wythall radio club

Members of Wythall Radio Club are in sad mood at the moment. Walter M0GRO, one of the members who we have known right from his first steps in the hobby of Amateur Radio, is sadly no longer with us.

Walter M0GRO at VHF Field Day last year

Walter passed away a few days ago – his funeral service is tomorrow morning, Tuesday 6th May at 10.30 a.m. at the Robin Hood Crematorium in Shirley. The wake is being held where he spent so much of his time with us, at Wythall House, our club meeting place.

Walter studied with Wythall Radio Club for his Foundation licence in Oct 2008, taking his Intermediate in January 2009 and eventually his Advanced Exam in Dec 2009. Though he was not one of the most active members on air, Walter was liked by all for his quiet strength and wise sayings. He was also a lover of good ale!

He will be sadly missed by all members of WRC. A fuller appreciation is available on this website here. Meantime, the winner of our Easter Contest this year will receive a special trophy in memory of Walter, who was always one for getting involved in our internal Club Contests.

RIP old friend…

Now we are into the month of May, the thoughts of Wythall Radio Club members turn to a special event in honour of a special person. Former Club President, Lew Williams was not actually a licensed amateur but was a grand man who taught many members of our club the joys of Morse Code (CW).

When Lew passed away, it was thought appropriate to honour his memory in a suitable manner and so the “Lew Williams Shield” was born.

In order to win this trophy, Wythall Radio Club members are asked to view the 31 days of May as a “Morse Code Activity Month”. The trophy is awarded to the club member who has shown some kind of commendable contribution to the event. It will probably involve some evidence of improvement, however small, in some aspect of his/her Morse Code skills.

Current Club President Chris G0EYO was the first winner of the trophy and last year it went to a Founder member, John G4OJL.

To kick off this year’s event, we are “Having fun with Morse Code” as a hands-on taster evening for all members next Tuesday 6th May. This will be led by John M6KET and Chris G7DDN who have been leading the revived Morse Code class for the last 3 years or so.

There will be something for everyone so no need to be apprehensive, even if you have never tried Morse Code before! 2030 in the Club Shack at Wythall House B47 6LZ. We hope to see you there.

The history of the great hobby of Amateur Radio is a fascinating one. It is a story of early pioneering spirit peppered with a spicing of intrigue and even conflict! It is this subject that we are going to be visiting this week at Wythall Radio Club.

Our national society, the RSGB, has put together a set of presentations for local clubs like our own to give. These look at the early days of Amateur Radio in the UK and how the RSGB itself came into being. Over the next few months we will be seeing all 4 of these presentations which cover a variety of subject matter.

Some of the earliest QSL cards!

Later in the year we will be looking at the first Transatlantic radio tests, the role of Amateurs in the World Wars and at the variety of Antenna Experiments that took place in the early days.

This Tuesday however sees the first in the series, which takes us back to the earliest days of Radio and sets the scene for the talks to come.

Visitors are welcome of course, so if you would like to come along, head for Wythall House on Silver Street, B47 6LZ this Tuesday. The presentation starts at 2030 in the Club Shack in the basement. See you there!

As the May edition of the Radio Society of Great Britain‘s monthly journal RadCom starts to drop into mailboxes around the world, it is pleasing to note Wythall Radio Club making a little bit of a splash here and there in this edition.

Club stalwart Dave G3YXM has written a 4 page article on page 32 entitled “Getting Started in Test Equipment” – and an excellently authored piece it is too!

In the Sport Radio column on page 73, it is pleasing to see Wythall’s name mentioned in the breakout box for our achievements in the 160m Club Calls Contest as part of the Affiliated Societies Super League.

And then in the regional news on page 84, there is an article about some of our recent exam successes.

All in all a good read this month, especially for Wythall members!

If you are tune around the 2 metre band in the West Midlands area between Maundy Thursday morning & Easter Monday night and hear some stations exchanging numbers, you might just have stumbled upon the 2014 Wythall Radio Club Easter Contest!

Just as at Christmas, we hold an event to get our members on air and working each other. Points are given for each member contacted – each discrete member worked across the period also counts as a multiplying factor (or multiplier) to attain a final score.  It sounds complicated but we have a clever Excel spreadsheet which keeps score for us!

