QUA Issue 30 100 years of Amateur Radio June 4, 1920 SRS was formed
The new SRS Centenary Logo 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.
Chairmans Corner Hello to All SRS members, Well here we are in 2020, our Centenary year. Thank you to all who voted in the committee election, although it was a disappointing turnout. Tony on Rally Duty 2019
Unfortunately bad news came our way in December with the passing of Eric McFarland G3GMM. Eric was a long standing club member. A gentleman, with stories from the past of great interest. The Harry Arnfield trophy was awarded posthumously to Eric’s family at the January Social evening. I hope that all who attended the January Social and Presentation Evening enjoyed it as much as I did. Separating the AGM formalities away from the social event has proved to be a success, and will now continue. As you will have seen in the previous QUA preparations are under way for a 100 Year Celebration at the Cheshire Suite of Stockport County football club. I hope that you will be able to attend. Numbers are limited so get your name down quickly. The RSGB foundation course, with the 2019 syllabus, was a success with eight candidates passing. We are now in the middle of the RSGB intermediate course. A big thank you to all lead tutors and tutors involved with the courses. This has been a mammoth task with the new RSGB syllabuses still being updated right up to December 2019. Looking forward in 2020, the Contest group will be at Common Barn Farm, and across the water to Arranmore. Listen out for the test transmissions prior to the contest start times and give them a call. The Events team will be at Avro Heritage Museum, Marple Top Lock and Manchester airport. With the possibility of a JOTA event with a local scout group. Watch for dates which will be published on our web site. I would ask members who have a brew at Walthew to please wash and wipe your cup and put it back in the cupboard when finished. 73 for now Tony M0SAV - Chairman 2
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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
Website -
www.g8srs.co.uk
SRS Contest Group is the ‘Contesting Arm of Stockport Radio Society’
Stockport Radio Society are affiliated members of RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) and NARSA (Northern Amateur Radio Society Association)
Print Sponsor of QUA, and general printers of all SRS Literature Olympic Press Soapstone Way, Irlam, Manchester M44 6RA Tel : 0161 775 2555 Email : sales@olympicpress.co.uk
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Diary of Events April 2020 2 6 7 14 16 20 21 25 26 28 29
Committee Meeting 7.30-9.30pm 70cm Net 433.525Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Neil M6NAE Talk Night 7-10pm 6M Net 51.550FM 7.30-8.30pm - Keith 2E0JPY 2m Net 145.375Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA C4FM Fusion Net 144.725Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Neil M6NAE Radio Night 7-10pm Full Licence Course – Primer 1 – 1pm-5pm NARSA – Norbreck Hotel Skills Night 7-10pm 2m Net 145.375Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Bob MOCPP
May 2020 4 5 12 14 18
70cm Net 433.525Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Neil M6NAE Talk Night 7-10pm 6M Net 51.550FM 7.30-8.30pm - Keith 2E0JPY 2m Net 145.375Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA C4FM Fusion Net 144.725Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Neil M6NAE 19 Radio Night 7-10pm 26 Skills Night 7-10pm 27 2m Net 145.375Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Bob M0CPP 30 Train the Trainers Course at SRS HQ (Walthew House) 30/31 CQ WPX CW 48hr Contest – SRS Contest Group taking part If you know of anyone who may be interested in giving a talk or demonstration at SRS on one of our society nights, please let Evan know either at a society meeting or email: treasurer@g8srs.co.uk 6
June 2020 1 2 4 6/7 9 11 11 15 16 20 23 24 27
70cm Net 433.525Mhz 7.30-8.30pm—Neil M6NAE Talk Night 7-10pm HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY STOCKPORT RADIO SOCIETY NFD Field Day 6M Net 51.550FM 7.30-8.30pm - Keith 2E0JPY 2m Net 145.375Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA Committee Meeting 7.30-9.30pm C4FM Fusion Net 144.725Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Neil M6NAE Radio Night 7-10pm SRS 100TH Birthday Party – Stockport Country Football Club Skills Night 7-10pm 2m Net 145.375Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Bob M0CPP Full Licence Course – Primer 2 - 1pm-5pm
July 2020 3 4 6 7 14 16, 20 21 25/26 28 29
SRS Rally Prep Night SRS Rally – NEW VENUE 70cm Net 433.525Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Neil M6NAE Talk Night 7-10pm 6M Net 51.550FM 7.30-8.30pm - Keith 2E0JPY 2m Net 145.375Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Nigel 2E0CKA C4FM Fusion Net 144.725Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Neil M6NAE Radio Night 7-10pm IOTA SSB CW 24hr Contest – SRS Contest Group taking part Skills Night 7-10pm 2m Net 145.375Mhz 7.30-8.30pm - Bob M0CPP
You can also view the updated diary of events upto the end of 2020 on our website - www.g8srs.co.uk
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Storm Ciara
by Kieron M5KJM
I tilted my antenna over yesterday (Saturday 8 Feb) after hearing the weather forecast for today (Sunday 9 Feb). Winds gusting 50kts (58mph approx) were forecast for Manchester Airport. Sometime around midday today (Sunday 9 Feb), I noticed that they were having gusts of 75kts (86mph).
