QUA Welcome, to the April 2015 edition of the Stockport Radio Society (SRS) Newsletter Written and compiled by SRS members, ‘QUA’ (Have you news of… ?) is your source of news, views and informed opinion on all matters relating to - and about - your hobby.
Join us on Sunday April 12 as we take part in the Annual Narsa Rally in Blackpool.
Diary Dates 2015 Tuesday 7 April NW Repeater Group with Dave and Kath Wilson Sunday 12 April Narsa Rally Blackpool Thursday 16 April On Air from Members QTH – Nigel M6YKK Tuesday 21 April SOTA with Tom Read Saturday 25 April SRS Trip to Bletchley Park Tuesday 28 April Skills night from HQ – Computer Logging with Peter M1PTR / 2m, HF & Morse Nets
If you see Heth with the camera
you may be in our next QUA
or on the pages of the NARSA website SRS are taking pictures on behalf of Narsa
QUA Special See our special insert in this months QUA CQWW CW 2014 Montserrat A Diary by Carsten G0SYP Website : www.g8srs.co.uk
Tel : 07506 904422
Tuesday 5 May TX Factor Episode 7 Thursday 14 May On Air from Members QTH – Roy G6RSU Tuesday 19 May Society Meeting Tuesday 26 May Skills night from HQ – Follow up on the repair night with Pete M0PTB / 2m, HF & Morse Nets Sat/Sun 30/31 May CQWW WPX CW 48hr contest
Review of Events - Picture Review of Narsa 2014 SRS Links: Stockport Radio Society www.g8srs.co.uk RSGB - www.rsgb.org RSGB Region 3 www.rsgb-region-3.org.uk UK FM Group Western www.ukfmgw.org.uk Ofcom www.licensing.ofcom.org.uk ARRL - www.arrl.org QRZ.com - www.qrz.com UK Repeaters www.ukrepeater.net Raynet - www.raynet-uk.net Summits on the air www.sota.org.uk
Local Radio Clubs: GB3PZ.com Macclesfield Wireless Society GX4MWS Manchester Wireless Society, G5MS Mid Cheshire ARS, G3ZTT North Cheshire RC, G0BAA Northern Amateur Radio Societies Association (NARSA) Oldham Radio Club RSGB Region 3 Website Radio Millennium Lodge, M0RML Rochdale & DARS (R.A.D.A.R.S), G0ROC South Cheshire ARS, G6TW South Lancashire ARC, M0SLR South Manchester Radio & Computing Club The Simpson Amateur Radio Society, M0SRA Warrington Radio Club West Manchester RC, G4MWC
2
Review of Events New Members to SRS We would like to officially welcome to our SRS family, Ben M6FCF (left) and Darren M6FCJ (right). They have both recently passed their foundation course and decided to joined the club. Congratulations to both of you.
We would also like to welcome Brian who joins us as an SWL Brian will be taking his foundation exam in June.
Congratulations to John Kay 2E0JEK now M0PEK Our congratulations go out to John who has recently passed his advanced examination. John came to a society meeting recently with his certificate and the joy was there to see .
Local Repeaters in and around Stockport 6m
GB3SX (Stoke on Trent)
2m
GB7MA (Bury)
GB3MN (Stockport)
GB3MP (Denbigh)
GB3VT (Stoke on Trent)
70cm
GB7DV (St Helens)
GB3CR (Widnes)
GB3LI (Liverpool)
We would also like to thank the Tutors Tom M0DCG and Peter M0PTB for all their hard work.
GB3LL (Llandudno) GN3MA (Bury) GB3MF (Macclesfield)
GB3MR (Stockport)
John (left) is pictured with his certificate with tutors Peter M0PTB and Tom M0DCG
GB3PZ (Dukinfield)
Intermediate Course
GB3SM (Stoke on Trent)
GB3ST (Stoke on Trent)
GB7WC (Dukinfield)
GB3WP (Hyde)
Just a quick update on the latest intermediate course, we have 5 passes, based on the indicative mark. This will be confirmed by the RSGB. Well done to all candidates and tutors.
