wythall radio club

Wythall Radio Club are proud to unveil the newly named ‘Voice of the Midlands’ Jim Tonge 2E0BLP Trophy.

The Trophy will be awarded to the winner of the Club’s Christmas Contest 2m/70cm section.

Jim is a longstanding member of Wythall Radio Club, and has been a great supporter of our events and social activities.

Like many other members, he arrived in amateur radio from CB.

Jim has won the Club’s Christmas and Easter contests several times.  The photo shows him receiving the David Dawkes G0ICJ Easter Contest all bands/mode section shield. 

He has also proved particularly hard to displace from the top spot in the 2m/70cm sections of these contests – and although still keen to score points, it’s his son Kevin 2E0NCO who now regularly tops the score board! 

And as you can see from the photo below, one of his duties is brewing up at the Club’s field day (with Tim M6OTN).

It is because of his commitment to the Club and amateur radio – and hearing his distinctive Brummie accent on air – that we are delighted to name the ‘Voice of the Midlands’ trophy after him.

There was keen competition between Wythall Radio Club members over the festive period in the Club’s annual Christmas Contest. 

Over 1500 QSOs were made between the 46 members who were ‘on air’ for the 7 day event. 

Contacts were made using FM, SSB and CW as well as various digital modes including FT8 and D-Star, and the Club’s Zello channel.  There was even a RTTY (radio teletype) QSO!  

Chris G7DDN’s brand new RGO ONE rig also made an appearance (photo)!

And all bands from 160m to 23cm were activated. 

The contest brought together local members with those in Wales, Devon and Scotland.  Unfortunately, band conditions didn’t allow the hoped for 23cm contact with Darren GW0HOC.

However Mike G4VPD did reach Australia and New Zealand on 10m using FT8 (photo)!

Even the snowy weather didn’t discourage Kev 2E0NCO and Ian M0LQY (photo) from operating /P (socially distanced) from the Lickey Hills , and Chris G3YHF conducted some pushbike /M QSOs.

In the 2meter/70cm (VHF/UHF) section, Kevin 2E0NCO repeated last year’s success ahead of Miles 2E0YZW and Ian M0IDR.  Kevin retains the 2m/70cm Trophy – now renamed the ‘Voice of the Midlands’ Jim Tonge 2E0BLP Trophy.

In the ‘all bands/modes’ section, Simon G4TVR was first, and following close behind were Don G0NES and Ian M0LQY.  Simon receives the Reg Brown G7OJO Trophy.

The leading Foundation licencees received awards: Clive M7OCB in the 2m/70cm section, using a handheld, and Juliet M6RSC in the all modes section.  

Don G0NES received a certificate for making the most contacts using digital voice modes and John 2E0XET for making the most Morse contacts.  

Cheers to all participants (I’m told it’s just water!)!

The bands have been buzzing with Wythall Radio Club members’ DX activity!  And the results of our annual DX Challenge table are now available.

The leading Foundation entrant – in fact, the only one in 2020 – was Tim M6OTN, who contacted radio amateurs in an impressive 106 different countries (see map below – green indicates countries worked). 

One of the contacts was with Alberto, HC1DAZ, in Quito, Equador (see map right). 

Others were with Greenland, the Falkland Islands and China.

Tim used a mix of SSB (single sideband voice) and FT8 digital mode from either a Kenwood Ts 530 or a Yaesu 450d to a 1974 vintage pre-used ground mounted Hy-gain 18 AVT/WB – S vertical.

Nice going Tim, with a score that compares well with those in the other licence categories who are able to use more power!

There was a close result in the Intermediate licence group, with John 2E0XET pipping Kevin 2E0NCO by 100 countries to 94. 

This is all the more impressive as John was operating 100% CW (Morse Code) with a wire doublet antenna and often using very low power, while Kev was 100% FT8.

Lee G0MTN had a commanding lead in the Advanced licence group with 160 countries worked.  Tim M0URX was in second place at 123 countries, again impressive as these were all worked using SSB.

With conditions on the HF bands picking up, the score for the 2021 DX Challenge is already taking off!

Contacts in 179 squares across 3 bands put Mike G4VPD in the lead in Wythall Radio Club’s 6m and up squares challenge. 

The Challenge ran through the latter part of 2020, and shows that there was plenty to work on 6, 4 and 2m.

Most contacts were on FT8, but cw and ssb were also used by our 4 entrants. 

Although long distance contacts were dependent on the occasional ‘openings’ on these bands, there were plenty of European contacts to be had – especially on 6 and 2 – under normal conditions.

We look forward to the results – and plenty of openings – in 2021.

UPDATE:  We’ve had a very swift response and we are now FULL with 22 keen trainees.

We look forward to hearing them with their new 2E0 call signs later in the year!!

Wythall Radio Club will be continuing its online Training courses in 2021.

Wythall Radio Club will be running their next online Intermediate Training course starting on January 25^th 2021.

The course lasts 9 weeks and candidates can book their own online, remotely invigilated, examination direct with the RSGB.  There is no charge for the course but there will be a limit to how many candidates we can accommodate.

The Intermediate course is delivered via a virtual learning experience (VLE) software called EDMODO which is free to use and has gained world-wide acceptance as a safe and easy way for tutors to connect with their students at home via the internet.

Basically you sign up for the course and you get notifications via e mail that the course material and quizzes are available for you to download.

This will take place over a 9 week period with two lessons per week in the comfort of your own home and in a time of your choosing. We will deliver all the course material you need to complete the course but you will have to purchase the RSGB book “The Intermediate Licence Manual 2^nd edition” from the RSGB shop https://www.rsgbshop.org/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Training_19.html

You will also have to book and pay for your remotely invigilated examination (£32.50) direct with the RSGB but we will advise on how to do this when you register to do the course.

So, if you or someone you know wants to take this unexpected opportunity then contact Chris G0EYO our training co-ordinator on g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk as soon as possible as there is not much time before the course commences.

We plan to also run an online Foundation course starting in February but will publish details when they become firmed up.

Chris Pettitt G0EYO