Posted: 31st March 2025
Propagation Forecast and Operating Tips for CQ WPX SSB
Forecast Conditions
Visible light pictures of the Sun in the last couple of days reveal a largely blank face. But, don’t be fooled by the absence of large groups of sunspots on the Earth-facing disc: there is plenty of extreme UV-producing plague on the Sun’s ‘surface’ to ensure that solar flux – presently, a respectable 152 sfu – is likely to stay at such a level through to the weekend. There may be an issue with geomagnetic activity in the run-up to the contest: coming off a high of about 6 last weekend, it is estimated to drop to 3 by the start of the event. With the solar disc lacking any unstable sunspot groups at the time of writing, the likelihood of a major disturbance to our magnetic field (i.e from a solar flare resulting in an Earth-directed CME) – and subsequent collapse in maximum useable frequencies – is pretty much nil. Overall conditions will almost certainly be better than during ARCOTA (and when Keith M0JYP wrote his latest DX report), but not as good as they could be; lower-power stations may struggle a bit.
Ten metres will be open on east-west paths, although much of Europe (Eu) will be in the band’s skip zone. Far eastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean are the nearest areas that the band will likely be reliably useable for intra-Eu contacts, I suspect. As outlined below, for UK ‘one hundred watts and a wire’ stations, most of the QSO and multiplier action will be within 1500km of Manchester. Click here for full article………..
Posted: 28th March 2025
Keith’s HF Report
As I write this latest HF report the SFI is 156 the A index is 15 and the K index is 4 that is pretty poor unfortunately. There has been a lot of solar activity of late accounting for this lets hope conditions improve for the WW SSB WPX contest this weekend good luck to all getting involved.
Even though conditions have been up and down recently there has still been some good DX to hunt particularly on the higher 10 and 12m bands during daylight hrs don’t forget the clocks go forward this coming weekend.
Some of the better DX I have worked since the last report on SSB as follows:
Martinique on 12m 1/3
Trinidad and Tobago on 12m 5/3
Barbados on 12m 16/3
Namibia on 10m 17/3
Cayman Islands on 10m 18/3
Jamaica on 10m 18/3
Canada on 20m using only 8watts during POTA activation 20/3
St. Barthelemy on 12m 21/3
Kaliningrad on 20m 22/3
The Gambia on 12m 25/3
Falkland Islands on 12m 25/3
The Gambia on 10m 25/3
The HF ladder standings for SRS are as Follows 26/03/25:
Phone mode
1 MØJYP 80 DXCC and 167 slots
2 G0ROW 56 DXCC and 130 slots
3 M7RJL 29 DXCC and 49slots
CW mode
1 M7GKE 11 DXCC and 14 slots
2 M5KJM 11 DXCC and 11 slots
3 M0DCG 10 DXCC and 10 slots
Data mode
G8BCG 144 DXCC and 648 slots
2 ME0PTB 119 DXCC and 523 slots
3 PA0RNH 78 DXCC and 194 slots
If not already on the ladder why not register it’s easy see SRS website for details.
Well that’s it for this month good luck in the contest if your entering and until next time good DX and 73 Keith MØJYP
Posted: 26th March 2025
Amateur Radio Clubs on the Air (ARCOTA)
Organised by the Leicester Radio Society, the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd March 2025 was designated “Amateur Radio Clubs on the Air” weekend with the aim of encouraging members of radio clubs to come on the air to work each other as well as club stations. Keen to join in, arrangements were made for our own callsigns to be activated with little used M5MDX leading the way. Thank you to Pete M1PTR, Bernard G3SHF, Tom M0DCG and Evan M0TJU for activating the call from their own QTHs and to Meeko M0FVD who attempted calls with G8SRS but was defeated by conditions.
ARCOTA is now an all year round activity with awards available for contacts with radio club stations and members. Please visit our page dedicated to the activity for more information.
Posted: 24th March 2025
An evening with the DX Commander, Callum M0MCX
Thank you to everyone who joined us online yesterday for an evening with Callum who described recent developments with his West Midlands setup. A fascinating insight to the world of the DX Commander. Click here to visit Callum’s YouTube channel where many videos and live streams can be viewed.
Posted: 19th March 2025
March opens with a bang here at SRS
Here at SRS March has opened with a bang with the first week featuring many activities including two visits to Walthew House.
Pauline Brown M7PLB SK
However, before that news has reached us that Pauline passed away a few days ago. This is very sad news, and our thoughts are with Les as well as Pauline’s family and friends. We have been asked that anyone wishing to send a personal message of condolence not do so for the time being.
10 Metre SSB Net
Back to news of the week just gone, leading the way on the opening weekend was the return of our 10 Metre net, a monthly event on 28.625MHz at 10am local time and with Keith M0JYP in the chair a steady stream of callers followed. Thank you to the following who joined Keith on the air Tony M0SAV, Slawek M0SQJ, Stephen M0RDN, Andrew M7USL, Simon M0TYY, Gordon M0LAR, Nigel G0RXA, Neil M6NAE, Ron M7RJL, Tracy M7KVC and Alex M0UTA.
Sunday 16th March sees another addition to our net portfolio a 10 Metre FM Net on 29.130MHz +/- at 10am local time. Keith M0JYP will once again be in the chair, so make a note in your diary.
Tuesday evening – 144MHz UKAC
Our first trip to Walthew House this month coincided with the monthly 2 metre activity contest. Spurred on by Richard G4HGI, along with Roy G6RSU I took the opportunity to give a few points away. Firing up the FT897 and with 25 watts into the vertical on the Walthew House roof, 6 contacts were made with stations around the region. Those receiving points were M0ICK/P, G0KUY/P, G8XVJ, M1EYP/P, G1AJI and M0MHW. We’ll not win any trophies but ensuring SRS featured in the table was the name of the game. Hopefully April will see another entry and perhaps a few more points in the bag.
If you have SSB capability on 2 Metres, and 70 CMs the activity contests are good events to enter even with minimal antennas. The FM event lasting 55 minutes gets underway at 7pm followed by the 2 and a half hour SSB contest at 20.00, all local time. Details of each event can be found on the RSGB VHF Contest Committee website, and a specific logging program isn’t needed as a log can be created using the website tool.
Saturday @ Walthew House
So, to Saturday and perhaps our flagship activity of the month which as usual featured a tasty and delicious breakfast provided and served by Neil M6NAE and Bill M0WBS. How they do it for £3.50 is beyond me, but I’m so glad they do. Suitably fed and refreshed, the various activities got underway.
Morse Code Net
First into the shack to activate the 7610 was Evan M0TJU to take part along with Adam M7GKE in the now monthly Saturday morning CW net.
International Women’s Day
With Saturday 8th March being designated as International Women’s Day Tracy M7KVC along with Elaine 2E1BVS had planned to activate our club callsign GX6UQ. However, the bands had other ideas and despite frequent CQ calls no stations took the bait. Better luck next time gals.
Training Team
Guided and assisted by Tom M0DCG, Ron M7RJL and Adam M7GKE have started along the path to achieve their intermediate Licence. Tom chairs regular sessions both online and at our meetings and Saturday was one such session. Gathered around the table the group were joined by Andrew M7USL also keen to upgrade to the next step and Simon M0TYY.
Jeff Swann M0IKI
Also in attendance was Jeff who is in the process of disposing of some of his gear. A list was circulated previously and with Jeff travelling home a little lighter no doubt a revised list will be available shortly.
Committee Additions
Last week we notified members that Alan G0ROW had stood down from his position on this year’s committee and we invited members who wished to be co-opted to put their names forward. Well doing just that were Tracy M7KVC and Stephen M0RDN who will now be joining the 2025 committee.
Coming up this week.
11th: Six Metre Net 50.270MHz (7.30pm)
12th: Club Net 145.375MHz (2PM)
13th: Club Net via GB3MR (7.30PM)
16th: 10 Metre FM Net on 29.130MHz +/- (10am)
18th March 2025: Presentation by Webex (7pm for 7.30pm)
The trials and tribulations of a ham radio company and growing an antenna farm by Callum M0MCX (DXCommander).
I am sure many of you will be familiar with Callum’s YouTube channel and antenna business. So, this evening’s presentation should be an interesting insight into the development of his home QTH antenna farm.
Posted: 10th March 2025
Our latest YouTube Video
Posted: 7th February 2025
Keith’s DX Report
As I write this the latest HF report the SFI is 180 the A index is 16 and the K index is 5 which is quite poor especially the K index which you want as low as possible ideally 0.
Last weekend was very windy so my antenna was down for a while hopefully we are in a period of calm weather as spring is just a day or so away.
There has been some good DX about on 10m and 12m during daylight hrs keep an ear open for some rare DXCCs as there are a few Dexpeditions about.
Some of the better SSB DX I have worked since the last report as follows
Bermuda on 10m 1/2/25
Brazil on 15m 2/2/25
India on 10m 3/2/25
Georgia on 40m 3/2/25
Cayman Islands on 10m 5/2/25
Indonesia on 20m 11/2/25
Thailand on 10m 12/2/25
Martinique on 10m 12/2/25
Saudi Arabia on 10m 16/2/25
Falkland Islands on 10m 17/2/25
Kenya on 10m 18/2/25
St. Pierre and Miquelon on 12m 18/2/25
Morocco on 12m 20/2/25
Andorra on 20m 20/2/25
Argentina on 10m 26/2/25
Well that’s it for now, till next time 73 and good DX Keith M0JYP
Posted: 27th February 2025
In the chair for the first time is Tracy M7KVC
Despite being licenced for just a few months. today saw Tracy pluck up the courage and chair her first net, our Wednesday afternoon 2 metre edition. Bang on time at 2pm Tracy called “is this frequency in use” followed by “CQ CQ” which was answered by a host of calls from SRS members and others.
Joining her initially were SRS members Keith M0JYP, Tony M0SAV, Gordon M0LAR, Nigel G0RXA followed then by Farid M0UNG & Chris M0LZA. Adam M7GKE over in Macclesfield was also on frequency for a short time. Following a further CQ call Mike M0LWI parked up in his VW Campervan up in Saddleworth joined the party, and just as the net was coming to a close Mike M7HSC called in from a school in Altrincham where he’ll be hosting a station for science week in the next few weeks.
Well done Tracy, excellent job and hopefully the first of many. For more information about out on air nets, please follow this link.
Posted: 26th February 2025
Sean Amesbury M0GIA SK – 22nd February 2025
Posted: 25th February 2025
TAS Winter Aviation Memorabilia Fair 2025
In the early hours of a cold and soggy February morning, the usual suspects gathered early at the gates of the Runway Visitor Park, Manchester Airport for the 2025 Winter Aviation Memorabilia Fair organised by The Aviation Society. With tables quickly erected and dressed we stood back and waited for the throng of visitors to stop by.