23cm
Peak Contest Group New Web Pages & QRZ Page
GB3SE (Stoke on Trent)
The Peak Contest Group have recently updated their web pages which are now available on the SRS Website
Not Operational
If you are interested in contesting, or just assisting in the assembly or dis-assembly of the kit at Whitegates Field, Rainow, Cheshire, please contact one of the members at the club.
All information provided above is sourced from www.ukfmgw.co.uk
GB3MF
There is normally a yearly charge for using the repeaters.
Website link is www.g8srs.co.uk click on the Peak Contest Group tab.
Watch out Bletchley Park SRS are about to Visit!! Watch out in the next issue for news of our visit to Bletchley Park and pictures of the members visit. 3
If you use a repeater on a regular basis please support them by subscribing to them. Individual £12.50 per year Family £20.00 per year
Members Profile
Eric McFarland G3GMM ‘Professional to Amateur’ I was born in 1925, with family living in Manchester, then infant education with a C of E school, followed by a County Council Elementary until the age of 14. Leaving in August 1939, my best subjects were art, technical drawing, woodwork and model making. With the outbreak of WWII, I worked for an electrical engineering firm in their training school, then moved onto MOD work assembling bomb hoists for aircraft. I joined the local, newly-formed ATC 430 Squadron, with a view to eventually being recruited into the RAF. Learning all things military - apart from arms and foot drill – this included the internal workings on the combustion engine after the MOD supplied one from an old Spitfire, then morse code, taught by the local Scout Master/Officer. Enlistment followed when call up papers arrived after my 18th birthday. With two boxes of choice to tick, one for the armed services the other for work in the coal mines - who later would be known as ‘Bevan Boys’ - there is no need to guess my choice of box to tick: I attended an interview and medical at the recruitment centre in Manchester, where the Interview Officer asked what I had learned in the ATC and what trade had I in mind. “Flight Mechanic, Engines,” I replied, “And what else?” he asked, “Morse at 5-8 wpm”, I said, “Good, I will put you down for a w/t operator,” he responded. So, a Wireless Operator, I was to be. Known in the RAF as W/op, entry into service life began in late 1943, when I reported to Padgate for basic training. This was followed by a posting to No 13 Radio School, Blackpool, which included Part I Tech practical/theory, traffic procedure, morse TX/ RX - with a minimum 4 hours per day for a minimum of 12 wpm pass - then Part II at No 3 Radio School, Compton Bassett, Wiltshire. This included the same subjects as in Part I, but was more intense with a higher speed pass of 18 wpm minimum for Morse, along with all other subjects to obtain the coveted ‘Fist of Sparks’ on the uniform right hand sleeve. By 1944, after a month’s leave, I was kitted out and on my way to India and South East Asia Command (SEAC), onto Burma with MSU (Mobile Signal Unit), followed by Malaya landings and the eventual capitulation of Japan. Then followed Singapore Island, Tengah Airfield, 1946, with a posting back to Middle East Command (MEC), Egypt, Iraq and finally back to the UK and RAF Area Control Centre (ACC), Watnal, Notts. Returning to ‘civvi street’ in late 1947, single and starting work was strange after a somewhat white-collar job in the RAF, but there were tempting vacancies for wireless operators advertised for government departments in the national press, which included the Foreign Office, Bletchley Park, Antartica Surveys etc. But, having been away for five years and with ageing parents, it did not seem right to pursue a career elsewhere in the world, so I began teaching morse etc, at my old ATC Squadron, with a live setup from the RAF R1155/T1154, for transmitting on the ATC HF network. G6 call signs helped to keep my w/t skills in hand. Continued on next page ... 4
Membership You can become a member of Stockport Radio Society by completing a membership form and, either emailing it to treasurer@g8srs.co.uk or hand the form to the Treasurer at any Society Meeting.
