This meeting saw a temporary change of venue as the club meeting was held at Smiths Metals, Biggleswade.  On a hot evening, the air conditioned conference room made a considerable impression on members who had come to hear Ken, G4YRF present an update on the state of digital communications to the gathering, most of whom either had not tried digital or had not followed it enthusiastically.  A brief outline of modes followed with some indications of personal preferences.

The subject then turned to interfacing a rig with the PC or laptop indicating the need for isolation and sound control.  Methods were outlined to enable the proper settings to ensure the soundcard audio did not over drive the rig, nor visa versa.

Several website were cited that describe modes, some with recordings and some with watefall pictures to help identify new modes.

 Our host, Steve, M0DYR then took some members on a short tour of the works. A more complete tour has been promised for later in the year.

 The information given in this PowerPoint presentation was extensive and will be available to members who would like a copy.

Our members get up to all sorts of activities not directly connected with our club.  The following, as you can see, is from his station journal:

(EXTRACT from Station Journal of Victor G3JNB)

 ————–RSGB ‘CENTENARY DAY’ JULY 5^th 2013————

 Audrey and I left home for Bletchley Park at 10.15, arriving at 11am to be directed to the VIP parking area not far from the Mansion.  We were in nice time for the 11.30 lecture by Paul Cort-Wright, G3SEM on amateurs in the radio security services which included a remarkable expose on the role of the ‘Voluntary Interceptors’ and the story of how they have been deliberately ignored in the Bletchley story.

Audrey had on her colourful new summer outfit and I wore my panama hat with the light suit. The sun blazed and it was a delightful day.

A light lunch of excellent sandwiches was served to invited guests and we sat with Roger Hall, publisher of ‘Practical Wireless’, and Paul Bigwood of Yaesu UK.

We adjourned to the garden behind the National Radio Centre (Audrey had a brief glimpse of the displays)  where  I was presented to the Lord Lieutenant of  Buckinghamshire, Sir Henry Aubrey Fletcher,  the High Sheriff  Sir Stuart Hampson and to Councillor Brian White,  Mayor of Milton Keynes.  The line up of just twelve persons included the Presidents of the IARU, the ARRL and the licencing Director from OFCOM…and me!  The Society’s Patron HRH, The Duke of Edinburgh was to have been our guest of honour but he is presently indisposed.

It seems that I was invited to participate as the ‘Long Serving Member’  (60 years to the day) and my earlier activities and work for the Society.

Sir Henry unveiled two plaques.  The first to the ‘VRs’ and the second to commemorate the RSGB Centenary.  In his speech he fleetingly referred to the Society’s ‘Oldest Member present (me) whom he had just met’!

We strolled to the marquee and saw the children working of their ‘Raspberry Pi’ receiver project and bought a copy of Elaine’s brilliant ‘CENTENARY’ book which, later, together with President Bob Whelan , I had her autograph the title page. An entry on page 49 records the first public demonstration of amateur television on 21^st April 1950 at the ‘Shefford & District Short Wave Society’ by Ivan G2DUS. The press were most impressed and the event was followed by a JUNK SALE! Those were the days!

Afternoon tea was served to us in the Mansion where we sat in company with Past President  Hilary Clayton Smith and Paul Bigwood..

The afternoon concluded with a splendid power point presentation by Elaine Richards ,  Editor of  RadCom, on historical aspects of the  Society entitled ‘A Dip into the Archives’.

Moving on the Horwood House, where we stayed overnight for the Centenary Dinner, we found that we had been given a lovely large room, overlooking a garden,  albeit a long distance and tiring walk from the centre.

Arrayed in my dinner jacket and with Audrey in a stunning white silk dress (Greek), we descended at 6.30 and were entertained in the bar by a ‘Table Magician’ before all moving to the steps of Horwood for a group photograph which was intended to reflect similar pictures from the Society’s 1930 events.

Audrey and I were guests at the table named for the scientist ‘Ernest Dawson Ostermeyer G5AR’, hosted by Chris Danby of the Norfolk ARC (RadCom advertising agent).

The special commemorative menus featured the same fare as the first London Wireless Society Dinner.  My copy has eight signatures of the ten present.

Important formal speeches and presentations were made.  Our President gave a rousing address and toasted the ARRL and IARU presidents and our own Society  Then he went on to name me as ‘The member who had joined the Society sixty years ago today!  They gave me big round of applause!

This historical event has meant a great deal to me as it has reflected much of my own experience and pleasure of the sixty five years of my life during which I have enjoyed radio as a hobby and as an advertising  professional.

