wythall radio club

The members of Wythall Radio Club are very much looking forward to this Tuesday. 

Martyn Vincent G3UKV, RSGB West Midlands Regional Manager, is visiting us to present Chairman Mike G4VPD with the trophy and certificate for Region 5 Club of the Year.

Martyn only visited the club a few weeks ago on RSGB matters, so a return visit is very welcome, especially in such pleasant circumstances.

The presentation will take place in the club shack at 20:30 and we expect a full turnout so get there early!

We would also like to congratulate the other finalists in the competition and wish then good luck as they fight it out to be named UK Club of the Year 2014. In our category, they are Worksop ARS, London Hackspace & Mid Ulster ARC – all the best to you all!

(Back) Simon G4TVR, Roger M0GWM, Ian M0IDR, Mike G4VPD, Dave M6HPD (Front) Tim M0URX, Chris G7DDN, Phil 2E0WTH

A good time was had by all – well, that was the verdict from yesterday’s Wythall Radio Club trip to the new Martin Lynch Hamstore in Staines.

In true Wythall tradition, food played a major role in the day…

Starting with a visit for a quick breakfast at the local McDonald’s in Staines, (where no-one seemed to be able to understand a good Brummie accent(!)) to pastries and drinks supplied by the store themselves – and ending, of course, with a pint or two in our home of Wythall House once we got home.

Oh yes, and there was plenty of radio gear to play with too.

We are now looking forward to the official lunch (sorry, launch) date of June 6th when a return down the M40 beckons…

More piccies below..

Get ready for a full frontal Wythall assault on the brand new MLS Store!

Friend of Wythall Radio Club, Martin Lynch G4HKS, owner of one of the best-known Ham Stores in the UK, has recently moved premises.

Now based in Staines, nearer to Heathrow Airport, Martin still offers the widest range of Amateur Radio gear available.

Quite a few Wythall Radio Club members have visited Martin’s old shop in the past, (mostly for bacon sandwiches and pork baps it should be said) though there has been a rumour or two that money has indeed changed hands!

And tomorrow (Saturday 28th March) a few members are going down to London to visit Martin’s new premises and give them the once over.

No bacon or pork this time, but quite a few folk can’t wait to see the new larger premises Martin has got for himself!

We are told that the car drivers are readying themselves for more weight on the return journey however – make of that what you will…

The good news keeps coming thick and fast at the moment at Wythall Radio Club. 

We have heard this week that our latest repeater project has been licensed by Ofcom.

GB7DG is a D-STAR repeater located just outside Bromsgrove. It will give better coverage of both the town of Bromsgrove and the M5 motorway from the Lickey Hills down towards Worcester.

It will also fill in coverage gaps between the Bewdley D-STAR repeater GB7WF and the Wythall Simplex Gateway MB6IWL (also soon to be upgraded to Repeater status, we hope!)

Read more about GB7DG here and visit it’s page on this website here.  Club member and repeater keeper John M1JSS will let us (and in turn, you) know just as soon as it is operational.

Jamie M6GDI will soon hold a 2E0 callsign – exciting!

Wythall Radio Club member Jamie M6GDI is celebrating on several fronts at the moment.

Last night he became one of our youngest members to pass his Intermediate exam – at the age of 14, he is now impatiently awaiting his new callsign! (UPDATE 01/04/2015 – Jamie is now 2E0SDV)

Imagine operating from the top of this in high summer!

And on top of that, he is particularly excited to be part of the YOTA (Youngsters On The Air) movement.

Jamie is one of only a few young people chosen to be part of an RSGB DXpedition to Wales in July.

Come the 23rd of that month, he will be off to the Brecon Beacons for a mix of hiking and operating.

A whole week to play radio? What fun! We eagerly await more news on that front – well done Jamie!

For many members of Wythall Radio Club, passing their Amateur Radio exams is something that happened, well…  too long ago! For others however, it is a more recent experience.

However all members benefit from being in touch with what is expected of new entrants to the hobby, so with that in mind…  this Tuesday evening sees a departure from the norm…

Training Co-ordinator Chris G0EYO, aided and abetted by Chris G7DDN, will be presenting a kind of “quiz” evening.

There will be ten typical questions from each of the three Amateur Radio Examinations – each participant will have their own answer sheet – and, in true fun Wythall style, we will see just who can still pass their ham exams!

We expect plenty of laughter as well as a few contentions moments – in the preparation phase for this evening for example, your scribe managed to get three Intermediate level questions wrong, redeemed somewhat by only getting one incorrect answer in the Advanced…

Visitors are welcome of course (just be prepared to be surprised!) – this Tuesday 24th March in the Darts Room at Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ. Note the earlier start time of 20:15 – there’s a lot to cram in!

We hope to see you there.

The members of Wythall Radio Club are celebrating today after the news that the club has won the West Midlands regional award in the RSGB National Club of the Year competition. 

The results came out earlier today and Wythall topped the judging for Region 5 – the West Midlands region. We look forward to receiving the award from our Regional Manager Martyn G3UKV at the earliest possible opportunity.

We offer our congratulations to all the other regional winners too – there are some great clubs there. Nonetheless, we are delighted that we have managed to win our regional award for the third time, especially as we have only actually entered it three times(!) – unfortunately so far we have not yet made it into the UK top three, something we would like to remedy this year.

Now it is on to the final at the RSGB AGM in London on April 25th, where the winner and the two runners-up of the competition, which is kindly sponsored by UK ham radio dealers Waters & Stanton, will be announced after the RSGB Board makes their decision.

Fingers and other body parts crossed!

A 20m QRP Transceiver by Barry M0DGQ built mostly using common components from a junk box – click the photo for more information

In the ranks of Wythall Radio Club there are several members who have an interest in QRP work. QRP is a recognised radio Q-code for using low power.

You might wonder why anyone would deliberately want to use lower power than necessary to make radio contacts, but there is a kind of inverse pleasure in trying to see if you can maintain a contact with less power than a kids’ nightlight!

This Tuesday at Wythall Radio Club, one of our own QRP aficionados, Barry M0DGQ, who has written several construction articles for the G-QRP Club, will be taking us through what appeals to him in using low power, particularly as it pertains to using Morse Code. QRP is very close to the original spirit of Ham Radio in that it uses Morse Code and home-built equipment.

Expect some very practical stuff and quite a few examples of QRP gear and tips on how easy it is to build your own QRP equipment.

This Tuesday 17th March at 2030 in the Club Shack, Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall. B47 6LZ and visitors are welcome, as always.

Thank you one and all! We had a fantastic day today at the 30th Wythall Radio Rally.

Around 500 or so visitors joined with our trader friends to make it a brilliant day out at our new venue of Wythall House.

Many traders and visitors have already commented to us on the special friendly atmosphere that the Wythall Rally creates. When our traders tell us they want the same spots next year, we know they are happy!

Visitors also took advantage of the great bacon and burgers available(!) and Roger G4ROJ was on the field to give both a practical demonstration and talk on flying kite antennas.

It was a great day out. We hope you enjoyed it too. See you next year?

Photos below – enjoy!

Park Hall – ready for visitors!

As the sun sets on the penultimate day before Wythall Rally 2015, we are pleased to let you know that everything is ready to roll!

Pete M5DUO hiding amongst the clutter on the club stall

This afternoon, members finished laying out the three halls we have this year, Park Hall, the Britannia Room and the Scout Hut. Click on the photos for a closer look… (and click on what comes up a second time if you want supersize images!)

Remember we are at a new venue – Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ. If you get lost, just call for the talk-in station on 145.550 (S22) or on the 70cms GB3WL repeater.

We are looking forward to seeing you all, traders and visitors – have a great day!