Over the next two days we welcomed many to our stand which included those new to radio as well as “old hands” all keen to see what we had on show. This included a fully working VHF/UHF station manned by Neil M6NAE and a Wires X station ably looked after by Nigel M0VNL and using club callsign GX8SRS we were pleased to work a number of members as well as a few others wanting a contact with us. On Sunday Evan M0TJU braved the frigid weather to operate for a while on HF using CW from the covered picnic area and joining us on both days was Stephen M0RDN who amongst other things aired GX8SRS through the APRS system.
Thanks to everyone who helped to make the weekend a success, in particular our onsite team of Bill M0WBS, Neil M6NAE, Tony M0SAV, Evan M0TJU, Stephen M0RDN and double Nigel’s M0VNL & G0RXA plus visitors Peter 2E0IWO & Dan 2E0FWL. Also to those members who joined us on air being Farid M0UNG, Keith M0JYP, Alan G0ROW, Simon M0TYY, Gordon M0LAR, Andrew M7USL, Adam M7GKE & Phil M0HNJ.
Sadly, there will be no show in July due to maintenance at the RVP, so our next visit will be in February 2026.
Posted: 19th February 2025
A Century not out for Ken
Posted: 14th February 2025
Recognition for SRS in Peter’s latest video
Following publication of our recent YouTube video, Peter G3OJV in his latest Waters & Stanton video recognises SRS and contributions clubs make to the amateur radio community in the UK. Please follow the link below to view Peter’s latest episode.
Posted: 11th February 2025
February RSGB 80 Metre Club Championship Results
Posted: 10th February 2025
Peter Waters G3OJV – HF Antennas & Propagation from a back garden
At the end of January we were pleased to welcome Peter from UK Amateur retailer Waters & Stanton to talk to us about a subject familiar to us all. A presentation delivered by Webex held everyone enthralled for the best part of an hour which when the question and answer session is added made for a very entertaining evening for the gathered audience of members and visitors.
If you missed the session, or what to relive the event, the recording is now available to view through the YouTube platform.
Posted: 9th February 2025
Tracy achieves Silver
During Saturday’s meeting Tracy received her Centenary Plus Silver award from Nigel G0RXA and Alan G0ROW.
Since gaining her licence towards the end of 2024, Tracy has been active on the bands searching out the DX, but also looking for SRS members to claim yet another award. Well done from all at SRS.
If you are a member and active on the bands, why not have a go at securing your Centenary Plus award? Interested? Well follow the link below for more information.
Posted: 8th February 2025
February Tabletop Sale
Saturday saw our first tabletop sale of 2025 with members turning out in their droves to view the many bargains on offer. A cracking day and thanks to Sandra and Colin, the punters were well fed too.
Thank you to everyone who came along to make this another successful day. Our next tabletop sale will be in July when we’ll do it all agan.
Posted: 8th February 2025
Keith’s DX Report 1st February 2025
This is the first HF report for a while as most of you know I’ve not been well but much better now and back to my favourite pastime of chasing DX on SSB.
As I write the SFI is 207 A index 8 and K is 3, not too bad at all at the moment 10 and 12 Metres are providing the best DX opportunities during daylight hours and 20 Metres is open most days into the evening.
January saw the world wide award taking place until 31st January with loads of stations to be worked on all modes and a nice certificate to download at the end of the award I managed 505 points with 101 QSOs over 6 bands beating my last years score of 380.
Some of the best DX I have worked on SSB are as follows:
Kosovo on 17m 12/1
Qatar on 15m 14/1
Kazakhstan on 20m 14/1
China on 17m 15/1
Jordan on 20m 17/1
China on 12m 19/1
Azores on 12m 19/1
Morocco on 10m 19/1
Costa Rica on 10m 19/1
South Sudan on 10m 22/1
French Guyana on 10m 22/1
Thailand on 10m 22/1
Cuba on 10m 22/1
Ecuador on 10m 1/2
As you can see some good DX to be had.
Well that’s it for now, I wish you all good DX and best 73s.
Posted: 1st February 2025
Hang ’em High
With the annual AFS contests now things of the past, I am reminded of Pete M1PTR’s exploits in 2024 when in order to take part a temporary antenna was required at an alternative QTH. Pete writes……
Hang ’em High
I’m talking about antennas of course, in particular HF wire antennas, when you are away from your own QTH.
This was my situation a couple of months before the RSGB AFS SSB contest in January. I can operate from my home QTH where I have half wave 40 / 80m dipoles 12m high but the local noise level makes it challenging to hear the weaker stations especially on 80 during the day. This year however an opportunity arose when my daughter moved to a house in rural Cheshire that has some open land of a size to take long wire antennas. A survey of the grounds identified one or two large trees as candidates to support an antenna. So the next task was .. Click here to read on….
Posted: January 2025
RSGB 80/40 Metre AFS results announced…..
Over three successive weekends these annual series of HF contest ran throughout January culminating in the final event, the SSB leg on Saturday 18th. Taking part on behalf of the society have been G3SHF, M0DCG, G0LZL, M0TJU, M0TYY & M1PTR and now the results of each event are now available and please see certificates awarded to the society.
Thank you to all who competed on our behalf and for further information about the AFS series of contests please follow this link.
Posted: January 2025
Opening presentation of 2025
Our opening presentation of 2025 saw Evan M0TJU talk about a subject popular with many members. A recording of the session is available on our YouTube channel which can be viewed by clicking below.
Posted: January 2025
Tracy M7KVC becoming familiar with our Icom IC-7610
Since gaining her licence Tracy has been hitting the air waves from both home and mobile making contacts all over the world. However, Tracy has taken the opportunity of our Saturday meetings to develop her skills on our Icom IC-7610. Guided by Alan G0ROW, Tracy is now becoming more familiar with the rig sufficiently so to take control on her own.
We’re looking forward in 2025 to hearing G3LX ringing out across the bands with a female operator in the chair.
The 7610 is the club rig and as with the FT897 and other gear we have is available for members to use and enjoy during club events. If any member would like to follow in Tracy’s footsteps and use the kit and/or would like some guidance please get in touch through the usual channels.
Posted: January 2025
HF Ladder 2024 – Final standings
Congratulations Peter M0PTB who has topped the charts securing 1st place in the 2024 HF Ladder operating exclusively digital modes with Peter G8BCG and John M7CPT securing 2nd & 3rd place respectively.
In the other categories, leading the SSB section was Keith M0JYP with 2nd Alan G0ROW. In 3rd place was Stephen M0RDN only 3 points ahead of Andrew M0AQM. Whilst heading our CW section was Tom M0DCG a country mile ahead of Bob GM4UYZ.
Thank you to everyone who took part and hopefully you’ll continue to do so in 2025.
Click here to see the full 2024 standings.
Click here to see the 2025 ladder develop.
Click here for details of our HF Ladder including a guide to taking part.
Posted: January 2025
2024 A contest year without really contesting by Stephen Armstrong M0RDN.
As we launched into 2024, 2E0SUG was put to bed as M0RDN launched. The plan remained the same – to keep experimenting.
With a work trip to South Africa planned, I’d purchased a Xeigu 6100 to take with me. I’d also started experimenting with some 12V 7.6Ah LiFePo5 batteries. One was for home use with the Xeigu, but I quickly got three and started learning the intricacies of charging them up whilst they were all in parallel.
However, contest season arrived and that gave me the opportunity to try these batteries out. ME0RDN took part in CQWPX SSB with a home brewed 12m Rybakov 806, a half size G5RV and an Icom 7100. It was during this contest that we tried the batteries for the first time and had great success reducing the noise level. It allowed me to work 15m well into midnight (which was especially good that day).
At the end of the contest and after checking, I finished up a respectable 42nd in England and 2nd in England in the Rookie category.
After WPX, I started to reflect on how I was going to attempt IOTA. This was the first contest I ever took part in. Band conditions don’t tend to be great, but it’s a fun contest to do.
It was also the first contest I was going to do at the new QTH, so this brought some challenges. It’s too small for the half size G5RV, so that meant operating on only the Rybakov.
I’d also made the decision to build the Mk1 Power station. Initially, this was to consist of two banks of 12V 7.2AHliFePo5 batteries, giving me 21.6AH per bank. I estimated this should be enough to run the station for 20hours, plenty for a casual contester.
The third difference was to use my Xeigu X6100 with the xpa125b linear amplifier as this supposedly took less current than the Icom 7100.
Setup was characteristically quick and took no less than an hour. Sadly, the bands were not great again, but I managed 636th overall (an improvement from last year’s 1333rd) and 20th in the single op/ssb/12hrs/non-assisted-low power category. I was happy with that.
Next came my favourite contest, UKEI DX SSB. A real friendly contest that in the previous year, I managed my first transatlantic QSO. Band conditions weren’t great again, but the technical change was adding ground based radials. It’s only a small QTH and not big enough for anything else.
Again, battery power was used, and the power station had had a bit of an upgrade with charging circuits built in. I managed 93rd overall, 30th in England and 17th in the UKEI low power unassisted section. Again, improvements on the previous year.
The next challenge was SSB field day, and this was the reason for building the power station in the first place. The QTH for the contest was to be Hawkshaw in my partner’s parents back garden. This contest was wet… very wet., but the remote location gave the opportunity for much quieter operating conditions.
It turns out that as G5O was not participating in this contest, I was the only portable station representing the club, and managed 17th in the low power unassisted section, with 2nd as a single op. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten to register my location for regional 1 field day. Heavily regretting it now.
The final challenge of the year was CQ WW and I’d managed to secure some improvements again. First, the club gave me some better coax to reduce my losses and secondly, I raised the radials up on canes to improve take off.
Band conditions were good again, but I didn’t realise how good a station I’d built until I started operating. It really was like shooting rats in a barrel and so managed 601 QSO’s in the 24 hours of operation. This is definitely a record for me. I also spent a good amount of that calling CQ! Gave me a great amount of confidence.
The one thing definitely distinguished by its absence was G50
Reflecting forward, I still want to do the big 5, but there will be changes. I expect to complete the Mk1 power station1.2 and 1.3 upgrades before CQWPX. I also need to investigate a fault that occurred during WW in the coms between the x6100 and xpa125b, that lost me 10m. I might end up doing WPX with the 7100 again.
Field day next year will be as a fixed station (if I do it). Be great to give the tent a rest. However, since I’ve told my partner that we don’t have to be EU-5 in the next IOTA, she’s hastily looking at island retreats.
Special thanks to all the support everyone at the club has given me this year. Here’s to experimenting in 2025.
