Issue 35 - June 21

QUA Welcome, to issue 35 June 2021 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 informed opinion on all matters relating to - and about - your hobby.

RSGB General Manager Steve Thomas M1ACB reading our book

www.g8srs.co.uk @G8SRS / @SRSContestGroup

StockportradioSociety

Hello to all Stockport Radio Society members.

I hope that you are all staying safe and well.

What about the Stockport Radio Society Centenary Book!!

This has not only been purchased by our own members but by hams worldwide. It has appeared in more publications than I knew existed. A very Big Thank you to Heather M6HNS for all the time and effort spent putting it all together, also to all those who have contributed to put together a fantastic record of our club. Without you this would not have been the success that it is. Orders are still coming in to Heather from far afield.

Has summer finally arrived? The first days of June would indicate so, although I am not holding my breath.

The Sun and the long days hopefully will give us all something to look forward to as and when the restrictions are finally lifted.

As you will be aware we had a trial meeting at Walthew House last month, May, a total of seven members, including myself, attended. The meeting was also streamed live via WebEx for those staying safe at home. The trial worked very well, which means we can have presenters from far afield and all can take part either at Walthew House or at your own QTH. The WebEx contract was due to end this month. The committee have agreed that this should be retained until further notice. So all distant members can still take part in club meetings.

You will have also noticed that we have dropped the fixed theme nights; this is to open up more dates for the presentation team to book remote presenters.

The events teams’ first outing since 2019 will be to The Knot Inn, Station Lane Rushton Spencer. This is an easy venue to find as it is off the main A523 Macclesfield to Leek road and opposite Jim Hallam Land rover specialist. A nice drive out to the country where you can relax with a pint and a snack. I can personally recommend the venue, as it is run by my daughter and her husband.

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Family run pub/restaurant with Cask ale, Delicious home cooked food. Child and dog friendly with unique outside area. Sorry had to advertise it.

The contest season is in full swing again with the SRS contest team taking part, albeit observing covid guidelines to keep all members and visitors safe.

It is in the caravan where major restrictions are in force. Out in the wide open field is much safer, apart from the sheep.

Would you be prepared to give a talk on any subject related to our hobby? If so get in contact with Evan M0TJU. treasurer@g8srs.co.uk.

Don’t forget the regular nets, join in and take part in the competition to win a great prize. Contact Keith M0JYP for details or see web page.

Until next time, Stay safe and well, and Keep talking 73 de Tony M0SAV SRS Chairman

Contact Emails General - info@g8srs.co.uk Treasurer - treasurer@g8srs.co.uk Website / QUA - srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk Membership - membership@g8srs.co.uk Courses - courses@g8srs.co.uk Contesting - contesting@g8srs.co.uk Morse - morse@g8srs.co.uk

Website

-

www.g8srs.co.uk

SRS Contest Group is the ‘Contesting Arm of Stockport Radio Society’

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Diary of Events - June 2021 Tuesday

1

Talk Night - Receive only Antennas for HF with Evan M0TJU

Wednesday

2

70cm Net 433.525 - Chris 2E0KJC

Saturday/Sunday

5&6

RSGB National Field Day NFD - 24hrs 16.00 to 15.59 utc

Tuesday

8

6m Net 51.550 FM 7.30pm - Keith M0JYP

Thursday

10

2m Net 145.375 FM 7.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA

Sunday

13

10m Net 28.400usb 10.30am—keith M0JYP

Monday

14

C4FM Fusion 144.950 Simplex - Neil M6NAE

Tuesday

15

Radio Night

Tuesday

22

Skills Nights

Thursday

24

Committee Meeting

Saturday/Sunday Wednesday

26/27 30

Events Group at Rushton Spencer 2m Net 145.375 FM 7.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA

July 2021 Saturday

3

SRS Rally - POSTPONED

Monday

5

70cm Net 433.525 - Chris 2E0KJC

Tuesday

6

Talk Night - SOTA

Tuesday

13

6m Net 51.550 FM 7.30pm - Keith M0JYP

Thursday

15

2m Net 145.375 FM 7.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA

Monday

19

C4FM Fusion 144.950 Simplex - Neil M6NAE

Tuesday

20

Sunday

25

Radio Night via Webex RSGB Islands on the Air (IOTA) Contest 24hrs 13.00 - 12.59utc Events Team at Aviation Memoabilia Fair

Tuesday

27

Skills Night via Webex

Wednesday

28

2m Net 145.375 FM 7.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA

Saturday/Sunday

24 & 25

4

August 2021 Monday

2

70cm Net 433.525 - Chris 2E0KJC

Tuesday

3

The Power of Radio with Steve 2E0GZK

Tuesday

10

6m Net 51.550 FM 7.30pm - Keith M0JYP

Thursday

12

2m Net 145.375 FM 7.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA

Monday

16

C4FM Fusion 144.950 Simplex - Neil M6NAE

Tuesday

17

Virtual Club Night (TBC)

Tuesday

24

Virtual Club Night (TBC)

Wednesday

25

2m Net 145.375 FM 7.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA

September 2021 Monday

6

70cm Net 433.525 - Chris 2E0KJC

Tuesday

7

RSGB Talk with Steve Thomas General Manager M1ACB

Thursday

9

Committee Meeting

Tuesday

14

6m Net 51.550 FM 7.30pm - Keith M0JYP

Thursday

16

2m Net 145.375 FM 7.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA

Monday

20

C4FM Fusion 144.950 Simplex - Neil M6NAE

Tuesday

21

Virtual Club Night (TBC)

Tuesday

28

Virtual Club Night (TBC)

Wednesday

29

2m Net 145.375 FM 7.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA

Thank you to everyone all the net controllers, members doing presentations and the members who participate in the events listed on these pages. Without you and your involvement there would be no club.

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. email:treasurer@g8srs.co.uk 5

Kenwood TS2000 Fitted with Dru-3A Digital Recording Unit and Wintest The Digital Recording Unit (DRU-3A) is an optional item that requires to be purchased and installed in the TS2000 radio. This unit contains 3 messages that can be recorded and played back which is extremely useful if you are taking part in a contest, saves obtaining a “sore throat” from continually calling the same message for example – “CQ CQ CONTEST THIS IS GM4UYZ GM4UYZ CALLING CQ AND BYE” Using WinTest as the Contest Software you can recall and transmit these messages using the Function Keys (F1, F2, F3) on the keyboard. This makes operating a lot easier.

Recording the Messages The following applies to each of the 3 messages.

Message 1 1. Select SSB, FM or AM A. Use the same mode for transmitting and receiving 2. If VOX is ON press [VOX/LEVEL] on the radio to switch the function OFF 3. Press [FUNC], [1/CH1/REC] to record the message for channel 1 A. “•|| REC WAIT” and “AP1 –“ appears B. To exit the Record Standby mode and quit recording the message, press [CLR] 4. Press and hold [1/CH1/REC] , then begin speaking into your microphone.

5. Release the [1/CH1/REC] when you have finished your message.

6. Approximate recording time for Channel 1 is approximately 30secs Message 2 1. Select SSB, FM or AM A. Use the same mode for transmitting and receiving 2. If VOX is ON press [VOX/LEVEL] on the radio to switch the function OFF 3. Press [FUNC], [2/CH2/REC] to record the message for channel 1 A. “•|| REC WAIT” and “AP1 –“ appears B. To exit the Record Standby mode and quit recording the message, press [CLR] 6

4. Press and hold [2/CH2/REC] , then begin speaking into your microphone.

5. Release the [2/CH2/REC] when you have finished your message.

6. Approximate recording time for Channel 2 is approximately 15secs Message 3 1. Select SSB, FM or AM A. Use the same mode for transmitting and receiving 2. If VOX is ON press [VOX/LEVEL] on the radio to switch the function OFF 3. Press [FUNC], [3/CH3/REC] to record the message for channel 1 A. “•|| REC WAIT” and “AP1 –“ appears B. To exit the Record Standby mode and quit recording the message, press [CLR] 4. Press and hold [3/CH3/REC] , then begin speaking into your microphone.

