wythall radio club

Tim Kirby G4VXE (pictured) is the VHF Columnist for Practical Wireless Magazine.  Not only does he have that distinction, but he is also Wythall Radio Club’s next guest speaker! This Tuesday evening, Tim is wending his way up the M40 to join us at Wythall House on Silver Street to deliver his latest presentation, entitled “My World of VHF”.

Tim is basing his talk around the VHF/UHF column that he writes for PW.  In his monthly musings, he covers as many aspects of VHF/UHF as he can and tries encourage people to look at their VHF/UHF radios in a different way.  Those of us who have been following his writings, both in print and in his online blog, will know he is more than eminiently qualified to talk on this subject.  Tim has just about done it all in VHF/UHF, contesting, DXpeditioning and so on. His interests range from chatting on FM Repeaters to serious DX on 50MHz and above.

Tim’s visit comes at a very appropriate time as VHF Field Day is just around the corner and a little inspiration never goes amiss!!

We are looking forward to welcoming Tim amongst us. Tuesday 26th June is the date and 8.30pm is the time!

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!

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.

The clubs newsletter is now available for >download<.

Fancy learning Morse Code instantly? Next Tuesday maybe you could!

Steve White, G3ZVW, former RadCom Editor and currently Editor of the annual RSGB Handbook certainly thinks you can. And to prove it, he will be our guest at Wythall House on 15th May doing what he terms an “interactive demonstration” on how it is possible to learn the basics of the Code from scratch and in one session!

We have a few “guinea pigs” on standby to try this out, but perhaps you too might be brave enough to come along and experience for yourself exactly what Steve will be proposing.

Wythall members are intrigued by this coming evening – its been shrouded in semi-secrecy since we booked it and no-one quite knows what to expect.  All we know is that Steve has done this demonstration in front of a big audience at a recent RSGB Convention, so we are in good company!

See you there!

Elsewhere on this website, you can read a tribute to Lew Williams,  former President of Wythall Radio Club and our original CW tutor.  Many current members took their first steps in Morse Code with Lew.

Some time ago, after Lew sadly passed away, it was thought appropriate to honour his memory in a suitable manner and so the Lew Williams Sheild was born!

In order to win this trophy, Wythall Club members are being asked to view the 31 days of the month of May as a “Morse Code Activity Month”.  The shield will be awarded to the club member who has shown the biggest contribution to the event, and/or shown the greatest improvement in Morse Code skills.  Certificates may be also awarded for various levels of achievement.

Morse Code Activity Month

The quantity of contacts will not be the most important factor. Log submissions and personal statements will be equally important in the judging process.  The sort of things the judges will look for include… “First live CW QSOs on HF”,  or “First CW QSOs not using an automatic reader”, “First ever CW QSOs, but did use receive assistance”,  ”Log shows 20 Wythall club members contacted using CW”, “Log shows 30 countries worked during the month.”

As a fun, friendly event, it is hoped that members will recognize improvement in their fellow club members and submit feedback and nominations for them. Like the Oscars, the Lew Williams Shield can be largely decided by your peers!

So it may be time to dust off that key and finally see what you can do with the code!

Frank Breedon, G3MZU, SK

It was with great sadness that the club learnt of the passing of honorary member Frank G3MZU on Thursday, 23^rd February aged 83. Frank died in his sleep at his nursing home in Clent where was being cared for.

Franks obituary has been posted to the main club site here:

• https://www.wythallradioclub.co.uk/about-wythall/frank-bernard-breedon-g3mzu-silent-key/

He took a great interest in the club during its early years, helping out at field days, social events and of course the big project of installing the mast at the back of Wythall House.

“I well remember several Saturday’s spent digging out the foundations with Frank and others”, said Chris, G0EYO.

If you live in or around Birmingham or Midlands area and want to continue your Amateur Radio hobby with an Intermediate Licence then book now for April 2012 to avoid any disappointment

Wythall Radio Club will be running an Intermediate course at their club shack at Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall, B47 6LZ from Saturday morning on  21st April, and then every Monday 8-10pm until the examination on Monday 19th June.

Cost for this course is £50 which includes, the examination fee, course book, course notes and project work.

Contact Chris G0EYO on g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk if you are interested or go to the Training page for more information.

Due to personal circumstances, the date for Callum M0MCX’s talk on Garden Antennas has had to be changed.

Instead of taking place this coming Tuesday 28th February, it will now take place on Tuesday March 20th at 2030.  Venue within Wythall House to be confirmed.

Our apologies for this late change to the programme.  This Tuesday will be a social evening at the club – a chance to chat RF and put the Amateur Radio world to rights! :-)