Posted: January 2025
Saturday @ Walthew House
Saturday members once again descend on Walthew House for the final meeting before Christmas 2024 with many activities taking place. Thanks also to Neil M6NAE & Bill M0WBS for providing an excellent chicken curry which kept those partaking well fed.
Thanks to Farid M0UNG for the photos.
Posted: 15th December 2024
Early Christmas present for Tracy with new M7 licence in the bag!
Congratulations Tracy who today, Saturday 7th December successfully negotiated her Foundation licence assessment and is now waiting for the issue of a shiny new callsign.
All at SRS are looking forward to hearing you on the air and special thanks to Tom M0DCG, who in recent weeks has spent time helping Tracy through the assessment.
Update: Tracy is now licenced as M7KVC!
Updated: 12th December 2024
Bernard Naylor G3SHF
After over 30 years, actually probably nearer 40 on the top table Bernard G3SHF is standing down to take up a place on the unfamiliar back benches. During his time on committee, Bernard has fulfilled a number of roles (Chair, Treasurer and Contest Team Representative) and has always given his full support to our activities. On behalf of everyone thank you for your many years of service to the society and we you will enjoy your second retirement.
Posted: 5th December 2024
Annual General Meeting 2024
Tuesday 3rd December saw our 2024 AGM take place and we would like to thank all members who joined us either at Walthew House or online via Webex.
The usual business was carried out as per our usual agenda with the Treasurer and Secretary reporting on the state of the society both in terms of finance, membership and activities.
Before the 2025 committee was appointed, the chair recognised the contributions made to the society by a number of members including Roy G6RSU, and Bernard G3SHF who is standing down from the committee role after nearly 40 years.
The meeting minutes are now available and can be viewed by following this link.
Posted: 4th December 2024
CQ WW DX CW Contest 2024 – Snow stops play!
The final full weekend in November always sees the CW leg of the CQ Magazine annual series of DX contests. With G5O being missing from the airwaves for the SSB leg at the end of October, the team gathered at Common Barn Farm on Monday 19th November with renewed vigour ready to assemble the gear in readiness for the following weekend’s activity.
In cool conditions, Monday saw steady progress being made and by the time the whistle blew the Buxton mast, featuring the 15 & 20 Metre Yagis had been dressed and raised ready for it to be completed the following day. Elsewhere, Kieron M0KJM & Pete M1PTR had assembled the 10 Metre Quad on it’s own mast which was raised into position.
Back at the caravan, Bernard G3SHF worked tirelessly during the day to assemble the station ready for connection to the waiting antennas which he achieved before the daylight faded. Anticipating some bad weather the following day, the unused kit was stowed in caravan and trailer, with local resident Adam M7GKE tasked with assessing the site conditions the following morning to prevent any wasted journeys.
Early Tuesday morning, phones rang with pictures and video of the conditions close to the farm all of which confirmed that work on the setup would need to be postponed. The weather had had it’s say and with access to the farm restricted it was clear work on the site could not be completed in time for the event and G5O’s participation for a 2nd year on the trot was cancelled, well at least from the farm. Despite all that and with the Buxton mast and quad still raised, Wednesday saw Tom M0DCG, Dave G0LZL & Kieron M5KJM visit the farm to ensure all was secure pending the high winds expected over the weekend.
But, that’s not quite the end of the story as Carsten G0SYP messaged the group to suggest that if conditions allow, he will consider making use of the antennas already in place to submit an entry using his own callsign.
Posted: 22nd November 2024
November Tabletop Sale
Saturday saw another crowd gather at Walthew House for our latest tabletop sale featuring surplus gear provided by Elaine 2E1BVS, Tony M0SAV and Darren G7LWT. On her way out Elaine commented she was going home with less than she came with, so success!!
Elsewhere, Neil M6NAE & Nigel M0VNL set to configuring the SRS digital Wires-X kit plus Farid M0UNG exhibited his portable & satellite kit.
We cannot close without thanking Neil M6NAE and Bill M0WBS for another fabulous & delicious breakfast rounded off by ice cream in the afternoon.
Posted 10th November 2024
Go Box Comms Unit – Dave Charnock G0BCU
Tuesday evening saw a healthy audience both at Walthew House & online via Webex welcoming Dave back to our screen this time to talk about the development of his portable Go Box. A fabulous presentation with many questions posed by the audience.
Thank you to Neil M6NAE who as usual ensured everyone was adequately fed this time with burgers and hot dogs.
Posted: 6th November 2024
CQ WW DX SSB Contest 2024
The final weekend of October is always a busy one for those with an interest in contesting as the extremely popular CQ WW DX SSB event takes place filling the bands for 48 hours. This year, with the absence of the G5O super station the focus turned to our our members taking part from home or elsewhere.
The above photo shows Stephen M0RDN in action during the contest from his Hawkshead QTH. To read the story of SRS’s involvement in this year’s contest please click on Stephen’s photo.
Posted: 2nd November 2024
Propagation Predictions for CQ WW SSB 2024
With solar flux likely to remain above 150 going into the weekend, there should be plenty of opportunities to work several DXCCs and CQ zones on the higher HF bands (15 and 10 metres) – provided Earth’s magnetic field behaves itself. There is a chance that we will receive a glancing blow from a coronal mass ejection that took place following a massive solar flare early on Thursday.
The related solar particles are likely to reach Earth’s orbit by Saturday and could send the Kp index to 5 for much of the weekend, after having been at mostly moderate levels (generally 2 to 3) over the past few days.
Chances are that the impact will not occur and, even if it does, conditions may not be adversely affected, meaning that the forecasts below and on the Excel file will be accurate! (As a rule of thumb, a CME impact will reduce the maximum useable frequency for a given path, and reduce the quality of propagation, generally.)
Something that I would suggest is that, if you have a good antenna for 80 metres, why not try 160m (‘Top Band’)? After about 2100UTC, when ionisation across Europe bottoms out, Top Band will be at its best.
Below are some propagation highlights in each four-hour segment of the day. This information is to be used with two tables click here to download.
Good luck!
0000-0359UTC
- MF bands (i.e Top Band through 7MHz) dominate Europe
- Good opportunities to work Americas on 80 and 40m
- Good opportunities to work S America and S Africa on 20m
0400-0759UTC
- Longest eastward skip distances for MF bands, early on in this period
- Start of high-bands’ (15m and 10m) circuits to Africa, Middle East, Far East and VK/ZL
- Americas’ stations will be attempting to contact Europe (and vice versa) on MF bands, exploiting sunrise enhancement and long transatlantic skip paths
- …UK stations can do the same, as sunrise moves across continental Europe, starting at about 0400UTC. (UK sunrise will be at 0700UTC.)
0800-1159UTC
- Beginning of peak ionisation across Europe (which roughly lasts between 1000 and 1600UTC)
- Beginning of good conditions on high bands to Africa, Latin America, Middle East, Far East and VK/ZL
- Beginning of good conditions on 20m to east coast USA
1200-1559UTC
- High bands open to East US/Canada and Caribbean
- 20m opens to Far East and VK/ZL
1600-1959UTC
- 20m and high bands opening to West Coast USA
- End of high band opening to NE USA
- Peak ionisation over Europe ends at about 1600UTC
2000-2359UTC
- 20m becomes the dominant band to Western Hemisphere
- 40m opens to USA and NE Asia (Tokyo sunrise and New York sunset about 2130UTC)
- MF opportunities across Europe as ionisation hits low point at about 2100UTC, and does not rise again significantly till about 0400UTC the following day
Posted: 25th October 2024
Getting the Word Out – Radcom November 2024
Published in the correspondence section of the November edition of Radcom was Evan M0TJU’s letter titled Getting the Word Out.
Posted: 25th October 2024
ARISS SSTV Award for Tracy
Congratulations Tracy on receiving an award from ARISS for submitting SSTV photos received during the recent on air experiment.
Posted: 17th October 2024
David M0WDD’s CW Fun Day – Sunday 20th October
David, who is a society member and CW fan has recruited a number of operators including Evan M0TJU to help him host a CW Fun Day with the idea being to promote the art of CW to beginners and old hands alike. Kicking off at 10am, the event will continue throughout the day and on a variety of bands, thereby catering for all. Please click below for further information.
Posted: 11th October 2024
Saturday at Walthew House
Another classic Saturday at Walthew House with a range of activities taking place topped off by another fantastic breakfast from Neil & Bill. Operations on HF from our FT897 including a QSO with GB3HQ at the RSGB Convention on 40 Metres plus PC9N, Chad in Holland on 20 Metres. On 70cms we operated briefly in the 433Alive event working Dave G0DJA on Axe Edge and Dale M0OUE mobile on Winter Hill.
Elsewhere in the car park Stephen M0RDN and Nigel G0RXA used their Arrow antennas to copy some traffic from the ISS during a favourable overhead pass whilst Tom M0DCG, with an audience, set to repairing an ATU. Carsten G0SYP headed to the shack to see what could be heard on our IC7610.
Posted: 12th October 2024
Alan’s ‘swansong’ net
After many years of service, Tuesday 8th October saw Alan G0ROW chair his final society net that being the monthly 6 metre SSB session.
Joined by Stephen M0RDN, Tony M0SAV, Andrew M7USL, Roy G6RSU, Simon M0TYY and Farid M0UNG, Alan signed off by using the club callsign G6UQ just as he had done with the first net on 2 metres all those years ago when on his own initiative he filled a gap in our activities.
On behalf of everyone connected with the society, thank you and enjoy your retirement although we hope you’ll continue to join in our on air activities.
Posted: 9th October 2024
Girl Guides in QSO with Astronaut Suni Williams KD5PLB
Saturday 5th October saw a special contact with the ISS audible to many through out the UK and western Europe.
Organised by ARISS with the help of the RSGB, ESA, Brooklands Museum and others, guides at a special event held at the iconic museum were able to join a Q&A session with Astronaut Suni Williams KD5PLB on board the orbiting outpost. Not only that, the guides were joined by their patron Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh who led the session with a greetings message.
Around the country enthusiasts tuned their radios to the 2 metre frequency to listen to Suni answer the range of questions by the young audience. Doing an excellent job was Cieran Morgan M0XTD, lead member of the ARISS team who along with his colleague ensured the event proceeded flawlessly.
Posted: 6th October 2024
Round of applause for Mr Armstrong
Congratulations Stephen M0RDN who entered the RSGB SSB Field Day on the society’s behalf securing 17th place in the low power unassisted portable section. Plus, of the solo entries who entered the section Stephen came 2nd. Well done & congratulations!
Full details of the results for this year’s events can be found by following this link.
SRS SSB Field Day Results page.