5. Release the [3/CH3/REC] when you have finished your message.

6. Approximate recording time for Channel 2 is approximately 15secs Message Playback You can play back the message in Channel 1, 2 or 3 to check or to send. It is also possible to make a longer message, by consecutively playing back the message of more than one channel, linking them together.

You can even repeatedly send a longer, linked message by using the Repeat function. To switch this function ON, access Menu No. 29A and select ON (Default is OFF) then select the repeated interval time in Menu No. 29b (Default is 10 seconds) Checking Messages 1. Select SSB, FM or AM A. Use the same mode for transmitting and receiving 2. If VOX is ON press [VOX/LEVEL] on the radio to switch the function OFF 3. Press [1/CH1/REC], [2/CH2/REC] or [3/CH3/REC] depending on which channel you want to check A. For example “∆ PLAY BACK” and “AP1- -“ while playing back the message in channel 1 B. To interrupt playback , press [CLR] 7

4. To play back another message in sequence press the corresponding key [1/CH1/REC], [2/CH2/REC] or [3/CH3/REC] while the first message is being played A. Up to three channels can be queued Sending Messages 1. Select SSB, FM or AM A. Use the same mode for transmitting and receiving 2. Press [VOX/LEVEL] on the radio to ON or OFF A. If you switch VOX ON ignore the next step 3. Press [SEND], or press and hold mic [PTT] 4. Press [1/CH1/REC], [2/CH2/REC] or [3/CH3/REC] depending on which channel you want to check A. For example “∆ PLAY BACK” and “AP1- -“ while playing back the message in channel 1 B. To interrupt playback , press [CLR] 5. To play back another message in sequence press the corresponding key [1/CH1/REC], [2/CH2/REC] or [3/CH3/REC] while the first message is being played A. Up to three channels can be queued 6. If you pressed [SEND] or Mic [PTT] press [SEND] again or release Mic [PTT] Erasing a Recorded Message 1. Press [FUNC], [1/CH1/REC] , [2/CH2/REC] or [3/CH3/REC] depending on which channel you want to erase.

A. “•|| REC WAIT” and “APn –“ appears, where “n” represents the channel number 2. To erase the recorded message, press and hold the same key as in step 1 [1/CH1/REC] , [2/CH2/REC] or [3/CH3/REC], and press [CLR] at the same time.

A. A beep sounds and the message is erased.

Changing Inter-Message Interval Time For repetitive message playback, you can change the interval between each series of messages. Use Menu No. 29B, and select the time in the range of 0 to 60 seconds

8

Changing Playback Volume Turning the MAIN AF or SUB AF control does not change the volume for playback. To change the volume, access Menu No. 14 to select the playback volume level from OFF and 1 to 9 WINTEST LOGGING SOFTWARE To allow WinTest to play the messages stored on the TS2000 DRU-3A Digital Recording Unit LUA SCRIPTS must be downloaded from the internet and then placed in the SCRIPTS directory in WinTest.

There are various LUA SCRIPTS that have been written by Bob Wilson N6TV for various radios and a whole list can be found at Win-Test Lua Scripts by N6TV (kkn.net) the one that is required is the TS590scripts.zip.

Click on this link and it will download this ZIP file onto your PC. As it is a ZIP file it needs to be unzipped and the files put into the directory {Appdata} \Scripts directory.

I have both a Windows 7 and a Windows 10 PC and they are downloaded to the following directory. C:\ProgramData\Win-Test\scripts\ Usage: To assign a script to a Function Key 1. In Win-Test Select – Tools and then select Scripts Manager 2. Select the script (Single Click) i.e. PlayF1 3. Click Properties 4. Click Define 5. Press the function key you wish to assign i.e.F1 A. In key field it will display the selected key i.e.F1 6. Click OK 7. Then the next script PlayF2 8. Then do actions 3 to 6 above 9. Then the next script PlayF3 10. Then do actions 3 to 6 above 11. Select the script (Single Click) i.e. PlayHalt_590 12. Click Properties 13. Click Define 14. Press the function key you wish to assign i.e. ESC A. In key field it will display the selected key i.e. ESC 15. Click OK 9

To allow the Function keys to work then the last thing that needs to be configured is as follows: 1. Select OPERATING from the Main Selection -File, Edit, Operating, etc 2 Select TECHNIQUE 3. Select ADVANCED SO2R A. If you do not it will not work Now load up or create a contest with the option of either PHONE or MIXED Once the contest log is totally loaded.

Test out the Function Keys and you should hear the messages being played plus on the radio it will display as an example “•|| REC WAIT” and “APn –“ appears, where “n” represents the channel number.

To stop the message press the ESC key.

Lastly to actually transmit the message either use VOX or Press PTT followed by the Function Key.

Many thanks to Bob GM4UYZ for this in depth report KANGA PRODUCTS New came to us in April this year, that after many years Kanga Products are closing down.

Tony M0SAV, sent Dennis G6YBC a note thanking him for his help to Stockport Radio Society, both supporting our rallies, and also the kits for the courses. On behalf of the club Tony wished Dennis all the best for his retirement, and hopefully we will hear Dennis on the bands.

All the very best Dennis 10

Raffle Update - Neil M6NAE (April 21) As most of you will already know the raffles are back on at the club. As we now have a licence from Stockport Council. I have taken on the role as Funding Manager alongside Tony M0SAV, who will deal with the financial side of the raffle.

My role is to generate some additional club funding. I have been working with some new companies who have donated some excellent prizes to Stockport Radio Society. At the moment I don't think there will be any upcoming raffles for a few months, as I will be concentrating on the prizes for the Christmas raffle. The club has now moved forward with prizes which are being donated.

Some members have mentioned that we never hear you on the radio anymore throughout the day and some evenings as well. This is simply because the majority of the companies who donate gifts, always schedule meetings via Zoom or WebEx in the afternoon or on an evening around 7pm, and it would be impolite for me to say no. I will speak to any company at a time to suit them. As they are doing me a great service in their donations to SRS

I have now gained a good relationship with a number of new companies who are now sending items to me on more than one occasion. One company who has donated gifts to the club. Has also listened to the club net on 2 meters which was run by Nigel 2E0CKA. We received a nice comment saying how professional we all are on the radio. When i receive comments like this. It makes me proud to be a part of Stockport Radio Society.

It is roughly a full weeks work running of the raffle and prizes. Which I love doing. As many of the members will remember the start of my very first raffle... which was a model plane which was raffled off at Walthew House a few years ago and the winner was Bernard G3SHF. So a big thank you to all the members who have purchased tickets on the raffles. You are all winners in my eye's but sadly there can only be one winner who gets the prizes. And a big thank you for your kind donations to Walthew House.

Stay safe and stay well. Neil M6NAE 11

Grid Locators Want to know where a grid locator is? Want to know what grid you or somebody else is in?

Simples – type the grid or a place name here:

https://dxcluster.ha8tks.hu/hamgeocoding/ You’ll also get the precise Lat and Long for freeJ 73, Peter G8BCG IO70RK

There is another useful mapper at <https://www.levinecentral.com/ham/ grid_square.php> Search by address, postcode, callsign of gridref. You get a map, lat&long in DMS and decimal degrees, gridref (and name if you put in a callsign).

There's also an ADIF mapping tool on the same site.

73 Pete M0PTB

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

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Centenary Book Mentions on Southgate News and QRZ

Centenary Book

mentioned on QRZ

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ELAINE (2E1BVS) AND JOHN (G3WFK) ADVENTURES Chapter 2 – 2E1BVS I am now a member of SYLRA as well as BYLARA. Unni LA6RHA who was President of the Scandinavian Young Ladies Radio Association enrolled me and I decided to check out their website.

I was on a high after our activation of Sumburgh Lighthouse in Shetland so enthusiastically I went to the website and discovered that a few weeks later there was a YL contest. I’d never operated in a contest before but there was always a first time.

