wythall radio club

Well, Intermediate Exam night came and went last night and Wythall Radio Club is proud to announce that all three intrepid candidates have passed!

Well done to club members Chris M6BNQ, Keith M6KAO together with Tony M6TSK, (all pictured left with their pass certificates) – they now enter the world of 2E0 land! All scored very well in the exam, despite a few “I think I’ve failed” comments on leaving the exam room.  (We are used to that!)

Thanks go to Wythall Radio Club’s team of Tutors; Lead Instructor Chris G0EYO, ably abetted and assisted by Dave G3YXM, Barry M0DGQ, Peter G4LWF and David G0ICJ.  Thanks too to to our invigilators last night, Mike G4VPD and David G0ICJ.

All three successful candidates have intimated that they are keen to progress to the Advanced level exam.  As luck would have it(!) we have an Advanced course starting on September 10^th. Here’s to a hat-trick of successes come December!

Wythall Radio Club’s training programme continues apace.

It doesn’t seem that long ago since we were congratulating our newest batch of Foundation Licence holders and it is already time to be wishing our Intermediate students good luck for their exam!

This Monday, 18th June, three students, who have been working hard over the past couple of months under the tutelage of Lead Instructor, Chris G0EYO, will be sitting the RCF Intermediate exam at 2000. All of us in Wythall Radio Club wish them all the best in their endeavours.

Watch this space for the results!

144 MHz or 2 metres is probably the most popular amateur band for local or semi-local contacts.

However, tomorrow it will be full of low power or QRP stations trying to make contacts far and wide in the annual Practical Wireless 2m QRP contest.

 All modes from FM to SSB and CW are allowed and it’s a great opportunity to snag some new squares or work some hilltoppers. All you have to remember is that no more than 3w is allowed as your output power.

This is a great chance to get out onto some high spots for an hour or so too and see how many stations can be worked.

So if you are at a loose end tomorrow, why not take part? Even a small antenna such as a tiny yagi or halo for horizontal polarisation will work.  The usual antenna types for vertical polarisation will also give good results.

See  http://www.pwcontest.org.uk/144MHzrules.html for more details and remember, have fun with RF!

No-one can surely have failed to notice that the UK is celebrating something special this weekend (and we don’t mean 2 extra days public holiday!)

“Her Maj” is rightly the centre of attention this coming weekend and we at Wythall Radio Club are also taking part in her celebrations.

We will be joining in with the village activities this Sunday and Monday with a Special Event Station to mark the Jubilee. Listen out for the callsign GQ4WAC  and feel free to contact us (most likely on the 80 metre, 40 metre, 20 metre, and 2 metre bands).

Catch you on the air!

In case you are not aware, Wythall Radio Club is now on the worldwide web!  The club shack and training room now has broadband internet access, both wired and wireless.

The many advantages of this we are yet to fully explore, but we are making a start this coming Tuesday, 29th May, when there will be an informal “Internet Evening”, which may well be the precursor of more such nights.

This week, Chris G7DDN will initiate our first “round table” by visiting “live” a few ham radio websites of which some of our members may not yet be fully aware.   It is easy in our modern connected world to think everyone already knows about the resources available at the click of a mouse or press of a button, but this is not always the case.

Future Internet evenings may well see members encouraged to bring along useful links to sites that they have discovered which might enhance the hobby for us all.

With our new link to the Information Superhighway, Wythall Radio Club is engaging 1st gear and getting off the “Super Hard Shoulder”!

It has been announced that Graham Coomber (G0NBI) an active radio amateur local to Wythall, with interests in both the DX, contesting and WAB has joined the society as General Manager.

We wish Graham well in his new job, particularly during this time of transformational change.

Graham thanked Don Beattie (G3BJ) Acting General Manager, for his enormous contribution over the last 14 months.

0730 this morning, and three of us, Dave G3YXM, Barry M0DGQ & Chris G7DDN together with friend of the club, Mark Hill G4FPH, set off for Dunstable Downs Rally.  Mark even provided a breakfast of Pakoras and Samosas for the journey down! Yum yum, even that early!

Dave, Barry and Chris (above left), rally site (centre ) and Paul, M0TVU (right)

Getting there just after 0900 due to a motorway accident on the M6, we found the rally in full swing though it was absolutely freezing cold and with drizzly rain too. Barry was dressed like he was on an Antarctic expedition – and he was still frozen!

Ian, M0IDR

Club treasurer Ian M0IDR had travelled down separately and we soon caught up with him too.

We also managed to meet up with Paul M0TVU who was a trader on one of the stalls together with his dad, but still proudly flying the flag for the club by wearing his Wythall Radio Club fleece!

We even spent some time chatting with friend of the club, Carl G0NZI, who was selling his portable WonderWand antennas from a small gazebo.

Needless to say, a good day was had by all with everyone picking up at least one bargain.  Can’t wait for our next trip out to Derbyshire for the Junction 28 QRP Rally on June 10th!

What a fascinating evening last night! Thanks to Steve G3ZVW, we experienced an amazing hour of “whole-brain learning”!

Three “volunteers” (if you can call Steven 2E0SDD, Stacey M6STJ and Howard M6AUL that) managed to learn the vast majority of all 26 letters of the alphabet in around 60 minutes. That is thanks to the method known as Instant Morse. Using a mix of storytelling, picture imagination and letter shapes, Steve took us through the letters of the alphabet while helping us with the CW equivalents.

It will be a long time, for instance, before we forget Mel M0MAJ’s cocktail glasses and fancy bow-tie or, come to think of it, Chris G0EYO’s mouth with the tomato in it! (You just had to be there!!!)

Callum M0MCX obviously didn’t forget anything however – at the end of the evening he could remember all 26 characters in code! (I didn’t write that! Callum.)

Another superb VHF net took place tonight with many participants discussing the special event station from yesterday.

Sunday eve's 145.225

• M0MCX – Callum
• G0EYO – Chris
• 2E0SDD/M – Steve
• 2E0BLP – Jim
• G1VLT – Paul
• M0MAJ – Mel
• G7IBO – Dave
• M0TVU – Paul
• G0HPH – Peter
• MoPYT – Paul
• G1MJO – Alf

An amazing day out, thanks to all stations who worked us. QSL cards will be posted to all 200 contacts.  Chris (G0EYO) said, “I counted 18, G0EYO, M0MCX, M3PMP, Syd (G4?) M6AUL, 2E0WTH, M0NYP, M0JMM, 2E0BLP, M1JSS, M0IDR &XYL, G7DDN, G7IBO, M3RSC, M0YOM, G0MTN, and M0COK. Who have I missed out”? Speak up if your callsign isn’t listed. What a great day team!

Photos courtesy of James Thresher, M0YOM