SSB Field Day - Shoreham Lighthouse Trig Pillars - 2m DF Hunt New LED Lamps
September - October 2011
Worthing & District Amateur Radio Club Established 1948
http://www.wadarc.org.uk - email info@wadarc.org.uk President: G8FMJ John Slater
Life Vice President: G8MSQ Peter Robinson
WADARC meet every Wednesday, 8pm in the Lancing Parish Hall, South Street, Lancing BN15 8AJ. All that have an interest in radio communications and associate subjects, whether a licensed amateur or not, are invited. WADARC can also arrange training for people to undertake the Radio Amateur Foundation, Intermediate & Advanced licenses. WADARC Committee 2011 - 2012 Kelvan! ! Rod! ! Sandra ! ! John ! ! Richard! ! Jonathan! Peter! ! Pete! ! Andy! !
M0KEL! ! M0RDV! ! G0KAG! ! G8FMJ! ! G7NLZ! ! G1EXG! ! G4LKW! ! M6PAP! ! M6RFE! !
Chairman! ! Secretary! ! Treasurer! ! President! ! Ordinary Member!! Ordinary Member!! Ordinary Member!! Ordinary Member!! Ordinary Member!!
WADARC Ex Officio 2011 - 2012 John ! Peter! Chris ! Graham Phil! Martin !
! ! ! ! ! !
G8FMJ! ! G8MSQ! ! G3NDJ! ! G4FNL! ! G4UDU! ! M0ADY ! !
Publicity!! ! Membership Manager! Awards Manager! ! Contest Manager!! Ragchew Editor! ! Club Webmaster! !
WADARC Foundation, Intermediate & Advanced Courses & Licensing Kelvan! !
M0KEL! !
Training Officer! !
WADARC Club Nets - all times are local I am currently obtaining new information on club nets. 2m on 145.425 is an often used frequency
Contents From the Editor's Keyboard!
1
Chairman’s Chatter!
2
Presidential Ponderings!
3
Shoreham Lighthouse!
3
We Have Seen the Light!
6
SSB Field Day!
7
SSB Field Day - A Visit by G3NDJ!
17
SSB Field Day - The Results!
18
WADARC 2m DF Hunt!
18
Trig Pillars!
19
HF Operating!
19
Club program, activities and dates for the diary!
21
From the Editor's Keyboard I think this issue should be titled “Déjà vu” because I am back at the keyboard with Ragchew again on the screen! As you should all know, our previous editor, Ben 2E0BSF, has now taken up his new career in the Band of the Royal Marines. After the entrance exam in late July it was straight into basic training in September and by now he is crawling around in the mud and yomping across the moors somewhere in the West Country. So now I am back with Ragchew and have decided to change to a different software package to produce the magazine - something I as an engineer and not a publicist can find easy to use. There has been a bit of a delay starting off with the first one again, first learning the new software procedures and also the pressure of current work commitments. The production of Ragchew would be ideally suited to one of our retired club members but they all seem to think they are busier than us who are still working I am not convinced. I will start to put more articles in that appertain to the operating side of amateur radio. I am always keen to try any new mode just to see if has any interest for me but it seems most of our membership stay with the same modes and contacts with the same people every day. There is far more to our hobby and we need to try the new data modes plus contacts with those of different interest groups. I ventured in the SOTA (Summits On The Air) group and where I have made a reasonable number of QSOs and all of them “unique’s”. Bob G3VXJ has certainly taken on the challenge to a high level and is chasing through their award scheme with amazing pace. So there will be articles taking into account my interests biased towards the HF bands, but if you want to see a feature on a different aspect of operating please contact me and I will see what I can research or better still, put a few words together and let me have it to include in Ragchew. So any new ideas on format for the magazine, please let me know - I will be including as many illustrative pictures as I can and all in colour, so view on line or as a downloadable pdf file and you will get the full benefit. There are still some who want a “paper copy” but the way forward to provide the most information at the lowest cost for the club is to be in a computer viewable format. We have been very lucky in previous years to a have a very subsidised print so unless we come across a new sponsor prepared to pay for the full publication this is the way forward. Phil G4UDU
