M6MPC and we will also be running a 'problem solving night' open to all members Thursday 13 November 2014 SRS On the air from home QTH - In the Chair for this net is Nigel 2E0CKA - Using the club call sign G8SRS listen in on 145.375 plus or minus QRM starting 1930 hrs

See Hear Promotion Week At Walthew House 29 September - 03 October A week long series of events to highlight sight and hearing loss. Come and join us for music, art, theatre performances, information and interactive activities. Our equipment open day is on Monday 29th September, with Ann Coffey and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant here to launch the event.

Get involved by entering our art competition - paint draw or create something with any medium, any size, as long as it's in keeping with our theme of either sight or hearing. All entries will be on display at Walthew House during See & Hear and there's a prize for adults and children. £1 per entry .

3

23cm 

GB3SE (Stoke on Trent)

Not Operational GB3MN, GB3VT, GB3MF All information provided above is sourced from www.ukfmgw.co.uk There is normally a yearly charge for using the repeaters.

If you use a repeater on a regular basis please support them by subscribing to them.

Individual £12.50 per year Family £20.00 per year

Stockport Radio Society - Morse Morse Code

Mike’s Morse Page Stockport Radio Society have a regular morse class at the start of every society meeting 7pm to 7.30pm run by our own ‘Tintwistle Tapper’ Mike Carter.

A

._

B

_...

C

_._.

Just for Fun - Morse Countdown (Conundrum supplied by Al G0ROW)

D

_..

Using the morse letters below, re re--arrange to solve the conundrum - a radio term

E

.

F

.._.

G

_ _.

H

….

I

..

J

._ _ _

K

_._

L

._..

M

__

N

_.

__.

._

___ _.

.__.

_

._.

. ..

Answer :

What is Morse Code?

Why did we use it, and why should we use it now?

O

___

Beginning in 1836, the American artist Samuel F. B. Morse, the American physicist Joseph Henry, and Alfred Vail developed an electrical telegraph system.

P

._ _ .

Q

_ _._

This system sent pulses of electric current along wires which controlled an electromagnet that was located at the receiving end of the telegraph system. A code was needed to transmit natural language using only these pulses, and the silence between them. Morse therefore developed the forerunner to modern International Morse code.

R

._.

S

...

T

_

U

.._

V

…_

W

._ _

X

_.._

Y

_._ _

Z

_ _..

1

._ _ _ _

2

.._ _ _

3

…_ _

4

…._

5

…..

6

_....

7

_ _...

8

_ _ _ ..

9

____.

0

_____

Remember the old western films where you had a telegraph office, a bloke sat at a table reading the clicks from a machine. Messages were sent in this fashion, for years until the telephone took over.

However, Morse code has been used for the main communications at sea for naval and merchant ships. An extremely reliable way of sending messages from A to B over the airwaves, it had a good commercial base for shipping and brought in high revenue to shipping companies, radio companies and shoreside communication companies.

We can still use it today - as a fail-safe way of communication, should satellites be destroyed, stop working or go out of orbit etc – as it can always be relied upon when modern technology fails.

Amateur radio is keeping the art going, but nowadays the speeds obtained in sending and receiving Morse have increased dramatically compared with years ago. It is a worthwhile skill to get involved in, and once the code is in your head, it stays there more or less, forever. Anyone can do it provided they knuckle down to it and practice receiving first.

When proficient at receiving, then go on to start learning to send it on a straight key.

It takes time but as time goes on, operators get better and better, with speed increasing as well. It took me well over a year to become proficient at 20 words per minute or over, and another six months to be proficient at 25 words per minute. You tend to be pretty good at this speed!!

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Stockport Radio Society - Propagation with Evan M0TJU Propagation and the HF Ladder

Avg. Spot No.

Trend

Jul-14

73

UP

Jun-14

71

down

May-14

75

down

Apr-14

85

down

Mar-14

92

down

Feb-14

103

UP

Jan-14

82

down

Dec-13

90

UP

Nov-13

78

down

Oct-13

86

UP

Sep-13

37

down

Aug-13

66

UP

Jul-13

57

UP

Jun-13

53

down

May-13

79

UP

Apr-13

72

UP

Mar-13

58

UP

Feb-13

38

down

Jan-13

63

UP

Dec-12

41

down

Nov-12

61

UP

Oct-12

53

down

Sep-12

62

down

Aug-12

63

down

Jul-12

67

UP

Jun-12

65

down

May-12

69

UP

Apr-12

55

UP

Mar-12

64

UP

Feb-12

33

down

Jan-12

58

down

Month

The substantial numbers of HF Ladder slots earned on the high shortwave bands in both this calendar year (so far) and the last was to be expected, given that the previous two years have seen elevated sunspot counts. (See the graph below.)

