wythall radio club

Today is a big day in the UK Amateur Radio calendar and it’s one that Wythall Radio Club members will be enjoying too!

At 1000 this morning, special guest Eric Swartz WA6HHQ, founder of Elecraft Radio (on his first visit to the UK)  opens the doors to the RSGB National Hamfest at Newark in Nottinghamshire.

A team of Wythall Radio Club members is spending today (Friday) at the event and will probably be “having fun with ££” which we hope will lead to more “having fun with RF” as our club motto states!

We look forward to meeting many friends at this event, and doubtless a bacon sandwich (or three!) will be swilled down with a beer or two…

Since Wythall Radio Club dates back to the very early 1980’s, there is a lot of history to the club. Just this week for instance, more pieces of the past have come to light and like an archaeological dig, some cataloguing has to take place to record those artefacts for posterity.

This time, the past treasures have taken the form of some rare photos from 1984. They show some of the hard work involved in clearing the cellar area of Wythall House, where we now meet and have our radio shack.

Perhaps they will jog a few memories for some of our older members, as we still have quite a few “founding fathers” who are regulars.

Have a look and see what you think…

The results of the RSGB’s VHF Field Day are out and it’s good news for Wythall Radio Club.

Members achieved a creditable 7th place finish in the overall Mix and Match section of this large summer radio contest. 50MHz and 70Mhz saw the best showings but that came as no surprise on the basis of antennas used and manpower available.

Since VHF Field Day is also an excuse for our summertime BBQ and social, the contest station was not manned all the time – there was superb food and drink and great company to enjoy.

Perhaps next year we should stop eating meat and drinking beer and wine and get on the air even more – or maybe not!

CW on the beach!

Wythall Radio Club member Barry M0DGQ has arrived back from the Cape Verde Islands and does he have some tales to tell!

From August 27 until September 11 together with wife Ann, he took the holiday of a lifetime to the Isle of Sal. While planned as a special birthday treat for Ann, Barry knows that, for a Radio Amateur, no holiday is complete without some form of radio! So also along for the ride came a home built 3-band Morse Code transceiver, 10m fishing pole, antennas and battery!

Operation was from both the beach and the hotel apartment. Of all the bands used however, 20m was by far the most successful. Europe, Japan, Africa, Ukraine and Brazil were all worked with ease. Even more exciting was that Barry was heard and worked here in Wythall by quite a few other club members – quite an achievement given the huge pile-ups Barry had to handle.

For more details on Barry’s operation, why not visit his own account here?

G7DDN’s 40m antenna in South Devon

Members of Wythall Radio Club have been busy operating holiday style this summer and tonight we will find out more about exactly what they have been up to!

Whether it is Barry M0DGQ operating low power morse code with his home-built transceiver from the Cape Verde Islands or Callum M0MCX playing with high power and vertical antennas by the sea in Cornwall, or even Chris G7DDN trying out his new Icom radio from the South of France, there has been plenty going on “away from home”.

Callum M0MCX will lead us tonight in an interactive interview/presentation to discover exactly what Wythall Club Members  have been up to over the summer. Lots of photos and even audio recordings are on the menu. Callum also promises some hints on developing your operating style which will enable that precious DX station to be snagged!

2030 tonight in the Club Shack at Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ. Not to be missed!

Members of Wythall Radio Club had a fabulous time at SSB Field Day 2013 as G4WAC/P.  A photo gallery upload appears below but a full write up will appear in our next Club Newsletter.

Chairman Mike G4VPD at the controls during SSB FD 2012

You could be excused for thinking that Wythall Radio Club members are gluttons for punishment! Once again a group of hardy members is taking to the field on Wythall Park this coming weekend, 7th-8th September. This time it is to take part in the Radio Society of Great Britain’s SSB Field Day Radio Contest.

The idea is to work as many worldwide stations as possible using Single Side-Band (SSB- an efficient Voice Mode used by Radio Amateurs). Several members will be shouting away for 24 hours in the middle of a field – they will of course be also hoping the rain stays away!

Planning such an event is not completely straightforward though, so this Tuesday at Wythall House, our regular weekly meeting will be taken up with sorting out the finer details for the weekend’s event.

Visitors, as always, are very welcome. This Tuesday, 3rd September 2013 at 20:30 in the Club Shack, Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ

Wythall Radio Club member Barry M0DGQ has been granted the temporary license call of D44TXP and will be active from the Isle of Sal (Cape Verde) from Aug 27 to Sept 12 if all goes well. Due to baggage weight limits it will be low power (20 Watts) and he’ll be CW only using 40m, 20m and 10m. Barry hopes to operate from the waters edge as well as the hotel apartment. Tim M0URX has very kindly offered to act as his QSL manager.

Barry mentions that his only concern is that he doesn’t get pulled for having a Sealed Lead Acid battery and hopes the radio survives the journey!

All QSL details are now posted on QRZ using the call D44TXP.

UPDATE – Several members have heard Barry from the Cape Verde Islands but as yet we don’t think anyone has broken the considerable pile-ups to work him!

Whenever there is a little respite in the regular stream of posts on the Wythall Radio Club website, it is usually because there is something going on, on which you have yet to hear! This time it is holiday time!

Quite a few members are once again away from the Midlands enjoying the last chance to get a summer break before the Autumn hits us in September.

However, just because the website is quiet, it does not mean that Wythall Radio Club members are! Our monthly Activity Ladder continues apace in the Wythall area; also many members have taken their radio equipment away with them and have been amassing contacts either back to the UK or indeed within the UK or even working rare DX!

Even during the summer holiday time, Wythall Radio Club members are still “having fun with RF”!

Wythall Radio Club members have been busy today at the annual village Carnival.

Several folk gave up their Sunday to put on a first-rate demonstration stall which ran effectively all day long!

With many “hands-on” exhibits, such as Morse Keys & oscillators to 3 amateur stations on all bands from 40 metres – 10 metres (as well as 2 metres), there were even computer screens for the public to engage with and see what the stations were working. All in all, the day was a great success.

On the basis that a picture is better than a thousand words, why not enjoy browsing the stills below?

Our thanks to all that attended and helped in any way. We all had a fantastic time!