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Archive for December, 2013

Contest successes for Wythall Radio Club

December 29, 2013 By: Chris G7DDN Category: Club, Contest, News

With 2013 fast approaching its end, the members of Wythall Radio Club have been celebrating some successes in the end of year contest results. VPD Cert

Chairman Mike G4VPD is celebrating a win in the AL Section of the year-long 144MHz 2013 UK Activity Contests. He also came second in the 50 MHz and 70 MHz contests – a fantastic result! Club member Mark M0RKX also made some excellent showings for the club in these events.

CC CertAlso recently released are  the results of the 1.8 MHz Club Calls Contest, where Wythall Radio Club finished in 3rd place overall for the second year running, albeit closing the gap on the two other teams in front of us.

The detailed results can be found here, but our special thanks to Dave G3YXM for organising this one and finishing as top individual Wythall Station in front of Chris G7DDN and Simon G4TVR. We are especially proud of our Club Station GX4WAC, operated by Mike G4VPD, Stan G4JGV and Callum M0MCX. which came 2nd in the list of Club Stations in the UK.

A great end to a great year at Wythall Radio Club!

(Please click on the certificates for a larger view)

Steven & Stacey win the M0GJM Trophy!

December 27, 2013 By: Chris G7DDN Category: Club, Fun, News

The Wythall Radio Club Christmas Foxhunt Trophy has its first winners! Steven 2E0SDD & girlfriend Stacey M6STJ scooped the M0GJM Trophy earlier today.20131227_132531_resized

The morning unfolded with Phil 2E0WTH volunteering to be the first “fox” – he was found by Colin G6ZDQ & Janet, Pete M5DUO and wife Anita M6DUO, though they had to negotiate a ford to get to him!

The DUO’s acted as next “fox” and placed themselves by a church where signals would reflect and give possible false readings. It took 4 transmissions before David G7IBO caught up with them.

David then became the final “prey”, but was found after just two transmissions(!) by Steven 2E0SDD and Stacey M6STJ, who were then deemed winners by virtue of being the fastest “hunters” of the day – very fitting as they were two folk for whom the late Colin M0GJM had a very soft spot!

Enjoy the photo gallery below to get a flavour of how much fun was had by all!

Off to hunt a fox!

December 26, 2013 By: Chris G7DDN Category: Club, Fun, News

Tomorrow, December 27th, is a very important date in the life of Wythall Radio Club. It signifies a morning of “hunting the fox”!

dftrophy 004Now real foxhunting is currently illegal in the UK in the traditional sense of the term, but to radio enthusiasts, it is all about trying to find a hidden radio transmitter (the “fox”), transmitting at short intervals every 10 minutes or so. This is not therefore an activity that one needs an amateur licence for and so is an event that friends and relatives can (and do!) join in with.

In true Wythall tradition, it ends with lunch at a nearby pub (well it would have to really!) and many tales will be told of how close people were to finding the “fox” first!

And this year, there is a special trophy (pictured left) in honour of Colin Truran M0GJM, (who sadly passed away in the last month) which will be presented to the teams who found the “foxes”.

We can’t think of a better way to honour the memory of a man who absolutely adored this event!

Happy Christmas, everyone!

December 24, 2013 By: Chris G7DDN Category: Club, News

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The members of Wythall Radio Club would like to wish all readers of (and visitors to) our website the best season’s greetings!

We wish all radio enthusiasts a fantastic Christmas holiday and our wishes that “Santa” has bought you all the radio equipment you could possibly want (and got it all down the chimney!!!) :-)

It’s been another great year at Wythall RC with our fantastic G100RSGB activation at the centre of it. We look forward to building on our successes in the future.

Remember to check our Club Calendar page regularly – why not make it a New Year’s Resolution to come along to one of our Club events and say hello sometime?

73 es 88 from all the members of Wythall Radio Club

Christmas Contest Time!

December 23, 2013 By: Chris G7DDN Category: Club, Contest, Fun, News

2013-01-29 21.05.48

Stuart M0NYP won the 2m FM Trophy in 2012

It is that time of year again, when the airwaves around Wythall (and further afield too!) will be full of strange stations exchanging numbers!

No, it’s not a spy extravaganza, it’s just the Wythall Radio Club Christmas Contest again!