These numbers are consistent with the present stage of the Sun’s 11-year cycle: ‘Solar Maximum’, a time of high solar flare activity and – importantly for us – peak levels of the number of sunspots, around which skip-facilitating extreme ultraviolet radiation is produced. Unfortunately, the maximum of the current solar cycle (no.

24) has been feeble compared to peaks past, and widespread and consistent openings from Europe on 10m and 6m have been rare as a consequence. Most of the opportunities on these two bands have been presented by flighty sporadic-E propagation, which G0SYP and G3ZOD have done well to exploit.

Those lacking slots on the higher bands would be well-advised to make the most of the remainder of the sporadic-E season, which stretches from spring though summer and (if we’re lucky) into early autumn. They should also keep a close watch on the sunspot and solar flux counts, which influence the common (F-layer) skip, as these numbers can be very volatile. It’s a myth that the period at and around solar maximum means great propagation on the high bands day in, day out; sunspots have a tendency of accumulating unevenly across the Sun’s surface, so the levels of Earth-directed high-energy radiation that we need for skip will rise and fall – sometimes quite dramatically – over a 27-day solar-rotation period. Added to the brew can be high-speed solar particle streams and remnants of coronal mass ejections, both of which have been expectedly plentiful during the present solar maximum, and have often made life difficult on the high bands – even during times of high sunspot counts.

A lot of blah has been written recently about the so-so band conditions of late and the relative inadequacies of solar cycle 24. This is all true, but it misses the point; sunspot numbers over recent months have mostly been sufficiently high to facilitate even 28MHz propagation much of the time; the frequent bombardment of Earth’s magnetic field by fast particle streams from the Sun has generally been the guilty party when it comes to inactivity on the high bands and poor conditions, overall.

When we get a break in the deluge, watch how the maximum useable frequencies climb up over subsequent days, even when the sunspot numbers are uninspiring.

More rays and fewer bits are what we want from the Sun. Hopefully such happy coincidences are common in the run-up to 30 November.

2014 Average (Jan-Jul): 83

2013 Average (Jan-Dec): 65

2012 Average (Jan-Dec): 58

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Stockport Radio Society - Members Page

Members Profile - Harry Arnfield G3LX

Membership

7th January 1919 - 10th August 2014

You can become a member of Stockport Radio Society by completing a membership form and, either emailing it to treasurer@g8srs.co.uk or hand the form to the Treasurer at any Society Meeting.

It was very sad for the Society to hear that our President passed away on 10 August 2014. A eulogy is available either on the website or by email from srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk Harry has been the president of the society for more years than we, and he, cared to remember. Whilst relatively inactive from a radio point of view - and being well into his 90s - Harry continued to support the society and it’s activities albeit from afar. For many years, members had benefited from Harry’s wealth of knowledge regarding all things radio, as well as being entertained by stories of his times in the RAF and working for Hawker Siddeley at Woodford Aerodrome... thank you Harry.

Harry was a member of the RSGB and was entered in the ‘Old Timers’ Honor list in the February 2013 issue of Radcom for a continuous 77 years membership.

Payable Annually Dec 1st Senior

£12.00

Family

£12.00

Country

£ 7.00

Pensioner

£ 7.00

Junior

£ 1.00

Meeting Admission £ 2.00 per meeting or an annual meeting admission fee of £36.00 ’Guide to Membership’. A copy can be requested or can be downloaded from our website

Course Fees An article was given to me from Art G0EOM that was in a local paper many years ago. Here is a small piece out of the article (which is on our website) about Harry.

“Harry Arnfield from New Mills, has been a member of the society since the 1930’s and bought with him the Baird Mirror Drum Kit television he was building in 1935. At the time it cost him two weeks wages, but there was a present day portable radio transmitter kit which cost less than £100.

The Society originally met at Foresters Hall, Stockport on June 4, 1920 when 12 people attended. Then in 1921 Stockport Wireless Society, as it was known, was amongst a group of 61 radio societies who put forward a petition to the Postmaster General to be allowed to speak on the airwaves, which was until then illegal. The society is one of the few from that group that exists today.” Read the full article on Harry’s page on the website.

Foundation £45.00 - Based on a minimum of 4 students Intermediate £90.00 - Based on a minimum of 4 students Other costs : Kit from Kanga : £26.00 inc P&P Text Book RSGB : £6.99 plus P&P

Advanced £85.00 - Based on a minimum of 4 students

Prices correct at publication but maybe subject to change

Email courses@g8srs.co.uk to book or request further information.