Unfortunately, my Hexbeam with its recently added 40m kit, has had a spreader either break or blown out from its retaining sleeve. I now have a rats nest of wires that will need untangling.
Tilting mechanism designed by Pete, M1PTR. Incidentally, the take of speed of N203CD is 70kts, so 'CD could have gone flying by itself.
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Update - Thursday 13 February 2020 The Hexbeam is now back to normal. No damage to any spreaders, the wind had shaken a few U bolts loose, blown them out.
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Election of 2020 Committee by SRS Members Many thanks to the members that voted. The nominations were checked on a weekly basis by Margaret Graham from Trafford Media (M6HNS’s sister) and have been confirmed as correct. No other member had seen the results prior to the AGM. With your QUA is a profile of each Committee Member and their roles for SRS and the Contest Group,. The book has been written so that all members know who each Committee Member is, and what their roles are within the Committee We hope you find this of interest.
SRS Calendar of Events You may be interested to know that it is possible to download the SRS Calendar as an .ics file which can be imported into you own calendar. Downloading the SRS Calendar of Events is very straightforward. Just enter this URL:
www.g8srs.co.uk/events.ics and save the file locally. Then go to you own calendar (I use Gmail on the desktop and phone) and import the .ics file into a dedicated calendar (mine is named SRS_Calendar). That way SRS events appear in a different colour to other events. Cheers Pete, M1PTR 11
A New Year surprise Some Background You will probably know that I like to DX one way or another, and maybe also that I have not been on HF for a while and instead ventured into the world of VHF. I first put up a duo band Moxon antenna for 50 and 70MHz (6 and 4m) and replaced it later with a 5 element Yagi for 6. It also grew higher over time and is now up 10m. During the summer months, there are plenty of Sporadic-E conditions around, so it is easy to work around Europe and sometimes further afield. That is great, but what can I do the rest of the year? Looking for things to do, I tried Meteor Scatter. Brief reflections on ionization trails of meteors allows one all year round to work stations between around 700 and 1800km or more. During meteor showers there are more and longer reflections sometimes allowing even CW or SSB contacts. On 6m MS fairly easy, signals are quite strong and reflections usually last more than 100ms, often several seconds. The mode used is mostly MSK144. The contacts look similar to FT8 with dB reports but it is not as sensitive, instead it decodes only short reflections. Out of the sporadic-E season this is where most of my 6m contacts come from.
Getting onto 2m I have always had an interest in the VHF/UHF bands over the years but have not been QRV from home much other than a few years on 70cm still in DL. My K3 has the internal 2m transverter and I also had a PA lying around unused. So, with all the MS I was making on 6m I thought, why not try 2m, too. Before the Perseids meteor shower in August, I got a 20ft aluminium mast and 9 element Yagi and put it up tied to the pergola in the garden with some string. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew my QTH is not ideal for VHF and I have noise on 6m. Also, MS on 2m is more difficult. The frequency is about 3 times 50MHz, so reflections should be 9 times shorter and also weaker despite more antenna gain. 12
Screenshot of the FT8 QSO with D41CV Well, what can I say, there isn’t any less noise on 2m and Meteor Scatter is certainly more difficult on 2m. However, it is still possible, and I was able to make a few QSOs. I learned that FSK441 is sometimes a better alternative to MSK144. It doesn’t have forward error correction so doesn’t always decode 100% correctly, however it decodes also partial messages from very short pings. There is not only MS however. In a late sporadic-E opening at the end of August I worked the Balearics and Spain. There were a few tropospheric openings to the near continent a few times in autumn. That is why the temporary setup is still up.
