wythall radio club

Rob M6HCS, James M6BXG, Darren M6LPD and James J (awaiting callsign)

We are proud to announce the birth of four new members into the Radio Amateur & Wythall Radio Club Community!

Following an intensive Foundation License Course guided by Lead Instructor Chris G0EYO, Rob, James, Darren and James J all passed their Foundation Exam last Sunday with flying colours and, it has to be said, some impressively high marks!

Callsigns have been quickly issued by OFCOM, so look out for M6HCS, M6BXG and M6LPD on the air.

Their course represented something of a departure from the norm for Wythall Radio Club.  It took place over two weekends in the middle of the Summer Holidays; Saturday and Sunday for 3 hours each day.  It ended on the second weekend with the Foundation Exam; Sunday lunchtime must seem like an odd time to sit an exam, lads!

The happy hams are pictured right with their pass certificates. All the members of Wythall Radio Club congratulate you! Now is it true that we are already hearing rumbles about when the next Intermediate Course is likely to take place?

Any club or organisation has a pleasant problem when new members introduce themselves. How you do get information to them so they can fit in and feel at home as quickly as possible?

Wythall Radio Club have been trying to address that issue recently. One of our members who is pretty handy with Desktop Publishing, Colin M0GJM, has put together an excellent introductory booklet – in essence a Guide to Wythall Radio Club. Designed for enquirers or relatively new members, it covers all aspects of our club life together, from how the club is structured to when we meet and who to contact when advice is required and so on.

Judging by the initial response, quite a few of the established members think they should have one too! However, in truth, it is another useful tool to help welcome new members into our throng.

Who knows? You might be the next!

Wythall member G3YXM - 144MHz portable

August is probably the month of the year when most of us in the UK go on holiday. Wythall Radio Club members are no exception of course; we are all to some extent tied by when the children or grandchildren find themselves off school.

One thing that many of us enjoy however is the chance to engage in a little “holiday portable” operation. Whether it be a handheld transceiver, a Yaesu FT-817 or a larger radio with a hefty Power Supply, most amateur operators enjoy the opportunity to make a few contacts wherever they go.

Many Wythall members will be heard throughout August and September “on the air” from more exotic locations; Ireland, Spain, France, to name but a few. Doubtless some will also be trying to “make the trip” back to contact other members in Wythall.  Either way, holidays are another great opportunity to “play radio” in the open air (hopefully in the sunshine!) once again.

It never fails to amaze us, the power of the internet.  Just about every subject under the sun is covered on it in some way and of course Amateur Radio is no exception.

Since Wythall Radio Club had a broadband wireless connection installed earlier in the year, members have been making a lot of use of it with all kinds of connected devices from phones to iPads and laptops and it is proving useful on our training courses also.

This coming Tuesday, we will be hosting our second “Internet Night” following the success of the first one a few months ago. Members bring ideas for sites they have visited in recent times and share them with the other members.  It proved very popular first time around, so why not consider popping in for this informal evening and see just what Ham Radio, at least on the Internet(!) is about?

Tuesday 31st July at 8.30pm at Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ

Rockall – not just a name familiar from the UK Shipping Forecasts on Long Wave, but an extremely small, uninhabited, remote rocky islet in the North Atlantic Ocean, and a very dangerous place to attempt a DXpedition to!

The Rockall Islet

Indeed, not many have attempted it but one intrepid Belgian Group has. What is more, they have now made a DVD of their exploits so we can all share in the excitement.

Wythall Radio Club has recently purchased one of these and it seems a useful way in which to spend a dark Winter evening at the club. So be aware that on the 15th January next year, we will get to see one of the most dangerous DXpeditions to have taken place off our shoreline.  It cost over €35,000 to mount and sailing to Rockall in a Force 11 storm makes some interesting viewing too!

For a taster of what is to come, visit this link but then make sure you come along in January to the club to see (and hear) the whole story!

This weekend, 8th and 9th July sees one of the Radio Society of Great Britain’s premier contest events, VHF National Field Day. The idea is that stations take to the great outdoors and set up stations literally “in the field” and then try to make as many contacts as possible for 24 hours. Five Amateur bands are used, 50Mhz, 70 MHz, 144 MHz, 432 MHz and 1296 MHz.