Payable Annually Dec 1st Senior
£12.00
Family
£12.00
Country
£ 7.00
Pensioner
£ 7.00
Junior
£ 1.00
Meeting Admission £ 2.00 per meeting or an annual meeting admission fee of £36.00 ’Guide to Membership’. A copy can be requested or can be downloaded from our website
Course Fees Foundation £45.00 - Based on a minimum of 6 students Intermediate £90.00 - Based on a minimum of 4 students Other costs : Kit from Kanga : £26.00 inc P&P Text Book RSGB : £6.99 plus P&P
Advanced £85.00 - Based on a minimum of 4 students A deposit of £20.00 secures your place on a course Prices correct at publication but maybe subject to change
Email courses@g8srs.co.uk to book or request further information.
Mike’s Morse Page
Mike’s Morse Page
Morse Code A
._
B _...
C
_._.
D _..
E
.
F
.._.
G
_ _.
H
….
I
..
J
._ _ _
K
_._
L
._..
M
__
N
_.
O
___
P
._ _ .
Q
_ _._
R
._.
S
…
T
_
U
.._
V
…_
Eric McFarland G3GMM
W
._ _
X
_.._
‘Professional to Amateur’
Y
_._ _
Z
_ _..
1
._ _ _ _
2
.._ _ _
3
…_ _
4
…._
5
…..
6
_....
7
_ _...
8
_ _ _ ..
9
_ _ _ _ . 10 _ _ _ _ _
Stockport Radio Society have a regular morse class at the start of every society meeting 7pm to 7.30pm run by our own ‘Tintwistle Tapper’ Mike Carter M6MPC Just for Fun - Morse Countdown (Conundrum supplied by Al G0ROW) Using the morse letters below, re re--arrange to solve the conundrum -
.._. .. .. _ _ ._ ._ _. ._. ._.. . Clue - This makes your signal louder and clearer Answer :
Continued from previous page Hearing on the grapevine about ‘Ham’ radio and the potential for a new licence obtainable from the General Post Office (GPO), I submitted my application, providing service details, trade, wireless operator rank, qualifications, length of service etc, which proved adequate for the exemption of the GPO ex ams. This privilege applied to ex-service personnel only, until around 1953, when a form of RAE was introduced. My licence and callsign of G3GMM, duly arrived. I then joined the local radio society at Ashton-under-Lyne and the RSGB, while spending every Saturday wandering around the government surplus shops in Manchester, building up a station. Married and living and working in Reddish, I joined SRS in 1954, taking an interest in NFD, having served in Mobile Signal Units (MSUs), while in the RAF. Other interests included HF wire antennas/theory, club projects and club affairs in general, plus participating in all RSGB CW contests etc. Since retirement and leaving Stockport for various other locations over the years, I’m now living in rural Cheshire, some 30 miles from Stockport, but this, and advancing years, makes attending monthly meetings difficult. So, over the years, I have looked forward to receiving the QUA magazine to keep up with the clubs activities. However, I feel that the revival of the Sunday morning 10-12am 3-5 SSB HF Club net, will enable old, distant, and new licenced HF members to communicate from their own QTH, which is what our licence and hobby is all about.
Eric McFarland G3GMM Royal Air Force Amateur Radio Society (RAFARS), RSGB Last Issues Answer - frequency 5
Phonetic Alphabet Alpha
Bravo
Charlie
Delta
Echo
Foxtrot
Golf
Hotel
India
Juliet
Kilo
Lima
Mike
November
Oscar
Papa
Quebec
Romeo
Sierra
Tango
Uniform
Victor
Whiskey
X-Ray
Yankee
Zulu
HF Ladder Report as at 16 March 2015 Believe it or not, we’re nearly into April, meaning that the HF Ladder has just passed ‘quarter time’. Given this, and with the publication of QUA being just around the corner, it seemed sensible to take a snapshot of the leaderboard.
Frequencies
As at 16 March, a healthy total of 11 operators had joined the competition, chalking up 950 slots (i.e. unique band/mode/entity combinations) between them.
LF (Low Frequency)
Carsten G0SYP is top scorer; his 298 slots account for nearly a third of the aggregate slot tally. He also dominates both the CW (i.e. Morse) and Digital mode categories. Kieron M5KJM tops Phone (i.e. SSB/AM/FM) at present, with 116 of his 156 slot total gained using this mode. Alan G0ROW and Bernard G3SHF are the biggest scorers among those who are using a single mode, only; Alan has 74 (all-SSB) and Bernard has 99 (all-CW) slots so far.