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Stockport Radio Society - HF Ladder

HF Ladder (as at 26 August 2014)

Frequencies LF (Low Frequency)

By Band G0SYP* M0TJU G0ROW G3SHF GM4UYZ G3ZOD M5KJM M0DCG M1PTR MX5MDX

Slots 576 468 197 112 110 96 49 35 6 3

160m 7% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

80m 11% 7% 1% 4% 7% 1% 14% 3% 100% 100%

60m 0% 0% 3% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

40m 17% 16% 18% 22% 1% 4% 0% 46% 0% 0%

17m 11% 9% 23% 9% 1% 3% 4% 6% 0% 0%

15m 12% 18% 17% 13% 44% 33% 27% 3% 0% 0%

12m 10% 5% 7% 11% 0% 0% 10% 0% 0% 0%

10m 11% 11% 7% 8% 0% 11% 8% 0% 0% 0%

6m 6% 5% 2% 3% 0% 9% 0% 0% 0% 0%

WARC 29% 20% 30% 39% 1% 9% 14% 6% 0% 0%

Digi Total Mode Slots

By Mode

CW Phone

G0SYP*

537

39

0

576

M0TJU

262

33

173

468

G0ROW

0

197

0

197

G3SHF

112

0

0

112

GM4UYZ

46

35

29

110

G3ZOD

96

0

0

96

M5KJM

4

45

0

49

M0DCG M1PTR MX5MDX

29 0 3

6 6 0

0 0 0

35 6 3

1,089 361 66% 22%

30m 20m 8% 7% 6% 23% 0% 23% 20% 12% 0% 47% 6% 31% 0% 37% 0% 43% 0% 0% 0% 0%

4 or more % higher than the overall propotion 2-3% higher than the overall proportion

2000m : 135.7 - 137.8Khz

MF (Medium Frequency) 630m : 472 - 479Khz 160m : 1.81 - 2.0Mhz

HF (High Frequency) 80m : 3.5 - 3.8Mhz 60m : Consists of 11 spot frequencies check band plan 40m : 7.0 - 7.2Mhz 30m : 10.1 - 10.15Mhz 20m : 14 - 14.35Mhz 17m : 18.068 - 18.168Mhz

2-3% lower than the overall proporion

15m : 21 - 21.45Mhz 12m : 24.89 - 24.99Mhz

4 or more % lower than the overall proportion

10m : 28 - 29.7Mhz

Note for operating on 60m Only available to advanced licence holders and also requires a NOV from RSGB

202 1,652 12% 100%

* G0SYP's score includes the slots earned when operating as GM0SYP/P on Orkney. However, if a particular DXCC+band+mode combination had already been worked when operating under G0SYP, the working of the same DXCC+band_mode on Orkney has not been counted as an additional slot

VHF (Very High Frequency) 6m : 50 - 52Mhz 4m : 70 - 70.5Mhz 2m : 144.0 - 146.0Mhz

All the above information has been provided by Evan M0TJU If you would like any further information, please chat with Evan at a society meeting or via www.g8srs.co.uk

7

UHF

(Ultra High Frequency)

70cms : 430.0 - 440Mhz 23cms : 1240.0 - 325Mhz

Stockport Radio Society - Other Information / Contacts

Sponsors of QUAlite Stockport Radio Society would like to say a ‘big’ thanks to Danny from Manchester Office Supplies for his sponsorship of the print and finishing of QUAlite.

Next Course - Advanced The next Advanced examination takes place on 8 December. Examination starts at 7pm. These tutorials are planned for the last quarter of 2014, leading upto the schedule exam. This is aimed at students wishing for some support whilst studying at home for the exam. 5 tutorial evenings and the examination are included in the £85 fee.

Stockport Radio Society featured in Lift-Off Magazine Ed 2E0CFM is the Editor of the above magazine and has featured a piece in Lift-Off! magazine on SRS - see below. A big thank you goes out to Ed on behalf of the club www.llift-offmagazine.co.uk

Contact Details Stockport Radio Society Walthew House 112 Shaw Heath Stockport SK2 6QS 07506 904422

SRS Emails General Info@g8srs.co.uk Secretary secretary@g8srs.co.uk SRS Nets srsnets@g8srs.co.uk Website srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk Courses courses@g8srs.co.uk Clothing sweatshirt@g8srs.co.uk Contesting peakcontestgroup@gmail.com

Websites www.g8srs.co.uk www.g5o.co.uk

Social Media

Local Rallies 12 Oct 2014 - Hack Green Bunker Rally Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 8AL 26 Oct 2014 - 24th Great Northern Hamfest Barnsley Premier Leisure Complex, Queens Road, Barnsley S71 1AN 26 Oct 2014 - North Wales Rally Abergele Leisure Centre, Faenol Avenue, Abergele, Conwy LL22 7NT For details of rallies throughout the UK - website http://rsgb.org/mains/news/rallies

QUAlite is sponsored by Manchester Office Supplies 8

@G8SRS @Peak_Contest

StockportRadioSociety peakcontestgroup The Peak Contest Group is the ‘Contesting Arm of Stockport Radio Society’