December Highlights Around 14th December there was the Geminids meteor shower. It has got quite a wide maximum so there are a few days of good conditions. Between 12th and 14th December, I have made a few 6m contacts and 22 QSOs on 2m including 3 new countries: Hungary (HA), Latvia (YL) and Belarus (EW). I have been using both MSK144 and FSK441. Late on 27th December, good tropospheric conditions started with EA1MX in locator square IN73 on the north coast of Spain (just over 1100km). This was using FT8 and all the later tropo contacts were, too. 13
A New Year surprise cont
a map of the 2m QSOs on 29/12/2019 The 28 had a nice winter Es opening on 6m to Poland and Germany. I started off in FT8 and later had a nice stream of callers in CW. It turned out 2m was open to SP for a few minutes, too. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to complete a QSO. A 2m Es opening in Winter is a rare occurrence, in fact I hadn’t heard about one before. The 29 had good tropo conditions again. It started in the morning with EA1SA and EA2BFM in locator square IN83. In the afternoon I could work a few north-western DLs and F0FYP in JN37 near the F/DL/HB9 border. In the evening there were 2 directions open. To the West I worked OZ1HDF (JO55) and SM7DTT (JO65) and to the South I worked EA1UU (IN83), F5MUX (IN78) and F4IAR (IN93). Just before midnight GJ6WRI was QRV from Jersey for a new DXCC. On the 30, the EAs were still in and out and I worked EA1HRR (IN83) as a new one. On the 31, there wasn’t much although I briefly heard DH4SBM in JN48. 14
New Year’s Day The new year started just as good as the old one finished. The first QSO was with DK7LE from JO54 (818km), next was OK1VVT (JO60 – 1100km). There followed about 20 contacts to the North-West into DL up to the Baltics (OZ1BEF JO46, SK7CY JO65, DG0KW JO64, DO7ES JO64).
a map of the 2m QSOs on 01/01/2020 (without D4) In the afternoon the conditions to the West died down but I had another look again after 10pm before going to bed. Southern G was still reporting some DL and big signals from EA but nothing new here. I nearly switched the radio off but then I heard someone from IO84 call D41CV on Cape Verde. They had been reported in southern G, GW, EI and western GM a few times since the 27th but I didn’t have much hope, also because I never heard any EAs west of IN73. Anyway, I went out and turned the antenna, and there they were weakly (-20dB). I gave them a call and they came back after a couple of tries. There was some QSB and they disappeared for a while, but we completed when their signal came back up again. I wasn’t 100% sure they heard my 73 or if they had just given up. I had their RR73 anyway, so the QSO was complete – see screenshot. It has in the meantime been confirmed on Logbook of the World.
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That QSO made my day, and I am unlikely to ever work anyone further via tropo. The distance was ca. 4515km (2805mi). Not bad for a backyard antenna that isn’t higher than the houses in that direction‌ Later in the evening their signal got even stronger to -8dB. Early in the day, a new 2m tropo record had been set between GM0EWX (IO67) and D41CV over 4776km. The 70cm record had been extended twice as well. First by GM3SEK (IO75) and then by G4KUX (IO84) to 4644km.
Qudrantids To round the start of the year off, there was the Quadrantids meteor shower. The maximum was forecast for 4 th January 08.20h. Conditions were already good in the evening with long reflections. I went to bed at 1am to get up early to catch the maximum but I should have rather stayed up as it turned out the maximum was actually around 3 in the morning. I managed 6 contacts on 6m and 8 on 2m with 3 new DXCCs: Romania (YO), Kaliningrad (UA2) and San Marino (T7). All in all, very interesting conditions around the New Year. Just goes to show what is possible with relatively modest equipment. Of course, the amplifier (400W) helps but many QSOs would have been easily possible with say 50 or 100W. DX IS. 73 Carsten G0SYP https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2020/01/remarkable-start-to-new-year-with-new.html
https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2020/01/432-mhz-world-tropo-record-extended.html
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Stockport Radio Society Rally NEW VENUE This year we will moving the SRS rally to a new venue – We are very grateful to Walthew House for their hospitality in previous years. However, in order to accommodate more traders and provide adequate car parking this year’s centenary rally will be moving to a new venue
Venue – Bridgehall Community Centre Address – Siddington Avenue, Stockport SK3 8LX Tables - £10 each Door Fee - £2.50 per person
Map to Bridgehall Community Centre 17
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Stockport Radio Society Rally NEW VENUE - Continued
Stewards on the Day "We will need stewards for: • Car Parking • Entrance Door and Fire Doors • Building Security • Assisting Traders • Heather M6HNS will be sending an email out in due course to ask for stewards. Doors open at 7am for Traders and 9.30pm for the general public.