Posted: 4th October 2024
BIWOTA Certificate of Participation
Following our participation in this year’s British Inland Waterways on the Air activity, Ron has now received the certificate from the organisers, see above. Thanks to all who participated and in particular Ron M7RJL and Tracy for their hospitality over the weekend.
Anyone wishing to read the story of the event from our perspective, then please follow this link.
Posted: 2nd October 2024
Contest Group wins IOTA trophy
Finishing in 11th place, our contest group have secured a trophy in this year’s Islands on the Air contest taking place over the final weekend in July. The team scored 4,393,320 points from 1,473 contacts and 372 multipliers.
Mention should also be made of Stephen M0RDN who took part IOTA as a “rookie” finishing in 636 place with 52,560 points from 118 contacts and 48 multipliers.
Well done to all.
Posted: 25th September 2024
Alan Cook M6KOY SK
We have received some sad news advising that former member Alan Cook M6KOY passed away earlier this week at the Cheadle care home he was staying in. We are told that with his daughter by his side Alan passed away peacefully on Monday.
Funeral arrangements are being made and details will be posted to members as soon as they are available for anyone who wishes to attend.
May we take this opportunity to extend our sincere condolences to Alan’s family and friends at this sad time.
Rest in peace Alan.
Posted: 5th September 2024
Reducing interference & improving readability on the bands
Tuesday evening saw another excellent presentation and discussion with Dave G0BCU, Chair of Warrington ARC.
His subject was as per the title and explored Dave’s progress trying to remove unwanted noise from the bands at his home QTH. The presentation provoked some lively discussions with the gathered audience both online and at Walthew.
Thank you Dave for an excellent presentation and we look forward to seeing you again in November.
Posted: 4th September 2024
British Inland Waterways On The Air 2024
August bank holiday weekend 2024 saw a new event for the society, that being the 2024 British Inland Waterways on the Air (BIWOTA). Invited by members Ron M7RJL & Tracy to join them on their narrowboat “The Little Treasure” moored in Bugsworth Canal Basin, the team set up and operated for the weekend on HF(SSB & CW), 2 Metres (SSB & FM) plus through the QO100 satellite.
An enjoyable weekend was had with us making contacts around the UK, Europe and beyond. Our thanks to Ron & Tracy for the invitation and to the members who joined us both at Bugsworth and on air. You’ll be pleased to know plans are already afoot for the 2025 event.
Posted: 26th August 2024
National Field Day Results announced
The results for this year’s NFD have been announced and the society finished in third place in the Low Power Assisted Portable section with 403,398 points from 865 valid QSOs.
Posted: 20th August 2024
Contest Group “Christmas” Party
The annual contest group Christmas party once again took place on the afternoon of Sunday 18th August at Kieron’s (M5KJM) QTH. Out in the garden the weather was OK with much chatting around a few beverages and a delicious Tapas supplied by the Three Tunnes, Hazel Grove. Well done to Dave G0LZL and for Kieron’s hospitality on the day.
Posted: 20th August 2024
West Manchester Summer Red Rose Rally 2024
This popular local rally took place on Sunday the 18th August 2024 in Leigh and a number of SRS members were present both as visitors or traders. See above some photos circulated after the event.
Posted: 20th August 2024
John Heywood G4IAL (G8BHQ)
Received by email from Graham G3ZOD who writes:
I was saddened to see John Heywood G4IAL (G8BHQ) listed as a Silent Key in the September 2024 RadCom.
Back in my youth in the 1970s, John was an enthusiastic SRS member and a thoroughly nice guy.
73 de Graham G3ZOD
In reply, Barry from Sydney recalls:
Hello Graham
Thanks for the sad news about John, G4IAL.
Back in the early 1970s, John and I were both living in Hazel Grove (in my G3PEK era) next door but one to each other. In those days, John was VHF only and I was HF only so it was sometimes a matter of debate as to who was causing the neighbours’ TVI which of course was much more of a problem then.
I recall that I was using an FRDX400/FLDX400 combo at that location which I upgraded to an FR101/FL101.
Happy days.
73 to all including Graham or “zoddy” as I believe we used to nickname you then.
Barry Simpson VK2BJ (also VL2B in some contests).
Posted: 20th August 2024
Saturday @ Walthew House
Saturday saw the latest all day meeting at Walthew House with many activities taking place and all fed with Neil M6NAE and Bill M0WBS’s excellent breakfast.
Meeko M0FVD brought along his to test the remote operation setup on the IC7610 which proved to be mostly successful but with some refinements required. Elsewhere the “repair shop” was well underway with Tom M0DCG & Phil M0HNJ delving into the workings of another piece of equipment. Added to this, Stephen M0RDN brought his Xeigu X6100 with accompanying gear to demonstrate. Elsewhere, Nigel M0VNL had setup the QO-100 satellite gear through which a contact was made with a roving Chinese station BG9HKP.
Posted: 12th August 2024
Icom IC705 v Xeigu X6100
Tuesday 6th October saw members gather at Walthew & online for an illustrated presentation by Evan M0TJU describing his choices of portable equipment. A fascinating presentation and interesting discussion which touched on many related items such as antennas, power sources and locations.
Posted: 11th August 2024
Stephen M0RDN’s IOTA 2024
IOTA was the first contest I took part in as an amateur, and from my memories of the 2023 edition, it was fun, but heavy going. Since I’ve been using the current contest QTH, it’s been a lot better. Still not perfect though.
After a year of contesting, the kit I use has been continuously evolving. It’s still a technical exercise for me, and one of the best opportunities to experiment.
Following the CQ WPX experiment of running on batteries for four hours, I decided to run the whole contest on batteries. I built a power station consisting of two banks of 3x12V LiFePo4 7.2Ah batteries. This goes into a wattmeter and then out to lower current sockets, two switchable USB sockets and a large output connector on Anderson Powerpole connectors.
For the rig, I decided to skip the usual Icom 7100, and purchased the Xeigu XPA125b linear amplifier to run with my Xeigu 6100.
I decided to use the usual 12m Rybakov 806 up the pole and a half size G5RV in the tree. However. For the first time the setup time was extremely limited, not arriving with the kit until 12. However. 1 hour later the station was setup and I started the contest 1 minute late!
My plan was to run for 18 hours, but I set a backup target of entering the 12 hour class if I was too tired. I’m glad I did.
One of the early contacts was G5O and I had a quick chat with Pete M1PTR down at the farm, wishing each other good luck.
I’ve had some issues with my X6100. for a while and it became obvious later in the evening that I was getting rf on my audio on the higher bands. It made it very difficult to transmit as I was hearing some uncomfortable feedback on transmit.
This led to the first big break in the contest, where I was attempting to use a lot of ferrites to shield it out. This was partially successful, but still made it difficult. I still made contacts on all bands though.
The battery pack was a big success. The left bank ran powering the radio, linear and my laptop for 10hrs straight. Maximum current draw was 10A and it stopped after 240wh (having the wattmeter was really useful for that).
I have plans for the next upgrade to that which will increase the capacity of the battery banks (and add a reserve).
I called it a night at 1AM and retired to bed. I was shattered.
On the Sunday Morning, I restarted, only to pause and join into the Sunday morning net in the sun whilst I ate my breakfast.
Bit later, I managed to work G5O again in one of the few times I started running. Had another chat with Pete, then went back to S&P (Search & Pounce) as G5O carried on running with the frequency I’d been calling on.
As I was talking to some Irish stations (with about 45mins left to go in the contest, I noticed that I had operated for 12 hours and then called it a day.
The station took about an hour to pack away too. This is really useful to know as I plan on doing field day as a portable station this year, and I’ll have limited setup and pack away time.
Overall, I’m very pleased with this radio combination. It was nice to have a waterfall for the first time as that made a big quality of life difference.
N1MM said I managed 133 contacts, 53 of which were island stations for about 65k points. As this was 10 times better than last year in a shorter period, I’ll take that. I recon I’ll lose some points in adjudication, but I’m still happy. The next experiment will be UK EI DX SSB, and I’m really looking forward to it.
Posted: 4th August 2024
2024 Islands on the Air Contest
An annual event, this year’s Islands on the Air (IOTA) contest served to provide much activity on the HF contest bands which was taken advantage of by our contest group located up at the hill top farm site.
When the plug was pulled after the final whistle a points score of 4,828,860 had been accumulated from 1,528 QSOs which compares with 3,855,005 points from 1,401 QSOs in 2023.
On the group Whattsap channel Pete M1PTR commented “Well done, folks. We improved our scores from last year despite the slow start on Saturday. I’m glad to see/hear that the stations and antennas behaved themselves in the heat. The log was submitted 10 minutes after the last QSO. So we can now wait to see how we did. I hope you enjoyed it as I did.
In reply Tom M0DCG commented “Yes, I was encouraged by our final score, as was Dave when I phoned him with the news. I’d say we deserve CDMs all round….ha ha….”
Posted: 4th August 2024
TAS Summer Memorabilia Fair 2024
The end of July typically sees the second TAS Memorabilia Fair of the year at the Runway Visitor Park, Manchester Airport and we were there for both days which apart from a shower on Saturday was dry and warm.
Talking to Alison, the organiser after the event positive reports had been received from traders and visitors alike and I can confirm that both days were busy. With such a nice warm sunny Sunday, and with school holidays upon us the park was very busy with many enjoying a picnic on the grass as well as touring the various stands which included our own.
As with previous events we’d gone primarily to display the hobby and society to the public through the visual aids at our disposal as well as having stations operating on 2 Metres and through the GB3MR repeater. Also with the success of the Avro operation a few weeks earlier Neil M6NAE operated GX8SRS on Saturday using Wires X with as usual Linda M0YLM being first in the log. A change on Sunday saw Neil also setup his Yaesu FT DX 10 with an HF antenna and whilst only making a single contact into Germany the rig with it’s accompanying screen proved to be a big draw.
Elsewhere and with the weather being favourable, on Sunday Nigel M0VNL and Tony M0SAV set up both the QO-100 kit and a VHF/UHF station in the car park which allowed us to join the SRS net as well as making some contacts through the Qatari Satellite. With the IOTA Contest taking place we also took the opportunity to monitor G5O’s progress using Neil’s kit plus the various websdrs and Pete M1PTR’s handy log monitor.
Over the weekend we had many visitors stop by interested in what we were doing as well as the hobby in general. At this event, Woodford too, we always seem to meet fellow amateurs from around the area and beyond who have come to the event for the aviation aspect. Many are current licensees but some have let their licence lapse and seeing what we do and where the hobby is now are interested in reactivating their callsign. We treat that as a successful outcome along with the publicity we get from attending the event.
Drawing to a close midway through Sunday afternoon the kit was packed away in double quick time and delivered back to Walthew in time for a late tea. Thank you to Bill M0WBS, Tony M0SAV, Nigel M0VNL, Neil M6NAE for their help making the event such a success and to Ron M7RJL and Tracy for visiting us on Saturday, its always great to see society members away from Walthew House.
