QUA Welcome to Issue 33 - December 2020 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 informed opinion on all matters relating to - and about your hobby.
Your New President Nigel G0RXA
Chairman’s Corner Hello to All Stockport Radio Society members. Here we are at the end of an eventful year. Eventful in the way of the pandemic and not Radio. The only thing that could stop us from celebrating our Centenary Year. But it did not stop great articles being published in RADCOM and QRZ plus others Thank you to the writers and to Heather for your persistence in getting them published. Everything came to a halt in the way of outside events, contesting as a group and not forgetting all the club radio rallies. We as a club have tried our best to keep things going, albeit at a distance. April 2020 I joined Dave Wilson, RSGB EQM, to start the remote invigilation of the RSGB Foundation examination. You will have read in RADCOM how successful this has been. Cisco WebEx was the application that the RSGB started using. It worked well, and was easy to use, that I suggested we also use the same App for club meetings. This we have done, and I am pleased to say that our members are joining in to meetings and presentations. I know it is not like being face to face at Walthew, where groups could sit and have a brew and a natter, but it is a safe way under the circumstances and keeps all informed. Bernard G3SHF, Tom M0DCG and Nigel G0RXA are doing a sterling job with the Teatime Morse sessions. Due to their Morse sessions we have gained new members. The same thing with the regular nets. These have also attracted new members. A big thank you to all who have chaired the nets. A very warm welcome to those who have joined SRS during these unusual times. I hope that you are enjoying what we are offering; hopefully we will be able to return to Walthew House in 2021.
2
By now you will have seen the change to the SRS committee. Due to personal reasons Al, G0ROW, has resigned from all duties on the committee and also as an HA Trustee. Thank you Al for all you have done for the club both on and off the committee, and the help you have given me personally. You will still be seeing Al at club meetings and events. Welcome to our new President Nigel, G0RXA. Nigel is a long standing member, having been chairman for eighteen years before handing over the reins to me. He will be a great figure head for SRS. Welcome to Keith, 2E0JPY now M0JYP, who joins the committee in the role of Net Manager. Organising and overseeing all the nets of SRS. Due to Al’s resignation from the HA Trustees, we have two new appointments. Roy G6RSU will join the HA Trustees and Heather, M6HNS, will be taking on the role, as Secretary and Treasurer. (This is a none voting position). Please Stay Safe and Well. And remember to keep up-to-date with SRS via the social media and web site. All the very best for Xmas and the New Year. Let’s hope that 2021 brings good news, when we can all meet again face to face. 73 & 88 de Tony M0SAV Stockport Radio Society Chairman
3
DECEMBER SCHEDULE Date
Frequency
Time
Host
Tue 1 Dec
FM Satellite Operation
7.30pm
Nigel G0RXA
Mon 7 Dec
70cm - 433.525 +/-
7.30pm
Chris M7CJK
Tue 8 Dec
6m - 51.550 +/-
7.30pm
Keith M0JYP
Thur 10 Dec
2m - 145.375 +/-
7.30pm
Nigel 2E0CKA
Tue 15 Dec
C4FM Fusion - 144.950 +/ 7.30pm SRS AGM via Webex 7.30pm
Tues 22 Dec
2m - 145.375 +/-
Tue 29 Dec
Virtual Club Meeting 7.30pm Xmas New Year Special
Tony M0SAV
Wed 30 Dec
2m - 145.375 +/-
Nigel 2E0CKA
Mon 14 Dec
7.30pm
7.30pm
Alan G0ROW Tony M0SAV Roy G6RSU
If you know of anyone who may be interested in giving a talk or demonstration at SRS on one of our society nights, please let Evan know either at a society meeting or email: treasurer@g8srs.co.uk
4
JANUARY SCHEDULE Date
Frequency
Time
Host
Mon 4 Jan
70cm - 433.525 +/-
7.30pm
Chris M7CJK
Tue 5 Jan
Mesh Radio via Webex
7.30pm
Dave G2DS
Tue 12 Jan
6m - 51.550 +/-
7.30pm
Keith M0JYP
Thur 14 Jan
2m - 145.375 +/-
7.30pm
Nigel 2E0CKA
Mon 18 Jan
C4FM Fusion - 144.950 +/- 7.30pm
Alan G0ROW
Tues 19 Jan
Radio Night via Webex
7.30pm
Tony M0SAV
Thu 21 Jan
Committee Meeting via
7.30pm
Committee
Tue 26 Jan
Skills Night via Webex
7.30pm
Tony M0SAV
Wed 27 Jan
2m - 145.375 +/-
7.30pm
Nigel 2E0CKA
FEBRUARY SCHEDULE Date
Frequency
Time
Host
Mon 1 Feb
7.30pm
Chris M7CJK
Tue 2 Feb
70cm - 433.525 +/My Experience with IC7300
7.30pm
Evan M0TJU
Tue 9 Feb
6m - 51.550 +/-
7.30pm
Keith M0JYP
Thurs 11 Feb
2m - 145.375 +/-
7.30pm
Nigel 2E0CKA
Mon 15 Feb
C4FM Fusion - 144.950 +/- 7.30pm
Alan G0ROW
Tues 16 Feb
Radio Night via Webex
7.30pm
Tony M0SAV
Tue 23 Feb
Skills Night via Webex
7.30pm
Tony M0SAV
Wed 24 Feb
2m - 145.375 +/-
7.30pm
Nigel 2E0CKA
4pm daily
Bernard G3SHF / Tom M0DCG
Teatime Morse
CW Net - 3563-65 +/-
5
Thank You to the all our members. We hope that SRS had kept you busy during these trying times, and thank you for staying with SRS
QUA -
We need your news
QUA is compiled by Heather Stanley M6HNS. This magazine is your magazine, containing information about the club. We would welcome your input. Tell us about what you have been doing. Have you built something?, How is that new antenna doing? It does not have to be radio related. Does your XYL have a recipe that you love that you think we would like. How does your XYL feel about ‘Radio’ write a short article to let us know. Do you have an announcement to make - it can be anything - SRS is your radio family. Lets get you in the pages of QUA, please send your information to srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk or give Heather a call on 07506 904422
6
A Message from Alan G0ROW On his time as President of SRS I have been a member of Stockport Radio Society for many years now and joined the Committee in 2010. Its been a privilege to serve the members, getting involved in many projects, re-instating the club nets that are still running today and introducing the Double Sapphire Awards. I thought now, that the time was right, at the age of 79 to retire from my position on the Committee as well as HA Secretary and President of the Club - a position I have held, with pride, for the last 6 years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members for their support over the years. I will be staying as an active member, so I hope to see you all in 2021 when we hopefully will be able to meet up again.