MF (Medium
Phone and CW have each received slots from eight contestants; Digital, unfortunately, is the Cinderella mode, with only three people having given it a go. On the other hand, in terms of slots, the Digital has been getting the better of Phone, albeit slightly. CW remains ‘King of Slots’, given that just shy of half of the total number of slots have been earned using that mode. The spread of the slots across the bands indicates that the Sun remains at the peak – more accurately, the second peak – of cycle 24; over 40% of the slots were earned on the five bands above 14MHz, and nearly one in eight resulted from activity on 10 metres (28-29MHz). Meanwhile, barely a third of the slots were made using the bands below 20 metres. Relatively few took advantage of the dark winter nights to get big tallies on the mediumfrequency bands (i.e. 160, 80 and 60 metres). One of the exceptions was Eric G3GMM, who was the only contestant to score slots on 160 metres, and tallied no fewer than 14 of them on Top Band. The sole operator on the 60-metre band – which requires a notice of variation to the licence – was Alan G0ROW, who’s earned two slots on 5MHz. No-one as yet has made contacts on 50MHz; sunspot activity has not been high enough to facilitate ‘normal’ (i.e. F-layer-ionospheric) propagation on the band so far this year, and sporadic-E (Es) and auroral skip had not made themselves readily available. With plenty of aurora occurring in recent days – literally, from the day after this snapshot was taken – and the Es season just around the corner, expect there to have been plenty of 6-metre slots reported by the time of the next snapshot.
2000m : 135.7 - 137.8Khz
Frequency) 630m : 472 - 479Khz 160m : 1.81 - 2.0Mhz
HF (High Frequency) 80m : 3.5 - 3.8Mhz 60m : Consists of 11 spot frequencies check band plan 40m : 7.0 - 7.2Mhz 30m : 10.1 - 10.15Mhz 20m : 14 - 14.35Mhz 17m : 18.068 - 18.168Mhz 15m : 21 - 21.45Mhz 12m : 24.89 - 24.99Mhz 10m : 28 - 29.7Mhz
Note for operating on 60m Only available to advanced licence holders and also requires a NOV from RSGB
73 for now Evan Duffield M0TJU
Club Log (HF Ladder) If you wish to join Club Log and also get entry into the HF Ladder with the end reward of entry in the HF Ladder competition at the end of the year, and you chance to win a trophy for the year, follow the information below. If you wish to join SRS DXCC league in Clublog, please follow these instructions:
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 6
VHF (Very High Frequency) 6m : 50 - 52Mhz 4m : 70 - 70.5Mhz 2m : 144.0 - 146.0Mhz
UHF
(Ultra High Frequency)
70cms : 430.0 - 440Mhz 23cms : 1240.0 - 325Mhz
HF Ladder with Evan M0TJU as 16 March 2015 CW (Morse)
Operator
160m
80m
60m
40m
30m
20m
17m
15m
12m
10m
6m
G0SYP
Carsten S.
0
28
0
32
6
14
10
17
16
13
0
136
M0TJU
Evan D.
0
11
0
31
3
29
10
22
6
12
0
124
G3SHF
Bernard N.
0
17
0
17
12
26
3
17
1
6
0
99
G3ZOD
Graham S.
0
1
0
1
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
6
GM4UYZ
Bob G.
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
M0DCG
Tom S.
0
5
0
16
1
3
0
4
0
1
0
30
M5KJM
Kieron M.
0
4
0
0
0
4
6
3
17
6
0
40
G3GMM
Eric M.
14
0
0
1
0
2
0
2
0
2
0
21 461
Digimodes
160m
80m
60m
40m
30m
20m
17m
15m
12m
10m
6m
M0TJU
Evan D.
0
2
0
27
3
27
0
20
4
11
0
94
GM4UYZ
Bob G.
0
0
0
2
0
6
0
1
0
3
0
12
G0SYP
Carsten S.