Save the Date Saturday July 4, 2020
Rally team 2016 19
Airband Frequencies As many of you will know, I have more than a passing interest in all things aviation. I’m not sure you can call me a “plane spotter� as my days of collecting registrations ended a long time ago. However, I am interested in what goes on in aviation circles and of course being so close to Manchester Airport I spend time watching and listening to the daily activities and development of the airport. Recently, there have been a fair few things to interest the enthusiast such as the restarting of the Bangladesh Biman route to Dhaka and a number of aircraft appearing with special colour schemes.
Icelandair Boeing 757-200
Knowing I listen to the airband some friends have asked what frequencies they could tune in, so I thought I would share with you a few I have programmed into my receiver. Now please keep in mind that I live in Cheadle Heath which is on the west side of Stockport, so I tend to be interested in hearing what is or about to fly over my head. Therefore, I will normally be listening to aircraft approaching the airport to land over Stockport, or when the wind is from the east taking off over Stockport. Manchester, or Ringway as it used to be known (showing my age now) has two main runways both roughly aligned in a North East/ South West direction to cope with the prevailing winds and designated 23L & 23R (Left & Right) & 05L & 05R (Left & Right). Runway 23L/05R is used primarily with 23L/05R being brought into use at busy times or when operations dictate. The airport regularly publishes the schedules when dual operation will come into play. 20
With the prevailing winds being predominantly from a southern or westerly direction, aircraft will approach the airport for landing over Stockport and the pilots will usually be talking to Manchester Tower on 118.630. Some of you may be familiar with the tower frequency being 118.625MHz (even 118.7MHz in the distant past) however since the introduction of the 8.33KHz airband spacing channels rather than frequencies are now used. So, whilst 118.625MHz has become 118.630, programming or listening to 118.625MHz will still yield Manchester Tower.
Prior to this, pilots will be talking to Manchester Approach (118.580), or during busy times Manchester Director (121.355) where the air traffic controllers will neatly direct aircraft arriving from different directions into a sequence to ensure an orderly and efficient use of the runway. Again, that’s a subject for another time.
Emirates A380 ‘The Whale’
Once the controlled crash, sorry landing has been completed and the aircraft cleared the landing runway the pilot will be instructed to contact the ground controller on 121.855. The controller will confirm which route should be taken through Manchester Airport’s complicated maze of taxiways to reach the allocated stand so the passengers may disembark or freight unloaded.
Singapore Airlines Boeing 777
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Now, some of you will have noticed that on occasions aircraft take off over Heald Green towards Stockport due to the wind being from an easterly or northerly direction. One of my friends refers to this as “the aircraft are flying the wrong way today”! When this happens the tower controller on 118.630 will be talking to the pilot from a point where he is approaching the runway and waiting in turn to take off until being airborne and passing through roughly 2,500 feet. Once through that level the pilot will be instructed to contact Scottish Air Traffic Control Centre on a frequency which is dependent on the route being flown and ultimately the destination. That’s also for another time.
\Virgin Airlines Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo’
“Hold on” I hear some of you say, you mentioned there were two runways at Manchester. Well, yes there is Runway 23L/05R which is the one there was all the “hullabaloo” about back in the 1990’s when it was being designed & built. This is used at busy times and when airport operations dictate. Referred to as “Runway 2” it is used for landing in a westerly direction on rare occasions such as when “Runway 1” is closed for maintenance. Predominantly it is used for westerly departures (Runway 23L) and for easterly arrivals (Runway 05R) when dual runway operations are being used. Traffic on this runway is controlled by a separate controller using 119.405 to whom pilots are passed after first talking to Runway 1 tower controller on 118.630 for departing aircraft, or 118.580/121.355 for landing aircraft.