The next fair takes place over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd February 2025 and once again, we will be there.
Nigel G0RXA
Posted: 4th August 2024
2024 Islands on the Air Contest Preparation
This weekend sees the 2024 IOTA Contest take place on the usual HF contest bands kicking off at 12.00UTC (1PM BST) tomorrow Saturday 27th July ending 24 hours later on Sunday.
The society’s contest team will be taking part using the callsign G5O and preparations have been taking place all week at the hilltop farm site. You can follow the team’s progress through the contest by visiting Pete M1PTR’s handy monitor page and if you haven’t a HF receiver of your own then the various WebSDRs around the world may help you to join in. The receiver in Enschede is a particularly good one and can be reached through this link.
As well as the team there is at least one club member (Stephen M0RDN) entering the contest. Anyone new to contesting and wishing to take part may want to have a look at the beginners guide which can be found through this link.
Good luck to all entering the event.
Posted: 26th July 2024
Table top sale – Saturday 20th July 2024
Saturday just gone saw our latest table top sale take place at Walthew House which was another success with plenty of members turning out to view what was on offer whilst sampling one or two bacon sarnies provided by Neil M6NAE and Bill M0WBS.
In preparation, Friday afternoon witnessed a team descend on the store room @ Walthew tasked with clearing out some of the surplus gear whilst at the same time repositioning the resident radio kit into a more practical format.
Saturday began early with Neil lighting the grill shortly after 7am in time for the first arrival which was new licensee Adam M7GKE who was first in the queue for some early morning refreshments. Joining Nigel M0VNL in the reorganised shack, Adam was able to join in the operation of our FT897 operating some digital modes on both HF and VHF. With more members arriving there was an audible buzz around the room with some deals being done and goods changing hands. At the same time, Tom M0DCG was reviewing some of the gear from the store room which he was delighted to view.
Back in the shack, Nigel M0VNL was tuning through the 2 Metre band and came across GB4BCW being operated by Richard G4HGI from the Brindle Cold War Bunker nr Chorley, Lancashire. Whilst Richard’s signal was not the strongest, Nigel called in using our callsign GX8SRS and a brief QSO followed. Follow this link for a short YouTube video of the contact.
Mid afternoon saw everything packed away and what’s more thanks to Roy G6RSU the IC7610 reconnected to the roof top aerial ready for use again at forthcoming meetings. Well done and thank you to everyone who attended, we hope you had an enjoyable day.
Present were in signing in order: M0SAV, M0WBS, M6NAE, M0VNL, G0RXA, M7GKE, M0FVD, G6RSU, M0TJU, M0JYP, G0LLU, M0SQJ, M0UNG, M0DCG, M0RDN, G7LWT, M3HHY, M0TYY, M0LAR, G0HJQ, M0HNJ, M5KJM, M0NEA.
Posted: 21st July 2024
Avro “Wings & Wheels” Fair 2024
The weekend of the 13th & 14th July 2024 saw the team head for the Avro Heritage Centre Woodford for the annual Wings & Wheels Fair which this year wasn’t blessed with the nicest of weather.
As usual, first on the scene at the crack of dawn were Neil M6NAE and Bill M0WBS who had the marquee erected in double quick time. The rest of the team, Tony M0SAV and double Nigels M0VNL & G0RXA arrived shortly afterwards following which the task of setting up the kit began in earnest and which was completed with the minimum of fuss.
This time the operating side of things would feature Neil’s Yaesu FTM200 on VHF/UHF as well as Wires X linked via the internet plus our QO-100 kit with our club callsign GX8SRS being called into use. Both days analogue VHF/UHF was very quiet with less than a handful of contacts being made mostly via the local repeater network. However, it was a different story on Wires X with many stations both in the UK and beyond entering the log.
Perhaps the highlight occurred on Saturday morning when Neil established contact with a team at RAF Waddington who were preparing for their families day. Contacts were exchanged and in reply we received a volley of pictures of the Red Arrows display team now stationed at the Lincolnshire airfield and which later that day would appear at the Southport Airshow.
Meanwhile, across on QO-100 Nigel M0VNL was slowly accumulating contacts with far afield places such as Chennai, Heidelbug, Helsinki and Helston. The latter QSO took place following a call from Bob G0FGX who some may recognise as the presenter of the popular amateur radio YouTube programme TX Factor. The most recent episodes have featured Bob setting up his QO-100 station & Nigel was chuffed to spend more than a few minutes comparing notes.
Sunday dawned and whilst the weather remained disappointing we were pleased to receive a steady array of visitors most of whom were either licensed, or lapsed licensees interested in seeing what the hobby now has to offer. Highlight here must be the trio of young air cadets from the Woodford & Bramhall Squadron who were persuaded to pick up the microphone by Neil and have a brief contact.
As in previous years the event saw the usual array of stalls and attractions attend which included a posse of classic cars and military vehicles with the latter category including SRS member John M0PEK with his Dodge. This year there would be no Lancaster flypast, but the Sleap resident Avro Anson (G-VROE) did its best to entertain the fewer than usual crowds with visits on both days.
Thank you to those members who came along and visited the team. As well as John we were pleased to see Ron M7RJL and Tracy, plus Chris G8HCB who called on Saturday in time to sample Neil’s delicious Lancashire hotpot which along with various other delights kept the team fed on Saturday. The Sunday menu featured Bacon sarnies and gammon sandwiches for lunch, well done Neil & Bill.
With the rain settling in time was called mid Sunday afternoon with the kit and marquee being dismantled in fairly quick time most of which was returned to the store room at Walthew House by teatime. With that another event had drawn to a close but with the knowledge that we will do it all again in two weeks time (27th & 28th) when we will be attending The Aviation Society Summer (hopefully) Memorabilia fair at the Runway Visitor Park, Manchester Airport. We will be in the usual spot inside the Concorde hangar, so why not come along and visit the team.
Posted: 18th July 2024
CQ WPX CW 2024 Contest Results published
Congratulations to all involved. The team finished with the following placings:
England: 1st
Europe: 15th
World: 25th
Posted: 3rd July 2024
Wires X Presentation – Tuesday 2nd July 2024
Tuesday 2nd July saw Neil M6NAE with the assistance of Andrew M7USL deliver a presentation describing the operation of the Yaesu Wires X system which was well received.
With the interest in the room and breakdown of our technology the presentation will be repeated in the near future.
Also Neil, thanks for the after meeting refreshments, very tasty!
Posted: 3rd July 2024
GB0COL – Colossus 80th Anniversary – Saturday 22nd June 2024
Another opportunity to activate the special event callsign presented itself on Saturday with stations on HF, VHF, QO100 and digital D-Star. Elsewhere Tom worked his magic on an apparently dead oscilloscope and everyone was fed by Neil & Bill with their excellent hotdogs.
Posted: 22nd June 2024
GB0COL – Colossus 80th Anniversary, the story so far.
Tuesday 4th July saw GB0COL take to the air with 2 stations powered up and ready to go.
First on the air was the VHF station with Roy G6RSU at the helm ably assisted by Brian G8NHN and first in the log was Chris M0LZA who’d been waiting for the call to appear on the air. The station employed our Yaesu FT897 housed in it’s flight case hooked up to the colinear antenna on the roof of Walthew House. Taking advantage of the Tuesday evening 2 metre FM contest Roy and Brian soon swelled the log with some local calls.
In the shack however, things weren’t moving quite so quickly. First to take command of our 7610 was Evan M0TJU assisted by Simon M0TYY. CW yielded a few stations with SSB adding some more but the general consensus was the HF was not in good shape.
Onwards to the following Saturday (8th June) where it was felt we could make a real impression on the bands but once again, HF proved to be difficult with once again just a handful of calls making it into the log. VHF faired little better however, top marks today goes to the QO100 team who bagged some good calls once the soggy early conditions allowed setup of the gear by Nigel M0VNL assisted by Roy G6RSU.
Just before midday UTC GB0COL took to the air and first in the log was Depak operating VU2BK, callsign of the Mount Abu International Ham Radio Club in locator ML64JM, a distance of 4,266 Miles. A very nice opening contact and sat alongside Nigel was Farid M0UNG who took the opportunity to work Depak using his own callsign.
In a two hour session on the satellite, Nigel assisted by Farid worked a total of 7 stations, locations varying from UK, Europe to Brazil as well as of course India in the east. Final call was John operating G8FC, the callsign of the RAF Amateur Radio Society who were setting up their station at RAF Cosford in preparation for the Airshow the following day.
Being Saturday, we can’t let things pass without commenting on Neil M6NAE and Bill M0WBS’s excellent breakfasts and bacon sarnies which all helped to make the event a successful one. Thank you both and to all 23 of you who came along to Walthew.
Our next session at Walthew is on the 22nd June where we will once again be activating GB0COL from as early as 8am until late afternoon. So, make a note in your diaries and if you would like to have a go using the special event callsign, please let us know so arrangements can be made and a “slot” reserved. Oh, and yes refreshments will be available.
Posted: 10th June 2024
RSGB National Field Day (NFD) 2024
The annual RSGB National Field Day (NFD) took place over the weekend Saturday 1st June and Sunday the 2nd June. As usual, SRS took part from the regular hilltop site at Common Barn Farm with the team are keen to emulate their excellent 1st place finish in 2023.
Over the 24 hours, the team of operators ensured a steady stream of stations entered the log with a number commenting on conditions during their time in the hot seat.
Carsten G0SYP
After a late start and a panic trying to change the call sign after the first QSO, all went well. Started on 10, then down to 15 and 20. Stayed there a while until it got slower. Down to 40 to work some mults and back to 20 until Evan took over and probably went to 40
Evan M0TJU
Me, M0TJU, in the chair at G5O/p at 8pm Saturday. Not the greatest of conditions, as expected, but Sporadic E helping on 20m. Plenty of traffic to work on 40 and 80m before my shift ended at midnight.
Tom M0DCG with Dave G0LZL
Night shift (Dave) started working top band, having a good run before moving through 80m, 40m, and 20m before finishing up on 15m. He felt the conditions on the bands throughout the shift were on the whole, reasonable.
Picking up the baton from the night shift was Bernard G3SHF who after an eventful but positive few hours handed over to Kieron M5KJM to take us to the finishing line at 4pm local time.
Time will tell as to whether 2023’s result is repeated but by all accounts those who took part had fun.
Posted: 4th June 2024
CQ WPX CW Contest 2024
Final weekend in May, as well as a bank holiday in the UK sees the CW leg of this year’s series of contests.
