wythall radio club

Many thanks to Neil G1TZC , the prime mover behind the whole project , for this account

“A year ago we attended this event but the weather was so poor that day two was cancelled. This year was a big improvement. Yes there was a bit of rain from time to time on day one but nothing that lasted very long.

We got to site on Friday (19th) and put the three shelters up and transferred the lower value hardware, like tables and chairs in to position. Absolutely idea weather, not to cold and perfectly dry. So this was it, a year of planning was starting to take shape. John (M6KET), Phil (2E0WTH), Simon (G4TVR) and I made fairly short work of the prep work and headed off.

Saturday morning arrived and the high value items were put in the car. Arriving at site, Phil was already there. Second coffee of the day and then on to the task at hand. 

We planned to run three stations this year. Two on HF and another on the QO-100 satellite. The DATV station had been a bit of a challenge as the LNB arm for the 90cm dish was not in the store room. So a piece of aluminium box section was aquired and fashioned in to something that worked. Three plastic wedges had been printed, ahead of the event, to get the arm to exactly the right position.All the equipment was set up ready for the two day event. It can be strange with public facing events like this. You set up all of the equipment but end up having very few contacts, due to the fact you have so many visitors that want to know all about the hobby. We covered from CW on HF to DATV via satellite, with a few lapsed amateurs visiting and showing an interest in getting back in to the hobby again.

         Neil’s satellite operating station

John, Phil and myself were the three main operators for the event, but many other club members came along to help at various stages of the evening.

Day one closed and I had only had four contacts on the radio. Much of my time was spent explaining satellite operation and getting members of the public to tune around on the satellite equipment.

Phil takes a well deserved rest from the catering

Over night there were winds gusting up to around 35mph which the gazebo didn’t take to kindly to, but armed with some cable ties it was possible to fix the side walls so they didn’t come loose again.

Day two arrived. Phil and I had stayed on site over night, rather than pack all the gear aways again. With Phil on coffee and egg sandwich duty it was time to have a relax in absolutely idea weather. With the sunny weather many more visitors to the event arrived. With keen support from other members of the club we were able to greet members of the public and answer many questions.”

We also were also delighted to welcome  FISTS editor Robert M0BPT and I was pleased to show him the HI-Mound  HK-708 I had been using through the weekend in harness with the Club’s TS590- many contacts on 30m and 40m CW (writes M6KET!!)

“My personal favourite was a teenager who showed a passing interest in the TV operation. His first question was about the speed of the internet connection I was running to live stream the video. The fact there was no internet really interested him and many questions followed, including how many conversations could you have on the satellite at once and could you only have one TV picture and you had to wait your turn. By the end he thanked me very much and went away with the realisation that amateur radio  has a place in modern day communications.

At 4pm on day two, without having had the chance to operate the satellite station at all, we started to pack away. It took about an hour to get everything in to the waiting vehicles and back to the club.

These events are vital in showing the wider world just what our hobby has to offer.

Roll on Stoke Prior Steam Rally 2026.

If you are about, come and visit us again”

This Happy Band ….and many thanks to all who helped and supported through the 3 days (Friday- Sunday)

AS A BUSY YEAR COMES TO CONCLUSION A REMINDER OF….

1. WYTHALL RADIO CLUB PRE AGM MEETING IN THE BAR OF WYTHALL HOUSE ON TUESDAY 7TH OCTOBER,

2. THE FRIDAY MORNING CLUB AT WYTHALL HOUSE  FROM 9.45 A.M. ON FRIDAY 17TH OCTOBER AND

3.THE AGM: TUESDAY 28TH OCTOBER . 8.00 P.M THE DARTS ROOM