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I have mentioned occasionally Runway 2 (23L) is used for arrivals. Now, if any of you know the layout of the runways at Manchester you will know there is no taxiway from the westerly end of the runway. A turning circle is provided at roughly 2/3rds distance to save landing aircraft having to travel to the very end in order to turn round, but still a lengthy “backtrack” is needed in order for the runway to be vacated. On such occasions, which are usually in the evening all this can be monitored on 119.405. So, after all that here follows a summary of some frequencies which can be monitored to hear aircraft flying over and around the Stockport area. Oh, and for those of you who own a Baofeng or similar radio which doesn’t have airband but is able to receive between 450 & 460 MHz, don’t despair as the tower and ground have UHF FM frequencies which can be monitored if close to the airport or on reasonably high ground. Manchester Tower 23R/05L - 118.630 UHF 455.550MHz Tower 23L/05R - 119.405 UHF 455.7625MHz Approach - 118.580 UHF none Ground - 121.855 UHF 455.650MHz Finally, the opening photo is of an Icelandair Boeing 757-200 Registration TF-FIR and the colour scheme is a special one celebrating 80 years of aviation in Iceland. There is another in their fleet registered TF-FIU in a special “Hekla Aurora” scheme. Both are occasional visitors to Manchester on their morning service so keep an eye out for them Thanks for listening!! Nigel Roscoe G0RXA If you enjoyed this article, what out for more instalments from Nigel in future QUAs Pictures : Icelandair - Nigel G0RXA / Singapore, Emirates and Virgin - Heather M6HNS 23
Training Courses Course Secretary John Marsh - M0JFM courses@g8srs.co.uk Are you interested in taking a course with Stockport Radio Society. We run all three courses at Walthew House, in Stockport. If you would like to put your name down for one of the three courses, please email John on courses@g8srs.co.uk. These courses fill up very quickly, so don’t delay - book NOW!
Course Fees Foundation - £50.00
Based on a minimum of 6 students
Intermediate - £116.00 Based on a minimum of 4 students (Inclusive of construction kit) Full - £95.00 - Based on a minimum of 4 students These prices were correct at the time of printing.
Foundation The January course has now taken place. The course runs from 9am to 5pm, over two weekends If you are interested in the next course — dates to be confirmed, please contact John on the details above and put your name on the waiting list.
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Intermediate The Intermediate course is now taking place. The course runs from 9am to 5pm, over three weekends If you are interested in the next course — dates to be confirmed, please contact John on the details across and put your name on the waiting list.
Full Below are the dates for the Full Licence Tutorials are
Saturday 25 April 2020 Saturday 27 June 2020 Saturday 15 August 2020 Saturday 5 September 2020 Saturday 19 September 2020 Saturday 3 October 2020 Saturday 17 October 2020 Saturday 7 November 2020 Saturday 21 November 2020 Saturday 5 December 2020
Primer 1 Primer 2 Primer 3 if required Tutorial 1 Tutorial 2 Tutorial 3 Tutorial 4 Tutorial 5 Tutorial 6 Examination
Remember when you have your new callsign do not forget to inform the Membership Secretary Nigel 2E0CKA on m6bbl@btinternet.com and he can update his records and then forward onto Heth M6HNS to update the website.
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Membership 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 Jan 1, each year Senior Family Pensioner Junior
£15.00 £15.00 £10.00 £ 5.00
: : : :
Upto 64 years of age 2 members residing at same address Over 65 years of age Upto 18 years of age
Meeting Admission : £2.00 per meeting.
Club Nets The following callsigns may be used by any full licence holder chairing the nets - G8SRS, G6UQ, G3LX, M5MDX. All club call signs will be used on a rotational basis by full licence holders authorised by Alan G0ROW. If you have any queries about the use of these callsigns, please speak to either Tony M0SAV or Alan G0ROW at any Club meeting. Nets are : 2m net, 6m net, 70cm net and now C4FM Fusion Digital
Net Controllers We are also looking for net controllers to chair a specific net. If you have the equipment and would like to try and chair a net, please contact Alan G0ROW who will happily help you. The current Net Controllers are: Alan G0ROW Nigel 2E0CKA Keith 2E0JPY Jim 2E0URD
Tony M0SAV Heather M6HNS Slawek M0SQJ
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Neil M6NAE Nigel M0VNL Bob M0CPP
Morse Code
Morse Code
Phonetic Alphabet
1
._ _ _ _
A
._
A
Alpha
2
.._ _ _
B
_...