The weekend came and I was all set. I was to use my husband Kenwood TS2000X which had been turned down to 50w to comply with my licence regulations and a Heil headset. My aerial was a 20/40m dipole at about 10m. An auto calling CQ message had been recorded on the transceiver and the computer logging programme installed on my laptop. The contest ran from Saturday lunchtime until Sunday lunchtime but operating was only permitted 16 out of the 24 hours. At first I just tuned around to get a feel of the bands and listened to how other YLs handled contacts but I was soon operating myself. I just had to remember to lift off the foot controller when I passed the call over! John kept me supplied with food and drink and took well to the role reversal.

On Sunday I decided to try a new tactic, instead of tuning around until I found a YL station, I found a clear frequency and put out a CQ call. I was surprised how many came back to my calls. I was really enjoying myself and not looking forward to the end of the contest but that was spoilt when with five minutes to go a very strong German station blasted me out. I tried to tell him the frequency was occupied, but to no avail. Other operators intervened on my behalf also informing him, in both English and German that I had been on that frequency for a number of hours. His reply was that he was net controller for a particular organisation and they used that frequency every Sunday at that time. He wasn’t moving for anybody. There is always one.

I wasn’t going to put a log in but John said it would be helpful if I did, for cross references purposes. I was most surprised when the results were published and I had come third in my section.

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When I looked back over 2010 I was surprised and pleased on what I had achieved during the year.

Eighteen years earlier when the new Novice Licence (now Intermediate Licence) was introduced I had joined a training course just to make up the numbers. The idea was to introduce young people to the hobby of amateur radio and make it easier for them to get on the air. Our two children were the right age and John thought the course would help them with their GCSE and A level exams.

The course was designed for a group of four students to work in pairs with an instructor. John registered as an instructor and our children were joined by the son of an amateur friend but they needed a fourth member. Hence me!

John cut a sheet of hardboard to the size of our dining-room table and we had our construction bench. Every week we sat around this whilst working through the syllabus. Having listened to amateur radio for 20 years I found the section on operating easy but the maths difficult. I might have been able to administer a budget of hundreds of thousands of pounds at work, but Ohms law was a completely different matter. My daughter, who at that time was studying A level maths, took me under her wing and patiently explained the mystery.

Course and exam over I was issued with a call sign 2E1BVS. You were not permitted to choose a call sign in those days. I kept looking at the letters trying to make up a phrase to help me remember them. Eventually I had it.

2 = a second-class license, E = Elaine, 1 = there’s only one of me The rest was harder - I tried countries – Belgium, Vietnam, Sweden; then Cities – Boston, Vienna, Sydney, but they just didn’t flow and I’d never remember them. So I tried phrases – Best Video Signal was about the easiest I could create but then it came to me BVS = Big and Very Sexy!

We were now a family of four amateurs which was great but meant we needed more equipment. The children were given small handhelds for Christmas and a base station established in the kitchen so we could all keep in touch. We issued certificates to anyone who worked all four of us but we were careful to monitor our logs so the certificates were elusive.

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Looking back there are always moments that you remember and that make you smile.

My first introduction to microwaves was on a windy hillside in Wales. One Sunday John suggested have a trip out. The children were still of primary school age and were looking forward to a day out with their tent and a picnic.

A short walk from the car we found ourselves on top of a rounded hill with panoramic views toward England but nothing else. Whilst the children and I put up the tent John said he would pop back to the car for some bits and pieces.

He reappeared with a tripod and with what I learned later was a microwave horn plus his 2m rig. There just happened to be a microwave contest on and he wanted to see if he could get a contact from his newly built equipment. It was quite breezy so I got the job of holding the tripod steady.

He made a couple of contacts and was happy but just as we were packing up came a desperate sounding voice from the 2m rig. “This is my last call” it said. “If nobody comes back to me I’ll put the kit in the middle of the road and run over it”! John immediately replied “Please don’t do that - give it me instead”. Contact was made and we learnt that the caller was on top of a hill about five miles from our home. Arrangements were made to meet him and that was the start of a long friendship. He also had a caravan and with two children of a similar age to ours, we have enjoyed many holidays together, special birthdays, weddings and now grandchildren.

At an International Scout Camp in Cheadle we had a small marquee next to our caravan, showing various aspects of our hobby. Two boys from the Republic of Ireland aged about 13 were very interested and asked if they could complete their Radio Communication badge over the week. Of course they could.

One of the tasks they had to demonstrate was the wiring of a mains plug. I was just about to give them a plug each when I had a sudden thought, did they have the same three pin plugs in Ireland or did they have a continental type? Not having been to Ireland I hadn’t a clue. I held up one of the plugs and asked “Do you have these in Ireland?” One of the boys, with a straight face and a monotone voice, replied “Yes and we have electricity too!” They both earned their badge.

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Another incident occurred when we were setting up for Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) at my son’s scout group. We were operating from the hall next to the church and had been given permission to use the tower for our aerials. John climbed the spiral staircase to the bell level then went up the vertical ladder to the roof of the tower gritting his teeth with each step (he doesn’t like heights). He had problems opening the trap door at the top (it had opened easily the previous year). When he finally managed it, he got wet through.

The roof was flooded to a depth of nearly 30cm so his first job was to roll up his sleeves and plunge his hands into the cold water to try to locate a drainage point. This cleared, he could then hoist up the G5RV. A trip home was next on the agenda for a change of clothes. It took over four hours for the water to drain through a small pipe splashing down onto the church roof.

On the Sunday morning we were not allowed to transmit during the church service as we activated the PA system and the Vicar didn’t like having to compete with us. When the service was over members of the congregation came into the hall for their usual cup of tea and were a captive audience for us to demonstrate our hobby. The Church Warden came and thanked us for clearing the top of the tower. For a couple of weeks water had been running down the inside walls of the tower causing puddles in the entrance and they thought that they were facing an expensive repair bill.

To demonstrate amateur television we had a low power system to transmit from one side of the hall to the other. Our mobile broadcast unit comprised of a wheelchair that had been rescued from a local canal, a basket from a pushchair hooked on the rear to accommodate the battery, whilst a video camera was strapped to the seat.

We started to receive strange pictures on our monitor. A local amateur, who lived on the hill behind us. was videoing a large fire 15 miles away in the centre of Manchester and was transmitting them on the amateur band. Two scouts were fascinated by the pictures when told where they were coming from. There was a surprised amateur, who when answering a knock on his door. found two scouts who informed him that they had seen his pictures and could they see how he was transmitting them. They had gone out looking for unusual aerials and found where he lived.

Over the years amateur radio had taken a back seat for me but I supported John in the hobby where I could. My introduction to BYLARA has helped me rekindle my interest again.

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Morse Code

Morse Code

Phonetic Alphabet

1

._ _ _ _

A

._

A

Alpha

2

.._ _ _

B

_...

B

Bravo

3

..._ _

C

_._.

C

Charlie

4

…._

D

_..

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

._..

K

Kilo

classes run on

M

__

L

Lima

each club night

N

_.

M

Mike

from 7.00 to

O

___

7.30 pm.

P

._ _ .

N

November

Q

_ _._

O

Oscar

Come and

R

._.

P

Papa

speak to Evan

S

…

Q

Quebec

M0TJU if you

T

_

R

Romeo

would like to

U

.._

S

Sierra

give this part of

V

…_

T

Tango

the hobby a try.

W

._ _

U

Uniform

X

_.._

V

Victor

Y

_._ _

Z

_ _..

W

Whiskey

X

X-Ray

Y

Yankee

Z

Zulu

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SRS Morse Code, afternoon CW Net Corner, May 2021

I’m David M0WDD, one of the regular SRS afternoon CW net participants. In this edition of CW Net Corner, I’m summarising recent activities in the club’s afternoon CW Net. The net takes place on 3564 KHz daily at 4pm.

As well as this summary, I’ve also picked a CW theme to discuss. The theme is this article is about my own experiences of CW learning barriers.