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Chairman’s Chatter Well another AGM has come and gone. The main change is that it was decided to to alter the period of meetings from weekly to twice a month on the first and third Wednesdays, starting January 2012 for a trial period of 3 months. This decision was not taken lightly. It was discussed and voted for unanimously as the club can't financially support weekly meetings as it costs £25 a night for the room, also the difficulty in booking speakers. Hopefully, meeting twice a month it will be easier to book speakers, this can cost £30 plus in speakers expenses, and lessen the drain on club funds. Please let us know on any particular subjects you would like talks on. Next, if anyone has space to store the club tent and portaloo, please let me know. The club contest band 2011/2012 is 10 metres. I would like to see more support for club events. Don't forget the Christmas party on December 14th - let Peter Robinson know if you are attending. The cost is £4 per person and it will be held at the British Legion Lancing. Don't forget club subs are due - let peter Robinson have monies and don't forget to inform him of any changes. The committee members are: Chairman: Kelvan Gale Secretary: Rod Vincent Treasurer: Sandra Grindlay Richard Bennett, Jonathon Hare, Peter Head, Pete Pennycate & Andy Braemore Ragchew: Phil Godbold Membership: Peter Robinson Training: Kelvan Gale, Rod Vincent, Richard Bennett 73 Kelvan Gale M0KEL
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Presidential Ponderings Another Ragchew is with us and with it a new editor, our thanks to Ben for the sterling job he did and thanks to Phil for taking the job on again. Since the last edition we have competed in SSB field day which despite the rain I felt was a really good team effort and very enjoyable, already looking forward to next year. We have also just had our AGM and it is great to see some new and younger members volunteer to be on the committee. I hope they will get your full support in their efforts in the coming year. Although now not on the committee, I have been asked to continue the role of club President and I feel somewhat honoured to have been asked yet again. I do take the role seriously and will endeavour to continue to do so. At the time of writing the subs are due for renewal and I hope that despite the problems we all face in this current economic climate, that the renewal uptake will be as good as in previous years. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Christmas Party. 73, John-G8FMJ.
Shoreham Lighthouse GB8SL AUGUST 19 - 21
Shoreham Lighthouse on the Air for international Lighthouses on the Air weekend. This year we were able to use the club's caravan to provide an easily set up station with the operating position consisting of the club's Icom 756 Pro III, solid state Linear and auto ATU giving us 400 Watts on all bands set up for operating in the awning. The antenna was a Trapped Dipole (W3DZZ) at about 40ft between the lighthouse and a 45ft mast. The power and toilet facilities were again courtesy of the Shoreham Rowing Club. The inside of the Caravan was used as a rest area and also housed the cooking equipment for Rod (MĂ˜RDV) to provide his excellent food for the weekend. The station was well attended on the Saturday, really nice to see in particular
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Mast is up - now for the awning
Pete & Gerry work the pileup
Don Wallis (MĂ˜ZDW) who stopped by for a short visit on Saturday afternoon. Sunday was a little less well attended. The station made in total 480 contacts in 44 countries: England, Wales, Scotland, N.Ireland, Eire, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, European Russia, Asiatic Russia, Ukraine, Czech Rep., Slovak Rep., Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Greece, Malta, Israel, Romania, Bulgaria, U.S.A., Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Australia, and Falkland Islands. Over the weekend we worked 44 Lighthouses/Lightships in 12 Countries: England, Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Poland and Spain. The following is a list of the lights and their locations.