Wythall Radio Club’s idea of a good VHF Field Day however, is to have as many members as possible on the park at Wythall House and play a mix of radio, both VHF and HF, heavy duty contesting and combine that with eating food, drinking beer and telling tall stories well into the night. (Sometimes even radio comes second to beer!)

Well, that’s our usual plan!  This year’s awful rainy weather has literally put the dampeners on our activities.  The state of the field is so bad that getting equipment onto it would prove too difficult and in addition, the forecast for the weekend is pretty grim.

So instead, join us in the club shack from 1400 on Saturday for a day of fun with RF and a takeaway in the evening, washed down with some suitable ales from the bar. We will still be working all the portable stations but in the so-called “sweeper” section of the contest. And after a few bevys, doubtless those tall stories will keep on coming…

Tim Kirby G4VXE "drowning" in PowerPoint on Tuesday at Wythall RC!

A fantastic turnout on Tuesday evening just gone (30+ members, around half the membership!) enjoyed a compelling presentation, courtesy of Tim G4VXE.

Entitled “My World of VHF”, Tim took us on a journey through all manner of VHF operating practices, propagation, anecdotes & antennas and showed us just how much is happening on VHF and UHF.  As a seasoned operator, contester, DXpeditioner and column writer for “Practical Wireless” magazine, there was little left untouched in his overview of the bands from 50MHz to 432MHz.

Members were unanimous in their praise for an inspiring evening and there is already talk of further antennas being erected at a few members’ locations in the near future.  It was a great prelude to our own exploits on VHF Field Day coming up the weekend after next.

So… thank you Tim!

Click the image to enlarge!

Nice to see members of Wythall Radio Club in the Amateur Radio press again. This time it is Barry M0DGQ, one of our QRP (low power) fanatics, who has been in the news.

Once again Barry has had one of his homebrew articles published in the latest issue (out today!) of what many people consider THE best Amateur Radio magazine in the UK, SPRAT.

SPRAT (Small Powered Amateur Radio Transmitters, to give it it’s full title!) is the quarterly journal of the G-QRP Club.  Many of the best known amateurs in the UK are among the members of this club.

What is more, this is the second time that Wythall member Barry has had an article published in this august publication. This time it is for a homebrew 40 Meter band Transmitter project.  Opposite is the latest front page from SPRAT and Barry’s transmitter is pictured on the left.

We are very proud to have Barry in our club. If you want to find out more about his ham radio projects, visit his personal pages at www.m0dgq.co.uk

Tim Kirby G4VXE (pictured) is the VHF Columnist for Practical Wireless Magazine.  Not only does he have that distinction, but he is also Wythall Radio Club’s next guest speaker! This Tuesday evening, Tim is wending his way up the M40 to join us at Wythall House on Silver Street to deliver his latest presentation, entitled “My World of VHF”.

Tim is basing his talk around the VHF/UHF column that he writes for PW.  In his monthly musings, he covers as many aspects of VHF/UHF as he can and tries encourage people to look at their VHF/UHF radios in a different way.  Those of us who have been following his writings, both in print and in his online blog, will know he is more than eminiently qualified to talk on this subject.  Tim has just about done it all in VHF/UHF, contesting, DXpeditioning and so on. His interests range from chatting on FM Repeaters to serious DX on 50MHz and above.

Tim’s visit comes at a very appropriate time as VHF Field Day is just around the corner and a little inspiration never goes amiss!!

We are looking forward to welcoming Tim amongst us. Tuesday 26th June is the date and 8.30pm is the time!

Wythall Radio Club is running an “intense” Foundation Licence Course this summer.  If you are interested in the hobby of Amateur Radio, this is the way in!

This short course will run over two weekends, 28th-29th July & 4th-5th August. Each session will be four hours long starting at 1000 in the morning. The exam will take place at the end of the course at around 1330 on Sunday 5th August.

We already have three students signed up to do this course but the good news is that there are still some places available.  Although the course doesn’t start for over a month yet, we need you to have registered for it by July 15th, in order to book the correct number of students in for the exam.

The cost is £40 (£32.50 for under 18s or anyone out of work and on benefits).

E-mail our Lead Instructor Chris Pettitt G0EYO at g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk for more information.