wythall radio club

Some very exciting news! Wythall Radio Club are sponsoring a new UHF repeater for our local area.

GB3WL, if approved by the authorities, will serve Wythall and the surrounding areas as well as large parts of South Birmingham, Redditch & Solihull.  Other local areas out towards Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick, including parts of the M42 motorway currently not well served by other repeaters, will also get coverage. 

The repeater workings are all but complete and will be on show at the Wythall Radio Rally on Sunday 9th March, just 10 days or so away.

A team of members has been working hard behind the scenes on this project and we are very excited about the prospects for this unmanned relay station in providing communications across the area for all local Radio Amateurs, members and non-members alike.

Why not come along to the Wythall Rally and see it “in the flesh”? You can read more about it here.

One of the lesser talked about aspects of the great hobby that is Amateur Radio is that of Satellites. For many years, Amateur only satellites have travelled around the earth providing world-wide contacts for those of us more earth-bound.

And this Tuesday, the members of Wythall Radio Club are to get genned up on the very latest information – that’s because AMSAT-UK member Dave G4DPZ is visiting us to talk about the FUNcube project.

Putting the finishing touches to a CUBESat

This is one of the most innovative projects in recent years.  Launched by AMSAT-UK, the project has created educational “CubeSats”, just 10cm in size, which are intended to enthuse, excite and educate young people about radio, space, physics and electronics. The primary mission is to provide downlink telemetry that can be easily received by schools and colleges for educational outreach purposes.

The project includes the development of a simple and cheap ground station – the ubiquitous FUNcube Dongle, a USB dongle which will receive signals direct from the satellite and transfer the data to specially developed graphical software running on any Windows PC.

Wythall Club members have been buzzing about this visit for some time and we are expecting a large turnout this Tuesday. Visitors are as always very welcome but turn up early to get a seat! 2030 in the Darts Room at Wythall House, Silver Street B47 6LZ. We look forward to seeing you there.

We are very lucky in Wythall Radio Club, in that we have several members who seem to be well known in the amateur radio world in the UK. One of those is Dave G3YXM, who writes the regular LF column for the Radio Society of Great Britain’s monthly journal RadCom. 

However for the March edition, Dave has written a very informative article for the “Getting Started” series on how to get on the air on the LF bands. These bands are often used by experimenters in the hobby as there is precious little commercial equipment or antennas available. With 472kHz having been made available as a new band to UK hams only recently, there has been an upsurge of interest in LF operation, something in which Wythall member Dave is one of the UK’s experts.

All the members of Wythall Radio Club congratulate Dave on an excellent read – of course, we were lucky enough to have the talk in person that preceded the article, so to some degree, we’ve heard it all before!

Traders, get your bookings in quickly – there is not much room left at Wythall Radio Rally for 2014!

Radioworld, probably the busiest stall at Wythall 2013!

That is the message from Wythall Radio Club’s organising team.

Club President & Rally Organiser, Chris Pettitt G0EYO spoke at our latest planning meeting, telling members that there were only a few tables left for hire and that traders will now have to be very quick to get one of the few remaining places.

The lads from Sandpiper Aerials enjoyed 2013’s rally!

Club members are now enthusiastically preparing to receive our regular welcome visitors & friends, such as Dave Hayward and his family from Radioworld, the boys from Sandpiper Aerials, and W H (Henry) Westlake, to name just a few!

Wythall Radio Club’s annual Radio and Computer Rally takes place on Sunday March 9th at Woodrush School, Shawhurst Lane, Wythall. B47 5JW. Now close to its 30th year of existence, it is fast becoming one of the longest remaining events of its kind in the Midlands or indeed the country!

Click on the photos to see larger versions and put the date in your diary – it is going to be a year to remember!

While all Wythall Radio Club members are eagerly looking forward to our own Radio Rally on Sunday 9th March, we also like to support and visit other clubs’ events too. Today was one such, the Harwell Radio Club Rally at Didcot Leisure Centre near Oxford.

Phil 2E0WTH, Jon M0JMM, Simon G4TVR, Chris G7DDN, Ian M0IDR & Dave G3YXM with Alton Antenna Arrays in the background

Six of us made the trip – three, Dave G3YXM, Phil 2E0WTH & Chris G7DDN travelled together in one car in convoy with Simon G4TVR in his BMW(!). John M0JMM & Ian M0IDR travelled separately as they live nearer the venue!

A great time was had by all, chatting with traders, meeting old friends, making new ones too like the folks at Alton Antenna Arrays and Sinfully Sweet.  Of course we just HAD  to spend a little hard-earned on some nice radio goodies! This was all topped off with a sit down and a chin-wag over a pint at lunchtime. A great way to spend a Sunday!

And of course an excellent taster of what is to come on March 9th, a date you will just NOT want to miss!

Now we are into February, the thoughts of Wythall Radio Club members start turning to our annual radio rally.