Construction of the antenna farm began early the week before and the team are happy to report that apart from a few minor issues all equipment operating as expected.
Come the final whistle the team had amassed a fairly healthy score of just short of 9 million points.
Posted: 29th May 2024
Carsten’s Aurora story
Just a quick recap of the big Aurora from a couple of weeks ago, just from Log and memory.
Operators were warned of something coming already early on the 9th/10th. There had been several X class flares by sunspot region 3664 and accompanying Coronal Mass Ejections. NOAA modelled these to arrive at Earth from midday (UTC) on the 10th and issued their first G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm warning since 2005. Impact of the CME was reported late afternoon and the K index steadily rose.
For me, 6m opened first and the first QSO was with F4VPC (IN87VV – Bretagne) at 17.43z. At this time I didn’t hear anything to the East. I worked G7RAU (IN97JX – The Lizard) and G4ITR (IO95CA – Newcastle) on 6m and EI3KD (IO51VW – nr Cork) and G4DHF (JO02 – Norfolk) on 2m. At 18.12 I had my first QSO in the Q65 digital mode (Q65-30C to be exact) with MM0AMW (IO75 – nr Glasgow). I heard a couple of GMs on 2m, too, but I had had contacts with them only recently so didn’t call. I probably went QRT for tea at this point. The next QSO was at 19.10z with G4BRK (IO91HP – nr Oxford) on 6m but that was it for the time.
I may have missed a few possible QSOs watching TV but I did have an eye on the Cluster so I guess there wasn’t anything exciting reported. Unfortunately, the next period was after the curfew on WhatsApp
so no warning was sent. I started on 6m with another Q65 contact at 21.29 with LA3EQ (JO28XJ – Southwestern Norway), then on CW G4LOH (IO70JC – Cornwall) on 2m at 21.42 and PB8DX (JO21NV – Netherlands) on 6m at 21.57z. From then on I concentrated on 2m CW.
The main QTF (antenna direction) for me in the opening was between 60 and 80deg (ENE) and mainly was calling other stations. Next QSO was at 22.05 with ON4LDP (JO10UN – Belgium) and after that the real DX started to come in:
22.17 9A2AE JN86HF Croatia 1574km
22.32 OM4CW JN88UN Slovakia 1500km
22.34 9A5RJ JN86EL Croatia 1542km
22.35 F6DRO JN03TJ France 1155km = nr Toulouse, this was the furthest South
22.38 OK1DSZ JN79AT Czech Republic 1200km
22.41 9A1UN JN65TF Croatia 1470km
22.45 F6DWG/p JN19AJ Northern France 544km
22.47 9A5R JN95FM Croatia 1734km
22.50 YO5LD KN05IS Romania1862km – my Aurora ODX
22.52 IV3NDC JN65RV Italy nr Trieste 1410km
22.58 DM4KCS JO30HU Germany nr Cologne 677km
23.03 F8BRL JN19FH Northern France 568km
I started getting adventurous and called CQ which started a little run. Between 23.12 and 23.29 I worked DL2RMC JN59IF 1020km, OK1FPR JO80CE 1323km, HB9CYN JN36RW 1005km, F6DCD JN38RQ 865km, HB9DHF JN37XG 1002km and G3LGP (missed the Loc). There was a bit of a lull with no new stations then.
Back to Search and Pounce with G4PIQ at 00.04z (JO02OD, 280km), PA3CWN 00.07 (JO33AH 560km), SP7EXY 00.13 (Poland KO00QV nr Kielce, 1636km). This was my contact furthest to the East.
Another little run between 00.46 and 01.03 brought DK1PZ (JO41 ca. 800km), DL4WK (JO64SQ 1049km), DL1BUG (JO72AI 1105km), S51ZO (Slovenia, JN86DR 1520km), 9A1CAL (JN65DM 1373km), I1DMP (JN34XU 1212km), OK1TEH (JO70FD 1211km), DL9FCM/p (JN49IN 879km), OE5VRL (Austria, JN78DK 1289km), OE3JPC (JN87EW 1450km) and OK2PWY (JN89KW 1378km) into the log.
The bands were still wide open but new stations were now hard to come by. I had a duplicate QSO with SP7EXY, worked HA5FB (Hungary, JN97NN 1647km) at 01.48 and F6DBI (IN88IJ 564km) at 02.20z. In between DL8ZAW on 6m. At 3.30h local time I went to bed.
In the morning around 09.00z (not sure exactly) there were still some weak Au signals to be heard but no QSOs. That started again at 13.10z with some strong Scottish signals. GM4YXI (IO87WK 445km), GM4BYF (IO85JV 279km) and GM0WDD (IO85LV 277km).
Then the continent started to appear and between 14.05 and 14.43z I worked DF2ZC/p (JO43WJ 811km), DL5XJ (JO54AE 818km), PA2RU (JO32LT 626km), PA0LMA (JO22FF 478km), DL6BF (JO32QI 665km), HA6NQ (JN98WA 1669km) and DL5FDP (JN49LP 889km).
Another CQ yielded GM4ILS (IO87IP 471km), DF1LON (JO31 ca. 670km), OK2YT (JN88IP 1431km), HA1FV (JN87JJ 1509km), DK7AW (JO51 ca. 930km), F6FET (IN98UD 606km) and HA0HO (KN07SU 1792km) until 15.04z.
No more QSOs (not sure if the band was closed or no new stations heard) until the last session from 16.26z to 16.56z with both S&P and CQ that filled the log with OK2EW (JN89DE 1376km), G4JBH (IO80QW 279km), OK1SC (JO70OB 1264km), G4ALG (IO81RD 255km), OE5XBL (JN68PC 1247km), DL3DXX (JO61VE 1125km), OM5AW (JN98 ca. 1575km), F6IIV (IN88GT 520km) and last but not least OK2BZM (JN89OI 1427km). At this point the band slowly died.
End result was 64 QSOs with 17 DXCC entities. (14xDL, 7xF, 7xOK, 6xG, 5x9A, 4xHA, 4xGM, 3xPA, 3xOE, 2xOM, 2xI, 2xHB9, EI, ON, SP, S5, YO).
This was the best Aurora I have ever experienced. I worked a few from DL and also from here but nothing even close. No new locators or DXCC were worked but it was great fun working everyone in CW for a change. I hope I don’t have to wait 20 years for the next one:)
Posted: 24th May 2024
Tales from the very wet (and windy) hills
Thursday 23rd saw the team of Dave G0LZL, Bernard G3SHF, Peter M1PTR and Tom M0DCG back up at Common Barn Farm working on the station in preparation for the CQWW WPX CW contest over the weekend of the 25th/26th May.
Our planned visit for Wednesday had to be put off due to the amber rainstorm warning in place for the Northwest area, accordingly we were not sure if the remaining work would run over into the Friday. While work continued installing the in-station equipment, despite the inclement weather work continued outside, raising and tuning the wire antennas on the two masts.
Our efforts were successful and by late afternoon all antennas were performing as desired. Finally, following a brief familiarisation session on the operation of the in-station equipment, we left around 4.30pm satisfied a further visit on Friday morning would not be required before the start of the contest.
Please look out for us this weekend using call G5O on 160, 80, 40, 20 and 10m.
We can be found by searching for G5O on new.dxsummit.fi/#/
Posted: 24th May 2024
M0RDN visits SK0TM
On assignment in Stockholm, Stephen M0RDN visited the National Museum of Science & Technology where he discovered the amateur radio station SK0TM located within the museum. Whilst there Stephen met with some of the operators, one of which Paul SM0WCF was happy to exchange a QSL card.
Posted: 23rd May 2023
Tales from the Farm….the story continues…
Following on quickly from the CQWW WPX SSB contest at the end of March, Monday 13th saw G5O members Dave G0LZL and Tom M0DCG back up at Common Barn Farm, continuing with preparations for the CQWW WPX CW contest scheduled to run over the weekend of May 25/26th.
Since the main work of station assembly is scheduled to start for the CQWW WPX CW contest on Monday 20th May and with the assembly team likely to be smaller than usual on this occasion it was felt necessary to fit in some extra maintenance beforehand.
The luffing winch on the Buxton mast had partly seized during station disassembly at the end of the previous contest due to weathering corrosion, making the task of tilting the mast very difficult and slow. Accordingly, freeing the mechanism was given top priority. After the seized parts had been partly dismantled and soaked for some time first in releasing fluid, then oil, the winch was reassembled on the mast. A sharp tap with a hammer was then applied, releasing the seized braking mechanism allowing its normal operation once again.
Work also continued checking out a number of issues highlighted during the previous contest as well as beginning preparations for the National Field Day CW 24 hour competition scheduled to run from 4pm on Saturday 1st to 4pm Sunday 2nd June.
Finally, congratulations and well done to all team members for an excellent finish in the previous event where team G5O came 1st in England, 14th in Europe and 22nd in the World. Also, well done to all SRS members who took part notably Stephen M0RDN, Andrew M0AQM (G1D), Ron & Tracy M7RJL & Keith M0JYP. Please follow the links below for further information.
http://www.g8srs.co.uk/cq-ww-wpx-contests-results/
http://www.g8srs.co.uk/news/
Posted: 16th May 2024
SRS Centenary Plus Gold Award to M0JYP
Posted: 12th May 2024
Saturday @ Walthew House including 145Alive activity
Fabulous day at Walthew House with many activities taking place. Saturday breakfast club, QO100 activity, The Repair Shop and a successful 145Alive activation with over 70 stations in the log. Well done all.
Posted: 10th May 2024
Review of Yaesu’s FTM-200DR FM/C4FM Mobile Transceiver, presentation and discussion lead by Neil M6NAE
Thank you to Neil M6NAE for an excellent presentation regarding this popular Yaesu rig which was followed by a lively discussion surrounding the merits of digital operation and the various methods of doing so.
Posted: 8th May 2024
TCARS SES at Fleetwood RNLI for SOS Radio Week
Had a wander up into town to see the chaps from TCARS operating GB0FLB for SOS Week,200 years of the RNLI and 165 years of the Fleetwood lifeboat station and 165 years of the town of Fleetwood itself.
Spent a few hours with the TCARS guys outside the RNLI station and had some very interesting chats on common club and radio related topics. Also got invited down to their club meetings after helping to dismantle and pack away the kit. Nothing like inter-club assistance and co-operation.
Bit of info on their kit and ops: G5RV up the flagpole with a ladder line, X50 on a 30ft telescopic pole with pre-amplifier, ICOM 5100 for 2m/70cms at 100W (their D-Star repeater is off-air) HF sets were 7300 and a Kenwood I think but the HF had a 50hz signal across all bands after 10am this morning and so HF was pretty much a no-go. Probably due to all the power-lines and possibly generators from the events in the Euston Gardens over the road. 2 metre was quite active though with some SOTA contacts early afternoon and some good distances covered around 50-70 miles.
