Updated 4th April 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 info@g8srs.co.uk 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 award@g8srs.co.uk.
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 https://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
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