Welcome, to the June 2016 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.
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Club of the Year Region 3 Large Clubs WINNERS @G8SRS @Peak_Contest
StockportradioSociety peakcontestgroup
Diary Dates 2016 June 2016 Thursday 2 June - Committee Meeting (Committee Members only 7pm JB Room) Saturday/Sunday 4-5 June – RSGB NFD 1500-1500 Monday 6 June - RSGB DATA Contest / 1900 - 2030 Tuesday 7 June – Society Meeting Saturday/Sunday 11-12 June - Foundation Course - Weekend 1 of 2
Tuesday 14 June - 6m Net 7.30pm Wednesday 15 June - RSGB CW Contest / 1900 - 2030 Thursday 16 June – 2m Net from Members QTH 145.375 +/- 7.30pm Sunday 19 June - Foundation Course - Revision & Exam - Weekend 2 of 2 Tuesday 21 June – Radio Night Thursday 23 June - RSGB SSB Contest / 1900 - 2030 Tuesday 28 June – Skills Night Thursday 30 June - Advanced Tutorial Primer 2 (7pm - 10.30pm)
July 2016 Monday 4 July - RSGB CW Contest / 1900 - 2030 Tuesday 5 July – Society Meeting Saturday 9 July - SRS Rally Tuesday 12 July - 6m Net 7.30pm Wednesday 13 July - RSGB SSB Contest / 1900 - 2030 Thursday 14 July – 2m Net from Members QTH 145.375 +/- 7.30pm Tuesday 19 July – Radio Night Meeting Thursday 21 July - RSGB DATA Contest / 1900 - 2030
Tuesday 26 July – Skills Night Saturday/Sunday 30-31 July – IOTA 2016
QUA is complied by Heather Stanley M6HNS. If you have any articles, reviews or announcements that you would like to see on the pages of QUA, please send your information to srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk, or give Heather a call on 07506 904422 2
Contact Emails General Secretary Treasurer Website / QUA Courses Contesting
info@g8srs.co.uk secretary@g8srs.co.uk treasurer@g8srs.co.uk srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk courses@g8srs.co.uk peakcontestgroup@g8srs.co.uk
Websites SRS - www.g8srs.co.uk Peak Contest Group www.g8srs.co.uk and click on Peak Contest Group
Stockport Radio Society are affiliated members of RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) and NARSA (Northern Amateur Radio Society Association) The Peak Contest Group is the ‘Contesting Arm of Stockport Radio Society’ Front Cover Picture - Taken by Stewart G3PMJ
Date of Next Issue of QUA 1 August 2016 - Articles to be with QUA by 14 July, 2016 If you have news, events, contest information etc that you would like to share with your fellow members, please email : srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk 3
SRS Links: RSGB www.rsgb.org RSGB Region 3 www.rsgb-region3.org.uk UK FM 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
Chairman’s Corner As I am now in my second year as your chairman I hope that what the committee and myself are doing to enhance the club meets with your approval. The two mobile stations are now in full use with all modes operative. Our CW sessions with Mike M6MPC progress along with the on air CW trials. Radio night and the Skills nights are attracting more members. We have two net nights per month one on 6 metre and one on 2 metres. It would be nice to run another on HF if anyone would like to volunteer. We are still in the process of upgrading the wire dipole at Walthew. Hopefully this will be completed in the near future. Another success at NARSA with Phillip 2E0XYA winning the Colin Fox trophy for construction, and to top it off SRS winning the Region 3 Large club of the year award announced at the RSGB AGM in Glasgow. The NARSA stand did the club proud again with a lot of interest, including a new member signed up.