Members have to work each other as often as possible between Christmas Eve at 20:00 and New Year’s Day at 20:00. We can work each other once every day for points and each unique member contacted acts as a “multiplier” to our scores.

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Chris G0EYO won the G7OJO Trophy last year

At the end of the event, we take the best 5 days scores and submit them to the adjudicators who then come up with the results, which are celebrated with a presentation evening each January.

It is all about “having fun with RF” as our club motto states, and it invariably lives up to its name. So if you hear strange goings-on on the airwaves (especially on 145.225 MHz FM) over Christmas, don’t be alarmed – in fact, please join in and say “hello”.

You are not valuable to members as points, but you will make a few new friends!

 

A Pair of Advancees!

December 21, 2013 By: Chris G7DDN Category: Club, News

Wythall Radio Club is today welcoming two more of our members to the ranks of the highest class of Amateur Licence!

Tom

Tom M0RMY in relaxed mode

Tom 2E0GSW and Roger Poole (who chose not to bother with callsigns until he reached this level), are Wythall Radio Club’s latest successes in the Amateur Radio Advanced Exam stakes! Months of study from September through to December culminated in the exam being taken earlier this month and both of them are now celebrating success.

Roger

Roger at our recent Xmas party

Tom has already chosen his new callsign M0RMY, while Roger is taking his time over selecting which callsign he would like.  Rest assured we will let you know as soon as we do! Meantime our sincere congratulations to them both and we hope to work them on the air soon.

Three more Wythall Radio Club members will be taking another Advanced exam later in January, so we will be keeping our fingers crossed for more success for them in the New Year!

Christmas Party Piccies!

December 18, 2013 By: Chris G7DDN Category: Club, Fun, News

Here are a few pictures to show you how much fun Wythall Radio Club members had without RF last Saturday! Just click on the photos for a larger version.

 

Wythall Radio Club gets ready for Christmas!

December 17, 2013 By: Chris G7DDN Category: Club, Contest, Fun, News

Not long to go now before one of the events of the year in the Wythall Radio Club Christmas Calendar.

Our in-house Christmas Contest started from small beginnings and is now a major part of the club’s calendar. Some amateurs have been known to join our club just to take part in it!

The idea is to work as many members as possible every day from 2000 on Christmas Eve till 2000 on New Year’s Day.  It is not quite as straightforward as it seems though and there are bonuses to be gained for using different bands and modes as well as going portable, mobile and operating from each other’s houses!

Trophies

The G7OJO Trophy & the 2m Trophy

To win, you have to be active and available on the bands over the Christmas period – as if it wasn’t busy enough as it is!  The section winners are presented with the G7OJO Trophy (for all bands) and the 2 Meter Trophy (for members using 144 MHz only.)

This Tuesday 17th December, there is a presentation by Contest Supremo Lee G0MTN about the history and development of the Contest and on the innovations introduced in recent years, which will include more on the latest updates to our fantastic logging spreadsheet which scores you automatically!

It will be a fascinating evening for sure. So be there at 2030 this Tuesday 17th December in the Club Shack. It will be full, so arrive early!

Colin Truran M0GJM SK – An Appreciation

December 16, 2013 By: Chris G7DDN Category: Club, News

Wythall Radio Club member Colin M0GJM, who passed away 29th November, is now the subject of an appreciation article on this website.

Please click here to visit his page.

Having fun without RF!

December 13, 2013 By: Chris G7DDN Category: Club, Fun, News

Regular readers to this website will be aware that Wythall Radio Club’s motto is “Having Fun with RF”. Well, this weekend, we will doing the polar opposite and “having fun without RF”!

The reason for this is that this Saturday, 14th December, is a very special date in Wythall Radio Club’s Calendar. It is the date for our annual Christmas Party! Members come along and bring friends & family and we have a lot of fun together!

We hire one of the larger rooms (with bar of course!) at Wythall House and have a mixture of excellent food and drink (in the “American Supper” style), live entertainment, games, raffles, and even a skittle alley!

Great chat, a relaxed friendly atmosphere and a “no pressure” environment, it’s the perfect way to start the festive season off with friends.

The party starts from 1900 in the Britannia Room at Wythall House, Sliver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ.