QUA Welcome, to issue 31 June 2020 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.
Three Wise (!) Monkeys
June 4, 1920 - June 4, 2020 www.g8srs.co.uk @G8SRS @SRSContestGroup
StockportradioSociety
Hello to all SRS members. I hope that you are all keeping safe and well and not putting yourselves at risk of contracting this vicious virus. Although certain restrictions have been lifted we all need to be vigilant as to where we go and still keep to the social distancing. It is pleasing to see the nets and chats with so many members taking part, not forgetting the daily Morse sessions. Thank you to all those giving their time to run these sessions and to all participants taking part. I have been having a discussion with Evan M0TJU regarding using Webex for online video presentations. He is now in the process of updating material adding audio to videos. Once he has a presentation complete, an invitation will be sent out to all members to take part. Thank you to all who contribute to QUA. The articles are most interesting. Keep them coming.
As you all know I am involved with the RSGB Test Reach remote invigilation, this has seen some 300 candidates use this online system to obtain their Foundation Licence. News has just come from RSGB another 600 are signed up for June. The booking system is changing from the 1 June so that candidates will be able to do all the booking online without having to contact RSGB Exams department. Details will be published on the RSGB Website. The remote invigilated ILC is still under review by the RSGB. Can you access either GB3MN or GB3MR repeaters, but cannot receive the nets on 145.375MHz ?? Please let us know so that we can schedule a contact on a repeater. Just to update you all, Walthew House is still closed for meetings, and will not re-open until government allow group meetings. Please stay in contact by any means that you care to use, watch the website and Facebook for updates. Heather M6HNS is always keeping the sites up to date as much as possible. #StaySafe #StayWell but most of all #TALK #don’tbelonely. 73 de Tony M0SAV - Stockport Radio Society Chairman 2
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’
From everyone at SRS
Richard G3CWI Date of Next Issue -
9 September 2020
Articles to be sent to QUA by middle of August 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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Diary of Events There is currently no face to face meetings taking place at Walthew House due to COVID-19. We are running regular nets throughout the month, along with daily morse sessions. Please see belowl the schedule of nets that is taking place during June. Keep a check on the website, your email and social media for updates. Our 100th birthday party at the Alma Lodge along with the SRS Rally have been postponed until 2021.
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Static Electricity from Thales to Priestley. In Classical Greece, Thales of Miletus observed (600 BCE) that if Amber was rubbed hard enough, small dust particles start sticking to it. Using modern terms this is 'static electricity'. We get 'Electron' and 'Electricity' from the Greek word for Amber. After 2000+ years some other sources of this mysterious phenomenon had been discovered - silk rubbing glass, hard rubber against fur for examples. The 'Leyden Jar' was discovered by Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leyden (among others) about 1745 . This was an early 'charge condenser', a primitive capacitor. The accumulated charge was enough to give strong 'electric shocks' - even to a mile-long line of monks wired together! (Paris, April 1746). Benjamin Franklin theorised (about 1750) about negative and positive charges and labelled them the wrong way round - which is why the electron sub-atomic particle has a negative charge! He developed the rule that like charges repel, unlike charges attract. Franklin also equated lightning flashes with static electricity, giving rise to the (probably mythical) kite and key experiment. If the kite he was flying had been struck by lightning he would probably have been killed. It is likely that the kite got charged by the static build-up near the storm clouds and this leaked down the damp kite-string to charge his Leyden jar. There was not much theory about what this all meant. Static electricity was little more than an interesting entertainment. In 1765 Franklin met Joseph Priestley, who started some scientific investigations and wrote a summary of the art 'The History and Present State of Electricity (1767)'. This inspired Charles-Augustin de Coulomb to discover the inverse square law of electrical attraction. Progress was being made, slowly. Then in 1800 Volta discovered a way of getting electricity to flow. To be continued‌ Pete M0PTB
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From the Archives - Sport for all I'm interested in Amateur Radio for various reasons - technical, historical, social and sport (?). Hang on a minute I can hear you say, what's that got to do with Amateur Radio? The occasional flick of the wrist to tune up the band maybe or for the dot dash brigade limbering up with a Morse key, but that isn't sport is it? Well listen up my friend because in the today's parlance anything that's competitive is now called sport and in our case its Radio sport aka Contesting.
My first introduction to Contesting was in Feb 2006 in the RSGB AFS SSB contest. My ICOM 706 rig was stored out of sight in a wardrobe (as per XYL guidelines). It was mounted on a sliding shelf so I could sit on the side of the bed to operate. On the shelf as well as the rig are a clock, log book and pen, with my laptop perched next to me. Fairly comfortable for short QS0s or reclined while listening but needing a redesign if I was to enter a 4 hr. contest and stay awake. So, on the morning of the contest with wood saw in hand I started constructing a table extension to the shelf. The scraps of wood use are not quite to size and need adjustment. The legs once held up the family frame tent, but now thanks to some deftly applied masking tape to keep things in place I have a desktop station. Time is running out, with less than five minutes to go I sit down to the contest and off we go. I make a couple of calls to stations calling 'CQ Contest' and soon realize when they respond that can't type without putting down the hand mike. Swapping hands and typing single-handed I start to get into a Tune - Adjust ATU - Call -Type on Keyboard routine and the log starts to fill up. After a couple of sweeps I find I'm listening to stations already worked so I start to keep a list of stations and their calling frequencies on bits of paper. After several sweeps I find my own freq. and put out a 'CQ Contest', sit back and listen but nothing heard, I try again still nothing. On the third attempt I have a mini pile up. I get into a routine, Listen - Call - Type, Say ‘you are five nine zero one two, number twelve (or whatever)', type in the response then 'QSL your serial NNN' and 'QRZ M1PTR'. Stations are now coming back thick and fast, but panic sets in when mistype a callsign and can't get the cursor back to change it. I frantically press keys to move to the right field while still talking and pretending to be in control. I resort to pencil and paper making a note of the correct call to enter later and QRZ onto the next call. It all goes to pot and end up for some reason saying QSL instead of QRZ. 6
start calling CQ again nothing heard, after a few minutes and some 20 odd calls into fresh air I sound like I'm chanting a mantra. Then I hear someone in the noise, I'm now shouting at the mike and getting tongue tied getting my call wrong saying M3PTR instead of M1PTR, I've no idea why. And so time passes, adrenaline and heartbeat rises, my mouth gets dry. Hands, paper and keyboard are flying everywhere it becomes a blur and I'm a robotic operator. After what seems like ages I call a station I've not previously heard only for him to come back 'contest is over mate'. I sit back and look at the sheets of paper covered with hieroglyphics, I'm exhausted, it’s been a 4 hour workout, the temporary desk has survived and I feel happy to have lasted the distance. I need a drink! This year [2008 ed.], I reclaimed the spare bedroom and laid it out as a shack. I invested in a foot switch, a headset and changed the logging program to one that displays a band map to record a stations calling frequency. I improved the antenna, calibrated it for the optimum ATU settings for spot frequencies and linked the newly acquired ICOM 746 to the PC which sits in front of me on a desk. The work area is laid out more orderly with pencil and paper to hand just in case, and a pint of fruit juice at aims length away from the rig. I always try to setup and be ready for the off at least 30 minutes beforehand. This gives me time to tune around and load up the band map with the locations of the regular contesters. I use an Internet clock source (accurate to milliseconds) and have a crib sheet of control keys for the logger program. I still get tongue tied, and raise my voice responding to stations in the noise but that's just the adrenaline you get when in full flow. So, call it a sport or what, to me its great fun I enjoy the challenge and pace to hear and be heard amongst the crowd. It certainty raises the pulse rate which must be good for me once in a while, and as long as I can smile at the odd hiccup, it’s not too stressful. Pete, M1PTR written in 2008
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Golf Bravo Seven Five Papa Echo Alpha Charlie Echo Try saying this call sign over and over, it becomes a real mouthful. As part of the VE Day celebrations, The RSGB put on three special event stations to run throughout May and August. GB75PEACE, GB1945PE and GB1945VJ. Pete, M1PTR and I, Kieron M5KJM, had to join the RSGB contest club before we could take part; this was a simple matter of exchanging emails. The available time slots were displayed on QRZ.com with a choice of 0000 -0759, 0800-1759 and 1800-2359z. We concluded that one person doing a single daytime slot of ten hours would not be fun (least to say unacceptable to our station managers) so offered to work from 0600 to 1800z on Monday 18 May doing split shifts of two hours each. The choice of modes and bands was up to us. After a few more email exchanges with the organizer it was agreed but on condition that we do not overlap so a handover scheme was needed. After a few phone call discussions we came up with a schedule that suited our local stations. I would start at 0600z on 40m with later sessions on the upper HF bands subject to conditions. Pete would start at 0800z on 40m if conditions were good, moving to 20m as needed. Later Pete would use 80m and finish on 6m listening out for SRS members from 1730z. As the day approached we made final adjustments to our equipment and ran some on air tests between us. PCs were loaded with logging software and shacks tidied ready for the off. |Kieron M5KJM
After a slow start and with the help of being spotted on the DX Cluster (thanks Nigel, G0RXA) stations started coming back to our CQ calls. Band conditions were quite good with some excellent reception reports received. At time conditions were very unusual with a lot of short skip on 20m early on with some sporadic E around 1200z with 10m and 6m being open. The pace was leisurely to brisk and, as time progressed, the call GB75 P-E-A-C -E turned into various combinations of phonetics, letters and numbers (not necessarily in the right order) as tongues took on a life of their own! 8
We were thankful to have picked 2 hrs shifts as it allowed time to rest and deal with some issues. I had a computer lockup that reduced the number of contacts I could make whilst the opening was on.Pete’s wire dipole decided to wrap itself around his Yagi and
Pete M1PTR wasted 15mins to untangle.
Between us we worked 291 stations and 35 DXCC’s with the best being a JR3 (Japan) and YB7 (Indonesia) this included 135 from within the UK. Occasionally we managed to get little runs going which improved our QSO rate. All in all we enjoyed the day, and proud to do our bit. We would we do it again, maybe, but we’d set up the voice keyer first! 73 de Kieron, M5KJM
David - M0WDD / Robert - G1VXD / Jon - M0RFU 9
Morse Code - The Key to Lockdown Stockport Radio Society and Morse Code have been amiable bedfellows for many years. The society from its early years has always encouraged members to embrace the original mode of wireless communication and use it to the best of their ability. Over the years there have been many members who have used the code both individually and within teams to great effect evidenced by our success in contest events notably the annual National Field Day where we have achieved first place on many occasions. In our 100th year it’s worth just thinking about some of those personalities from SRS who have successfully used this most simple of modes. There’s Ray Gerrard G3NOM, Eric Forsyth G3GMM, and of course Jim Barlow G3VOU to name but three all of whom are sadly no longer with us. However, still ploughing the morse code furrow are the likes of Barry Simpson G3PEK/VK2BJ, Carsten Steinhoefel G0SYP/DL1EFD, and of course Bernard Naylor G3SHF.
All of you reading this article will be aware of Bernard’s exploits especially with the contest group but will also know of his endeavours to promote morse code’s use by members and the society as a whole. Do you remember Bernard, or “Ben” (the alias he uses when on the air) featuring in the BBC North West Tonight interview alongside Jim Barlow back in 2008 when the use of morse code was highlighted to viewers in the North West of England. Well, Bernard’s latest project, along with Tom M0DCG and assisted by this period of lockdown is to improve their own morse skills and in turn help members “listening in '' into the world of morse code. But before we hear about that, let's first hear from the man behind the key and how he got into morse and this hobby……… CW From the Beginning…... It was a warm day with my bike up turned and rear wheel spinning wildly. The spokes were glinting in the sunshine as I knelt in the grass firmly grasping a pedal in my left hand and a pencil in my right. Cont,,,,,, 10
My pal Alan was 50 yards away in exactly the same situation looking for some inspiration. We were 13 or 14 years of age in the same class at the same new Secondary School boasting a library that held 2 books on radio that were now in the hands of Alan and I for long periods. Both of us were looking forward to leaving school at 15. Alan had a place at Fleetwood Nautical College planning to become a ship's radio officer, while I planned to take the RAE (Radio Amateur’s Examination) and become a radio amateur. We used the upturned bikes with tyre powered dynamos to feed cycle lamp bulbs linked with old WW2 field telephone insulated steel wire connecting the two bikes with morse keys made from box wood, strips of tin for contacts and elastic bands. I recall the College required 20 wpm from the students but we managed to get up to 12 wpm with flashing lights rather than audible dits and dahs. QSB was easy – turn the pedals slower! Following success with the RAE my father took me to a room at the very top of the Liver Building in Liverpool where I was seated in front of a Morse key and asked to send a text at 12wpm. After a minute I was stopped and told that was enough as I’d passed! N.B. On Liverpool waterfront, the building with the big birds on the top is “The Liver Building” and as a matter of interest the middle one is called the “Mersey Docks and Harbour Building” and the third one is called the “Cunard Building”. Collectively, they are known as the “Three Graces”. The rest is history as they say! I’m not sure what happened to Alan but I like to think he went on to have a long successful career at sea dining regularly at the captain’s table and visiting exotic lands all round the globe…. Bernard (Ben) G3SHF………... ……...So, we’ve heard a little about the man, but where did the idea for the daily sessions come from. As we’ll see, it was from a discussion at an SRS meeting. Cont ….. 11
Lockdown Tea Time Morse….The Project. At the last SRS general meeting (March) Tom (M0DCG) and I were discussing the problems the likely lock-down would cause. Of course, a problem is usually accompanied by an opportunity, so looking around the room we spotted Evan and his Slow Morse corner and our thoughts alighted on the idea that rather than once a week club practice we could start daily QSOs using slow morse that may well attract others to call in and form a Slow Morse net. Discussing how this would work, 80 metres and 2 metres were thought to be favourite but as I have no gear for 2 metres we decided we would try 80 at least at first until we figured out how to make things work on 2. We’re still working on this! Tests on 80 the following day proved OK so we announced a start on 23 March using 3541 kHz. The first day gave us a problem from the start. Would you believe it, a station was calling CQ on our chosen frequency! The caller was the only station on the band but a quick QSY to 3542 plus a message on the SRS server solved the problem. The following day we tried 3542 again only to find an RSGB CW contest taking place. So again we QSYed out of the way this time to a quiet spot at 3564 where we have remained ever since. Maybe by now we’ve scared everyone else permanently off that spot on the band! Our QSOs settled down to the first 20 minutes sending slow Morse at 5 wpm (words per minute) to each other aimed at getting ourselves back in practice – Tom felt he was so very rusty with the code! This was followed by 5 minutes at 10 wpm slipping in some punctuations in regular use in CW contacts, followed by 5 minutes at 12 wpm . As it’s difficult at times to know what things to send to each other that’s of continuing interest on a regular daily basis, we often have to fall back on radio technical data as well as quoting from our diaries - all pretty exciting stuff...but it keeps our hand in! While we have kept up our daily QSOs with each other, to our delight we have now been joined by 4 others who had been listening to us, each calling in for a QSO, so we have developed a small net. As the weeks have passed by, the quality of our sending has improved and our send speed has been increased to match improved receiving skills. Indeed one member of our net is now making QSOs on 40m CW while a couple more have indicated they are ready to make a start on their own. Cont….. 12
Throughout the period we have received emails from 20 or so SRS members plus one new member who has joined SRS after listening to the Slow Morse QSOs. Word certainly gets around! Currently we have a dozen members regularly listening to the sessions plus Tom’s brother on Orkney who listens out for us when conditions permit. We’ve even had a G4 calling in at the end of a net, saying how much he had enjoyed our exchange. You may ask where next and what are our plans. Clearly this depends on progress with the lifting of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, but for the immediate future we plan to continue with our regular QSOs. What could be better than an hour spent practising our skills during the long hot summer days! We can be contacted at mailto:morse@g8srs.co.uk Tom M0DCG & Bernard G3SHF…………" Four o’clock on an English summer afternoon used to mean “time for tea”, now it’s time for “morse with Bernard and Tom”. It’s clear Bernard and Tom have made a huge impact by establishing the daily sessions which when we look back have been taking place each day at 4PM local since mid March. As Bernard says, whilst at the same time as helping themselves they have helped a number of members to develop their morse skills and actually “get on the air”. Keith 2E0JPY & Chris M7CJK comment as follows……… View from the otherside of the key…… Myself, Keith 2E0JPY and Chris M7CJK at the start of the current lockdown decided to try and learn Morse code. Chris purchased a Zach lambic paddle from the Czech Republic and I purchased a Vine antennas TP3 lambic paddle from Lamco. We then started to listen to Bernard G3SHF and Tom M0DCG on the daily CW net on 80 metres. After practicing a few basics call signs, CQ, etc we decided to join in at first we weren’t very good but Bernard was very encouraging and suggested we practiced a little each day and built up slowly which we did and persevered and started to join in on the net. Cont…..
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We also have a daily practice between ourselves on a quiet band, anyone wishing to join us feel free, the more the merrier (email myself or Chris for details times, frequencies, etc).
Chris M7CJK Paddle Key
After eight weeks or so we are both sending at 16WPM and I have been brave enough to make several international contacts on CW and we both thoroughly enjoy the mode of communication. Now I just need to concentrate on the reading instead of relying on the decoder on my iPhone and slowly but surely it's coming unless someone sends ultra fast.
So let me assure you if I can do it anyone can and hats off to Bernard and Tom for running the daily CW sessions which has created a lot of interest from quite a few members who are now thinking of trying It. So if you have ever wondered about trying CW, don’t be shy give it a try, it’s fun.
Best regards and 73 Keith 2E0JPY …… Thank you Keith who along with Chris can also be contacted on the many SRS Nets presently taking place on VHF (usually 145.375MHz) and also during the daytime when the same frequency is usually being monitored for any member wishing to have a chat.
Keith 2E0JPY the vine antennas TP3 lambic twin paddle
After tea time clear up and my CW story….... The daily sessions are not the end of the story and as Keith comments Bernard’s advice is to take some time each day to practice whether it be receiving characters or becoming familiar with sending morse and in that respect I hope I have been able to assist interested parties. Cont ….. 14
My own background in Morse Code began in the late 80’s when having successfully passed the RAE and gained by “class B” callsign (G7IOR) I was encouraged by a friend Gary G0HJQ to join the SRS team taking part in that year’s SSB Field Day. Having enjoyed the HF experience I decided to get my “A” licence which of course at the time meant passing a 12 wpm morse code test. Guided by Rick Whittaker G4WAU at Avondale School I took the test which was managed by two further well known SRS personalities from the past, Harold Froggatt G3HQH & Neville Paul G3AUB. With a pass ticket under my belt and new callsign G0RXA secured I was at last allowed onto those hallowed HF bands. But, looking back and like so many HF operators I’d treated passing the morse test as an obstacle to overcome rather than an opportunity to gain experience with the code, something I regret not doing. In recent times and having witnessed the likes of Bernard and Carsten operating in the morse contests my interest in this mode has been rekindled and with Bernard & Tom’s tea time sessions taking place this is an ideal time to train and practice the art of morse code. I’m not there yet but getting there slowly. Wanting to play a part in “Lockdown Morse” I quickly realised I could record the sessions and make these available to anyone wishing to listen again to what had been sent. A routine was quickly established whereby once the sessions are completed, Bernard sends the text of the slow morse sent between the two of them to me which is emailed to the SRS email mailing list and at the same time added to a folder containing the recording in “WAV” format. The “WAV” file usually contains the whole session including the following QSO’s. A library of these sessions is slowly being built up and is available for anyone to use to help beginners and older hands alike and is maintained as part of the SRS website looked after by our secretary and media manager Heather Stanley, M6HNS. Heather has prepared a dedicated page which contains information such as symbols, punctuation, useful abbreviations and Q codes regularly used in morse contacts, plus there are links to sites of general interest and further information. Of course there is also a link to the library of Bernard & Tom’s “lockdown tea time morse sessions”. This is a fabulous resource available to anyone with an interest in Morse Code, it’s history and it’s use today and in the future. Cont ….. 15
The link to the dedicated morse page is https://www.g8srs.co.uk/cw-nets-during-covid-19/ ….and the link to the sessions library is https://www.g8srs.co.uk/cw-net-wav-files/ …...and finally….. Thank you to Bernard and Tom, to those who call in at the end of the sessions and anyone who has provided their comments and signal reports which are most welcome. Bernard and Tom are always looking for suggestions as to how their sessions can be developed and if possible improved and I’m sure they’d also like to hear your stories of how you use the sessions, whether you’ve got on the air and perhaps with a photo of you and your gear and maybe a cup of tea or coffee too. After all, that seems to be Tom’s favourite after session tipple!! They can be emailed directly to the team through morse@g8srs.co.uk Until next time, 73’s de Nigel G0RXA. .
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Morse Code A
._
B
_...
C
_._.
D
_..
E
.
F
.._.
G
_ _.
H
….
I
..
J
._ _ _
K
_._
L
._..
M
__
N
_.
O
___
P
._ _ .
Q
_ _._
R
._.
S
…
T
_
U
.._
V
…_
W
._ _
X
_.._
Y
_._ _
Z
_ _..
Morse Code
Phonetic A
Alpha
B
Bravo
C
Charlie
D
Delta
E
Echo
F
Foxtrot
1
._ _ _ _
2
.._ _ _
3
..._ _
4
…._
5
…..
6
_....
G
Golf
7
_ _...
H
Hotel
8
_ _ _..
I
India
9
____.
J
Juliet
0
_____
K
Kilo
L
Lima
M
Mike
N
November
currently
O
Oscar
postponed
P
Papa
due to
Q
Quebec
COVID-19 -
R
Romeo
why not give
S
Sierra
the daily
T
Tango
U
Uniform
V
Victor
W
Whiskey
X
X-Ray
Y
Yankee
Z
Zulu
Our Morse classes at Walthew are
morse class a try details on the previous page.
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Lockdown Planespotting So, since my last article what a change there has been in the aviation world. Globally airlines have mothballed fleets, retired older aircraft, airports have reduced operating hours, staff have been furloughed and the sky above our heads is empty of aeroplanes something which would have been unheard of just a few short months ago. With just a trickle of flights each day our local airport at Ringway has just a daylight operation with a single terminal handling all passengers. Rumours abound of services restarting in the coming months but that's still to be seen. This all begs the question "what is there for the plane spotter to be enthused about?" Well, so long as you are near the airport there have been aeroplanes to see and some real nuggets too. The daily routine of scouring websites, mailing lists and social media for what's happening has continued with movements still being logged by those with an interest in recording such things.
For the photographer, a new "sport" of garden photography has taken off. Gardens, open windows, tops of garages and sheds have all been vantage points used by the hunter awaiting the arrival of it's prey or in this case the various planes passing by. Within an instant the photographs are shared around the world with like minded enthusiasts and appear on websites to keep others not so fortunate enthrawled. But, what has there been to see? Well, in addition to the trickle of commercial flights, executive aircraft of all shapes and sizes have continued to arrive and depart using the airport's dedicated facility. Being relatively small in size these are rich pickings for the photographers especially as some are quite colourful. Not to be left out the RAF too have become regular visitors to "RAF Ringway" with aircraft of varying sizes, from helicopters to large transport jets taking trips down Manchester's approach and around the circuit to hone the skills associated with flying these machines. We've even had visits from individual Red Arrow team members in their Hawk display aircraft, including Red 1 the team leader.
Cont ‌.. 18
But, Manchester's spotters are used to seeing aeroplanes from the likes of Boeing and Airbus and there have still been the occasional movement usually associated with government repatriation exercises. Pakistan International Airways and Qatar Airways have been instrumental in these operations as have Greek operator, Aegean. In April Kuwaiti Airlines surprised everyone by arranging over three days 8 flights using the large Boeing 777-300 aircraft and in doing so sent the "garden photographers" into overdrive. Kuwaiti Airlines are not regular visitors to Manchester's hallowed tarmac, indeed I cannot remember them being here at all. One consequence of the current emergency is the Boing 747, the "Queen of the Skies" is slowly disappearing from passenger airline fleets around the world. Recently, Virgin Atlantic has announced the retirement of their remaining 747's with the national airline British Airways retiring a number of their own fleet. Other such as Qantas, KLM and Air France having already
taken that step. Whilst the "Jumbo Jet" is still a major part of Lufthansa's fleet and a popular choice with cargo carriers, in passenger service it is very quickly being replaced by more efficient aeroplanes from the Boeing and Airbus stables. Even the relatively young Airbus A380 is under threat with Air France and Singapore already starting to retire some older models and Airbus closing the production line. Cont ‌.. 19
Most of Virgin's fleet of Jumbo's has been moved to Manchester joining aircraft from other companies such as Ryanair, Easyjet, Tui & Jet2. Over the period of the lockdown most of these companies have been flying their aircraft occasionally on short trips around the northwest or exchanging them with aircraft parked at other airfields in order to keep the aircraft in a condition ready for services to restart and keep the flight crew up to speed. Whilst not directly associated with Manchester Airport, the reduction in traffic in the area which includes commercial and leisure (sorry Kieron) has meant survey work required by such organisations as Network Rail and the various pipeline authorities can continue unhindered. Helicopters and light aircraft are used for this purpose and quite frequently can be seen passing over the Stockport area. In fact in recent weeks (Mid May) there has been an Italian registered light aircraft undertaking survey work, I understand on behalf of Google Maps, by flying over the south Manchester area including Stockport gradualy each day moving from west to east. As I pen these words (mid May) the restrictions in England have been slightly relaxed and leisure flying is once again being allowed with restrictions. That means there may be a few more movements around the region including Kieron in N203CD who I know is anxious to get back into the air. Hopefully, by the time you read this he'll have a few more hours under his belt and in the log book. Safe flying Kieron!!