Henry Westlake did a good trade at last year’s rally!

A rally, or “hamfest” as our cousins in North America might call it, is a festival of all that is good in the hobby. Traders come along and turn a local venue (in our case, two halls of a local high school) into a marketplace of goodies for local amateurs to buy to enhance our fun in the hobby. In the West Midlands, Wythall Rally is one of only two left running and is the nearest to the UK’s second city, Birmingham.

Needless to say, putting on this event takes up a lot of our thoughts & efforts in the run up to the event, which this year is on Sunday March 9th.

So this Tuesday’s meeting at the Club Shack is an evening of planning and preparation (and handing out of jobs!) and although the Rally does constitute a lot of work for members, there is nothing quite like the feeling at the end of the day itself when the last trader has gone home and we all reflect on the satisfaction of a job well done (and a hot bath to ease sore muscles!)

Why not get your hands a little dirty this year and come and join the fun? This Tuesday at 2030 in the Club Shack, Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall. B47 6LZ. You will be very welcome!

Stu M0NYP takes the top prize for 2013

Christmas Contest results night at Wythall Radio Club tonight was full of surprises as always! Participation in this event has gone through the roof again with over 50 members taking part and over 40 logs submitted, an all-time record.

The overall winner in the Open Section, and thus the winner of the Reg Brown G7OJO Trophy for 2014 is Stuart M0NYP. Chairman Mike G4VPD finished in second place and David G7IBO picked up the 3rd place certificate.

Jim 2E0BLP is presented with the 2m FM trophy by Lee G0MTN

In the 2 metre FM section, it was quite a family affair with the “Voice of the Midlands” Jim 2E0BLP coming out on top, just pipping his own son(!) Kevin M6NCO into second place. Third was a very creditable showing from club founder member, Colin G6ZDQ.

There were sterling efforts too from our lady members with Dawn M6UDY and Stacey M6STJ also winning certificates. Ian M0IDR completed the certificate winners with a special award for the highest score from a non-local member.

Our thanks go to Lee G0MTN for his untiring work on the organisation and software fronts – and for putting adjudicating our contest ahead of some little event he also helps adjudicate called “CQ Worldwide”!!!

Wythall Radio Club members are now looking forward to April and our Easter Contest where there is the little matter of chocolate eggs to be won!

Tuesday evening is a big night for Wythall Radio Club members – the results of the 2013-2014 Christmas Contest will be out.

Every year between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, Wythall Radio Club hosts this in-house Contest, designed to encourage activity between our many members. It has become a firm favourite with just about everyone – some people have been known to join the club just to take part in it!

It is designed as a relaxed fun “party” exchanging serial numbers and generally having fun on air in keeping with our club motto. It has to be said though, it does bring out the competitive side in more than a few folk! There are two trophies up for grabs too and this Tuesday at 2030, we have our presentation evening.

Adjudicator Lee G0MTN has been busy wading through over 40 entries and has come up with 2 winners. They will be presented with the G7OJO Trophy (for all modes/all bands) and the FM trophy (for 2m FM only entries) this week. 2nd & 3rd place certificates and other certificates of merit will be given out too.

This is one of the most anticipated evenings in the Wythall RC calendar so space is likely to be limited – an early arrival is advised! This Tuesday 28th January at 2030 in the Darts Room at Wythall House, Silver Street, B47 6LZ. Visitors, as always, are very welcome!

Richard Radford G1GRD of ML&S presents Callum M0MCX with his new MONSTER radio!

Wythall Radio Club member Callum M0MCX has been on a mission today – to Martin Lynch’s Store in Chertsey, Surrey to be exact!

There he became the second Wythall Radio Club member to join the ranks of proud owners of a brand new Kenwood TS-990S (plus accessories of course!).

He is now a member of the exclusive club started by our Chairman Mike G4VPD in becoming the second Wythallian to own this fantastic radio, courtesy of our friends at Martin Lynch & Sons.

It is serious money for a hobby radio, but the performance and feature set justifies the price, and what is more, the deal from Martin Lynch’s store was a very good one, as always with ML&S!

Who will be the next Wythall Club member rushing down the M40 for this wonderful piece of radio nirvana, we wonder? Perhaps we can persuade Callum to write a review and put it here on the website for you all to read!

Following on from the great coverage afforded to Wythall Radio Club by Practical Wireless Magazine last month, we note yet more club members making an appearance in this illustrious radio monthly!

This time it is the turn of Ian M0IDR, (wallet at the ready!) together with cameo appearances from Anita M6DUO, Dave G3YXM and Chris G7DDN on the recent club outing to the Martin Lynch & Sons open day.

Suffice it to say we were not expecting a photo of more Wythallians in the radio press so soon, but as they say, any publicity is good publicity!

…and it is well known that Ian M0IDR can never resist a good bargain!

Click on the images to see a larger version and remember to pick up a copy of Practical Wireless from your local newsagent!