The contest season is upon us and our contest team, Peak Contest Group, are hard at work once again taking part in the major WPX and RSGB contests. This year the group are crossing the waters to Ireland for RSGB IOTA contest. As you will appreciate setting up the stations and antennas at Whitegates is a massive undertaking so if anyone has a couple of hours to spare please consider giving a helping hand. Even if it is just making the brews. And any member who wishes to “have a go” at contesting would be most welcome. The committee are there to organise the general running of the club, any members that can assist in helping please come forward and get involved. It doesn’t have to be anything major, helping to set the room out before a meeting, checking the kitchen after a meeting. If any member has any comments as to the running of the club or would like to see something happening within the club then please get in touch with me personally. 4
Happy Birthday to our ‘Chairman of Vice’ Oops - Vice Chairman Steve G8YTP
Celebrating 70 years young on June 4th
Local Radio Clubs: Macclesfield Wireless Society Manchester Wireless Society Mid Cheshire ARS North Cheshire RC Northern Amateur Radio Societies Association (NARSA)
Oldham Radio Club RSGB Region 3 Website Radio Millennium Lodge Rochdale & DARS
FOR SALE
South Cheshire ARS
2 x Yaesu FT 290s mk1 & mk2 the price for both is £100 (Seller - Mike 2E0MBV)
South Lancashire ARC South Manchester Radio
Yaesu FT-857D with box and manuals etc £425 & Computing Club 50m of RG-8 Mini coax cable. £30 (Arrived too late, due to delays in the shop despatching the The Simpson Amateur cable, and so hasn't even been taken out of the box.) (Seller - Chris M0LZA) Radio Society If you are interested in either of these items, please contact Heth M6NHS in the first instance who will then give you the sellers details. If you have anything you would like to put for sale in QUA, please send your details to srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk in time for the next Issue. 5
Warrington Radio Club West Manchester RC
RSGB - Club of the Year Competition 2015
We only went and WON!!!! Region 3 Large Clubs club of the Year Presentation took place at the Society Meeting on June 7. The trophy was presented by Dave Wilson M0OBW on behalf of our Regional Manager Kath Wilson M1CNY
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Morse Code A
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IOTA 2016 July 30/31, 2016 PCG Operating from the Emerald Isles This year, PCG's DXpedition is to the Emerald Isle for the IOTA Contest. We would like to work as many members of SRS as possible. We are happy to arrange skeds prior to the contest, but we would also like to work you in the contest as all UK stations are worth 15 points. If you do work us in the contest, please ensure that you work other stations. Hopefully we should have one station up and running by Friday afternoon. (29 July 2016). We will also be doing a sked after the contest for any members that were unable to contact us during the contest. We haven't reached a final decision yet on antennas, but there may be the possibility of 6m depending on propagation etc.
Another win at Narsa Congratulations to Phil 2E0XYA on winning the Colin Fox Trophy for construction at Narsa
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WPX and NFD Contest The Peak Contest Group have just completed contests over the last 2 weekends.
The first was the WPX HF CW 48 hour contest over the last weekend in May. From our usual venue above Rainow we enjoyed superb weather to set up the MULTI 2 station. ie 2 HF stations with linears feeding 2 masts with dipoles for 160, 80 and 40m, with yagis for 20,15 and 10m. We used the club callsign G8SRS and made 3795 QSOs compared with 3440 the previous year giving us 9.5M points compared to the 2015 8.3M points. Last weekends event was the RSGB Region 1 National Field Day HF CW 24 hour event again from our Rainow venue, This event requires that portable stations are set-up within 24 hours of the start of the contest and permits 2 transceivers to be used but only one signal at any time. G3LX/P callsign was used and as usual competition in the caravan for the 'transmit' switch was fierce. (The 'Transmit' switch controlled the circuits to morse keys so only one signal was transmitted) After the usual last minute rush before the contest start we were on our way but with one yagi operated by hand rather than electrically.
1511 QSOs were made 5104 points compared with 1460 QSOs and 5137 points last year. Conditions were thought to be poorer this year with little activity on 10m. My thanks to the operators Carsten G0SYP, Tom M0DCG, Evan M0YJU, Dave G0LZL and Kieron M5KJM. And also thanks to Pete M1PTR for setting up the PCs and caravan network and also John M0JEK for setting up an Internet link to a local cottage. Bernard G3SHF 9
Morse Code 1
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Our Morse classes run
on each club night from 7.00 to 7.30 pm. Come and speak to Mike M6MPC if you would like to learn.
Phonetic Alphabet A
Alpha
B
Bravo
C
Charlie
D
Delta
E
Echo
F
Foxtrot
G
Golf
H
Hotel
I
Indigo
J
Juliet
K
Kilo
L
Lima
M
Mike
N
November
O
Oscar
P
Papa
Q
Quebec
R
Romeo
S
Sierra
T
Tango
U
Uniform
V
Victor
W
Whiskey
X
X-Ray
Y
Yankee
Z
Zulu
Silent Key Robert Victor Silvester M6RVS It is with sadness that we have to announce the passing of Bob M6RVS on Friday May 20, 2016. Bob took his foundation course with Stockport Radio Society and decided to join. The Committee and Members of Stockport Radio Society would like to pass on their deepest condolesnces for the loss of such a lovely person.
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l was very sad to hear that Bob has passed away. You could not have wished to meet a nicer gentleman. He was full of fun and want to pass his foundation examination. I had great pleasure in confirming to Bob that he passed, and as soon as he received his M6 callsign he rang me to let me know. Bob did so well at his age, and will be sadly missed by Stockport Radio Society.
Frequencies LF (Low Frequency) 2000m : 135.7 - 137.8Khz
MF (Medium Frequency) 630m : 472 - 479Khz 160m : 1.81 - 2.0Mhz
Al – G0ROW (SRS President) Bob was a friend and a customer of mine a former Royal Marine, and a restorer of old motor bikes.
He got into radio a few years ago, he had a mutural friend in Ken Tanner also a member of the club and a friend of Alans these two got me into the hobby Bob used to listen in to his radio and liked to practice his morse although he didn’t go on air much He was chuffed to bits when he got a QSL card from Alan, (G0ROW) his first. Bob was also a family man who liked to draw and paint. Neal - 2E0NAL
I only met Bob a handful of times when he came to visit the club. What a lovely chap he was telling me about his motorbikes that he had restored. (This being a passion of mine aswell). He always had a cheerful smile and was happy to sit a chat with our members Nigel - 2E0CKA (SRS Membership Liaison) 11
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 80m Only available to advanced licence holders
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
Repeaters
Courses - FLC/ILC
www.ukfmgw. co.uk
GB3MN
Course Secretary
145.650 Mhz FM Analogue Digital Fusion Stockport
John Marsh - M0JFM courses@g8srs.co.uk
If you, a friend, or colleague is interested in taking a course, please email John above
GB3SM
433.3250 Mhz FM Analogue Stoke on Trent
GB3ST
433.2250 Mhz FM Analogue Stoke on Trent
GB3SE
1297.0750 Mhz FM Analogue Stoke on Trent
GB3SX
50.790 Mhz FM Analogue Stoke on Trent
GB3MP
145.7500 Mhz FM Analogue Denbigh
GB3VT
145.7250 Mhz FM Analogue Stoke on Trent
Foundation Our next course is taking place in June 2016. Dates as follows.
Saturday & Sunday 11 &12 June – 9am to 5pm
Sunday 19 June Revision & Exam - 9am to 4pm
Intermediate Our next intermediate course takes place in February
2017. If you are interested in advancing to a 2E0, please contact us for further details and dates of the next course. A deposit will secures your place on a course Prices correct at publication but maybe subject to change
GB3LI
433.2500 Mhz FM Analogue Liverpool
GB3LL
434.000 Mhz FM Analogue Llandudno 12
If you use a repeater on a regular basis please support them by subscribing to them
Repeaters
Courses - ALC
www.ukfmgw. co.uk
Advanced
GB3MR
433.3500 Mhz FM Analogue Stockport
th
Thursday 30 June 2016 – Primer 2 Monday 12th September 2016
GB3PZ
Monday 26th September 2016
430.9000 Mhz FM Analogue Dukinfield
Monday 10th October 2016 Monday 24th October 2016
GB7WC
Monday 7th November 2016
439.4875 Mhz Digital Warrington
Monday 21st November 2016 Monday 5th December 2016 – Examination – starts at 6.30pm
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
£95.00 - Based on a minimum of 4 students
Information correct as at July 2015
GB7MA
145.600 Mhz Digital Bury
GB7DV
Advanced
Individual £12.50 Family £20.00 per year
GB3WP
430.9375 Mhz FM Analogue Hyde
GB3MA
433.0250 Mhz FM Analogue Bury 13
GB3MF
433.0500 Mhz FM Analogue Macclesfield
439.6125 Mhz Digital St Helens
GB3CR
433.1500 Mhz FM Analogue Marches
SRS welcomes our New Members Jonathan Allen – SWL / Slawek Kubecki – SWL Neil Rydings - M6NAE / Derek Whittaker - M6OXD
And welcome back to the fold Don Hughes – G8WPL / Chris Everitt - G7OQS
Updated Callsigns (06.06.16) M6FOQ M6HNS M6ISB M6KKF M6MPC/2E0MPC
Dave Heather Stephen C Frank Mike
SWL SWL SWL SWL
Giorgio
M6NAE M6OXB M6TMA M6YKK M6ZTD
Neil Derick Robert Nigel Allan
VK2BJ
Barry
2E0CFM 2E0CGX 2E0CKA 2E0DVM 2E0FOL
Ed John Nigel Darren William
2E0KUH 2E0MBV 2E0MVR 2E0NAL 2E0REU
Sarah Mike Matt Neal Brian
2E0GCL 2E0JEH 2E0JLR
Andrew Jack Ben
2E0RPE 2E0XRA 2E0XYA
Andy Rob Phil
Jeffrey Slawek Jonathan
M6’s / 2E0’s / SWL / VK
Band Plan changes from 1 June 2016 Amateurs are advised that updates to a number of band plans are now in effect in the UK and across IARU Region 1 as of 1 June 2016. The changes to 80m, 30m and VHF provide for greater flexibility for narrow band digital modes. The new version also includes some editorial updates in other bands. Full details can be found in Band Plans and Information on the RSGB website. 14
G0BVZ G0EOM G0IGB G0ROW
Vic Arthur Vernon Alan
G0RXA G0SYP G0URT G3GMM G3PMJ
Nigel Carsten Stuart Eric Stewart
G3SHF G3TFR G3ZOD G4GDG G4GEY
Bernard Julian Graham Robert John Stephen
G4GRU G4MUL G6GUT G6RSU
David David Barrie Roy
G6UQC
Allen
G7IOC
Robert SC
G7OQS
Chris
G8GAJ G8HCB G8NHN
Julian Chris Brian
G8WPL
Don
G8YTP
Stephen C
GM4UYZ
Bob
M0CVC M0DCG M0EEG M0HNJ M0JFM M0KJC/G8KJC M0LZA M0MLK M0PEK M0PIO M0PTB M0SAV M0SWZ M0TJU M0TKT M0UTA M0ZPZ M1lLOL M1PTR M1REK M5KJM
Tony Tom Chris Phill John Ken Chris Marie John Piotr Pete Tony Ian Evan Rob Alex Lee Andy Peter Ray Kieron
G0, G3, G4, G6, G7, G8
GM4 M0, M1, M5
Our next update will be after the foundation course in June. Good Luck to all those taking part 15
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.
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:
Payable Annually on Dec 1st Senior Family Country Pensioner Junior
£12.00 £12.00 £ 7.00 £ 7.00 £ 1.00
Meeting Admission £ 2.00 per meeting.
An annual subscription can be paid - details on request.
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
Pay your Subs by Standing Order At a recent committee meeting it was suggested that the club set up a standing order system for our members to pay their subs directly through the bank. If you are interested in this system and would like to have a form sent to you , or would like some further information, either on email or in the post, please contact Heather in the first instance - srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk., or on the bat phone 07506 9074422 16
HF Ladder Report (25 May 2016) It's been a good couple of months since the last Ladder report and, in the interim, much has changed - and much has stayed the same. The very top of the leader board is unaltered, but high-scoring entrants have significantly reshuffled the middle order. Four SRS members have joined the Ladder since March, taking the total number of participants to 14.