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Finally, it's worth saying don't put those scanners away just yet as there's loads to hear on the airband. Remember Manchester Tower can be heard on 118.630MHz and with so little traffic you'll also hear what would normally be heard on the ground frequency too. Aircraft operating around Manchester will be using Manchester Approach on 118.580MHz and when Barton Aero drome re-opens they can be heard on 120.255MHz. Some other useful frequencies to note are: Liverpool Approach:
119.855 MHz
Blackpool:
119.950 MHz
Warton Radar:
129.530 MHz
London FIR Information:124.750 & 125.475 MHz The Aviation Society Website:
https://www.tasmanchester.com/
Take Care & Stay Safe
Article by Nigel G0RXA Photographs by Heth M6HNS (Except N203CD)
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Frequencies LF (Low Frequency) 2000m : 135.7 - 137.8Khz MF (Medium Frequency) 630m : 472 - 479Khz 160m : 1.81 - 2.0Mhz
Help the Fight against COVID-19 Do you have an old laptop or Raspberry Pi collecting dust? You can put it to use in the fight against COVID-19. . Please see the Clublog website about Folding@Home Project and sign up. It’s free to sign up and you can always join the SRS ladder at the same time.
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
Essentially, researchers are using your computer’s spare processing power to study the way complex proteins of COVID-19 are managing to enter the host cells and looking for possible sites to attack the virus.
Note for operating on 60m Only available to advanced licence holders
If you do decide to help, then please do it via Clublog, as it’s an amateur radio site that will get credit.
VHF (Very High Frequency)
Projects 16800-16803,16805,16806
6m : 50 - 52Mhz 4m : 70 - 70.5Mhz 2m : 144.0 - 146.0Mhz
Cause: covid-19 This is the first COVID19 project from our lab. We are assembling the envelope protein, which is an ion channel important for viral function. Learning about how it forms can inform the design of molecules that will pre vent proper assembly.
UHF
(Ultra High Frequen-
cy)
70cms : 430.0 - 440Mhz 23cms : 1240.0 - 325Mhz
I have an old laptop, which is used by G5O, being utilised by PHD students in Washington and Stockholm. You can stop at any time, and the process runs in the background.
List of Contributors This project is managed by Dr Lucie Delemotte at KTH /SciLifeLab.
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Club Nets
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 Dec 1, each year Senior Family Country Pensioner Junior
£15.00 £15.00 £10.00 £10.00 £ 5.00
Juniors upto 18 yrs of age Senior upto 64 yrs of age Pensioner from 65 yrs of age. If you are interested in paying your subs by standing order, please contact the Treasurer on treasurer@g8srs.co.uk
Meeting Admission
It has been decided, that 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. 2m net, 6m net, 70cm net C4FM Fusion If you have any queries about the use of these callsigns, please speak to either Tony M0SAV or Alan G0ROW at any Club meeting
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. If you would like to try a net with a current net controller with you, again speak to Alan G0ROW The current Net Controllers are: Alan G0ROW Neil M6NAE Heather M6HNS Keith 2E0JPY Bob M0CPP Chris M7CJK
£2.00 per meeting.
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Tony M0SAV, Nigel 2E0CKA, Nigel M0VNL Slawek M0SQJ Jim 2E0URD
BBC Radio Manchester interviews SRS Heather M6HNS took a phone call on the ‘bat phone’ from a researcher from BBC Radio Manchester asking if we would be willing to be interviewed by Eamonn Holmes (CEO of St Anns Hospital and also newly awarded High Sheriff of Greater Manchester). Always happy to promote SRS I accepted the interview. The interview took place the following Saturday morning at 7.10am. The nerves started to set in, but next thing Eamonn is on the other end of the phone. You can listen to the interview by copying the link below https://www.g8srs.co.uk/srs-in-the-media/
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Donations to Walthew House by SRS Members Thank you to all the members that donated to Walthew House, either direct or through SRS. We donated, in total, £690.00—please see the letter of thanks below
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Training Courses Course Secretary John Marsh - M0JFM courses@g8srs.co.uk
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all radio clubs are current closed to large gatherings. The RSGB are now doing online Foundation Course Examinations (FLC), and the amount of candidates for this examination is very high. For the foreseeable future, we are asking any candidates who are interested in taking the FLC to do the training (which is free) via Essex Hams. Once your training has been completed, you must apply direct to the RSGB to take your examination. https://www.essexham.co.uk/train/foundation-online/ http://www.rsgb.org/exampay
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. 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. 26
Intermediate Our 2020 course has now taken place. Congratulations to the three candidates who all passed. If you are interested in the next course, please contact John M0JFM. Due to the current COVID-19 virus, we cannot confirm yet, when the next course will be. There is the possibility of doing the Intermediate course online through the RSGB. Further details will be available as soon as we get them
Full As above, please contact John M0JFM if you are interested in the Full tutorial course which starts later this year. The course may be done online due to no access to Walthew House due to lockdown. We will keep members informed of the decision of the tutors in due course.