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CALLSIGN LIGHTHOUSE/SHIP COUNTRY EA8LHT OZ3EVA/L OZ 7LH G1OCN MXØBEE/p GBØBHL GBØPL/L GB2FL GBØSGB OH1F/p OH1AH OH6NR DLØBUX DLØEO/lh DLØMFK DA2005LH DLØHGW DLØPP/Lh TF1IRA EI2SDR/p IZ6ASI/p IF9ZWA/p LY2FH/p LY2UF/p GNØLIX/p PA5BM LA8D LA4K HP2GLT SP5PB/1 3Z1LH GBØELH GB2LBN GB2NCL MMØBNN/p GB2GNL EA5KB/p ED3LHT SK2AU/Lh HE1G TC2LHW TCØSV TC1LHW UR3CMJ/M UU4JWM/Lh UT1MT/p
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LH No
PUNTA MELENARA Canary IslandsCAI 065 HIRTSHALS Denmark DEN 017 HANSTHOLM Denmark DEN 013 PORTLAND BILL (New) England ENG 273 St. BEES HEAD England ENG142 BEACHY HEAD LIGHT England ENG 005 PAULL England ENG 099 FLAMBOROUGH HEAD (New) England ENG 042 SILLOTH POINT England ENG 126 SÄPPI Finland FIN 055 UTÖ ISLAND I Finland FIN 074 SÄLGRUND Finland FIN 051 TWIELENFLETH Germany FED 242 ECKERNFÖRDE LIGHT Germany FED 073 KARNIN/USEDOM Germany FED 274 STABERHUK Germany FED 226 RANZOW Germany FED 193m WESTHEVERSAND Germany FED 260 KNARRAROS KOGAR Iceland ICE 012 INISHOWEN HEAD Ireland IRE 043 DIGA DI LEGANTE - RADICE Italy ITA 181 PUNTA LIBECCIO Italy ITA 133 NIDA Lithuania LIT 004 SVENTOJI Lithuania LIT 006 CHAINE TOWER/SANDYN.Ireland POINT NTI 004 MARKEN Netherlands NET 017 FEISTEN Norway NOR 013 LINDESNES Norway NOR 028 GATUN UPPER SOUTHBOUND Panama PAN 029 SWINOUJSCIE Poland POL 019 DARLOWO EAST MOLEPoland POL 003 ESHA NESS Scotland SCO 075 BARNS NESS Scotland SCO 015 NORTH CARR LIGHTSHIP Scotland SCO 151 CORPACH Scotland SCO 320 GIRDLE NESS Scotland SCO 089 CABO CULLERA Spain SPA 013 RIO EBRO Spain SPA 297 GÅSØREN II Sweden SWE 017 FUE DES PAQUIS Switzerland SWI 001 SILE Turkey TUR 046 BATI/BOZCAADA Turkey TUR 001 KARABURUN Turkey TUR 036 TARHANKUTSKY Ukraine UKR 016 KAMYSHBURUNSKY Ukraine UKR 021 BEREZAN-OCHAKOV (Front) Ukraine UKR 044
LOCATION
LAT
LONG
Isla De Grande Canaria
27° 59' N 57° 35' N 57° 06' N Isle of Portland, Weymouth 50° 31' N St. Bees, Cumbria 54° 30' N Eastbourne, East Sussex 50° 44' N Humberside 53° 42' N Humberside 54° 06' N Cumbria 54° 53' N 61° 29' N
15° 22' W 09° 56' E 08° 36' E 02° 28' W 03° 38' W 00° 15' E 00° 13' W 00° 04' W 03° 23' W 21° 21' E
62° 20' N 53° 36' N 54° 28' N Karnin Island 53° 51' N Fehmarm Island 54° 24' N Kap Akowa Park, Putgarten 53° 00' N 54° 22' N 63° 49' N County Donegal 55° 14' N Senigallia 43° 43' N 37° 57' N 58° 18' N 55° 18' N County Antrim 54° 51' N 52° 27' N Klepp Municipality, Rogaland58° 50' N Lindesnes Municipality Vest Agder 57° 59' N Panama Canal 09° 15' N 53° 55' N 54° 27' N Shetland Isles 60° 29' N 55° 59' N Dundee Caledonian Canal, Fort William 56° 51' N Aberdeen 57° 08' N 39° 11' N 40° 44' N 64° 39' N Lake Geneva 46° 14' N Black Sea
21° 12' E 09° 34' E 09° 51' E 13° 52' E 11° 19' E 06° 00' E 08° 38' E 28° 59' W 06° 56' W 13° 13' E 12° 03' E 21° 00' E 21° 01' E 05° 48' W 05° 08' E 05° 30' E 07° 03' E 79° 55' W 14° 17' E 16° 23' E 01° 38' W 02° 27' W
Black Sea
41° 21' N 45° 21' N
28° 41' E 32° 30' E
46° 37' N
31° 33' E
05° 07' W 02° 03' W 00° 13' W 00° 52' E 21° 19 E 06° 13' E
So many thanks to all who attended, operated and those members who called in on the air over the weekend. Looking forward to 2012 already. 73, Pete G4LKW
We Have Seen the Light Compact fluorescent, the end is near - an alternative with a natural white light plus the capability of being dimmed and hopefully without the very “NOT GREEN” toxic waste implications. Osram's near-omnidirectional LED lamp to replace 75W incandescent lamp August 25, 2011 | Christoph Hammerschmidt | 222907475 With its Parathom Pro Classic A75 Advanced, Osram is launching the first LED lamp capable of replacing a 75-watt incandescent lamp. Boasting a consumption of just 14 watts, the LED lamp uses over 80 percent less energy than its incandescent equivalent and has a service life of up to 30,000 hours. The lamp will be available to consumers from early 2012. According to the vendor, the Parathom Pro Classic A75 Advanced is the LED substitute for the ordinary 75-watt incandescent lamp. With a light output of 1055 lumens and a power consumption of just 14 watts, it surpasses the brightness of a 75-watt incandescent lamp and saves more than 80 percent energy in comparison at the same time. The light from the Classic A75 Advanced resembles that of an ordinary incandescent lamp. In addition, the new LED lamp is infinitely dimmable. The design of the Parathom Pro Classic A75 permits a high light radiation angle of 340°. The LEDs are arranged on surfaces all around the lamp and hence no longer radiate their light in just one direction, but offer all-round illumination. The