Barry VK2BJ, in Sydney, leads by a country mile, even though his slot total (474) has not budged. Mike M6MPC, also, hasn't improved on his March slot total, of 187. However, that's enough to stay in second place, but only just: Evan M0TJU's score is at 182, up from 110 at last count. His spot on the leader board hasn't changed either. (The likely explanation for Barry's and Mike's scores being unchanged is that they haven't updated Club Log recently; the Thunder Down Under and the Tintwistle Tapper will have been active on the bands in the meantime, no doubt. The absence of CL updating may also be the reason for the slot totals of G0RXA, G0SYP and M0DCG not having risen.) Three of the four new participants have abruptly shaken up the middle order of the leader board: Bernard G3SHF's entry, with 118 slots, has pushed down Kieron M5KJM (83 slots) and Alan G0ROW (75) one place each, to fifth and sixth, respectively; Pete M1PTR appeared out of the blue, having chalked up 68 slots, making him seventh; Andy M1LOL (showing as 'MM1LOL') made the most of a recent trip to the Scotland's Western Isles, with his total of 67. Andy's dad, Ray M1REK also appeared to have had a bonnie time north of the border recently, nearly doubling his end-of-March tally, to 57. Bob GM4UYZ has also been active, bumping up his score to 43, from 18. Despite their efforts, Ray and Bob actually dropped two and three placings, respectively - an unfortunate consequence of new participants joining the fray. Tony M0SAV, too, is off the mark, with 6 slots. PTO
Getting your logs in and get youself on the HF ladder with your chance to win a trophy at the end of the year 17
HF Ladder Report (25 May 2016) Continued
Sporadic E (Es) season in the Northern Hemisphere is in full swing, and this - to some extent - has been reflected in the slots earned on the 12-, 10- and 6-metre bands since the last Ladder snapshot. From what I've noticed, there have been few big outbreaks of Es so far this year which could have benefited UK operators; most of the heavily-ionised E-layer 'clouds' I've seen have been over eastern and southern Europe, which puts them below our horizon. We just have to be alert for instances when they’re above our horizon. With the sunspot cycle now on the wane, contacts on 50MHz and the higher HF bands will increasingly be facilitated by sporadic E skip. Note that Es not only allows contacts on frequencies of 24MHz and up; it can support 'close-in' contacts (e.g. to Belgium or southern Norway) on bands such as 17m (18MHz), that would ordinarily be difficult with 'normal' (i.e. F-layer) propagation. High summer may be known for relatively lousy conditions for DX, but it's ideal for working 'NX' (i.e. nearby DXCC entities).
The Es season peaks in late June and carries on at least till at least the end of July, so I would expect the slot totals on the upper HF bands and 50MHz to have risen substantially by the time of the next Ladder snapshot. If folks in the society are looking at making antennas for 6 metres, now is the time to do so. 73’s -
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Evan M0TJU
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60m 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
40m 84 45 43 32 3 15 29 15 6 6 6 8 6 2 300
30m 20m 70 81 24 30 7 44 23 16 0 33 0 20 0 33 11 26 7 19 0 34 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 1 142 342
17m 37 16 14 14 9 23 0 10 13 0 0 0 0 1 137
15m 60 30 28 13 29 7 6 5 5 0 2 0 3 1 189
12m 23 0 1 7 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 37
10m 46 10 20 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 85
6m 2 0 5 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 13
474 187 182 118 83 75 68 67 57 43 23 16 14 6 1413
HF Ladder as at May 23, 016
Rank Callsign Name 160m 80m 1 VK2BJ Barry S. 24 47 5 27 2 M6MPC Mike C. 0 20 3 M0TJU Evan D. 0 7 4 G3SHF Bernard N. M. M5KJM Kieron 0 4 5 0 0 6 G0ROW Alan G. 0 0 7 M1PTR Pete R. 0 0 8 MMLOL Andy K. K. M1REK Ray 0 4 9 0 3 10 GM4UYZ Bob G. 0 13 11 M0DCG Tom S. 0 8 12 G0SYP Carsten S. R. G0RXA Nigel 0 0 13 0 0 14 M0SAV Tony S. Totals: 29 133
Stockport Radio Society Walthew House, 112 Shaw Heath, Stockport SK2 6QS 07506 904422
QUA is sponsored by Manchester Office Supplies 20