Your feedback and comments on this and about the afternoon CW net will be very welcome. You can do this by emailing the SRS Net team at morse@g8srs.co.uk and please also tell us about your own experiences of learning CW..

Today’s SRS CW Net corner will cover:      

Recap of what the afternoon CW net consists of So who takes part?

Recent 80m net propagation and antenna performances SRS CW net tests on 6M Today’s CW theme: My own barriers to learning CW And Finally

Recap of what the afternoon CW net consists of Tune into 3564 KHz at 4pm on 80m any afternoon and depending on your QTH you may hear an hour of CW. If you cannot hear the transmissions, you can tune in using a Websdr such as the G0XBU Websdr at http://81.174.147.103:8901/ run by Ian, G0XBU, from near Jodrell Bank.

19

The first half of the CW net is listening practice and the second half is live QSO practice. The listening part starts with text sent at 6wpm, mixed characters at 8wpm and 10 wpm, then text at 16wpm and 18 wpm. So you can listen to speeds that suits you, and you could try to copy at this and faster speeds to help with your own CW copy skills.

The second half of the net is an opportunity to have a live QSO with the net controller Bernard, G3SHF. If you would like to try this, and you can receive and transmit on 3564 KHz, please email the net team at morse@g8srs.co.uk with your callsign and say which day or days suit you.

The net controller can then arrange to give you a CW call at the start of the live QSO section on your chosen day.

Should you feel nervous about a live QSO, you could just send your callsign once, and that will tell us you are listening. On the other hand, if you are familiar with the basic QSO format, you can reply in and have a short QSO or a longer standard QSO or rag chew. So a variety of QSO levels are available and the aim is to give you practice of a live QSO in a supportive way. So if this interests you, please do email the CW net team and let them know.

So who takes part?

As the SRS CW net has different sections, these attract different SRS club members and non-members. Some listen to everything and have a live QSO, others sometimes listen to parts and/or have a live QSO, and others listen now and again. All are welcome and we encourage you to email the net team with signal reports, comments, and suggestions.

We would particularly like to ask SRS club members interested in learning, refreshing or advancing your CW skills through on air listening and live QSO practice, or consider trying out the afternoon SRS CW net, by emailing morse@g8srs.co.uk and tell the team about your CW interests and plans.

Regular/recent participants:     

Bernard (Ben) G3SHF, Poynton Tom M0DCG, Warrington David M0WDD, Salford Nigel G0RXA, Stockport Chris 2E0KJC, Tameside

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Regular Visitors  Evan M0TJU, Stockport  Mike M6MPC, Glossop  Dave G0LZL, Partington  Tim GW4VXE, Goodwick, Wales  Chris G5VZ, Pontefract Regular listeners:  Elaine 2E1BVS, Hyde  Simon M0AVV, St Albans  Phil G0BVD, North Devon  Bob G4GDG, Manchester  Keith G8VMP, St Albans  Keith G4WHF Stockport As well as taking part in the 80m net, participants have experienced interesting propagation conditions over the last 12 months, and noted differences in antenna performances between local net participants.

Recent 80m net propagation and antenna performances It is interesting to note that 80m propagation between local net participants can vary by the minute, with signals subject to QSB and lift much of the time to different degrees, and with QSB gradually reducing towards dusk.

At other times, QSB effects and improved signal conditions can be more pronounced, so local 80m CW net propagation can be very unpredictable but always interesting. Participants also find that propagation gradually improves towards late summer and autumn and remains steady into early winter, and then fluctuates through spring to early summer. So observing 80m propagation during net participation over the course of a year has been and is quite fascinating.

The most important feature of local participants’ antenna, other things being equal, seems to be antenna feed point height, not surprisingly. So local participants with feed point heights of 10m or more seem to have consistently better performances for local net contacts than antennas with lower feed points for local communications, although lower antennas do seem to give good performances for much of the time.

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With such changeable propagation on 80m, the net team have been looking at 6m for possible future CW net activities.

SRS CW net tests on 6M Net participants have been testing CW on 6m recently to check whether propagation is more consistent for local CW net contacts. Results have been encouraging. Signal levels between local ops are quite different to levels experienced between net ops on 80m, but are consistent, with very little QSB or lift experienced. Background noise levels seem a little higher for some participants but CW signals have been very steady. So 6m seems promising for possible future local CW local nets, but with range that is more limited compared to 80m. So testing is continuing.

Now I want to move on to my theme for this article, which is on my own barriers to learning CW. There have been quite a few.

My own Barriers to learning CW I’ve come across many barriers to learning CW in my own efforts to become proficient in using CW and some of our listeners have emailed the SRS net describing their own learning experiences. Some of these experiences contribute to my summary below.

Please do email us at morse@g8srs.co.uk and share with us your own experiences of barriers in learning CW, and your thoughts on overcoming them. We can include your points in a future article.

Barrier1: Lack of Confidence I know this barrier well. You practice a lot, have dedicated a great deal of time to learning CW and then sometimes you feel you’ve not made as much progress as you’d like. And there may be times when what you thought you had mastered last week, you struggle with this week. And sometimes after a great deal of practice you try a live CW, and you felt you messed up.

Restoring your self-confidence can take time, but some hams find that a change of learning or practice methods, having a break, and starting learning a particular section again can sometimes help. The search for the right kind of learning practice can be crucial and hams will tell you that no one way works for everyone. Some say that the key is in trying different 22

methods and find which ones suit you best, and changing these from time to time. Many hams also say that having your first live QSOs in a friendly environment such as with a friendly ham, or with a net such as ours, can be crucial in building your self-confidence.

I saw an interesting comment from another ham about learning CW. He said you need to be ready to pick yourself up after a fall, and do not give up; never give up. A wise comment I think. As we know, learning CW is not easy. This same ham pointed out that it can be done through effective learning and effective practice. And then some more practice.

Barrier 2: Being stuck in student mode I know this barrier too. So you do a bit more practice, aim to increase your speed a little, aim to make fewer errors, study more, and so on, but you avoid trying a live QSO. Then when you do try a live QSO the confidence can go, and you feel you make another mess, so you practice a bit more instead. So the cycle continues.

Again, the friendly QSO in a friendly environment can make all the difference in moving into regular live QSOs. The SRS CW net could help with this.

Barrier 3: Learning at too slow a speed Looking at recent CW learning experiences of many hams, a key barrier to learning CW at faster speeds above say 12wpm - 15 wpm is learning CW at too slow a speed, because the brain processes CW in a certain way at speeds up to about 12wpm-15wpm, but in a different way at speeds above this, and higher.

So many experienced CW practitioners suggest that if you learned CW at a lower speed, and want to progress to a faster speed, that you need to re-learn CW in a different way.

What hams have found is that if you learn CW at a speed slow enough for you to count the dits and dahs for each character, then this can hinder your future CW learning should you want to increase your CW speed.

So when you hear CW in this way your brain first gathers the sequence of dots and dahs for each character. Then your brain looks up this sequence in your memory to find the character you memorised with this sequence.

The problem is that there is clear evidence of an upper speed limit of around 12wpm-15wpm learning CW this way.

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Alternatively if you learn CW at a character speed of, say, 25wpm, and then put large gaps between characters and words as you start to learn CW, then the brain memorises the sound pattern for each character, and not the dots and dahs sequences. So when you hear CW the brain matches the sound pattern to the memorised character immediately, and does not need to gather the sequence, making the process much faster.

So the brain works differently in hearing the sound pattern and matching to the memorised character.

Barrier 4: Making excuses This is one of my favourites. My absolute favourite is “I’m too old”. Of course, we lose brain cells as we age, and we get tired, but in normal healthy adults, recent research shows that we can continue to make associations in our brain between each CW sound patterns and characters well into our senior years. It just may take a little longer to reinforce with practice.

My other excuses include “My brain can’t cope”, “My brain doesn’t work properly when it comes to CW”, “I’ll never get the hang of this”, “I’m hopeless at real QSOs”, “I’ve tried everything”, and so on.