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lamps will be available in specialist stores from the start of 2012 for a recommended retail price of around 50 euros. Thanks to the electricity saved, the acquisition costs pay for themselves after just 3 years. The company also said that series production of the new design is also imminently planned for LED lamps with lower wattages. The Parathom Classic A60 will be going on sale in its new look from the start of next year and the Parathom Classic A40 is expected to follow around the middle of the year. For further information, visit www.osram.com
SSB Field Day Report on SSB Field Day 2011 by Graham Bubloz G4FNL
The G3WOR/P Field Day site
Keen to improve on our second place in the Restricted Section of the contest the previous year, the club decided to go all-out and put in an even more serious entry this year. It was going to be a difficult challenge – but we did have more members volunteering to get involved, which was most encouraging. The plan was
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to replicate the set up as near as possible as the previous year, building on that success. Within the club, we are very fortunate to have members with a huge range of experience and expertise. So, earlier in the year, a planning group was formed to organise the event. This group consisted of Rod G3YHM, Phil G4UDU, Kelvan M0KEL, Rod M0RDV, John G8FMJ, André M0RAV and me. We met in July and within a couple of hours the various tasks and responsibilities had been shared out. New for this year was a petrol generator and a caravan. Having our own generator would save some expenditure as we normally hire one for the whole weekend. As before, we planned to have an advanced installation group that would get onto site, at the farm near Adversane, West Sussex on the Friday afternoon prior to the weekend. The advanced group would consist of Phil G4UDU, Rod M0RDV, Kelvan M0KEL, André M0RAV, Peter G8MSQ, Gerry M3ORE, Rod G3YHM and Edmund 2E0MDO. On Friday 2nd September, this group met up on site at 3pm, but unfortunately, Rod G3YHM called me late in the morning to let me know that his car had just suffered a major fault and he was unable to get there, and therefore I decided that I would take his place. Also, unbeknown to the rest of us, Kelvan and Rod M0RDV (who had specifically taken the day off work – just for this event) had arranged to get onto site a little earlier. They were to bring the club caravan to the site.
The not quite complete caravan installation.
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Consequently, by the time the others had arrived, the caravan was already installed along with its awning. This was a little closer to the nearby road than had been envisaged – but it was decided to leave it in place, as moving would have taken a lot more effort. Besides, there were other priorities and things to get done. We were lucky with the weather a fine sunny afternoon with a few strong gusts of winds – but at least it was dry. Our catering was singlehandedly managed by Rod M0RDV. Over the weekend, he had about 12 people each meal to cater for, plus teas and coffees. We owe a huge vote of thanks to him for this facility. During the weekend, it became evident that the way we had the site laid out did not really help Rod and it was also fairly clear that he could probably do with Rod M0RDV Our Catering Manager some help. So, if there is anyone within the club that would consider some commis chef duties, I am sure Rod would be very glad to hear from you for next time. We will also give more thought to the site layout. There is a huge amount of effort involved in setting up the contest station for the weekend. A separate large mess tent was erected. The catering was housed in this tent, some 10m away from the caravan awning. It was decided to house the operating shack within the awning rather than inside the caravan because there was a bit more space. The intention of separating the shack from the mess tent was intentional and was to try and avoid problems that we have had in previous years, where loud talking and general chatting really causes problems for the operators when trying to weed out the weak signals. Once the mess tent had been erected, the aerial masts needed to be installed. We had two 15m masts and the 80m doublet aerial (total length of 40m) was run between them, with the aerial orientated such that it was running North / South. Some additional wizardry was needed to increase the height of one of the masts. Fortunately, Phil G4UDU had a suitable off-cut of fibreglass tube that was a tight push-fit into the top section of the short mast.