Nigel M0VNL SRS Club Secretary.
Posted: 7th May 2024
Saltee Islands DXpedition May 2024
A note for your diary:
Pete M1PTR, Carsten G0SYP/DL1EFD and Kieron M5KJM/EI6KP are in advanced planning for this year’s mini DXpedition to the Saltee Islands (EU-103) departing Monday 13th May, returning home by Friday the 18th of May.
We’ll be operating as EJ6KP/p and will be based in Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford.
This is the second attempt to visit the island having in April 2018 been beaten by the weather. There had been a storm, and the swell was too great for the small boat to travel the 5 kilometres to the island.
We operated from a beach in Kilmore Quay and could see the islands. It was very frustrating to say the least.
The plan is to operate for four days, travelling to and from the mainland each day. Unfortunately, nighttime operation will be from the mainland as EI6KP.
Operations will be on 40 through to 10 Metres.
We’ll let SRS members know when we’ll be on 40 Metres, which will probably be the first day as we would like to get as many SRS members as possible in the log.
For more information about the island, including its location and a short video please visit http://www.salteeislands.info/
73’s for now
Kieron M5KJM/EI6KP
Posted: 26th April 2024
Updates underway
Tuesday evening’s meeting at Walthew House saw updates being performed to some of the society’s digital equipment in readiness for the forthcoming special event station GB0COL and outdoor events such as the Avro Wings & Wheels Fair and TAS Memorabilia in July. Thanks to Neil M6NAE, Andrew M7USL and Roy G6RSU.
Elsewhere, in the shack Simon M0TYY and Evan M0TJU were engaged in similar updates to the IC7610 with sounds identified as being RTTY coming through the walls.
During the evening, we were also joined online by Tom M0DCG, Farid M0UNG and Nigel M0VNL.
Posted: 24th April 2024
Latest YouTube video: CQ WPX SSB 2024 Sunday evening on 80 Metres with Evan M0TJU
Posted: 20th April 2024
Plans Afoot – 145Alive & GB0COL
A select band of members joined the latest Webex meeting where plans were made for the forthcoming 145Alive event on Saturday 11th May and GB0COL special event station during the month of June both from Walthew House.
If you would like a slot operating in the 145alive event, please email [email protected] or speak to Neil M6NAE during any of our meetings/nets.
Posted: 17th April 2024
Professor Ian Morison G0DMU, now SK
Folks, I got the news of Ian Morrison’s passing from the Macclesfield Astro Society. (See email below.)
I guess that most people knew of him through his astronomical accomplishments, both professional and amateur, particularly his association with Jodrell Bank. He was also a noted radio amateur and as some may recall hosted an SRS tour of the facility some years ago.
73 Evan M0TJU
From: Maccastro Member Update
Sent: 13 April 2024 15:00
Subject: Our dear Professor Ian Morison
Dear All,
I am very sorry to have to inform you that our Patron, Professor Ian Morison, sadly passed away this morning after his battle with cancer.
His family was with him at home and I was also fortunate to be with him to let him know how valued he was to us. You will be pleased to know that he was comfortable and pain free at the end. Judy, Ian’s wife has coped with Ian’s illness remarkably well, but she will of course need some time to come to terms with her loss.
Ian will be dearly missed as one of the pioneers of Astronomy and Astrophotography within our Society and the wider community. His lectures, workshops and evening classes that he delivered were superb. His expert and modest approach to teaching will be remembered by all.
Posted: 14th April 2024
Saturday @ Walthew House
Once again, we had a cracking day at Walthew House with plenty of activities going on in the room such as a CW HF session in the shack with Evan M0TJU and David M0WDD, plus Tracy (pictured) joining in the action. Elsewhere Tom M0DCG and Phil M0HNJ were busy in the “repair shop”, Andrew M7USL with the digital kit and of course, Bill M0WBS and Neil M6NAE serving up their usual culinary delights.
Posted: 13th April 2024
CQ WPX SSB Contest 2024 – Raw Scores
The “RAW” scores for this year’s contest have been published on the CQ WPX website, see below details of the G5O score showing our achieved position of 23rd in the world in the chosen section. We can also advise G5O achieved 14th position in Europe and 1st in England.
Also taking part in the contest and submitting entries in their own right and on behalf of SRS were Stephen ME0RDN, Keith M0JYP, Andrew M0AQM (operating as G1D), and Ron & Tracy M7RJL. Check out their scores at https://www.cqwpx.com/raw.htm?mode=ph.
Well done to all.
Posted: 11th April 2024
SRS Centenary Plus Award
Congratulations to Ron M7RJL and Keith MOJYP two of our members on achieving the Centenary Plus Silver Award (25) points, making contact with members of Stockport Radio Society.
Today they have now been issued with their Certificates, well done guys.
If you wish to take part in this Award please see our website for details or contact me on [email protected].
Kind regards, Alan G0ROW.
Posted: 11th April 2024
QSLing for beginners
Once again a fair gaggle of members gathered both at Walthew House and online to receive an excellent presentation by Keith M0JYP describing the traditional QSLing process plus the addition of modern procedures using the likes of Clublog.
Excellent presentation Keith, well done.
Posted: 3rd March 2024
The G5O score at the final whistle.
Posted: 1st April 2024
Carsten operating on Saturday afternoon at CBF in CQ WPX SSB
Posted: 31st March 2024
CQ WPX SSB Contest underway
With this year’s contest underway, remember to visit Pete’s contest monitor to see how things are going up at the farm.
Also, if you fancy a go then here’s a guide and what to look for produced by Evan M0TJU to accompany this year’s event.
Posted: 30th March 2024
A message from our contestors
Posted: 29th March 2024
Tales from the farm – 2024 CQ WPX SSB Contest – G5O Preparations
This week has seen preparations for the Easter weekend’s CQ WPX SSB contest gather pace with work commencing ar the Common Barn site on Monday. Unfortunately, Tom our roving reporter was absent at the start, however, a camera was available to witness Dave G0LZL performing a dismount any Olympic gymnast would have been proud of.
Back in harness on Tuesday, Tom reports…….
Tuesday saw Bernard, Kieron, Evan, Pete, Roy, Dave and Tom gather once again to continue with station assembly work.
The weather was quite pleasant considering the time of year, sunny early on and more importantly dry, although there was quite a cold wind.
Efforts were focussed on getting the Buxton mast fitted out with its antennas together with the erection of the adjacent subsidiary mast carrying the 10 Metre quad. The assembly of the 40 Metre phased vertical antenna system was completed before being fine tuned for resonance and optimised SWR. Finally, work continued getting the radios and linears inside the caravan set up.
By the time the team left at 4pm it was felt the work was still about on schedule, leaving us the time to focus on preparation of the Worcester mast on Wednesday and any trouble-shooting on Thursday.
Wednesday saw Bernard, Kieron, Evan, Pete, Dave and Tom assemble once again at the farm to press on with preparatory work on the station for the weekend.
As the caravan was quite cluttered with equipment etc., which was making station set-up more awkward, it was decided to take the club trailer up to the farm to be used as a temporary store for unused items. After the trailer had been positioned, work continued on the antennas.
A further check on the 10 Metre quad on the Buxton mast revealed a problem, necessitating the subsidiary mast being lowered briefly while further adjustments were made to achieve resonance on the desired part of the band. In the meantime, work continued to be focused on preparation of the Worcester mast. This was fitted out to take the TH5 antenna for 20, 15 and 10 Metres and with inverted V dipoles covering 80 and 40 Metres. After staking and guying the antennas were tested for resonance and SWRs, the rotator checked out and the set-up declared satisfactory.
In the caravan work continued setting up the two stations including the logging computers and the WIFI link which was eventually established after some initial difficulty.
After a reasonable start to the day, the weather worsened with very strong winds and intermittent heavy showers especially around noon making outside work difficult. These eased off towards the middle of the afternoon.
Despite the weather we achieved most of our objectives for the day, leaving the final checks for Thursday.
Cheers,
Tom M0DCG
Sixty Years of Radio Tracking with Ross G6GVI
Tuesday 26th March saw members gather at Walthew and online for an eagerly awaited presentation by Ross G6GVI on the subject of radio tracking and we were not to be disappointed.
Ross took us on a journey through the ages and the history of radio tracking through the ages up till the modern day which included the use of APRS with ground based stations and the latest LoRa techniques for monitoring HAB (High Altitude Balloons).
An excellent evening enjoyed by all. Thank you Ross.
Posted: 27th March 2024
Webex Evening – Tuesday 19th March 2024
Members gathered from far and wide for a discussion evening on WebEx with various topics being discussed.
Posted: 19th March 2024
Common Barn Farm Maintenance Day Report – Wednesday 13th March 2024
One week on and Wednesday 13th March saw Bernard, Kieron, Pete, Dave, Evan and Tom gather once again at the farm to continue with maintenance tasks in preparation for the CQ WPX weekend SSB contest at the end of the month.
In contrast to the previous Wednesday when the weather had been clear, calm and sunny, this time we had to endure harsher conditions with rain showers and very cold high winds from the southwest, nevertheless progress continued to be made.
A new rotator for our new lightweight mast carrying the 10 Metre antenna was evaluated and the new exterior plywood floor for the equipment storage boxes on the Worcester mast fitted. This had previously been cut to size, edged with flashing tape and creosoted in preparation for fitting.
Work also continued getting the 40 Metre phased verticals antenna system to perform satisfactorily. The strong winds and driving rain showers which were increasing in frequency as the afternoon progressed, made the adjustment of the field L/C matching unit difficult and we only just succeeded as we were about to call it a day!
After stowing everything away in the caravan and the club trailer we finally departed feeling we had achieved most of our maintenance day objectives in preparation for the station build commencing on Monday 25th March.”
Bernard G3SHF testing the repaired Yaesu Amplifier with Pete M1PTR standing by with fire extinguisher.
Cheers & 73’s, Tom M0DCG
Posted: 14th March 2024
Saturday Session – March 2024
Well, what a day our Saturday session was with a host of activities taking place lead by Neil and Bill’s fabulous hearty breakfast.
We were also very pleased to welcome Richard G4HGI who broke journey on his way to a rendezvous point in Leek to deliver a car load of gear for onward transport to Ukraine as part of the project he is leading to supply surplus radio and other related gear. After sampling one of Neil and Bill’s dishes Richard was pleased to receive a donation of laptops from Kieron M5KJM (left) adding to kit already donated by SRS members. We are pleased to report that although being slightly heavier due to the breakfast Richard made it in time to deliver the goods which are now well on their way to their destination. Please see Richard’s thank you message.