Just to ease the complication, tomorrow (Tuesday 14th April) we will have an evening where we can explain the idiosyncrasies of this annual event. Chris G7DDN will attempt to simplify the rules and the logging so that everyone can feel comfortable in taking part. 2030 in the Club Shack at Wythall House, Silver Street. B47 6LZ.

Incidentally, the prizes for the contest are Easter Eggs – is it no wonder so many Wythall RC members are getting ever larger?

New RSGB Regional Manager, Martyn G3UKV

The Radio Society of Great Britain announced today that they have appointed a new Regional Manager for Wythall Radio Club’s region.

Following a ballot of members across the area, Martyn Vincent G3UKV was duly elected to serve the Society. The members of Wythall Radio Club would like to congratulate Martyn on his appointment.

WRC Chairman Mike G4VPD said, “Wythall Radio Club looks forward to working with Martyn in promoting Amateur Radio in the Midlands. We look forward to him visiting Wythall at his earliest opportunity.”

Club President Chris G0EYO commented, “I don’t know Martyn personally but his reputation as a trainer and a committed club man goes before him. I am sure he will make an excellent representative for the region in RSGB matters. We greatly look forward to introducing him to the what we think is the best radio club in his region.”

Further to our post earlier this week advertising the Intermediate Course starting next month, Wythall Radio Club is at the same time pleased and saddened to let you know that it is now full!

We can only accommodate 7 students on a course like this due to space required for practical work and we have had 7 students sign up very quickly.

If you are looking for more information about our Intermediate Courses, contact Wythall Radio Club’s Training Co-ordinator, Chris G0EYO at g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk

Perhaps you can persuade him to run another course later this year!

Some exciting news from the Wythall Radio Club Training Department today! We will be running a 9 week course for the Intermediate Licence starting next month.

The course will begin on Monday 12th May and continue most Mondays until the start of July. As usual, we will hold the training at our Club headquarters at Wythall House on Silver St, postcode B47 6LZ . All sessions are from 20:00 and last for 2 hours.

There is also an additional Saturday session on 14th June. This is for the practical assessments, which are compulsory, so you should ensure you can make that morning. The cost for this this course is £50 all in (no hidden extras!).

If you are a Foundation License holder and would be interested in finding out more, click here for more information or email the Wythall Radio Club Training Co-ordinator Chris G0EYO. He is available (24/7 so it sometimes appears!) at g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk.

Good luck with your studies!

We are very fortunate that,very near to Wythall Radio Club, lies possibly one of the best Indian restaurants in the area! The Monsoon is very popular with families all around South Birmingham and people travel for miles to visit it for a meal out.

Since Monsoon is just a short walk from the club HQ, it is no surprise that the members of Wythall Radio Club use it for a regular social evening! 

For those who don’t know, the social side of being in an Amateur Radio “family” like this is really important. For example, every Friday several of us meet for nibbles and drinks in the club shack; our Field Days and Training days are also excuses for more food and drink; and then every last Monday of the month, as this evening (pictured!), we descend on the Monsoon in force and present the staff with the difficulties of catering for 15 or so hungry radio hams! It all helps the bonding between members.

Just another part of life at Wythall Radio Club – albeit one that has too many of us going on diets so we don’t end up more “shack-bound”!

Wythall Radio Club’s Contest training day yesterday proved to be a real success!

We achieved our goal of providing an opportunity for club members relatively inexperienced in HF contesting to have a no-pressure guided play on-air. It was particularly encouraging that so many of our Foundation Licence holders and newer club members got their first taste of the huge event that is the CQ World Prefix Contest.

Getting on for 20 members worked many countries including Australia, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Ceuta and Mililla, China, the Netherlands Antilles, Palau, Puerto Rico, Sardinia, the United States, Venezuela, and West Malaysia.

Special mentions go to Dawn M6UDY, John M1JSS, Kevin M6NCO, and Terry G7NWA who all really got stuck in in a serious way! Dawn M6UDY worked Australia with 100w to our club doublet, and Terry G7NWA, who has recently returned to the hobby, was running a pileup of USA stations on 15m just before we pulled the big switch late into the evening.

What with a fantastic takeaway meal as well, all eating around one of the large club tables, a great time was had by all, participants and spectators alike! The question we are being asked now is, “When’s the next one?”