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With a person on each guy rope and someone at the foot of the masts, it was a relatively easy task to push the masts up and sling the aerial from these two supports. An Icom auto ATU acquired by John G8FMJ was installed directly underneath the aerial, and at the foot of the 450 ohm ladder-line feeder. There was a 40ft run of coax cable back to the shack and into the The Mess Tent
club‘s Icom 756 Pro III radio. This seems a lot of effort to go to but our experience of the recent years has determined that this set up is the least problematic and most suitable for operating in this contest.
Peter G8MSQ & Phil G4UDU attaching the ATU
The clock was ticking and it was about 6pm before we managed to fire-up the generator, run out some power distribution cables and start some tests to see whether the station was in a fit state to operate.
Fortunately, there were no obvious problems and the aerial seemed to load-up on all bands. We made a couple of test QSOs into JA on 15m to prove that we could at least get out. The daylight was starting to go when the final task for the day was to erect a couple of small tents for those staying overnight. So it was, that the advance party had done all that was asked of them and for them to have a well-earned meal and get some sleep. Unfortunately, not all who stayed managed to get much sleep – but that‘s a story for another time... Saturday morning arrived. The weather was still good. We were joined by Rod G3YHM who had managed to overcome his car problems. He brought Peter G3XIA along too. We were also joined by a local friend of mine Peter G4BVH. The overnight team already had breakfast cleared away and tea was brewing. Phil G4UDU supplied a mobile phone Internet connection, which enabled us to connect to the DX Cluster. Some time was spent reconfiguring the Club‘s laptop with the latest versions of the logging programme (N1MM) and also SCP (Super check partial) file. The latter provides the operator with a list of likely callsigns if it is unclear the callsign of the station we are working. It really does help. We had to
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configure the DX Cluster with filtering commands to only allow through DX Spots that were likely to be of use to us. That took a surprisingly long time for us to figure out how to implement. Finally, after all the configuration and connecting up of the various interface boxes and so on, we were ready to go. It was not quite 11am and so we had 3 hours spare time to take a listen, and get operators familiar with the set up and generally await the start of the contest which was at 2pm (local). Gerry M3ORE was asked to take responsibility for ensuring that the Up she goes... Gerry M3ORE generator was kept plied with fuel as we did not want a repetition of last year when the generator ran out of petrol twice. We had a rota for checking the fuel and also an operating rota to try and provide folks with some idea of when they would be required to be in the hot seats. As before, we had two people sitting side-by-side – one to operate and the other to enter callsigns into the log. The idea was that you would spend an hour or so as a logger, getting used to band conditions and learning what stations had been worked, before taking over the operating position for another hour. This should be a more efficient way of operating. Edmund 2E0MDO– looking a little jaded.... Unfortunately, the rota went a bit awry and was not strictly adhered to so I had to take responsibility for moving people on and off as I felt appropriate to try to maximise our score and QSO rate.