7
The day a Ruslan called. For the Manchester aviation enthusiast 2020 has been a strange year with many resorting to watching interesting aircraft flying high overhead to distant airports rather than touching down on Ringway’s hallowed runways. Despite this, there has been the odd nugget stopping by to whet the spotters appetite which is reminiscent of long gone diversion days of the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s. Then, exotic aeroplanes from around the globe would descend on Ringway fleeing fog and other nasties at their intended destinations. So it was on a cold and bleak Mid November Tuesday afternoon that the radio burst into life, but where was that strange eastern European sounding voice coming from? A quick check of the online virtual radars revealed Antonov 124 registration RA-82079 diverting into Manchester by reason of fog at its intended destination, Frankfurt Hahn. What’s special about the Antonov 124 then. The aircraft, nicknamed “Ruslan” by the Russians and “Condor” by NATO was designed and developed back in the 70’s & 80’s for the Russian Military for troop and heavy equipment transport. Until the Boeing 747-8 series came on the market it was the heaviest in production cargo plane behind the AN225 “Mriya” which is another story. Since the fall of the Soviet Union the aircraft, with it’s crew of six plus two loadmasters, has continued to ply it’s trade around the world with a number of operators, mostly Russian & Ukranian transporting heavy equipment. Cargos range from such items as parts for space vehicles, aero engines, power generators and even railway carriages. The list is endless. Whilst not a stranger to Manchester, the Ruslan is by no means a regular visitor so when one arrives whether in daylight or darkness it tends to turn heads just like some more well known aeroplanes such as Concorde or “Queen of the Skies” Boeing 747 have done in years gone by.
8
Back to our aeroplane then which is one of 12 owned and operated by Russian based cargo airline Volga-Dnepr. The flight, numbered VDA 4015 had left Gander in Newfoundland shortly after 10.00 UTC that morning for the nearly 5.5 hours journey to Germany. However, on arrival and with Hahn fogbound the crew decided to divert and Manchester Ringway was chosen, arriving shortly before 5pm local time. Appearing out of the gloom it’s array of headlights lit up the sky and brought some joy to the spotters in the area who were able to view this Goliath of an aeroplane from their garden or more likely, bedroom window. Photographs started to appear around the usual social media platforms with questions added such as “Why Manchester?” and “What cargo was it carrying?”. Only the second question has been answered so far! Safely parked up on stand Ruslan enjoyed the Manchester sun for two days before eventually leaving for the relatively short hour and twenty minute trip back to Hahn. Taking off from Ringway’s runway 23R on a bright Thursday lunchtime Ruslan was clearly visible, and audible to many as it flew across Manchester and out over the Pennines to the continent of Europe. Another piece of Ringway history had been made. Ruslan’s unexpected two day visit to Manchester has seen many pictures taken which will appear in publications, on websites and other aviation related platforms to go with those recording other special days in the airport’s history. Who knows what the next event will be, but be sure, there will be one and probably when least expected. Oh, and what was the cargo? Fresh Air. It was an empty positioning flight originating in Houston Texas on the 7 November. Thank you to my friend and former colleague Enda Burke who has given permission for his photographs taken during the departure of Antonov AN124 RA-82079 on Thursday 12 November 2020 on it’s return journey to Frankfurt Hahn, Germany. Nigel Roscoe G0RXA 15th November 2020 9
Morse Code
Morse Code
Phonetic Alphabet
1
._ _ _ _
A
._
A
Alpha
2
.._ _ _
B
_...
B
Bravo
3
..._ _
C
_._.
4
…._
D
_..
C
Charlie
5
…..
E
.
D
Delta
6
_....
F
.._.
E
Echo
7
_ _...
G
_ _.
F
Foxtrot
8
_ _ _..
H
….
G
Golf
9
____.
I
..
H
Hotel
0
_____
J
._ _ _
I
India
K
_._
J
Juliet
Our Morse
L
._..
classes run
M
__
K
Kilo
on each club
N
_.
L
Lima
night from
O
___
M
Mike
7.00 to 7.30
P
._ _ .
N
November
pm.
Q
_ _._
O
Oscar
R
._.
P
Papa
Come and
S
…
Q
Quebec
speak to Evan
T
_
R
Romeo
M0TJU if you
U
.._
would like to
V
…_
S
Sierra
give this part
W
._ _
T
Tango
of the hobby
X
_.._
U
Uniform
a try.
Y
_._ _
V
Victor
Z
_ _..
W
Whiskey
X
X-Ray
Y
Yankee
Z
Zulu
10
Teatime Morse with Bernard & Tom December 2020 Hello everyone, the end of a strange year is approaching and I’m quite sure looking back twelve months we wouldn’t have believed we’d be talking about lockdowns, face masks and social distancing. All relative new influences on our activities but ones which have had such a devastating effect on everyone's lives and general well being. But out of all this mayhem it's been good to see, and hear, the initiative developed by Tom and Bernard growing into a regular feature on the society calendar and has seen a number of new members attracted to us as a result. The daily 80 Metre nets continue to provide many operators with the opportunity to learn and improve their morse code skills. How many have benefitted we’ll probably never know, but with the steady flow of emails to the dedicated address and operators calling in at the end of the sessions it is clear the nets are enjoyed by many. One such operator is Simon M0AAV who took the trouble to email……. Hello Bernard and Tom, I heard your stations for the first time today at 16:00hrs on 3.564.18MHz! My QTH is north west London in an area with much QRM. Notwithstanding the QRM constantly at S9, your signals came through very clearly with only occasional fading. A fellow radio ham, who lives in Wembley, London, told me about the Stockport Radio Society and the Teatime Morse. I would love to know what speeds you were sending at? I could read whole words / sentences at the slower speed but at the higher speed, which was too fast for me to write down, I could read the odd letters. I searched the Stockport Radio Society website but could not find details of your sessions or the recordings. I was really amazed to hear such a clear signal from the North West in the afternoon on 80M! I would love to love to know what antennas you were using and what power you were running. Continued on next page 11
By way of background, I am 70 years old and one of my lifetime ambitions was to get my amateur radio licence when I retired, which I achieved in 2016. My other ambition was to master CW I suppose a driving factor was that my dad was a radio operator in the Western Desert during the war and even 30 years on could still read CW. Unfortunately, this is still an ongoing mission and that was why I was so pleased to hear your QRS this afternoon because I find it quite difficult to find stations sending readable QRS. My radio is an FT – 450D and my antenna is a 25.6M W3EDP end-fed antenna wrapped around my small garden. Thank you for keeping CW alive and for the afternoon session as it is not possible for me to listen to other QRS stations that are listed on the RSGB website which mainly operate in the evenings. Kind regards, Simon M0AAV As you can see, Simon is not a local lad but notwithstanding the distance has since joined the society swelling our numbers even more during this period of uncertainty. Welcome Simon and I hope to hear from you on the net soon. On his recent trip to North Wales before their “circuit breaker” kicked in, our resident Aussie, Evan joined us as MW0TJU operating portable from various spots around Caernarfon and the Lleyn Peninsula. Despite the difficulties experienced on 80 Metres in the late afternoon, Evan was generally a good signal from his various operating spots. A daily competition ensued between us wondering where Evan would surface each day. Such locations as Caernarfon Airport, Porthmadoc and Pwllheli were on the menu. In our September edition, regular net participant David M0WDD put into words his journey into the world of Morse Code. David has been and still is a regular participant in the net virtually from the outset and those listening will have heard how he has progressed since those early days. I am sure there are many more out there following a similar journey. Well, I’m pleased to say David has put pen to paper again to further document his passion for learning and developing his techniques. So, sit back, pour yourself a coffee or may be something stronger and enjoy David’s further adventures with Morse Code. 12
My further experiences of the SRS afternoon CW net 3564 KHz by David M0WDD My five golden rules of learning CW This is an update of my CW adventures since joining the great SRS afternoon CW net about seven months ago. In that time, I have discovered five golden rules about learning CW. Of course, CW operators already know these rules and many more. I just learn them the hard way.