To balance this, there are now lots of CW learning resources, training courses and support groups online and friendly learning environments such as the SRS CW net.

My own way of overcoming CW learning barriers To recap, each of us may find different ways to overcome these barriers.

For me I vary my CW learning methods, as my brain gets a bit stale if I keep repeating the same methods. I also ask and email other hams for advice, and most say something along the lines of “Well the key is the three Ps, Practice, Practice, and Practice”. The tricky bit is to find the most effective learning methods and practice that suit you. Nowadays there are many training resources available.

You could say that we are in a golden age for learning CW, as there are many CW training resources available online, such as dedicated websites, downloads to your device(s), YouTube videos, Facebook groups and Twitter feeds. There are also on air CW practice and nets, and many Amateur Radio clubs offer CW practice sessions.

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Sometimes it can help when starting out to learn or refresh CW to draw up a CW learning plan, or you may one already, to include your target CW speed, timescale, and using which learning methods and resources. You can share this with the SRS net if you would like to, by emailing morse@g8srs.co.uk as sharing such ideas can often benefit others too.

And Finally So please consider emailing the SRS CW net team with any feedback at morse@g8srs.co.uk with your comments or suggestions and please do tell us about your own CW learning experiences. If you want to try participating in the CW net, please email to let the CW net team know.

If you are a non-member, you could consider joining SRS and enjoy many of the other nets and club benefits.

Teatime Morse with Bernard & Tom            

Days: Daily Time: 4pm local time (15.00 GMT) Frequency: 3.564 MHz +/- QRM Email: morse@g8srs.co.uk SRS info phone: 07506 904422 WAV files from all sessions: www.g8srs.co.uk/cw-net-wav-files SRS Morse page: www.g8srs.co.uk/morse Tea Time Morse Session Summary: www.g8srs.co.uk/cw-nets-duringcovid-19/ Tea Time Morse Articles: www.g8srs.co.uk/qua-articles-morse/ Tea Time Morse Radcom Article: www.g8srs.co.uk/radcom-articles/ RSGB Morse Code pages: https://rsgb.org/main/operating/morse/ Jodrell Bank WebSDR: https://www.g0xbu.co.uk/home

So until the next time, best wishes to all SRS Members and non-Members.

73, David M0WDD

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Pictures of members and ex-members with their Centenary Book

Alan M6KOY Alan M1FHM

Derek G8NRU

Nigel 2E0CKA with T4NK (the cat)

Bob GM4UYZ

Robert G7IOC

Jack 2E0JEH

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Gary G0HJQ (Ex Member of SRS) and Millie

Mr President - Nigel G0RXA

Tony M0SAV Chairman

Keiron M5KJM, Bernard G3SHF, Tom M0DCG and Pete M1PTR having a break at the Neil M6NAE

Contesting site 27

2m SOTA at Billinge (G/SP-017) 24th April 2021 Background to trying the site - I wanted to try activating Billinge Hill (G/SP-017) for some time. I've heard people activating it after work in the evenings, so I thought that I'd add it to my list of things to do at weekends.

My kit - My SOTA setup consists of an Icom IC-705, 6m fishing pole and a "flowerpot" end-fed 2m wire antenna. So far, I have found SOTA on 2m to be good if you have a clear line of sight. This means that some sites will really benefit from a decent pole-mounted antenna, whereas for others it doesn't really matter that much. The main point is to take the pole with you and use it if you need to.

What I have found, is that the radio really seems to make a huge amount of difference. Using a handheld radio like the FT2 won't produce results an thing like using a base unit like the Yaesu FT-817 or an Icom IC-705, even though they’re putting out the same power and using the same antenna. The mic is better, the speaker is better and overall, you just seem to get better reports.

For me, the IC-705 is well worthwhile as it contains a good number of SOTA friendly functions. The main, and obvious one is the bandscope, which I really good for ensuring that a proposed channel is clear and also picking up a few additional contacts, including in some cases a SOTA summit-to summit, which gets some extra points.

I'd recently added a Tracer LiFePo4 7Ah pack to my kit (I actually bought 3 of these, if anyone's looking to pick one up) and it was first time out with additional batteries and perhaps the thought that I might need them. When I'd activated Winter Hill in 2020, I ripped through the IC-705's internal battery in under an hour, so I knew that there was need for something extra. I'd tried SLAB gel batteries but not really happy with the weight and... well, really probably just the weight!

Approach and walking in - This SOTA summit is hardly a huge hike in, but you could just start off further away from the hill and that would obviously increase the distances involved. I was keen to have a go at something a bit less taxing for this one, as I'd recently changed some bits round and I wanted to have a bit of a shake-down of my kit.

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SOTA is quite good for thinking about what you really need and then making the most of that. The height helps with propagation and the points system helps with the responses to your CQ calls, but there's nothing like having the things you need with you.

I parked at a layby (Located at what3words ///shrug.outlined.cursing) withi sight of the trig point. As it wasn't a huge walk up the hill, I went up to the trig point and assessed the best spot to do the activation from. The SOTAGoat app suggested that even at the vehicle, I was within the activation zone, but I'd have not got a great take-off into Merseyside from that position. SOTA rules say that if you're within the zone you can activate, albeit not if you're connected in any way to your vehicle. Irrespective of the zone, I went up to have a look for a decent spot.

Once I'd had a look at the trig point, I came back down to the vehicle and did a bit of 2m FT8, just to see how the height helped with signals and generally to get an idea of how far I was getting.

As expected, I had a much better coverage than from my front room in Droylsden. FT8 on 2m is quiet, but there are still several people using it. I got about 5-10 contacts quickly and then packed up and walked up the hill again.

On the way up the hill, I'd passed an old cold war ROC nuclear observation post (at /// pelting.averts.gratuity) which had been capped off with a concrete plug. The side had a nice metal bracket which I could attach my 6m fishing pole to and after pacing out the distance to some power lines (way over the 15m minimum safe distance plus my 6m pole height) I was happy that this would probably be a great spot to do the activation from. Us SOTA folks are told that we should not activate from the trig point itself unless it's such a remote point that you're unlikely to have any other visitors, so I was happy that this wouldn't upset anyone's summit cuppa.

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I unpacked my equipment and made some notes about the MGR and various other things. After setting up all the kit, I reached for the fist-mic and ARRRRGGGGHHHH - it was no-where to be seen.

Taking a positive view of the situation, I concluded that I had left it in the vehicle, but was secretly hoping that I'd not left it at home.

Note to self: Don't take the fist-mic out of your bag and leave it in the vehicle.

It wasn't a huge issue in this case, but it was annoying to have a need to pack up and walk back down. All this got my grumbling quota up for the day though, so it wasn't all wasted effort.

Activation - Using the IC-705's display, I noted that there were a few signals on the band. I quickly zoned in on Tom M1EYP/P on The Cloud (G/ SP-015), who I'd spoken with earlier in the day as I’d been driving up to Billinge. Tom was still sat up on his summit, so I bagged a summit-to-summit point by just doing a bit of due diligence. Tom also did me the courtesy of putting an alert on the SOTA reflector, so once I moved back to 145.500FM I got a pileup. f you're ever speaking to me on the radio, I can tell you that it is totally possible to fail to catch your callsign three times in a row and yet be able to hear you 59+60. More on this another time, but for some odd reason, while I'm on the mic, I can't hear callsigns, write, think, hold down a proper normal conversation or anything much else. No idea why.

I quickly got into the rhythm of getting the callsign, exchanging signal reports, summit reference and then a few pleasantries before moving onto the next caller. Before long, I'd notched up a dozen QSO's - well over the 1 needed to activate and more than the minimum 4 needed for a point.

With my battery still at 100%, I packed up and walked back to the vehicle.

It'd been nice to get a bit of sun on my skin and some fresh air in my lungs after some weeks stuck in the house being locked down and playing Minecraft with my kids.

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Walking back out - Having done the walk out a couple of times earlier, it wasn't much of a chore to get to the vehicle. As always with a SOTA activation, there is real sense of having achieved something that you've not done before. On the trundle back home, I was able to listen to a few other SOTA operators on hills around the North West of England and some well into North Wales.

Logging - Once home, I populated my logging programme, put the same info onto the SOTA database (for the points) and reviewed my efforts. Some nice weather, a good little stroll and an opportunity to activate a SOTA summit that I'd never visited before.

Reflection on this as a SOTA activation - My reflection of Billinge as a SOTA summit is that it's not a difficult one to have a crack at, and you could probably do it as an "after work" trip if you're in the area or passing near Wigan. If you're thinking of trying SOTA and you have a HT and can walk a couple of kilometres, then I'd recommend it to see if you like the idea of doing more challenging summits. The take off into Merseyside and Lancashire is pretty good and it's easy to get the minimum 4 contacts for a SOTA point.

If you don't have transport, there is a similar "trigpointing" scheme that Worked All Britain (WAB) do, which features more summits and doesn't need as much travel. Anything to get you out of the house really!

Thanks to Dave G2DS for his second SOTA article.

Dave G2DS

More of these are to follow.

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Tim GW4VXE

Ian - Icom UK

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Repeaters - www.ukfmgw.co.uk 23cm

Output

RX1

Mode

Location

GB3SE

1297.0750 Mhz

1291.0750 Mhz

Analogue

Stoke on Trent

70cm GB3CR

433.1500 Mhz 434.7500 Mhz Analogue

Caergwrle

GB3LI

433.2500 Mhz 434.8500 Mhz Analogue

Liverpool

GB3LL

434.0000 Mhz 434.6000 Mhz Analogue

Llandudno

GB3MF

433.0500 Mhz 434.6500 Mhz Analogue

**

GB3MR

433.3500 Mhz 434.9500 Mhz Analogue

Disley

GB3PZ

430.9000 Mhz 438.5000 Mhz Analogue

Dukinfield

GB3SM

433.3250 Mhz 434.9250 Mhz Analogue

Stoke on Trent

GB3ST

433.2250 Mhz 434.8250 Mhz Analogue

Stoke on Trent

GB3WP

430.9375 Mhz 438.5375 Mhz Analogue

GB7MN

439.4125 Mhz 430.4125 Mhz DMR

Disley

GB7ST

439.4500 Mhz 430.4500 Mhz DMR

Stoke on Trent

GB7WC

439.4875 Mhz 430.4875 Mhz D-Star

Warrington

**

2m Analogue Digital C4FM Fusion

GB3MN

145.6500 Mhz 145.0500 Mhz

Disley

GB3MP

145.7500 Mhz 145.1500 Mhz Analogue

Prestatyn

GB3VT

145.7250 Mhz 145.1250 Mhz D Star

Stoke on Trent

50.7900 Mhz

Stoke on Trent

6m GB3SX

51.2900 Mhz

Analogue

If you use the repeaters on a regular basis, please subscribe to them www.ukfmgw.co.uk. Please check the website to confirm which are currently working 33

Learning Morse with CWops During the autumn of last year I decided to take the plunge into the world of Morse and sign up for a CWops beginners course. Morse seemed like the perfect mode for the way I operate; it suits working at QRP power levels well, is good for SOTA activations which I had been hoping to make and also with everything going on in the world at the time, seemed like a good distraction too!

The beginners course started just after new year and I was placed in with a small group of other fellow Morse enthusiasts guided by a friendly advisor.

We met twice a week as a group over Skype where we would take part in some listening and sending practice, usually following the content we had been given as homework to concentrate on. We would also discuss any issues we’ve been having.

The homework itself is at the heart of the course and there was an expectation to spend around an hour a day on it. At the start of the course we were instructed to learn two or three new characters between sessions until they had all been learnt. To do this we used the Morse trainer at https:// morsecode.world with the character speed set to at least 20 WPM, but with the spacing between characters set very slow. The higher character speed was very important because it meant that you learnt the sound of the characters themselves rather than getting into the dit-dah counting hole that a lot of beginners fall down. Along with the character practice, head copying basic words that consisted of any learnt characters were introduced.

Additionally there was also some sending practice of those characters and basic words.

As the course progressed and the characters had all been learnt, things got a little more challenging as the spacing between the characters decreased and the complexity of the words increased. By the end of February when the course had finished I knew all the characters, the sounds of some common words as well as the structure of a basic QSO. I decided to sign up for the CWops basic course and carry on…

The basic course started at the beginning of April. Once again there was an expectation of an hour a day’s practice following the syllabus set out as homework and meeting up twice a week virtually, this time over Zoom. The basic course focused in the early weeks on ICR (Instant Character Recognition). The idea is that you can’t progress well without being able to copy characters quickly and easily without hesitation.

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The online trainers character speed was set at 25WPM, once again with a longer spacing between them. Any characters that caused delays in copying were to be focused on and practised until you could copy them without any hesitation.

As the course progressed, words, head copying short sentences and eventually basic stories and QSO’s were introduced. The spacing between the characters further decreased. During the online sessions we were branched off into smaller groups where we sent and copied short QSO’s between us. In these final weeks we’ve also been encouraged to get on the air and have QSO’s as well.

At the point of writing I’m heading in to the final week of the basic course and have seen a decent improvement in my proficiency during the last two months since it started. I am still pretty rusty when on the air but the main thing is that there are now Morse QSO’s being put into the log and with each one, they get a little bit easier to do.

I would say if anyone is looking to learn Morse but overwhelmed with where to start or need some structure to their learning and can put in around an hour a days practice to give the CWops (https://cwops.org/) courses ago.

They are well regarded for a reason and its really valuable being part of group who are on the same journey as yourself as well as having an advisor who is experienced and passionate about the code on hand just in case you’re struggling with anything.

If anyone would like any more information on the courses, feel free to give me a shout and I’ll help where I can. Finally, a big thank you to Chris 2E0KJC who spent some time on the air with me in between the two courses. It really helped with getting over my initial key shyness.

73 - Jamie M1JSC

Congratulations to Steve M7BFH on getting your intermediate callsign 2E0GZK 35

THE JOY OF SIX 50MHz Magic Band or Tragic Band?

Peter Taylor G8BCG For many, 50MHz, the 6m band is treated like the 160m band - it’s a button on the rig front panel that often remains unused. Eventually most people do take the opportunity to try out 6m but their first experience is probably not a happy one - “I Called CQ lots over several days but all I heard was noise.”

Use of a HF antenna or a simple vertical or dipole may not have helped to show what the band can do – but mainly it’s a question of timing. True, 6m is NOT a 24/7 hive of activity – but read on.

50MHz has a split personality. It is like a high HF band and can go crazy with DX at certain times of the year particularly at sunspot maxima where F2 propagation can give global coverage. It is also a low VHF band, good for local natter and subject to all kinds of propagation enhancements such as tropospheric, sporadic E, aurora, meteor scatter, and more esoteric modes such as Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP). This split personality is where the “magic” comes in as so many factors affect the way the band acts. [As I started to write this in mid-April 2021 there has just been a 12400km 50MHz QSO between EI and VP8 Falkland Islands out of the blue across the Geomagnetic Equator] So, where to start?

FM: Like the other VHF bands vertically polarised omni-directional antennas are the norm for FM. Where to listen: You won’t work DX here very often but there is a set of simplex FM channels centred around a calling channel on 51.510MHz for local chat.*Note that channel spacing on 50MHz is 20kHz. There is also a good selection of repeaters and gateways (see https://ukrepeater.net/6m.htm). If you don’t have a multi-mode transceiver covering 6m you will find a good selection of 6m hand-helds and mobile rigs both ex commercial and amateur.

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When to listen: Local nets times and of course to/from work times for mobiles. Also check the dates and times of RSGB FM activity contests. The Sporadic E season may deliver DX surprises across Europe.

DX Modes: Horizontally polarised directional antennas from dipoles and loops to large yagi arrays are the norm but a simple vertical can give excellent results particularly in the Sporadic E season.