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At about 12pm, we were joined by John G0KFO and Chris G8GKC, who travelled all the way from Kent to take part in the weekend. John is a club member but can rarely make the regular club meetings but having visited us the previous year, he had decided to make a weekend of it this time and brought Chris along to help out too. (Chris is one of the technical support staff from Icom UK – The Club’s new generator so if we had any equipment problems – we would be sure to have the right person on hand to investigate.) The contest started at 2pm (local) time. I took the helm with Peter G4BVH as the logger. We started looking / calling CQ on 28MHz and quickly moved to 21MHz and then onto 14MHz. Unfortunately, my QSO rate for this first hour was abysmally poor – with just 21 QSOs. I am unsure why this was but the rate began to pick up once Peter took over for the second hour. I can‘t quite remember who was next on duty but I do recall that Pete M6PAP, who had never taken part in a contest before (and he confided in me later never again) was drafted into the shack. He kept things moving and Rod G3YHM was also in the hot seat. A few more changes later with the same people and we were getting along well. By 7pm, we had 208 QSOs in the log, which was nearly double our QSO total at the same time last year. Things were looking very encouraging despite the poor start. At around this time, we had been joined by Sandra G0KAG who was using the site as a stopover before continuing to the Amberley Chalk Pits station early on Sunday. Sandra brought along her dog Sparky and was staying in her camper Chris G8GKC - John G0KFO van, which made everyone envious of the luxury
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she had compared to the rough and ready sleeping arrangements that the rest of us had. Also, we were joined on site by John G8FMJ, who was on duty to take over running during the busier shift on Saturday evening – predominantly on 3.5MHz. Gerry M3ORE was around assisting with the logging (as well as keeping the generator topped up) and M0RDV servind up a delicious meal which everyone enjoyed – with hot tea and coffee on tap too. We knew beforehand that there was also a chance to make a few additional QSOs in the All Asia Contest that was running in parallel with Field Day. The AA contest is one where ages are exchanged. This year, we managed to work a number of Asian stations – which gave us some much-needed multiplier points. As for our age – we gave out the traditional '59' report followed by 63, which is the age of Worthing and District Amateur Radio Club. Some also gave us a serial number, which was extra helpful. The AA Contest did net us a few extra QSOs and so the additional effort involved in trying to elicit a contact was considered Sandra G0KAG with Sparky generally worthwhile—especially if a new country was involved. We worked some considerable DX throughout the weekend, including JA, 9M2 VK, BV, VE and West Coast USA. We continued throughout the night—keeping one eye on last year‘s score to see how we were doing. Despite the rather slow start, we had caught up and were easily ahead of the previous years scores. At midnight, we were on 3.5MHz issuing serial number 442 (the previous year we were on 406.) As expected, during the overnight (graveyard) shift things slowed down. It was difficult to find new QSOs but we reasoned that it was the same for everyone else and so we continued doing our best. The operating and logging duties were taken care of by John G0KFO and Chris G8GKC along with Edmund 2E0MDO and Gerry M3ORE. It is difficult keeping morale high—especially when everyone is tired and the rate falls. This team did well and by 7am on Sunday the QSO total stood at 601 (compared to 547 the previous year.) At around this time, Rod G3YHM and Peter G4BVH arrived back on duty, refreshed after a night‘s sleep
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each at home and ready to go. Rod tried all sorts of ideas to provoke more QSOs—even slipping into Swedish at one point. The HF bands were beginning to open up but we were still maintaining a high rate on 7MHz and so the operator had to keep a watchful eye on the rate meter to determine whether to change bands. Also, it was important to try and work any mults‘ - and so frequent band changes were made to take advantage of new ones. We continued on with the same Graham G4FNL and Peter G4BVH at the end of the first enthusiasm, swapping operators hour and loggers as appropriate. John G8FMJ returned after a few hours sleep at home and greatly helped with the operating. Later on the Sunday morning, we were visited by Chris G3NDJ and XYL Vicky. This contest coincided with the first Sunday of the month and so Chris G3UFS came along for the Club breakfast. He had previously requested not to be involved in the operating aspect of the contest but he was extremely helpful in helping out with many other tasks—especially towards the end when we had to start to clear away. Rather unexpectantly, we had a surprise visit from Roger Parker G4MUJ who used to be a regular Edmund 2E0MDO concentrating hard... member of the club back in the 1980s but has not been along since moving QTH to nearby Storrington. He happened to be passing by, saw the G3WOR roadside signpost and popped in to see us—which was fantastic.
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The Mess Tent from L-R Gerry M3ORE, Pete M6PAP, Peter G3XIA, Edmund 2E0MDO, Rod G3YHM & Rod M0RDV
Peter G4BVH and Graham G4FNL
Pete M6PAP
We started to clear away in the hour or so before the end of the contest. Unfortunately, the weather had begun to change. It meant that we had to clear away the tents, equipment and caravan awning in the wet, which is always demoralising. It would also mean that the tents and awning would need to be dried out at a later date. Kelvan M0KEL very kindly
took care of the drying out process. At 14:00 (local) on Sunday 4th September 2011, the contest ended. We had made a total of 837 QSOs. This total is about 150 more that last year—which is good news as it shows we are improving. The following table shows the breakdown band by band.