To start, I will recap what I see as the benefits of the SRS CW net, how it is organised, and what I have gained from the net. Then I will mention some of the CW learning materials I use to practice CW copying. My five golden rules of learning CW summarise my experiences as I continue to learn CW. What are benefits of SRS’s afternoon CW net? Just to recap, why might you join this excellent net? Well you might be starting to learn CW, trying to start, or wanting to brush up your CW skills. Like me, you may have tried learning CW several times before or even given up. I know everyone is welcome. I found many benefits of joining the CW net, from daily practice, copy practice at different speeds, a live QSO with Ben at any speed you like, and encouragement and feedback. Should you enquire further and contact the net team, you will be welcome I think. It is great to see new members joining SRS, and some who may want to develop their CW skills. For example, SRS has been very pleased to welcome Simon M0AAV based in Northwood, Middlesex, who is keen to build on his CW skills. The 80m net may be difficult for Simon to join due to the distance, but the CW net team are assisting Simon by email with guidance on learning materials, practice exercises, and signposting to the net MP3 audio files on the SRS website. I look forward to having a CW QSO with Simon when the time is right. How the CW net is organised The afternoon net is organised by Ben G3SHF, and helped by Tom M0DCG and Nigel G0RXA. This takes place at 4pm every afternoon, currently on 3564 Khz. Nigel and Heather M6HNS record and upload the WAV audio files to the SRS website daily. This CW net teamwork reflects the spirit and values of this club in supporting new and existing members I think. I myself have received great support from Ben, Tom and Nigel, and from Chris 2E0KJC and Keith 2E0JPY who were fellow students when I first joined. 13
What I learned on the CW net Right from my first net, I learned basic CW QSO structures from listening to exchanges between Ben and Tom, and I practised this in my own QSOs in the net. This basic QSO consists of exchange of callsigns, signal reports, names, and station locations. Since joining the net, I have had many on air QSOs like this. As my CW confidence increased, I have learned also to include rig, power, antenna and weather details for a fuller QSO. Now I have my own on air QSOs with either version. Sometimes I have a QSO with an op with whom I have already had the basic or full QSO exchange. Then it can get more interesting. We then have a short conversation in CW. Boy oh boy that is stressful! I frantically write down what I plan to send, whilst also trying to write down the gist of what the op is sending to me. For future such ragchews, I’ve written down lots of words and short phrases I can glance at when I need to send CW outside my standard QSO scripts. It seems surreal trying to write down both sides of a CW QSO but it works for me. As well as my daily CW net participation, I also have a daily practice session using different CW learning materials. I tend to go on air for live QSOs in the evening. The next day is the same regular routine, but I do duck out Sundays for family time. So what are my five golden rules of learning CW? I will start with the first.
Golden Rule One: Just about anyone can learn CW. I have discovered you do not need a special brain, or special aptitudes to learn CW. I know ops who are gifted with music or language abilities who have learned CW, and found these gifts very helpful. I also know ops with no such special gifts, who have mastered CW. I can see some such gifts can be helpful, but are not a requirement.
14
I suppose the gift you really need is dogged determination. For me this has meant keeping trying, making many mistakes, nearly giving up and wondering if you are making any progress. Then sometimes you discover you can copy some more CW today compared to yesterday. For me that makes it worthwhile. None of us is born with CW skills, as far as I know, so we must learn it. Golden Rule Two: The aim in learning CW is Instant Character Recognition (ICR). This aim for Instant Character Recognition is at the very heart of learning CW. It is tough to achieve though. Put it another way, listening to CW, you need to learn to recognise every CW character from the sound pattern, in the space between each character. Of course it is a tall order, but please remember golden rule one, just about anyone can do it. The difficult part is to find the most effective way to learn CW to achieve this. Everyone learns differently. So how do you achieve ICR? The aim is to get your brain to learn the CW sound patterns by listening to them so they become second nature. It is all in the listening and letting your brain do its work of memorising in such a way that the memorised sound patterns become part of the subconscious. This just means that when you hear a particular sound pattern, you instantly know the character WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT. Easier said than done as I say. So the real trick is to find the right way to learn CW that works for you to achieve ICR. Then you can practice in the most effective way. Golden Rule Three: Learn characters in CW fast with slow word spacing. I do appreciate that Ops wiser than me may disagree about learning CW characters at a relatively fast wpm rate. I have only ever learned CW at a character speed of 20wpm or so, on my CW Ops Level 1 course. The was all about learning the CW sounds of individual letters, numbers, grammar symbols and special character combinations called prosigns, at 20wpm character speed. There was no hiding from this. We memorised each character sound pattern of dits and dahs. We practised listening to these sound patterns and writing down recognised characters. Later we progressed to short words with characters still at 20wpm but with larger gaps between short words at say around 10wpm. This was written as 20/10wpm. This progressed to reduced gaps between words with the same character rate. So we progressed to learning short words at 20/15wpm, then 20/20wpm and so on. 15
Continued on next page ...