Where to listen: CW and SSB CW will normally be found around 50.080 to 50.100MHz and SSB from 50.130 to 50.300MHz. It is very important to note that the area between 50.100 – 50.130MHz is the DX window designated for CW and SSB inter-continental contacts only, such as Europe to South America or Europe to Africa. This area of the band should NOT be used for making QSOs within Europe. The same comment is particularly true of the DX calling frequency 50.110MHz which should only be used to establish contacts with stations in other continents before moving away to another frequency.

For general calling on SSB 50.150MHz is a good place to listen / start.

When the band is open QSOs can take almost a contest format with basic information exchanged as quickly as possible but nice long chats across Europe are also commonplace.

Data Modes (MGM) FT8 is now by far the most popular data mode on 6m on 50.313Mhz with a secondary inter-continental frequency of 50.323MHz. Activity is such that something can usually be heard at any time of the day and of course it is the perfect mode for low power and/or small antennas. Other modes such as MSK144 are also used where FT8 is not effective such as for Meteor Scatter.

When to listen: The Sporadic E season (peaking from May to August) will yield Europe wide “single hop” QSOs several days a week. Multi-hop openings are also frequent out to the middle-east and Africa. The jewels in the crown are the few days when propagation extends out to the Caribbean, North and Central America, S America in our afternoons and evenings. QSOs with Japan are also possible (though not so frequent) in our mornings.

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Knowing when is the key to success on 6m! For data modes it’s easy – www.pskreporter.info/pskmap.html provides real-time reporting of CQ calls.

But there are many other sources of the knowledge ;-) There are of course the traditional DX Clusters and www.dxsummit.fi and www.dxwatch.com A really good interactive chat incorporating 6m DX spots, maps and much more will be found at http://www.on4kst.info/chat/index.php .

A note on Beacons and Band Plans Beacons can be useful for checking out your receive setup and propagation conditions. The UK 50MHz Beacon list is here: https://www.microwavers.org/ maps/6m.htm A global on is here: https://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/por/50.htm Band plans for 50MHz can be a bit confusing (or just plain wrong!). This is due to the 6m split personality of HF/VHF. The 50MHz band plan in IARU Region 1 was designed to meet the VHF operating and regulatory requirements of Region 1 and in some instances conflicts with global reality.

Thankfully in the UK band plans are advisory. So, the best advice is to see where the actual activity is for a particular mode and, so long as it is within the terms of your licence, operate there.

The Future We are already seeing some really good propagation on 10m (probably for the first time for many new hams. As we begin to climb up towards the peak of the next sunspot cycle things can only get better.

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When F2 propagation reaches 6m (and it will!) then expect 50MHz to behave like 28MHz with potential for good openings to all continents. On 50MHz a particular form of F layer “Trans-Equatorial Propagation” or TEP can provide some interesting QSOs across the equator peaking around the Equinoxes.

Stations equidistant North and South of the geo-magnetic equator can work – sometimes at amazing signal strengths and it sometimes links with Sporadic E to extend further north.. This is a late afternoon / evening thing – so good for activity.

Start to build your station now and hone your skills for the good times ahead!

70MHz The 70MHz 4m band has many characteristics similar to 50MHz and as more countries gain access to this band DX possibilities are ever increasing.

In the sporadic E season SSB CW and FT8 QSOs are at times possible with very little power and simple antennas.

References and Web Resources If you want THE reference book on 50MHz and 70MHz then Six & Four by Don Field G3XTT is it. [I will provide a copy for the next SRS Raffle] The UK Six Metre Group has a really good magazine for members – the website is of course free http://www.uksmg.org/ or for some history see http://www.uksmg.org/content/history.htm There are also several good Facebook 50Mhz and 70Mhz Groups: https://www.facebook.com/groups/50MhzHamRadio/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/966329450123145/ 50MHz UKSMG https://www.facebook.com/groups/581324335346443/ 70MHz https://www.facebook.com/TheMagicBand/ This is NOT 6m but brings back memoriesJ See you on SixJ 73 Peter G8BCG 39

Two Conversational Digital Modes on HF – RTTY and PSK Evan M0TJU Since the middle of the last decade, the weak-signal modes, especially those associated with Joe Taylor, K1JT, have been taking the amateur community by storm. FT8, in particular, and its faster stablemate, FT4, have made ‘digimodes’ the most popular type of operating on the HF bands. With their ability to be copied under unbelievably low signal-to-noise conditions, transmission using such modes has made working DX a common experience for even the most power- and antenna-challenged station. Something that FT8 and the like do not offer, however, is the ability to converse – ‘ragchew’ – with other operators. For that, we could turn to trusty radioteletype (RTTY), the first of the digital modes used by amateurs, or, perhaps PSK, designed for the computer soundcard age. Traffic for each of these can be fairly sparse these days – an unwelcome impact of the FT8 and its offshoots – but, having a little patience and band knowledge can result in you making rewarding contacts using such ‘conversational digital modes.’

First used by UK amateurs in the 1950s, radioteletype (RTTY, pronounced ’ritty’) was a digital mode before the Digital Age, and was undertaken with surplus wartime telex machines, like the Creed 7B. A text character is generated by a string of five ‘bits,’ each representing a ‘1’ or a ‘0.’ In fact, this type of five-bit encryption, the ‘Baudot Code,’ predates even the radio era, when all electronic communication ran through copper landlines.

RTTY is a form of frequency shift keying (FSK), where a constantly keyed carrier wave shifts between two frequencies, each 170Hz from the other. The switching between the two tones, the ‘mark’ and the ‘space’ – giving RTTY its characteristic jingling – generates the strings of bits which, in turn, produces the characters.

Amateur RTTY is typically sent at a data rate of 45.45 bits per second, making the text shoot across the screen at about 60 words per minute. The speed is appropriate for those wanting a quick conversation or to make contacts during a contest, but such swiftness comes at the cost of a high minimum signal-to-noise ratio for reliable copy (-5.5dB).

Screen grab of RTTY signal shown on spectrum scope, showing ‘mark’ and ‘space’ (Image: M0TJU)

Radioteletype’s limitations did not go unnoticed amongst the amateur radio community, and a RTTY replacement was sought. The mode to be settled on would be PSK: PSK31 was initially the favoured variant, with its faster brother, PSK63, eventually becoming the dominant of the two. PSK is the acronym for phase shift

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keying, whereby each ‘1’ and ‘0’ is discerned by the phase relationship of a transmitted tone with a reference carrier. A ‘1’ would be generated if the waves are fully in phase, and a ‘0’ when the phases are completely opposite. PSK requires two audio tones to be produced simultaneously (by a computer soundcard), giving it a warbling characteristic. Phase shift keying was chosen for this new amateur mode as it is more resilient when faced with noise – and bursts of noise – than frequency shift keying, as used for RTTY. Also, the near ubiquity of soundcard-equipped PCs near the turn of the century allowed such a mode to be widely adopted.

Text relating to a PSK transmission, plus a mixture of PSK31 and PSK63 signals showing on the waterfall (Image: RSGB)

PSK31, especially, has an impressive minimum S/N performance: -11.5dB. However, its relative sluggishness (under 50 words per minute) meant that PSK63, with its nearly 100 wpm rate, has eclipsed its slower sibling in terms of usage. Despite being faster than radioteletype, PSK63’s minimum S/N (-7dB) actually beats that of RTTY. Unsurprisingly, the recognition of PSK63’s overall superiority to RTTY has accelerated the latter’s decline; PSK63 has even challenged RTTY in the contesting field, an arena where the first amateur digimode remains dominant.

PSK activity can still be found most nights around 7040kHz, and just above 14070kHz during daylight hours. Regarding radioteletype, traffic using this mode can be hard to locate outside of contests these days, although special event stations have been making use of the mode, from my experience. Twenty metres, especially just above 14080kHz, is where to go during daytime and, like for PSK, the region of 7040kHz offers the best opportunities for (non-contest) RTTY contacts in the evenings.