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BAND QSOs PTS DXCC 3.5 245 7 347 14 204 21 31 1036 19 1363 32 736 36 97 16 28 10 42 6 Totals 837 3314 109 If you multiply the points score by the DXCC multipliers, this equals a total calculated score of 361,226 points, but our actual score will almost certainly be less, once adjudication has taken place. There are many people to thank for getting involved and helping to make the weekend a success. I must thank André M0RAV, who was on site to help set up the station, but who was also there to take all the photographs that you see in this article. He had family visitors and was consequently unable to stay for the whole weekend. Also, thanks are due to Phil G4UDU, who made a number of journeys to collect equipment on the Friday and who also tested out the radio equipment beforehand. He was also there for the majority of the weekend. Rod M0RDV was involved for the entire weekend. He organised getting the caravan to and from site, plus provided the catering throughout. I am also grateful to EVERYONE else that was involved in the weekend—including the operators, loggers and those who were good enough to come along and help out in whatever capacity they could.
Gerry M3ORE
John G8FMJ
From feedback after the contest, I realise that this type of event is not to everyone's taste and that some find the competitive element spoils their enjoyment of Amateur Radio. Therefore, next year, it is proposed to address this aspect by possibly setting up two stations— both in the same field, with one as the main competitive station and the other as a training / less pressurised station for those that would like to have a go.
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I do hope that those who were involved in SSB Field Day this year enjoyed it and that you will continue to support this annual club event. My hope is that together we can continue to improve and show the other local clubs just how it‘s done. If you would like to become involved for next year‘s contest, please give it some thought and let me know. 73 Graham G4FNL Visitors Roger G4MUJ (in darker shirt) + XYL talking to Chris G3NDJ and Vicky
SSB Field Day - A Visit by G3NDJ Vicky and I popped along to the site at Adversane on Saturday afternoon. No problem finding the location, the WADARC sign was very prominent on the side of the road at the entrance. It was a fine afternoon and we were able to park close to the good size catering tent. Rod M0RDV happened to be enjoying a well earned rest from his catering duties, this was short lived because he soon brewed us a fine cup of tea. A short distance away was the club caravan. This had a nice awning attached which housed the operating equipment for the station G3WOR/P. Graham G4FNL, our contest manager, popped in to see how things were going. I thought - shall I volunteer to do a spell of operating? Hold on a minute – I'd have to type the callsign of the station I'm working. The years have gone by and I am a little slower these days, that is not good for slick operating - so I kept quiet! Quite a distance away from the operating tent, the portable generator was humming merrily. The multiband dipole, fed with open wire feeder, was supported between two masts at a height somewhat above 30 feet. At my qth I can only get my own dipole up to 18 feet! Some of the many members there already had their tents up from the previous evening. Sandra G0KAG was resident with her motor caravan and I noticed that
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she had a portable solar panel to keep the caravan battery charged up. More members were arriving to assist with the evening operations and were putting up their tents to keep themselves dry overnight. Chris G3NDJ
SSB Field Day - The Results The results for SSB Field Day 2011 have just been published. WADARC came in 4th place in the restricted section. So, unfortunately, a couple of places lower than last year - but I suspect the competition from others was the reason for the slight demise. Nonetheless, I reckon we did OK and certainly better than any other local clubs. So, congratulations to everyone who was involved - a great team effort. If you wish to view the results take a look at http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/results/2011/ssbfd2011.shtml 73, Graham G4FNL
WADARC 2m DF Hunt The annual 2m DF hunt took place on the 6th of July. I had offered to provide the hidden station, so much thought was put into finding a location that actually was out in the open with clear signal paths in all directions but a challenge to find. The location chosen was the centre of the old Shoreham toll bridge. I decided to set up with a handportable running about 2 watts output to a wire “Slim Jim” hung over the wooden railings. The bridge has wider sections that were originally designed to aid passing traffic and one of these proved to be a perfect location to stay out of direct view from either end. First transmission at 20:00 and the fun would start, nothing seen from any “near miss” competitors until at 21:00 I noticed the skilled DF antenna of John G4BLJ being pointed in my direction at a range of about 150m to get the final fix. That was it - I had been found. I had to wait another half an hour until I noticed John G8FMJ and Andy M3RFE going in ever increasing circles trying to find me, somehow managing to look straight at the bridge but see nothing. This was made even more annoying when I
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told him he was clearly visible to me! After another dozen or so circles he finally zeroed in on the bridge and success. So congratulations to John - but maybe he has done this once or twice before? Phil G4UDU
Trig Pillars Here is an interesting account of the “Trig Points” we see on the high ground around the UK - thanks to Ted G3EUE for finding this. In1935 the Ordnance Survey decided to replace the earlier piecemeal triangulation of 1852 with a unified national scheme. A number of the earlier bollards had been removed or just lost, including one which a policeman had taken thinking it was a Zeppelin bomb. The new triangulation put 6,173 trig pillars on the country’s high points. Erection was undertaken by small teams digging three foot foundations by spade. Each bollard was 4 foot high, tapering from a 2 foot square at the base to a 1 foot 2 inch square top which was fitted with a brass plate to take the feet of a theodolite. Each pillar was intervisible with at least two others. When the bollard had been completed the surveying team arrived with a 15 kg. “Geodetic Tavistock” theodolite to measure the angles and distances to the surrounding pillars. (This is where we come in). The sites were manned by solitary “light keepers” living in tents and communicating with their colleagues by Morse code. Light keepers often had to cycle miles to the nearest garage to get their batteries recharged. Between the trig points were intermediate sighting points that brought the total number of survey points to 22,000. With a break during the war the whole exercise took 17 years. Ref : Two Degrees West by Nicholas Crane. A walk along England’s Meridian.