So my early CW learning experience was about first memorising all the characters audio sound patterns, and then listening to CW sound patterns such as characters and short words. We listened to recognise the characters from the patterns, and not to count individual dots and dahs. Since joining the CW net, I have learned to listen to and write down streams of words in CW running up to around 15 wpm. I have also learned to send up to the same speed with my paddle. And have really appreciated the chance in the net to send and copy CW in the same timescale. This then meant that I could have real QSOs in the net right from the start. Excellent. Golden Rule Four: Daily practice I do try for daily CW listening and sending practice. I’ve summarised here my current CW practice sources. I do find my brain gets stale practicing from any one source for any length of time. This is not deliberate, as it is just me. So I regularly switch to keep my brain active, and I enjoy finding out about different CW learning resources. Someone recently said to me that this is a golden age for learning CW. This seems so true. There are so many websites, online courses, apps, downloadable practice files, Facebook groups, discussion forums and much more available. The hard part is to find what source or combination of sources works for you. I can tell you here what has worked for me. ARRL website Code Practice MP3 files. Early in my CW learning, I realised I needed to learn to copy CW as a stream of words, and not just one word at a time. This website is full of text pieces, which suits me just fine. The ARRL site has very many MP3 audio CW files at just about any speed you want. I can play any file at any speed without repeating the same file, so there is no possibility of accidentally learning the content copy. This is truly a great website. www.arrl.org CW Ops Basic Course; CW Ops training courses are online, and all training materials are also freely available for downloading, so as an alternative you can work through the courses directly yourself. CW Ops courses run in conjunction with the Morsecode World website mentioned next. I preferred the self-study option for the next course after CW Ops Level1, which is CW Ops Basic, as I did not have the confidence of progressing with CW copying of more than one word at a time. www.morsecode.world 16
Morsecode.world website Morsecode World website supports CW Ops training courses with exercises and practice files. You can also pick and mix the various features to organise your own learning. For example, you could focus on numbers, or words, or short phrases. There is lots of configuration available including setting practice material to speak in addition to playing CW audio. Again a truly great website. Morsecode.ninja website Definitely worth looking at, and again a vast amount of CW training exercises from a structured CW training programme, to CW exercises in words, phrases, sentences and much more. CW exercises play as You Tube videos. All the CW exercises are freely downloadable as text files. I like the fact that practice files also speak, and again there is a wide choice of CW practice speeds. What another truly great website this is. G4FON and Just Learn Morse Code training software applications. These are traditional Windows applications and I think both are excellent. Each has a host of built in CW, text, numbers, prosigns, words and short phrases to play at many different speeds CW copy practice. All their practice exercises are freely available, and you can play your own text files as CW in these applications. So both are truly great applications. Golden Rule: 5: practice listening faster than you can copy This is not as ridiculous as it may sounds. This technique is used to trick the brain into trying to learn CW at a faster speed that you are currently comfortable with, and then to drop back the CW slightly, but still higher than the speed you were comfortable with. This is a technique used to get CW copy speeds over speed barriers frequently encountered. So to push myself past the 15wpm barrier I think I am now at, I will be practicing CW copying at 20wpm. I wonder if this will work. My future CW Learning Well the CW learning never stops. I have joined FISTS CW club, and plan to spend some time learning more about this great club. I also plan to continue in the great SRS CW net as long as I can, work on my Head Copy skills. I am also plucking up the courage to apply for a place on a CW Ops Level 2 online course. So lots of CW to keep me going. I also want to consolidate and build on my Instant Character Recognition (ICR) skills. I just saw mention in a CW Facebook group the other day, mention of Instant Word Recognition (IWR). That cannot be right! - David M0WDD 17
Thank you David. We will join David again next time to follow his ongoing journey and perhaps pick up some more tips he has gained along the way. So, just a reminder the “Teatime Morse with Bernard & Tom” net takes place daily on 80 Metres with each session being recorded and the text circulated around the society’s mailing list as soon as possible after the event. Time is left at the end of each session for anyone to join and exchange a short QSO with Bernard and Tom. Comments and signal reports are very welcome either on air, via email to the dedicated address or a message can be left using the society’s dedicated phone line.
18
If you find it difficult to hear the net due to conditions at the time then may I point you to the Jodrell Bank WebSDR maintained by G0XBU. This is an excellent facility where each regular member of the net can usually be heard. The WebSDR also provides a recording facility so if you wish to record the net from a different perspective to our own recordings then this is available.
Finally, just a reminder to visit our dedicated webpage which contains some useful information including abbreviations and Q Codes commonly used by CW operators. The link can be found below. Teatime Morse with Bernard & Tom
Time: 4pm local time Frequency: 3.564 MHz +/- QRM Regular operators: G3SHF, M0DCG, M0WDD, 2E0KJC, G0RXA, M0TJU & M6MPC. Email: morse@g8srs.co.uk SRS info phone: 07506 904422 WAV files from all sessions: https://www.g8srs.co.uk/cw-net-wav-files SRS Morse page: https://www.g8srs.co.uk/cw-nets-during-covid-19 RSGB Morse Code pages: https://rsgb.org/main/operating/morse/ Jodrell Bank WebSDR: http://www.g0xbu.co.uk/websdr.html
So, until next time. 73’s es gud dx de Nigel G0RXA ar sk ee
19
Short-Haul HF - Evan M0TJU One of the common questions that you hear from the general public about amateur radio is: “How far can you get?” And, sure, the ability to make QSOs with distant and rare countries – the ‘DX’ – is what can mark out a great HF operator from an average one. However, working stations not too far away can also be challenging, especially when using the higher shortwave bands. You may wonder what is the point of being able to contact stations relatively close by – which I define as less than 500km from your QTH. For one, if you are a contester or award chaser, there are plenty of stations and geographic entities to work within even such a small radius from Greater Manchester; working Northern Ireland, say, on 15 metres (21MHz) may be as critical as reaching Thailand on the same band. For UK-based participants in contests such as the PACC or the UBA, in which QSOs can only be made with the Dutch and Belgians, respectively, ‘short-haul’ HF skills are essential. The ability to facilitate close-in HF is also essential for emergency communications. HF is not limited by the ‘line-of-sight’ characteristic of VHF/UHF, where hilly ground can severely restrict the range of operation. For example, a communication centre may be only 10km from a disaster scene, but a tall mountain lying in between will preclude the use of, say, 144MHz. With the ability of skyward directed signals to be subsequently reflected (really, refracted) by the ionosphere back down to earth downrange from the transmitter site, HF signals need not be impeded by such obstacles. In order for the reflected signal to reach land a short distance from the sender’s location, the wave needs to be directed almost straight up (as shown by ray 3 in the figure below). Hence, the name of this operating technique is called near vertical incidence skywave (‘NVIS’) propagation, and has been used for short-range military communications in addition to emergency response.