Victor and Audrey arrive at the National Radio Centre

G3JNB is presented to Sir Henry by the President of the RSGB  (Photo by Richard Constantine G3UGF)

Later, at the Banquet

Last year’s 2m DF hunt winner, Michael, M6MBU was the fox this year. Unfortunately I was unable to attend, but I should be able to relay the results as soon as I receive them.

And the results are:

The winner of the 2M pedestrian DF hunt was Terry, G4UEM who arrived at 20:32, followed by Don, G4LOO at 20:33 and Steve, M0DYR at 20:44

Stewart, G3RXQ presented his plan for the club’s ‘re-entry’ in the SSB NFD on 7th and 8th of September.  Years ago, this contest was a fixture in the club’s programme, along with the CW NFD. Situations changed through the years and the club has not made an entry for a very long time.

 Using a PowerPoint presentation, Stewart showed how this contest coincided with the All Asia contest and showed how we could enter both, although each required a different (specific) report.

 The proposed layout of antennas were shown on the map and discussions followed about the merits of various locations.  The station equipment would be supplied by Stewart and consisted of a completely integrated station. One button could be used to set all the correct settings on the rig, amplifier, log and associated equipment. So, less tuning up time and less chance of using the wrong settings.     A BBQ has also been arraigned to round off the weekend!    

Using a Power Point presentation, I tried to explain some of the ways of operating split frequencies using the club’s rig.  Like many of the modern rigs, there is more than one way of doing things, but some rely on other settings, as well. I also explained why working split in a pile up is advantageous, and how the set up differs if you are the DX station or the person calling the DX. A note was made of the logger we will be using for G100RSGB and how the RSGB will deal with all the QSL chores so long as we submit our logs in .adif format. Later, the rig was set up and members had a chance to try out the settings for themselves.

The Summer Mobile DF hunt took place last evening in Shefford. Although it had been raining earlier in the day, the evening turned out fine.  Five vehicles set out at 8pm searching for Bryan, M0BIK who was the fox, assisted by Terry, G4UEM. Bryan’s 25 milliwatts from behind The Bridge pub,which is about 200 yds from the clubhouse was very strong at the starting line. The starting mileage from each entrant was registered since the member who drove the shortest distance would be the winner.  The final count was:

·         Stewart G3RXQ = 4.8 miles  (the winner)

      Steve M0DYR = just short of 7 miles

·         John 2E0OAK = 7 miles

·         Paul G1GSN = 8 miles

·         Derek M0DLM = 9 miles

·   

Paul, G1GSN, who led the planning session said the location had been registered with the Contest Committee. We would be entering the same sections as last year; 4M and 6M would be in the restricted section. The location of the site and maps were offered to members who were not familiar with the area.

Paul then followed by making a list of the equipment that needed to be supplied by members or the club, which in addition to radios, included such items as tents, tables, chairs and laptops with updated software.

It was decided that the heavy equipment would be moved on the site on Friday since there were some members who would be staying overnight. The main job of setting up would start on Saturday morning at about 09:00 to be ready for the contest start at 3PM BST.

Discussions followed about operating techniques and the need for accurate logging.

Bryan, M0BIK using a Power Point presentation outlined the ‘Why, When and Where’ this event would take place.  The RSGB has arraigned with Ofcom for affiliated clubs to use a special callsign,G100RSGB, to celebrate the RSGB’s 100 years as the National Society. Each period of either a week or a few days the callsign would be assigned to a different Region and our Region 9 will allow us to operate with the callsign from 28 to 30 June.  Brian detailed how we could use the field to best advantage and asked for operators to come forward to sign up.  As yet, not a lot of operators have signed, but as we get nearer to the time, it is expected that more members will be able to fit in some time.  Most operations will be SSB, while there should be two CW operators on hand to work the WARC bands. 

Not the best turnout, but it wasn’t a warm evening and it did look like rain, although the rain didn’t materialize.  Steve, M0DYR was the ‘Fox’ with help from Brian, M0HAS.  Transmissions started at 20:00 with 45 seconds of transmission every five minutes.  Steve’s signal wasn’t very strong at the club house, but seven members made a start.  Unfortunately, most members opted to try the Eastern end of Shefford, where the signal never got stronger.

That should have been the clue to go West!   However, by the time the Eastern portion had been searched, time was rapidly running out. Meanwhile, Stewart, G3RXQ opted to go West after obtaining a bearing in that direction. Twenty minutes later he found Steve near Campton road by the cemetery. Steve, Brian and Stewart arrived at the pub to find the ‘Eastern Group’ already there. Discussions followed about how and why we might have done better. Well, there’s always next year.

Because of a hitch in the original plans for the evening, we found we needed a fill-in programme, so Don brought some videos depicting historic moments associated with radio and television.    Seems things weren’t always better in the Old Days!