wythall radio club

The Wythall Radio Club Christmas Foxhunt Trophy has its first winners! Steven 2E0SDD & girlfriend Stacey M6STJ scooped the M0GJM Trophy earlier today.

The morning unfolded with Phil 2E0WTH volunteering to be the first “fox” – he was found by Colin G6ZDQ & Janet, Pete M5DUO and wife Anita M6DUO, though they had to negotiate a ford to get to him!

The DUO’s acted as next “fox” and placed themselves by a church where signals would reflect and give possible false readings. It took 4 transmissions before David G7IBO caught up with them.

David then became the final “prey”, but was found after just two transmissions(!) by Steven 2E0SDD and Stacey M6STJ, who were then deemed winners by virtue of being the fastest “hunters” of the day – very fitting as they were two folk for whom the late Colin M0GJM had a very soft spot!

Enjoy the photo gallery below to get a flavour of how much fun was had by all!

Tomorrow, December 27th, is a very important date in the life of Wythall Radio Club. It signifies a morning of “hunting the fox”!

Now real foxhunting is currently illegal in the UK in the traditional sense of the term, but to radio enthusiasts, it is all about trying to find a hidden radio transmitter (the “fox”), transmitting at short intervals every 10 minutes or so. This is not therefore an activity that one needs an amateur licence for and so is an event that friends and relatives can (and do!) join in with.

In true Wythall tradition, it ends with lunch at a nearby pub (well it would have to really!) and many tales will be told of how close people were to finding the “fox” first!

And this year, there is a special trophy (pictured left) in honour of Colin Truran M0GJM, (who sadly passed away in the last month) which will be presented to the teams who found the “foxes”.

We can’t think of a better way to honour the memory of a man who absolutely adored this event!

Stuart M0NYP won the 2m FM Trophy in 2012

It is that time of year again, when the airwaves around Wythall (and further afield too!) will be full of strange stations exchanging numbers!

No, it’s not a spy extravaganza, it’s just the Wythall Radio Club Christmas Contest again!

Members have to work each other as often as possible between Christmas Eve at 20:00 and New Year’s Day at 20:00. We can work each other once every day for points and each unique member contacted acts as a “multiplier” to our scores.

Chris G0EYO won the G7OJO Trophy last year

At the end of the event, we take the best 5 days scores and submit them to the adjudicators who then come up with the results, which are celebrated with a presentation evening each January.

It is all about “having fun with RF” as our club motto states, and it invariably lives up to its name. So if you hear strange goings-on on the airwaves (especially on 145.225 MHz FM) over Christmas, don’t be alarmed – in fact, please join in and say “hello”.

You are not valuable to members as points, but you will make a few new friends!

Here are a few pictures to show you how much fun Wythall Radio Club members had without RF last Saturday! Just click on the photos for a larger version.

Not long to go now before one of the events of the year in the Wythall Radio Club Christmas Calendar.

Our in-house Christmas Contest started from small beginnings and is now a major part of the club’s calendar. Some amateurs have been known to join our club just to take part in it!

The idea is to work as many members as possible every day from 2000 on Christmas Eve till 2000 on New Year’s Day.  It is not quite as straightforward as it seems though and there are bonuses to be gained for using different bands and modes as well as going portable, mobile and operating from each other’s houses!

The G7OJO Trophy & the 2m Trophy

To win, you have to be active and available on the bands over the Christmas period – as if it wasn’t busy enough as it is!  The section winners are presented with the G7OJO Trophy (for all bands) and the 2 Meter Trophy (for members using 144 MHz only.)

This Tuesday 17th December, there is a presentation by Contest Supremo Lee G0MTN about the history and development of the Contest and on the innovations introduced in recent years, which will include more on the latest updates to our fantastic logging spreadsheet which scores you automatically!

It will be a fascinating evening for sure. So be there at 2030 this Tuesday 17th December in the Club Shack. It will be full, so arrive early!

Regular readers to this website will be aware that Wythall Radio Club’s motto is “Having Fun with RF”. Well, this weekend, we will doing the polar opposite and “having fun without RF”!

The reason for this is that this Saturday, 14th December, is a very special date in Wythall Radio Club’s Calendar. It is the date for our annual Christmas Party! Members come along and bring friends & family and we have a lot of fun together!

We hire one of the larger rooms (with bar of course!) at Wythall House and have a mixture of excellent food and drink (in the “American Supper” style), live entertainment, games, raffles, and even a skittle alley!

Great chat, a relaxed friendly atmosphere and a “no pressure” environment, it’s the perfect way to start the festive season off with friends.

The party starts from 1900 in the Britannia Room at Wythall House, Sliver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ.

Hot on the heels of Wythall Radio Club’s appearance in Practical Wireless magazine, the club is now featuring in the RSGB’s monthly magazine RadCom.

The January 2014 issue is being delivered to all RSGB members this week and features Wythall Radio Club on pages 68 & 69 under the title “Amateur Radio at its Very Best”. The article is about our activation of G100RSGB and the visit to the station of Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Sajid Javid MP.

As well as featuring in the main G100RSGB article, our group of female operators also makes an appearance on page 84 in the West Midlands Regional News section of RadCom. They are pictured in somewhat frivolous mood, in keeping with our club motto of “having fun with RF”!

Our thanks to RadCom’s editor Elaine Richards G4LFM  for reminding us of some of the great bits of the fun time we had with the G100RSGB callsign.

With so much going on at Wythall Radio Club just at the moment, it almost escaped notice that eight intrepid members travelled down the M40 last Saturday to represent the West Midlands at the famous Martin Lynch Hog Roast.

Arriving around 0900 (just in time for bacon sandwiches!) were Chairman Mike G4VPD, Secretary Anita M6DUO & Treasurer Ian M0IDR – also along for the ride were Committee Members Phil 2E0WTH, Jim 2E0BLP & Pete M5DUO. Ordinary members Dave G3YXM & Chris G7DDN completed the party.

A great time was had by all, but then since a picture tells a thousand words, just click on the pics below and you will see for yourself. No explanations necessary!

The question is, will Martin and his staff want to see the rabble again next year?

You could be forgiven for thinking that certain members of Wythall Radio Club are only interested in food! What with curry nights, party nights and barbecues, we certainly know how to enjoy ourselves!

However, this Saturday 30th November, it is not our turn to host but to be the visitors – it is time for our annual trip to Chertsey to visit our friendly Ham Radio dealer Martin Lynch and his family and staff.

Every year he puts on a Bacon sandwich breakfast and a Hog Roast lunch for any radio enthusiasts who wish to visit his shop in Surrey. Last year we had a fantastic time, enjoying the company of friends old and new as well as inadvertently purchasing too much radio equipment! Oops…

This Saturday we will be winging our way down the M40 again and looking forward to seeing the folk we have got to know better over the year – and it is still a banker that several members will be returning with something heavy in the car boot!

One of the slightly better things about the dark evenings here in the UK is that indoor activities take more of a centre stage. That is certainly the case this week at Wythall Radio Club, as our meeting on Tuesday sees us re-living some of the lighter nights and warmer days by taking a look back at our Field activities this year. 

Paul 2E0ULC has been putting together some videos from his camcorder, which was running most of the time during VHF and HF SSB Field Days and this is the week that Wythall Radio Club Members will gather to watch the fruit of his labour!

Visitors are of course very welcome – the meeting starts at 2030 in the Club shack at Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ.

Perhaps we will see you there?