20
What makes short-range HF challenging is that the ionosphere has to do more ‘work’ in order to redirect an almost vertically travelling wave back down to earth at a point not far from the transmitter site. Think of it like a stone being thrown almost straight down into a pool of water compared to one that strikes the water at shallow angle. Which stone do you expect to skim – to ‘skip?’ It is the latter, of course, and, like it’s easier to skim a rock 25 metres instead of five, so it can be that sending HF signals to Berlin can be easier than getting them to Belfast. Ionospheric refraction of high-angle rays, typically, can only be done when the signals are of lowish frequencies, which are the most easily ‘bent.’ At this point in the solar cycle (just past the minimum) and from the UK’s temperate latitudes, 5MHz (60m) and 3.5MHz (80m) tend to be the respective daytime and night time amateur bands for short-distance contacts. Similarly, when listening to Shanwick HF air traffic control, which covers North Atlantic airspace east of Greenland, don’t be surprised to see that the frequencies being used are the likes of 5.583 and 5.598MHz in daylight hours, dropping to 2.872 and 2.944MHz after dark. Should frequencies be too high, the signals will refract too little and, instead of being directed earthward, simply carry on into space (as shown by rays 4 and 5 in the diagram above). Although the lower bands on HF will consistently facilitate NVIS-style contacts, there may be occasions when you will want to make QSOs with nearby entities on the higher portion of the HF spectrum (i.e. 14 through to 28MHz). Occasionally, the ionosphere will smile upon you, and the maximum useable frequency for a given distance will dramatically increase. Sporadic E propagation (an enhancement of the ionosphere’s E layer) is one means by which this occurs, especially during its peak late-spring and summer months. Also potentially available is ‘back scatter,’ whereby signals from a relatively nearby station are reflected backwards towards the receiver, either upon interaction with the ionosphere or following their impact with the earth’s surface. Detecting the ‘short skip’ – that’s hamspeak for ionospheric conditions that facilitate contacts between close stations on the higher HF bands – can be done with computer aids or the old fashioned way: listening. Internet applications like the Reverse Beacon Network and the various online ‘clusters’ can assist by informing you of the respective locations of the two parties of any ‘spotted’ (i.e. reported) QSO. So, if a North Wales operator posts on a cluster that he/she has just worked a Northern Ireland station on 18MHz, then there’s a good chance that someone with a Manchester QTH will be able to make an NI contact on 17 metres, too. Sometimes it pays to simply spin the VFO and listen, taking note of who is talking to who – or calling CQ. All up, while working the DX will likely get you accolades and awards, keep in mind that HF communication with those not far away from us can also provide myriad operating challenges and, potentially, many opportunities.
21
Some of our M Nigel 2E0CKA
Neil M6NAE
Phil M0HNJ
22
Members Shacks Chris 2E0KJC
Bernard G3SHF
Paddy 2E0TWD
Bob GM4UYZ
Nigel G0RXA
RonM7RJL
23
My Brief Journey of about 50 Years in Amateur Radio - Kieron G8RIC, M5KJM and EI6KP As a teenager in the late 60’s, a Christmas present of a Phillips Electronics’ kit plus hearing amateurs on a valve set peaked my interest in electronics and radio. I also came across a copy of Short Wave Magazine on Euston Station which I read avidly on the journey home from London. Manchester and District ARS, G3HOX, based in Newton Heath at that time, were mentioned in the magazine and I became a member. I subsequently bought the club’s HRO receiver and became an active HF SWL throughout the years, first as A7317 and then BRS 36962 using a long wire supported by a bamboo pole from the inside of a carpet roll. I was fascinated by hearing the stations from far off places. I also built a one valve TRF kit that was always advertised in SWL magazine and used to send off SWL reports to the VOA, Radio Moscow, Radio Tirana and Vatican Radio etc. I might still have their QSL cards somewhere. I eventually bought a Yaesu FR5B receiver which was my main receiver for quite some time. After 5 years at university, studying nothing related to radio, I graduated in 1978 and in my final year also studied and took the RAE at Oldham Tech in the evening and received the class “B” license of G8RIC limited to VHF. I bought a Yaesu FT90 (?) 2m FM transceiver; though I must admit 2m FM didn’t excite me as much as the HF bands. I bought the G3HSC LP’s to learn CW to get me up to the 12 wpm required then for a class “A” license to get on the HF bands. I still have the LP’s; you play them at 33, 45 or 78 rpm to increase your speed. Unfortunately, I never managed to get up to the required 12 wpm. 24
Family life limited my radio for quite some time, until about the year 2000, the RSGB sent a copy of RadCom and in it was an announcement of a new license class for class B license holders to gain access to the HF bands by passing a 5 wpm CW exam. From my previous experience of the LP’s plus the requirement of having to know Morse code at 8 wpm for my PPL IMC rating off I went to RSGB HQ at Potters Bar where after passing the test I received the call sign M5KJM which I hold to this day. To date, I have 263 DXCC’s confirmed. My first HF station was in my garage, an FT920 with a G5RV antenna, eventually moving on to a Comet 422 with a rotator and worked many DX stations on 100w SSB including EM1HO in Antarctica and ZL4IR. My current setup is an FTDX5000 with a Quadra linear amplifier and a Hexbeam with the 40m add on at 8m. I also started participating in contests as a way of contacting rarer DX. In the IOTA contest in 2009, the first station I worked was G5O. I think we both exchanged serial numbers of 001. A few days later, I received an email from Bernard, G3SHF, asking if I would be interesting in joining the contest group, G5O now the SRS Contest Group. The setup we have at Common Barn Farm has given me greater access to the HF bands and DX, along with the camaraderie that goes with it. Building the station for the various contests in the UK, plus planning and competing in IOTA on Aranmore Island, Co Donegal, is as enjoyable as the contest itself. Continued on next page with same rare/old photos
25
My Brief Journey of about 50 Years in Amateur Radio - Kieron G8RIC, M5KJM and EI6KP Continued Of late, Pete M1PTR, Tom M0DCG and I have done some mini Dxpeditions which are great fun and would recommend to all members of SRS to try going /P. This year, until Covid, we were planning to go to Tory Island, Co Donegal. It’s only on hold.
26
The photographs show Henry, G3GB, one of my “Elmer’s”. If anyone has a very old call book, I’d love to know his surname. A copy of a blank QSL card from my days as A7317, a QSL card from a rare DX station plus both sides of a card from WB2QDF plus my current station in the attic conversion at home. My RAE pass certificate is also shown. 73 Kieron, G8RIC, M5KJM and EI6KP 27
A radio is only as good as the Antenna Used Keith M0JYP Hi all I have been an Icom fan for quite some time now having used the IC7300 for a couple of years always found it a great Hf radio however living in an urban area with a small garden my antenna choices are somewhat limited. I had a multi band vertical radial free which I could make some contacts into Europe but a very noisy antenna to say the least. I then went down the road of an aerial 51 asymmetrical multi band wire inverted V dipole which I mounted on a 10 metre push up fibreglass pole which worked so much better but when the wind exceeded 15-20 mph it had to come down so I was not on the air much in bad weather. I then came across a pros.sis.tel. PST 1524TV which is a multi band V solid trapped dipole for 40 20 15 and 10m this is an Italian made antenna currently stocked by Lamco,
I decided to bite the bullet and ordered one it arrived well packaged and seemed a quality antenna. I then realised I needed a 1.1 balun so ordered one which added to the cost and started to assemble it. The instructions say to mount at least 5m above ground on a mast so with the great help of my mate Chris 2E0KJC (thanks Chris) we spent a morning taking the vertical down and mounting this in its place. Its a bit of a beast with each leg 6m in length we pointed one leg north and one south over the roof so it does not look too obtrusive so in theory the best radiation is East to West after some adjustments to the length of the legs a good SWR was achieved on the four bands using an MFJ auto tuner. 28
Then tried to make some contacts with my meagre fifty watts first thing noticed less noise and lots of stations never heard before first contact Asiatic Russia 599 plus and since then have worked all over Europe America Canada Caribbean on fifty watts always getting good reports. That then wetted my appetite to upgrade my radio to an Icom IC7610 which is fantastic, quieter on receive dual VFO and many more features over the 7300.