As bleak as it may seem, the future may treat both PSK and RTTY kindly: as operators have worked the world using FT8, folks will be looking for other challenges; solar conditions are on the up, too, meaning less reason to rely on the weak signal modes for DX over the coming years. Perhaps amateurs will just come to appreciate ragchewing, with many having experienced largely ‘rubber stamp’ QSOs over the past years. Time, of course, will tell

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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 £ 10.00

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

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:    

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

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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

(Ultra High Frequency)

Date of Next Issue - September 2021 Articles to be sent to QUA by 12 September 2021

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 43

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Club Nets 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 M0JYP 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 M0JYP Jim G6URD

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

SRS Links RSGB www.rsgb.org

UKFM Group Western www.ukfmgw.org.uk

Ofcom www.ofcom.org.uk

ARRL www.arrl.org

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

Ham Links www.eham.nets

Hack Green SDR www.hackgreen.co.uk

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A Full list of Your Fellow Members Arthur Alan Nigel Carsten Robert Brian Dave Lee Richard Bernard Julian John Graham Mark Robert John David David

G0EOM G0ROW G0RXA G0SYP G1VXD G1YMW G2DS G2LK G3CWI G3SHF G3TFR G3WFK G3ZOD G4FRW G4GDG G4GEY G4GRU G4MUL

Keith

G4WHF

Barrie Roy Allen James Robert Ray

G6GUT G6RSU G6UQC G6URD G7IOC G7TQT

Peter Chris Brian Derek Steve Bob Andrew Simon Robert Tony Tom Chris Meeko Phill Dave Jeffrey Bernard Keith

G8BCG G8HCB G8NHN G8NRU G8YTP GM4UYZ M0AQM M0AVV M0CPP M0CVC M0DCG M0EEG M0FVD M0HNJ M0IEF M0IKI M0IPF M0JYP M0KJC/ Ken G8KJC Les M0LPB Chris M0LZA Marie M0MLK Matt M0MVR Stephen M0MWB

Ben Chris Rob John Pete Andy Brian Jon Tony Slawek Isla Evan Thomas Rob Allan Alex Nigel Bill

M0NEN M0OGG M0ORA M0PEK M0PTB M0REP M0REU M0RFU M0SAV M0SQJ M0SWZ M0TJU M0TKG M0TKT M0TZD M0UTA M0VNL M0WBS

David

M0WDD

Phil Alan James Peter Kieron

M0XYA M1FHM M1JSC M1PTR M5KJM

Simon C - SWL Simon - 2E0TKP Ian - 2E0RNH Meeko - M0FVD 46

Ed Nigel Darren Paul Andrew John Keith Rado Steve Jack Ben

2E0CFM 2E0CKA 2E0DVM 2E0ESH 2E0GCL 2E0GCX 2E0GKT 2E0GVA 2E0GZK 2E0JEH 2E0JLR

Chris Andy Sarah Mike Ian Andrew Simon Paddy Steve Elaine Richard

2E0KJC 2E0KKF 2E0KUH 2E0MBV 2E0RHN 2E0ROR 2E0TKP 2E0TWD 2E0WIT

Kenneth Heather Alan Tony Dave craig Robert

M3UQP M6HNS M6KOY M6MZV M6NAE M6OFO M6OKV M6TMA

John William Doug Marie Pauline Ron Andrew

M7CPT M7FWR M7HNT M7OEN M7PLB M7RJL M7USL

Simon James Georgio

SWL SWL SWL

Tracy Neo Kieran

SWL SWL SWL (Junior)

Barry

VK2BJ

Neil

2E1BVS 2W0FSU

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.

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SRS HF Ladder June 2021 As I write we are half way through the year with both CQWW (SSB & CW) plus National Field Day (CW) contests behind us. As I’ve mentioned before contests are a great source of DX slots in a relatively short time span of 24 or 48hrs. The next one to look out for is IOTA at the end of July though due to lockdown rare island stations may be at a premium.

Propagation In the middle of May we had a welcome blast of Sporadic E which gave some good openings on 10m & 6m. Sporadic-E was more commonplace during May and the usual advice is to check regularly throughout the day, but if time is limited, go for mid-morning and late afternoon/early evening. Solar flux remained in the mid to high 70s with few reported sunspots. Propagation reports in early June indicated that the 20m band remained open to DX over a 3,000km path until nearly midnight.

HF & 6 DXCC Ladder I’m pleased to see plenty of activity in the table with some very high scores listed. Peter, G8BCG with over 600 slots, has a commanding lead over Pete, M0PTB with Andrew, M0AQM holding third place. Their scores mainly coming from Digital QSOs. Keith, M0JYP leads the Phone section and Tom, M0DCG leads the CW section.

Some of you may have noticed for a period during May the HF ladder I maintain via www.m1ptr.com/SRSDxccLadder.php was not displaying correctly.

Pete, M0PTB spotted it and contacted me to investigate. The problem was traced to an unannounced change to the format of the feed I take from Clublog. After a quick edit normal service was resumed. To check if the format change was intentional I contacted Michael G7VJR and received a confirmation (and apology) for the unexpected but necessary change. It would have been nice to have known in advance but I guess continual development and improvement is a feature of our hobby so no complaints from me!

Details to join the competition are found http://www.g8srs.co.uk/hf-ladder-2/ If anyone needs help with a submission please drop me an email. I’ll be glad to help.

73 and Good DXing, Pete Ridley, M1PTR

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Good day Mr President Hello everyone, thank you for joining me and I hope you are well.

It’s June and as I type the sun is out and National Field Day is about to get underway. A far cry from 2020 when we were all hunkered down in our billets waiting for the virus from hell to pass. So, with twelve months or more under the belt things are looking more positive and the end of the long dark tunnel appears to be on the horizon.

Lunchtime at Low Power Field Day

SRS Tent Marple Ridge G2BJT SSB FD Site

The highlight of the last few months is the launch of our centenary book which Heather has painstakingly put together. I’m sure it's been said many times but what an excellent publication it is and only Heather really knows the hours of research and work it has taken to put it together. I’m sure I speak for everyone in saying a very big “well done”.

Reading through the various articles has prompted me to reminisce over my time with the society and the many activities with which we have been involved.

Ray Gerrard G3NOM and Christopher M1WEB

Ray Gerrard G3NOM and Nigel G0RXA 50

As an example, there was the time when Ray Gerrard G3NOM stepped in to help with operating in the Low Power Field Day competition, the rather laid back event taking place annually in July. Together with his wife Lawan who were visiting from their home in the far east, Ray helped us to not only take part but to win that year’s contest.

It must be said that in those days our contest operation was not quite as slick as it is now, nevertheless the whole weekend was a fun social event with members coming together to support the entry and at the same time have fun. Those of you who have seen the video showing our tent erecting exploits will know what I mean.

Then there was the first Stockport Rally at Walthew House. A big decision to move from Reddish with many months of planning to ensure everyone could be accommodated. In the end the sun shone and the traders and many visitors left happy with the successful team gathering at the nearby Florist public house for a celebratory pint.

So many good times, too many to recall individually. However, it just goes to show the many sides to our society all of which warrant their own part in our history when it comes time to write the next update. To help whoever it is who will take on the task it is important we now ensure every activity involving Stockport Radio Society is recorded and details saved. This includes photographs, articles in newspapers or journals, even video or sound recordings, anything which can be attributed to the society.

If you have anything then please forwarded it to Heather so it may become a part of our next one hundred years history.

Once again Heather, excellent work which has gone around the world and once again enhanced the reputation of Stockport Radio Society far and wide.

Until next time, this is me saying 73's, take care and bye for now.

Nigel Roscoe G0RXA President Stockport Radio Society

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Stockport Radio Society Walthew House, 112 Shaw Heath, Stockport SK2 6QS Tel : 07506 904422 Email : info@g8srs.co.uk

Stockport Radio Society are affiliated members of RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) and NARSA (Northern Amateur Radio Society Association) 52