HF Operating There are many operating aids available on the internet for those who like to chase DX on the HF bands, the current solar conditions, the forthcoming diary of DX-Peditions, plus tables indicating the status of the most wanted countries and the dates of contests. Some of the locations of these are as follows:-
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425DXNews!
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http://www.425dxn.org/
Online HF Propagation Predictions!
http://hamwaves.com/propagation/
Solar Conditions!
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http://spaceweather.com
Contesting Calendar!
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http://www.contesting.com
I have been asked at club meetings just what do the solar numbers represent - here is an explanation from the ARRL website. There is also a list of many other sources of information, take a look at http://www.arrrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals Glossary of Solar Index Terms ap index: A measure of the general level of geomagnetic activity over the globe for a given day. A mean, 3-hourly “equivalent amplitude” of magnetic activity based on K index data from 11 Northern and 2 Southern Hemisphere magnetic observatories between the geomagnetic latitudes of 46 and 63 degrees. Ap index: A daily index determined from eight ap index values. Geomagnetic activity: Natural variations in the geomagnetic field classified into quiet, unsettled, active and geomagnetic storm levels. Geomagnetic storm: A worldwide disturbance of the Earth’s magnetic field, distinct from regular diurnal variations. A storm occurs when the Ap > 29, a minor storm when 29 < Ap < 50, a major storm when 50 <= Ap < 100 and a severe storm when Ap >= 100. K index—A quasi-logarithmic local index of the 3-hourly range in magnetic activity relative to an assumed quiet-day curve for a single geomagnetic observatory site. First introduced by J. Bartels in 1938, it consists of a single digit 0 through 9 for each 3-hour interval of the universal time day (UT). Kp index—The planetary 3-hour-range index Kp is the mean standardised Kindex from 13 geomagnetic observatories between 44 degrees and 60 degrees northern or southern geomagnetic latitude. The scale is 0 to 9 expressed in thirds of a unit; e.g., 5 is 42/3, 5 is 5 and 5+ is 51/3. This planetary index is designed to measure solar particle radiation by its magnetic effects. The 3 hourly ap (equivalent range) index is derived from the Kp index. Next Ragchew, I will list sites of interest for VHF-UHF-Microwave
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Club program, activities and dates for the diary 2-Nov-11
The Shoreham Fort Project
Gary Baines
6-Nov-11 Sunday Morning Breakfast Meeting at the Goring Cafe 9-Nov-11
Discussion Evening
16-Nov-11
DVD Evening
23-Nov-11
Workshop Electrical Safety - Alarm Testing
Kelvan M0KEL
30-Nov-11
Quiz - What is it ?
Peter G8MSQ
4-Dec-11 Sunday Morning Breakfast Meeting at the Goring Cafe 7-Dec-11
Hollywood Science
14-Dec-11
Club Xmas Part Night
21-Dec-11
No Meeting
Jonathan Hare G1EXG
24-Dec-11Santa Santa Claus net on 80m SSB 3.650MHz - starts at 2130 25-Dec-11
Christmas day net on 2m FM
28-Dec-11
No Meeting
Items for Sale If you have any equipment you would like listed here, please send me the details via email.
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