Club Nets - New Net Manager - Keith M0YJP It has been decided, that the following callsigns may be used by any full licence holder chairing the nets - G8SRS, G6UQ, G3LX, M5MDX on the following nets - 2m net, 6m net, 70cm net and C4FM Fusion Digital Net
Net Controllers If you have the equipment and would like to try and chair a net, please contact Keith 2E0JPY who will happily help you. If you would like to try a net with a current net controller with you, again speak to Keith M0JYP
The current Net Controllers are: Alan G0ROW Neil M6NAE Keith M0YJP Jim 2E0URD
Tony M0SAV, Heather M6HNS Slawek M0SQJ Chris 2E0KJC
Nigel 2E0CKA Nigel M0VNL Bob M0CPP Roy G6RSU
A list of all our nets, times and frequencies is available on the website 29
Centenary Merchandise As part of our Centenary we had some merchandise done, but due to no events, have not been able to see if our members would like to purchase any of the items below The Keyrings at £2.00 each and the badges £1.00 (plus postage and packaging should you wish them to be sent to you at £1.50 If you would like either or both, please contact Heth M6HNS (m6hns@btinternet.com), and we can arrange for these to be sent to you. Payment can be made via bank transfer or in person (social
distancing rules apply).
Important Announcement about the HF Ladder The competition deadline is 23:59 31 December 2020. In January there will be awards for the lead score in each mode with the G3VOU trophy for the overall winner.
30
You can become a member of Stockport Radio Society by completing a membership form and, either emailing it to membership@g8srs.co.uk or handing the form to the Membership Secretary, Nigel 2E0CKA, at any Society meeting.
Subs Payable Annually on January 1 each year Senior Country Junior
£15.00 £10.00 £ 5.00
Family Pensioner
Juniors upto 18 yrs of age Pensioner from 65 yrs of age.
£15.00 £10.00
Senior upto 64 yrs of age
If you are interested in paying your subs by standing order, please contact the Treasurer on treasurer@g8srs.co.uk
Meeting Admission - £2.00 per meeting.
Contact Emails General Treasurer Website / QUA Membership Courses Contesting -
- info@g8srs.co.uk treasurer@g8srs.co.uk - srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk membership@g8srs.co.uk courses@g8srs.co.uk contesting@g8srs.co.uk
Website -
www.g8srs.co.uk
SRS Contest Group is the ‘Contesting Arm of Stockport Radio Society’ 31
HOW DID I BECOME A RADIO AMATEUR? I wrote this article a few years ago for our Cockenzie & Port Seton ARC monthly newsletter and it is my story on how I became a radio amateur I am sure we all have different tales to tell. It is a fair question and certainly the answer will vary with everyone. My story starts when I was eleven years old when I moved from Prestonpans to Dunbar due to my father taking up employment at the then new Blue Circle cement factory. On starting at a new school my close friends or most of them turned out to be sons on the local fishermen. To this end I started spending a huge amount of time at the harbour and around fishing boats and getting involved with various aspects of the industry. My closest friend’s father actually owned his own boat so when they came in each evening I used to help out gutting fish, helping with other chores, so from these activities I started going out on the boat during my school holidays. In the early days I was not what I would class as being a good sailor but eventually got used to it. Whilst the boat was trawling, 3 hours at a time, and the decks were all cleared then I spent many an hour listening to the MF radio on the boat. In these days, 1962 onwards, all the radios were MF with the distress frequency being 2182 KHz and the frequencies used by the fishermen were not that far from 1.8MHz or Top Band, as we know it. I became absolutely fascinated on how the reception changed between day and night so it made me start to ask questions but alas fishermen were not the real people to ask as they just said, “well that’s how it was”. I must also add that listening to fishermen on the air is not for the faint hearted, a good “bleeper” is essential plus their operating practices are something to be desired. At this time, my heart was set in becoming a full-time fisherman when I left school until one day, I was standing at the lifeboat shed and I got talking to an old retired fisherman. I told him about wanting to go to sea and he said, “well forget the fishing industry but why not try the Merchant Navy, you are interested in radios so why not go as a Marine Radio Operator”. This certainly got me interested and when I was at school I went and approached my careers teacher to find out all about it. I must give him credit as he found lots of information for me, told me what examinations that I needed to pass to get into college and over the next few school years certainly helped me enormously achieve that aim.
32
I left school at 16 and obtained a place at the local college, Leith Nautical where I spent two years studying for my PMG (Postmasters General Certificate). Sadly, I never obtained my PMG or went to sea but that is another story. Suffice to say that 40 people sat their PMG that year and only 1 passed and he was a re-sit. Looking back now I know a lot was due to the size of class and the way we were taught, but that is history now. Certainly, one of the advantages of the course was that it was very much in line with the City & Guilds Telecommunications Course so by the time that I left the college I had up to my third year certificates. I also studied and obtained my Board of Trade Radar certificate and I must admit I really enjoyed that course. The instructor certainly was superb and taught the way that I like --- theory then practical to drive the topic home. During my practical exam I even got a natural intermittent fault on the radar, which I managed to fix, I really was pleased with that. Another advantage of the course was that I learnt my CW then and I was comfortable at 20 WPM, so I never needed to study CW again. It is so strange but I could have become an amateur then as they did run classes in the evening but I was told that I had to attend them and I couldn’t sit the exam if I didn’t. I never took this up as it meant by the time, I would have finished I would not have got home until about midnight. In later years I found out what I had been told was absolute lies and I could have sat the exam as I had studied all the material through the day as part of my PMG course. Maybe it was never meant to work out like that. On leaving college at 18 I managed to get employment as a computer engineer with a company called ICL, now Fujitsu and I am now retired after working for them just short of 47 years. I then got married and we had a family and eventually moved to Port Seton. My radio thoughts were always there as I often wondered what it would have been like to have gone to sea as a radio operator. Then in 1981 my dad said to me “I have been given this radio, what is it, and do you want it as I have no interest in radio?” It turned out it was a CB. Intrigued I wondered what I could hear so I went and got all the necessary bits and pieces and went on the air. Radio was now back with a vengeance. I like many others eventually got fed up with what was happening on CB and my thoughts went back to Amateur Radio. I enquired at the Leith Nautical College to see if they were still running courses; the answer was yes so, I enrolled. I then studied for the RAE sitting my exam in May 1983 followed by my CW in the August before finally getting my callsign GM4UYZ in the October 1983. I have loved every minute of being an amateur and I feel that I have also put a huge amount back also in the hobby. There is something for everyone but to me the main challenge is the ability to try and communicate and see how far I can go. Well that is my story so what is yours - Bob GM4UYZ
33
Review of the DV-mega stick 30 - Neil M6NAE I am always looking for products that other amateur radio operators can use without the need for antennas.