Elsewhere in the room, our repair shop was helping return an FT290 to life and in our shack the IC7610 was being put through it’s paces making contacts both locally and further afield, notably Canada. Also, out in a rather chilly car park contacts of a different nature were being made as with the acquisition of a new antenna our QO100 kit was making significant world wide contacts with Jussi OH5LK leading the way followed by contacts in Germany, Brazil, Iceland and Turkey. A very pleased Nigel M0VNL came back in from the cold outdoors with a huge smile very pleased at the vast improvement the new antenna had made.
Please click here for a log of the QO-100 QSOs plus details of the station.
Posted: 10th March 2024
Common Barn Farm Maintenance Day Report – Wednesday 6th March 2024
With this year’s contest season about to kick off with the CQ WPX SSB event at the end of this month our contestors have sprung into action to ready the gear in time for the first whistle. So, here with his first report of 2024 is our roving reporter Tom M0DCG.
Wednesday 6th March saw Bernard, Pete, Kieron. Evan, Dave and Tom up once again at Common Barn Farm for a maintenance day in preparation for the CQ WPX SSB contest taking place over this year’s Easter weekend of the 30th & 31st March.
The weather was kind; dry and cool with blue skies which made working outside enjoyable. We were relieved to find the winter storms had not done too much damage to our equipment, however we were delayed at first when it was discovered we had lost our power supply to the caravan. This was traced to a faulty circuit-breaker in the garage. We also had the wooden base of the equipment platform on the Worcester mast to replace as the previous plywood sheeting had finally rotted and collapsed. In addition the assembly of a scaffolding pole light-weight mast to carry a 10 Metre antenna was checked out and finally two 12 metre fibreglass masts were erected temporarily, carrying our 40 Metre phased vertical antennas.
The antennas were tuned individually and then connected to the field L/C tuner. However, problems were then encountered getting the SWR of the combined system down sufficiently to give efficient, safe operation with a linear amplifier. It was therefore agreed a further maintenance day on Wednesday 13th March would be required to complete the tasks we had set ourselves and I shall report further afterwards.
With the contest weekend getting closer SRS members are most welcome to join us in the station build period (25th to 28th March) to see our set-up. Also visitors can see the station in action over the weekend of 30th & 31st March.
Details of our site location can be found www.g8srs.co.uk/where-we-operate-from/ and information about the group can be found by visiting http://www.g8srs.co.uk/peak-contest-group/
I and my other members look forward to seeing you.
Best wishes and good DX
Tom M0DCG
Posted: 6th March 2024
Contest ‘Chalk ‘n Cheese’
Members gathered both at Walthew House and online for an interesting and informative presentation by Evan M0TJU on the subject of contesting. Evan provided an insight into how to bit your toes in the world of competitive amateur radio, or radio sport as it’s known in some countries.
Posted: 6th March 2024
TAS Memorabilia Fair February 2024
The last weekend in February once again saw the team descend on the Runway Visitor Park, Manchester Airport for the first of this year’s memorabilia fairs. Over the weekend we were pleased to meet many visitors and introduce some to the joys of amateur radio.
One in particular, Justin from North Wales came over to say hello whilst his son was outside with his camera. Justin is presently studying with Hamtrain for his Foundation Licence and thanks to the change in the regulations earlier in the week we were pleased to let him take the mic and join in our Sunday morning 2 Metre net.
Another successful event with plans already being made for the summer fair over the final weekend in July when hopefully the weather will be kind.
Posted: 27th February 2024
SRS Centenary Plus Award
Tuesday (20th) saw members gather to see the launch of the society’s new activity award aimed at encouraging contacts between members. The 2024 award season begins on the 1st March 2024 and all the details can be found on the dedicated webpage.
The award will be managed by Alan G0ROW to whom we express our thanks for putting the guide together as well as the certificates.
Posted: 21st February 2024
Saturday Table top Sale
A rather cool Saturday morning saw members turn out in their droves to attend our monthly Saturday event which this month included a table top sale. As is now the norm, the breakfast as provided by Neil M6NAE & Bill M0WBS is proving a popular addition to our sessions leaving members partaking suitably fed & watered.
This month we were pleased to welcome Richard G4HGI from our local neighbours, the Bolton Wireless Club who was calling to collect some donations for the “Ukraine Relief Amateur Radio Project” which featured in our Tuesday evening meeting.
A very satisfying event which also featured our usual “Repair Shop” with Tom M0DCG & Phil M0HNJ, shack operating with Evan M0TJU and Keith M0JYP plus a demonstration of Mesh Networking by Stephen M0RDN.
Posted: 11th February 2024
Ukraine Relief Amateur Radio Project
Following contact from the Zaporizhzhian Radio Club, Richard G4HGI of the Bolton Wireless Club and NARSA, set up a relief operation to facilitate donations of radios and related equipment to war-torn Ukraine. In true ham radio spirit, amateurs have generously responded.
Tuesday 6th February we were very pleased to welcome Richard via WebEx who delivered an amazing presentation outlining the project and it’s progress in providing radio gear and accessories to the radio club in Ukraine.
Any member who has surplus gear which they believe the project may benefit from, please contact us by email so we may pass on the details to Richard and arrange collection if appropriate.
Ukrainian Amateur Radio Relief Project
Posted: 7th February 2024
RSGB AFS (Affiliated Societies) Contests 2024
Following on from the CW leg of this year’s AFS contests the Data and SSB results have now been announced with certificates being awarded (see below). Thanks to Pete M1PTR and Tom M0DCG for entering on the club’s behalf and in the case of the SSB event were the leading 2 man station.
Well done to both and to see further details of our AFS entries please visit our contest results page.
Posted: 4th February 2024
RSGB Photo Friday
SRS featured in the RSGB Photo Friday posts both on Facebook and X (Twitter).
The photos taken at our last Saturday meeting feature Neil M6NAE & Bill M0WBS preparing to serve up the delicious SRs Breakfast, plus Stephen M0RDN with his Xeigu X6100 preparing for a future trip away.
Posted: 2nd February 2024
Meshtastic – Mesh Networking a beginners guide
Tuesday 30th January saw members gather on a cold evening for an impromptu and hastily arranged meeting, the subject Mesh Networking into which Stephen M0RDN has been researching.
Those present were treated to an informative presentation including some helpful videos which has spurred a 2024 club project.
Stephen has helpfully prepared a beginners guide including links to the YouTube videos shown. The guide can be found by following this link.
Posted: 2nd February 2024
Neil M6NAE Chairs 145Alive
The latest 145Alive event took place today, Saturday 27th January between the hours of 1 and 3pm. This popular initiative lead by Tim G5TM is aimed at increasing activity on the 2 metre band which at times can be devoid of activity.
Recognising the opportunity to publicise SRS and spur some activity, Neil M6NAE applied for a slot and was accepted on 145.525MHz. Kicking off at 1pm, a steady stream of callsigns, members and non, entered the log. Neil live streamed the event through the SRS YouTube channel which was viewed by many both near and far.
Well done Neil, a cracking event and some good publicity.
Posted: 27th January 2024
RSGB AFS (Affiliated Societies) Contests 2024
The 2024 series of RSGB HF AFS (Affiliated Societies) contests ended on the 20th January with the final SSB leg. The previous weekends had seen the CW leg on the 6th followed by the Data event on the 14th.
We are pleased to say SRS have entrants in each event and as has already been reported Evan M0TJU, Tom M0DCG and Bernard G3SHF took part in the CW contest at the beginning of the year. We can now report Pete M1PTR represented the society in both the Data and SSB events with Tom M0DCG adding to his CW participation by joining the fun on SSB.
The results of the CW event have been published with SRS achieving 26th place out of 56 entrants in the local clubs category. We will bring you more news as soon as we have it, in the meantime thank you to Pete, Tom, Evan, and Bernard for entering these events on our behalf.
Posted: 22nd January 2024
Saturday @ Walthew House
Our first Saturday meeting of 2024 (13th) saw a fair posse of members gather at Walthew House to partake in the various activities on offer many suitably fuelled by a hearty breakfast provided by our chefs Neil M6NAE and Bill M0WBS (pictured).
Phil M0HNJ and Tom M0DCG got stuck into repairing an old Trio transceiver whilst Tony M0SAV with help from others set too completing the setup of our new audio visual unit. Elsewhere, noises were emanating from our new shack where under the control of Evan M0TJU followed by Keith M0JYP our IC 7610 was being employed on the HF bands making contacts around Europe using both CW & SSB. Still with his CW hat on, Evan then turned to offering Bob G4GDG some CW training. Stephen M0RDN (pictured) had brought along his new Xeigu X6100 to try out prior to his trip to South Africa.
A busy day with everyone looking forward to our next Saturday event next month.
For more information about our Saturday meetings, please click here.
Updated 17th January 2024
RSGB AFS CW Contest 2024
This year’s AFS contests got underway on Saturday 6th January with the CW leg taking place between 1pm & 5pm local time with a number of entrants from SRS. Competing on behalf of SRS were Bernard G3SHF, Tom M0DCG and Evan M0DCG. Please follow this link for details of logs uploaded.
The digital leg takes place on Sunday 14th January, whilst the SSB legs rounds off the season on the 20th January.
Evan M0TJU has produced a guide as to what to expect which can be viewed here.
Updated: 8th January 2024
An evening with the Yaesu FT-710
Tuesday evening, 2nd January saw Neil M6NAE deliver an interesting illustrated presentation describing the new Yaesu transceiver followed by a lively discussion. Thank you Neil and all who attended at Walthew House and online via Webex.
Posted: 3rd January 2024
SRS HF Ladder 2023 Standings & Results
Well, SRS members have been busy on the HF bands last year with a total of 5799 a slots in all modes, CW, SSB and Data. There were 18 SRS members entering the HF ladder along with GB0DBA and EI6KP SES.
On CW, a total of 632 slots were made with Evan, M0TJU, being the winner with 208 slots out of 7 SRS members.
On SSB, a total of 1266 slots were made with Keith, M0JYP being the winner with 402 slots out of 14 participants.
Data, a total of 3901 slots were made, with some very impressive slot numbers. There were 13 participants with Peter, G8BCG being the winner of the data section and overall winner of the 2023 SRS HF Ladder.
Congratulations to all participants, and it would be great if a few more members participated in the ladder, especially as HF conditions are very good at present.
Any member who wants to join this year’s ladder, drop me an email: hfladder (at) g8srs.co.uk
See SRS HF Ladder 2023 Standings & Results for details.
73 and DX
Kieron, M5KJM/EI6KP
Review of 2023 – QUAlite edition 47
The latest edition of our newsletter which features a review of 2023 is available to download by clicking on the picture opposite.
Posted: 1st January 2024