If you are interested in assisting on an online training course, please contact courses@g8srs.co.uk QUA is compiled by Heather Stanley M6HNS. If you have any articles, reviews or announcements that you would like to see in the pages of QUA, please send your information to srswebsite@g8srs.co.uk or give Heather a call on 07506 904422 27
SRS Links RSGB www.rsgb.org UKFM Group Western www.ukfmgw.org.uk Ofcom www.ofcom.org.uk ARRL www.arrl.org
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:
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
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
Ham Links www.eham.nets Hack Green SDR www.hackgreen.co.uk
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 have any Links you would like to see on this page please email info@g8srs.co.uk
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.
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Repeaters - www.ukfmgw.co.uk 23cm
Output
RX1
Mode
Location
GB3SE
1297.0750 Mhz
1291.0750 Mhz
Analogue
Stoke on Trent
70cm GB3CR
433.1500 Mhz 434.7500 Mhz Analogue
Caergwrle
GB3LI
433.2500 Mhz 434.8500 Mhz Analogue
Liverpool
GB3LL
434.0000 Mhz 434.6000 Mhz Analogue
Llandudno
GB3MF
433.0500 Mhz 434.6500 Mhz Analogue
**
GB3MR
433.3500 Mhz 434.9500 Mhz Analogue
Disley
GB3PZ
430.9000 Mhz 438.5000 Mhz Analogue
Dukinfield
GB3SM
433.3250 Mhz 434.9250 Mhz Analogue
Stoke on Trent
GB3ST
433.2250 Mhz 434.8250 Mhz Analogue
Stoke on Trent
GB3WP
430.9375 Mhz 438.5375 Mhz Analogue
GB7MN
439.4125 Mhz 430.4125 Mhz DMR
Disley
GB7ST
439.4500 Mhz 430.4500 Mhz DMR
Stoke on Trent
GB7WC
439.4875 Mhz 430.4875 Mhz D-Star
Warrington
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
HF Ladder 2020 Well, who would have thought since the last report most of us are in lockdown with no meetings at the club? We are fortunate though, as we have a hobby that can continue despite the limitations imposed upon us. This is evidenced by the increase in activity on the ladder and with the addition of tables for each mode it’s now possible to see an individual’s preferred mode. Propagation - While the Sun remained quiet with zero sunspots and a solar flux index of 68-70 during May, sporadic E has proved to be the major mode of propagation. Openings on 10m and 6m have been occurring and present a great opportunity for easy to work ladder points. There has been reliable activity on 40m and 20m most days with skip distance varying dramatically. From first-hand experience I worked a MM (Scotland) station on 20m and we each logged a 5,9+20 report over a 280mile skip. It is unusual to work inter-G on 20m as skip is normally much longer, typically over 500miles with European contacts being more common. I also enjoyed a lot of inter-G activity on 40m during the recent GB75PEACE activation to celebrate 75 years of peace that I did in May with Kieron, M5KJM. HF & 6 DXCC Ladder - Looking at the All Modes table we have five members with scores over 100 at the moment, there were only 2 over a 100 in June last year. As we near the half way point of the competition Barry VK2BJ leads the table Bernard G3SHF is second and Chris G8HCB third. If you go to the link on the HF Ladder page on the G8SRS web site you will see that PHONE is the most popular mode with 12 members competing, CW is next with 9 followed by DATA with 5.
As usual, scores on 40m and 20m dominate the activity though there is now a much wider spread of activity with points claimed on most bands. Barry VK2BJ leads on 160m and Al G0ROW is leads 60m as the only entrants on those bands. Details to join the competition are found http://www.g8srs.co.uk/hf-ladder-2/ If anyone needs help with a submission please drop me an email. I’ll be glad to help. Please stay safe and enjoy the radio.
73 and Good DXing, Pete Ridley, M1PTR 30
M1PTR
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Stockport Radio Society Walthew House, 112 Shaw Heath, Stockport SK2 6QS Tel : 07506 904422 Email : info@g8srs.co.uk
Stockport Radio Society are affiliated members of RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) and NARSA (Northern Amateur Radio Society Association) 32