If you live in a flat or a house with limited space in the garden, or you are just starting out in the hobby and not sure which bands or modes you would like to try. I decided to buy the dv-mega 30 stick. Which is an ambe 3000 dongle. It will allow you to connect to the Yaesu C4FMdigital network and the DMR network aswell as the D-star network and also APRS as well as dg-id links on c4fm on the Europe link chat. This dongle will act as your very own hotspot as you can connect to various links around the world. All you need is pc. the internet and a Skype headset or pc microphone and you are up and running. I have included some pictures of the really easy setup instructions. Once you have downloaded the blue DV program to your pc. I now have been using the dongle now for over 1 week and made numerous contacts around the world. The cost of the mega stick 30 was £89.95p + £5.95p from Martin Lynch and Sons and was delivered by next day delivery. On setting up the dongle. I had an issue on DMR. The program default DMR password is passw1rd and now Brandmeister have decided that you must register with your details this can take upto 24hrs. I did and got a reply within hours with some instructions.
To access DMR I had to log in to Brandmeister and change the passw1rd to my very own made up password of my choice once this was done and saved I was up and running on the DMR network. I was informed by Brandmeister that my own password was needed to stop pirate operates using my callsign. In early 2021 the Brandmeister network will be for licenced amateurs only as they will be asking for a copy of your radio licence. This is to stop the abuse on DMR which I fully support. On the next page is what you can access from the mega stick 30. 34
From the blue DV pc program. D-STAR DMR C4FM
REF, DCS.XRF, XLX Brandmeister AND DMR PLUS YSF.FCS.XLX AND DG-ID
You can connect to the Dstar's best reflector ref 001c or ref 30c or even the American link on C4FM and CQ-UK the best UK wires-x link in the UK. There is always someone to talk to on digital. And the DMR 2356 Wales rag chew net on a Saturdays at 7.30 with Chris MW7CCS Final comment is it worth the money? Yes. For £95.90 it's an excellent buy. The bonus is you can take it away on holiday with your laptop. I hope this has helped some member who are think of digital radio.
35
SRS Links RSGB www.rsgb.org UKFM Group Western www.ukfmgw.org.uk Ofcom www.ofcom.org.uk
ARRL www.arrl.org
Club Log (HF Ladder) If you wish to join Club Log and also get entry into the HF Ladder with the end reward of entry in the HF Ladder competition at the end of the year, and you chance to win a trophy for the year, follow the information below. If you wish to join SRS DXCC league in Clublog, please follow these instructions:
QRZ.com www.qrz.com
UK Repeaters www.ukrepeater.net
Raynet www.raynet-uk.net
Summits on the air www.sota.org.uk BYLARA www.bylara.org.uk Echolink www.echolink.org
Register your details with Clublog at www.clublog.org Click ‘settings’ and then go to the ‘clubs’ tab Select SRS - Stockport Radio Society and click ‘join club’ Your membership of SRS will show as pending until approved by the Administrator
The SRS DXCC League can be viewed from this link http://www.clublog.org/ league.php?club=99
Ham Links www.eham.nets Hack Green SDR www.hackgreen.co.uk
Get your logs in and get yourself on the HF ladder with your chance to win a trophy at the end of the year.
If you have any Links you would like to see on this page please email info@g8srs.co.uk
If you are new to the HF Ladder speak to Pete M1PTR at a club meeting or email info@g8srs.co.uk for further Information.
36
Frequencies LF (Low Frequency)
MF (Medium Frequency)
2000m : 135.7 - 137.8Khz
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 15m : 21 - 21.45Mhz 12m : 24.89 - 24.99Mhz 10m : 28 - 29.7Mhz Note for operating on 60m Only available to advanced licence holders
VHF (Very High Frequency)
UHF
6m : 50 - 52Mhz 4m : 70 - 70.5Mhz 2m : 144.0 - 146.0Mhz
70cms : 430.0 - 440Mhz 23cms : 1240.0 - 325Mhz
Date of Next Issue -
(Ultra High Frequency)
March 2021
Articles to be sent to QUA by middle of February If you have news, events, contest information etc that you would like to share with your fellow members, please email : srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk As you will see from this issue, it does not have to be radio related, but a subject that other members maybe interested in 37
A Full list of Your Fellow Members Arthur Alan Nigel Carsten Robert SC Brian Roy David James Lee Richard Bernard Julian John Graham Mark Robert
Andrew Simon Robert Tony Tom Chris Phill Dave Jeffrey Bernard Keith Ken Les Chris
G0EOM G0ROW G0RXA G0SYP G1VXD G1YMW G2DS G2LK G3CWI G3SHF G3TFR
John Stephen David David Keith Barrie Roy Allen James Robert SC Raymond Chris Brian Derek Stephen C Bob
G3WFK G3ZOD G4FRW G4GDG
M0AQM M0AVV M0CPP M0CVC M0DCG M0EEG M0HNJ M0IEF M0IKI M0IPF M0JYP M0KJC/G8KJC M0LPB M0LZA
Marie Matt Stephen C Ben Chris Rob John Pete Andy Brian Jon Tony Slawek Isla
38
M0MLK M0MVR M0MWB M0NEN M0OGG M0ORA M0PEK M0PTB M0REP M0REU M0RFU M0SAV M0SQJ M0SWZ
G4GEY G4GRU G4MUL G4WHF G6GUT G6RSU G6UQC G6URD G7IOC G7TQT G8HCB G8NHN G8NRU G8YTP GM4UYZ
Evan Thomas Rob Allan Alex Nigel Bill David Phil Alan James Peter Kieron
M0TJU M0TKG M0TKT M0TZD M0UTA M0VNL M0WBS M0WDD M0XYA M1FHM M1JSC M1PTR M5KJM
Ed Nigel Darren Paul William Andrew John Keith Jack
2E0CFM 2E0CKA 2E0DVM 2E0ESH 2E0FOL 2E0GCL 2E0GCX 2E0GKT 2E0JEH
Ben Chris Frank Sarah Mike Neal Paul Steve Elaine
2E0JLR 2E0KJC 2E0KKF 2E0KUH 2E0MBV 2E0NAL 2E0TWD 2E0WIT
Kenneth William Heather Alan Anthony Dave craig Robert
M3UQP M3WLP M6HNS M6KOY M6MZV M6NAE M6OFO M6OKV M6TMA
Steve Andrew John William Doug Pauline Ron Andrew
M7BFH M7BFN M7CPT M7FWR M7HNT M7PLB M7RJL M7USL
James Goergio Tracy Radaslav
SWL SWL SWL SWL
Marie SWL Neo SWL Kieran James SWL (Junior)
Barry
VK2BJ
Neil
2E1BVS
I hope you find this list of use, especially for those members who are chasing ‘Double Sapphire Points’ If I have made any errors (hopefully not), please email me direct on m6hns@btinternet.com and I will get the changes done. 39
Contesting Through Lockdown With the largest annual CW contest (CQWW CW on all HF Contest bands) due over the weekend of 28/29th November the SRS Contest Group would usually be busy this next week setting up antennas ready for the 48 hour start at 0001 on Saturday morning. However the pandemic has put pay to that for this year as a multi operator entry. But all is not lost as the contest will still be run attracting to the HF contest bands many stations around the world not always active at weekends. To enable the club to be represented the contest group members plan to enter the contest from their homes as a single operator using their own callsigns and nominating STOCKPORT RADIO SOCIETY as their ‘Team’. This means their log would be entered into the contest in it’s own right but their QSOs would also be credited to the STOCKPORT RADIO SOCIETY Team along with other operators who also nominated STOCKPORT RADIO SOCIETY. CQWW would then publish a league of Teams entering the contest with no doubt certificates to top scorers. To nominate our club, members simply need to name STOCKPORT RADIO SOCIETY in their cabrillo contest entry file. As most contest operators will be using contest logging programs this is simply achieved by naming the club in the ’Change Your Station Data’ section. For N1MM+ like this:-
Logger this looks
For other programs you will need to check the HELP file. Finally, when uploading your log after the contest there is one last opportunity to check the club name and ensure its set to STOCKPORT RADIO SOCIETY.