B
Bravo
3
..._ _
C
_._.
C
Charlie
4
…._
D
_..
D
Delta
5
…..
E
.
E
Echo
6
_....
F
.._.
7
_ _...
F
Foxtrot
G
_ _.
8
_ _ _..
G
Golf
H
….
9
____.
I
..
H
Hotel
0
_____
J
._ _ _
I
India
K
_._
J
Juliet
Our Morse
L
._..
K
Kilo
classes run
M
__
L
Lima
on each club
N
_.
M
Mike
night from
O
___
N
November
7.00 to 7.30
P
._ _ .
O
Oscar
pm.
Q
_ _._
R
._.
P
Papa
Come and
S
…
Q
Quebec
speak to
T
_
R
Romeo
U
.._
S
Sierra
V
…_
T
Tango
W
._ _
U
Uniform
X
_.._
V
Victor
Y
_._ _
Z
_ _..
W
Whiskey
X
X-Ray
Y
Yankee
Z
Zulu
Evan M0TJU if you would like to give this part of the hobby a try.
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Frequencies LF (Low Frequency) 2000m : 135.7 - 137.8Khz MF (Medium 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
VHF (Very High Frequency) 6m : 50 - 52Mhz 4m : 70 - 70.5Mhz 2m : 144.0 - 146.0Mhz
UHF
(Ultra High Frequen-
cy)
70cms : 430.0 - 440Mhz 23cms : 1240.0 - 325Mhz
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? Get your logs in and get yourself on the HF ladder with your chance to win a trophy at the end of the year. If you are new to the HF Ladder speak to Pete M1PTR at a club meeting or email info@g8srs.co.uk for further Information. 28
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
GB3MN
Analogue Digital 145.6500 Mhz 145.0500 Mhz C4FM Fusion
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
**
2m
6m GB3SX
51.2900 Mhz
Analogue
** Currently off air awaiting a new site
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 29
SRS HF Ladder 2020 Welcome to new decade of DX’ing and my congratulations to last year’s winners. It was heart-warming to see a record number of entrants in the HF section which showed SRS members are active on the bands chasing DX despite being at the solar cycle 23 minimum. First off some changes to make you aware of in response to feedback received from participants last year. After running for a couple of years we have decided to drop the 2 & 70cm ladder as there were only a few entrants with limited opportunity to get more than a handful of DXCC slots for those solely using RF propagation. In addition, noting the SRS awards have been moved from December to January, the HF Ladder competition can now run the whole year from 00:00hrs 1 Jan to 23:59 31 Dec. I will update the web site to reflect these changes and apologies to anyone who wasn’t aware. Propagation Early in January two new solar cycle 24 sunspots appeared which is a positive sign that the next cycle is coming, albeit slowly. While this is good news for improved HF propagation, reports indicate it will be a while until sunspots persist and the solar flux stays above the 70 mark. It was also reported that 10m briefly opened up in January with what was probably the last of winter Sporadic E. Forecasts show that 40m and 20m are open most days, with occasional openings on 17m especially around lunchtime if you are lucky. To aid you in chasing DX, lookup the MUF (Maximum Usable Frequency) for 3000km F2 skip on propquest to see which bands are reported open. (http://www.propquest.co.uk/). HF & 6 DXCC Ladder The first report of the year shows the bulk of activity has been on the mid bands with 60% of scores on 17m, 20m & 40m. Pete, M0PTB starts the year in blazing form with points on all but two bands. I suspect this is only due to him not having antennas for 30
these bands? Steve, 2E0WIT holds second place with a good mid band score, Kieron, M5KJM is third just ahead of Bob, GM4UYZ with Keith, 2E0JPY and Alan, G0ROW in joint fifth place. 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 or catch me club. I’ll be glad to help. 73 and Good DXing - Pete Ridley, M1PTR 31
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