0
10
0
26
0
40
1
44
0
26
0
147 253
Phone (SSB/AM/FM)
160m
80m
60m
40m
30m
20m
17m
15m
12m
10m
6m
G0ROW
Alan G.
0
0
2
12
0
10
18
10
13
9
0
74
M5KJM
Kieron M.
0
3
0
0
0
40
2
32
7
32
0
116
GM4UYZ
Bob G.
0
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
G0SYP*
Carsten S.
0
7
0
8
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
15
M0TJU
Evan D.
0
0
0
5
0
3
0
0
2
0
0
10
M1PTR
Peter R.
0
6
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
M0DCG
Tom S.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
G0RXA
Nigel R.
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
1
0
3
0
9
160m
80m
60m
40m
30m
20m
17m
15m
12m
10m
6m
Band Totals:
14
101
2
180
25
212
51
173
66
126
0
950
Proportion:
1%
11%
0%
19%
3%
22%
5%
18%
7%
13%
0%
100%
By Mode
CW
Phone
Digi Mode
Total Slots
236
G0SYP
Carsten S.
136
15
147
298
M0TJU
Evan D.
124
10
94
228
M5KJM
Kieron M.
40
116
0
156
G3SHF
Bernard N.
99
0
0
99
G0ROW
Alan G.
0
74
0
74
M0DCG
Tom S.
30
2
0
32
GM4UYZ
Bob G.
5
4
12
21
G3GMM
Eric M.
21
0
0
21
G0RXA
Nigel R.
0
9
0
9
G3ZOD
Graham S.
6
0
0
6
M1PTR
Pete R.
0
6
0
6
461
236
253
950
49%
25%
27%
49%
27%
25%
4 or more % higher than the overall propotion (shown in r 29) 2-3% higher than the overall proportion 2-3% lower than the overall proporion 4 or more % lower than the overall proportion
7
Other Information / Contacts
Our Next Courses Foundation Next dates for the Foundation course are Sat & Sun 13/14 June and the following Saturday 20th June. If you wish to book a place on the course, or know someone who would be interested, please contact courses@g8srs.co.uk.
Contact Details Stockport Radio Society Walthew House 112 Shaw Heath Stockport SK2 6QS 07506 904422
Advanced
SRS Emails
Our next tutorials takes place in Nov/Dec 2015 . If you are interested in taking the next course in late 2015, please contact Alan G0ROW at a society meeting, or via courses@g8srs.co.uk
General Info@g8srs.co.uk Secretary secretary@g8srs.co.uk
RSGB News Don’t forget to listen to the RSGB news on Sunday evenings on 145.525 +/- to hear the latest information about your club for the following week. Also if you have anything that you would like to be published in Radcom, please let me know. Email: srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk. Radcom works two months in advance of the current issue so for April they would be looking at articles for June.
For Sale
SRS Nets srsnets@g8srs.co.uk Website srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk Courses courses@g8srs.co.uk Clothing sweatshirt@g8srs.co.uk
We now have a ‘For Sale’ page on the website. If you wish to put any items on the page, please email srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk. We also have a member who is willing to put items on ebay for you. SRS will not charge for this service, only the fees for ebay and paypal will be taken once the item has sold. A maximum of 10 items will be put on at any one time. For further information, please contact Nigel 2E0CKA via srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk or see him at a society meeting. Link to ebay fees http://sellercentre.ebay.co.uk/introduction-ebay-fees.
Treasurer treasurer@g8srs.co.uk Contesting peakcontestgroup@gmail.com
Websites www.g8srs.co.uk
CHECK OUT OUR DEDICATED CHANNEL STOCKPORT RADIO SOCIETY
Date of Next Issue of QUA 1st June 2015 - Articles to be with QUA by May 18, 2015 If you have news, events, contest information etc that you would like to share with your fellow members, please email : srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk
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Social Media @G8SRS @Peak_Contest
StockportradioSociety peakcontestgroup
The Peak Contest Group is the ‘Contesting Arm of Stockport Radio Society’