40
Should you need preparing your log for upload then contact Pete, M1PTR who is happy to assist. While the large CW contest may not appeal to many there are other contests that enable club members to operate from home and also contribute to a Club Score. The RSGB Autumn Series for SSB, CW and Data Contests on 80m have similar Team arrangements. NB Entering RSGB contests requires the use a robot to upload logs. As part of this process you are asked to declare your club by selecting ‘Stockport RS’ from a drop down menu. The UKEICC group have a Teams section for their 80m SSB and CW contests run throughout the year. The CQWPX Contests, SSB end of March and CW end of May, also have ‘Club Competition’ sections. The Russian DX contest, mid March for SSB and CW QSOs also has a Club Competition section. These are just a few of the contests that do Club Competition sections. There are a great many contests, so I must assume there will be others with Team events. Please let me know if you participate in any. While in lock down we are fortunate that our hobby can still function from our homes and contests, like them or loath them, are still available to us offering plenty of QSOs with HF conditions that seem to be improving! Try a few contests. Try to get a Team together. A few links that maybe of interest. N1MM Logger+ CQWPX Contest CQWW CW Contest
https://n1mmwp.hamdocs.com/ https://cqwpx.com/ https://www.cqww.com/
RSGB Autumn Series contest rules https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2020/ rautumn.shtml UKEICC Rules https://www.ukeicc.com/80m-rules.php Russian DX SSB & CW Contest http://rdxc.org/asp/pages/rulesg.asp Regards Bernard G3SHF
41
Stockport Radio Society have a number of groups – these are set up to enable some members to get involved with the groups, without being part of the main Committee. SRS Contest Group – the team that contest on behalf of SRS The Team - Bernard G3SHF (Team Leader), Pete M1PTR, Kieron M5KJM, Tom M0DCG, Evan M0TJU, Carsten G0SYP, Dave M0LZL (non member), Pawel ????? (Non member), Nigel G0RXA Members that assist with setting up and dismantling. John M0PEK, Roy G6RSU, Jim G6URD The Contest team would welcome any members to assist them with the setting up and dismantling of the kit, and if they are interested, assist the team with actual contesting.
SRS Event Group – the team that organising the outdoor radio events on behalf of SRS The Team - Heather M6HNS, Tony M0SAV, Nigel 2E0CKA, Evan M0TJU, Neil M6NAE, Nigel M0VNL, Nigel G0RXA Members who have assisted with setting up and dismantling or playing radio Bob M6TMA, Barrie G6GUT, Elaine 2E1BVS, Richard G3CWI to name a few We would welcome any members that would like to help on the day with setting up and dismantling the kit, becoming a radio operator for the day (or part of), or just chatting with people who come to the stand. (Uniform required on the day)
SRS Programme Team – the team that assists Evan in setting up the talks, and mini presentations on behalf of SRS The Team – Evan M0TJU, Dave G2DS, Keith 2E0JPY, Chris 2E0KJC We would welcome any member who would like to do a talk to contact one of the above team. These can be the main talk on a Tuesday night or short talks in the middle of the month. 42
SRS Rally Team – the team responsible for organising the SRS Rally The Team – Heather M6HNS, Nigel 2E0CKA, Pete M1PTR, Bernard G3SHF (Nigel G0RXA) Members that assist as Stewards on the day - Bob M6TMA, Roy G6RSU, Neil M6NAE, Elaine 2E1BVS, Paddy 2E0TWD, Alan G0ROW, Evan M0TJU We would welcome members to get involved on the day and become stewards for the day – please contact Heather if this is something that would you would like to do
SRS NARSA Team – the team responsible for setting up and organising the stand at the NARSA rally in Blackpool The Team – Pete M1PTR, Heather M6HNS, Nigel 2E0CKA, Neil M6NAE and Evan M0TJU Members that assist on the day - to many to mention, but a special mention to young Kieran (Jim G6URD’s son) who spoke to people at the last event.
We welcome members to come on the day and assist the NARSA committee with any roles that are requested by the NARSA Committee, and also helping out on the stand with the NARSA team (uniform must be worn on the stand)
QUA – the SRS quarterly newsletter M6HNS
-
Compiled by Heather
Regular Contributors - Tony M0SAV, Nigel G0RXA, Pete M0PTB, David M0WDD, Bernard G3SHF, Neil M6NAE, Keiron M5KJM, Pete M1PTR, Alan G0ROW, Keith M0YJP and Nigel 2E0CKA (my proof reader) and anyone else that I have missed. The newsletter is done for you, our members, but without your help, we would not have a newsletter. Anything you want to send in, please send into me m6hns@btinternet.com. It does not have to be radio related, it can be anything.
43
Stockport Radio Society Walthew House, 112 Shaw Heath, Stockport SK2 6QS Tel : 07506 904422 Email : info@g8srs.co.uk @G8SRS @SRSContestGroup
StockportradioSociety
www.g8srs.co.uk
Stockport Radio Society are affiliated members of RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) and NARSA (Northern Amateur Radio Society
44