Well, it turned out to be a ‘Meeting Cancelled’ evening!  The power was off and we had no idea when it would be restored.

Let’s hope it’s back soon.

The Construction Contest winners spoke last evening.  There were three winners, the first was Victor, G3JNB who couldn’t be present but sent a résumé of his project, an audio filter built from two kits. The first stage provided shaping and narrowing of the audio from his small direct conversion receiver.The second stage, which was identical to the first, provided even sharper filtration to the CW signals.

The next project described was the winner of the Major Project class by Stewart, G3RXQ, who built a great circle map with LED lights to show the direction of the beam heading as derived from the signal at the rotator control unit. The LED lights were moved around the map by the use of Stewart’s own design using shift registers controlled by a PIC, which he also programmed.  The beam width could be varied to indicate a narrow beam width as found with UHF/VHF antennas or a wider beam width to indicate an HF beam.  The actual heading was indicated with a fully lit LED, while the beam width was shown by LEDs of a lower intensity.  A lone LED could be used to show the reverse or Long Path setting for each beam heading. The display was very elegant and the unit, as a whole, produced to a very high professional standard.

Rounding out the evening was a description of a Week End Special, a Desktop Active Loop built by Dennis, M0JXM. The loop itself was quite small, about 22 cms in diameter but was demonstrated receiving 40M CW signals as well as broadcast.  Turning the loop resulted in significant  loss or increase in signal strength.

It was what we used to call a ‘Natter Night’, but in reality, it was a round table discussion on topics which were set before the meeting.

The subject of Club Nets was brought up first; why are they not supported more and is it because we have chosen to use the wrong bands. Many members cited the large antenna needed for Top Band as a hindrance. Of course, there was a time when almost all members had something for Top Band as a matter of course, but these days the band has fallen out of favour somewhat, perhaps due to smaller gardens and antenna restrictions in places.

Most members do have the short antenna and rig to support a Club Net on 2 Meters, but other things seem to be happening at the same time. I can see that in the days before communications by the internet, these nets served a very useful purpose, but now, communications at a time and place more suited to the members seems to be the preferred method.  That said, there are a few members who still enjoy using both Top Band and 2M in the Club Nets.

On the subject of ‘Home Brewing’, various projects were discussed. This is, of course, in addition to the pending ‘Club Project’ which is still in development.

The G100RSGB callsign was the next item for discussion and several members said they had worked one of the current stations.  We, as a club, will have planning and operations later in the season.  (28-30 June on the air.)

The usefulness of the Reverse Beacon Network was discussed. Most members have heard of it but not all had actually used it.  It was pointed out that it could be a useful tool for antenna comparisons as well as checking equipment updates and propagation.

The tranquil view of an island at sunset belies the dangerous rocks, sheer, near vertical climb from the sea and the heat and bugs that beset the 20 man team of radio amateurs from six nations who spent the best part of 15 days making contacts throughout the world.  This was the story told in the video we watched last evening.  The Malpelo HK0 DXCC entity ranked number twelve in the all-time ‘most wanted’ list.

Club members were impressed by the numbers of QSO per hour and the final total of just over 195,000 QSOs.        The operation was a ‘Tent and Generator’ operation and little wonder it was chosen as  the ‘Dxpedition of the year, 2012’

Looks like members have been busy constructing again. Last evening, 24 Jan.  we held the annual Construction Contest and had a total of nine entries. The projects were judged according to an agreed score sheet; the judging being done by the members who were present on the night.

Richard, G3NII, said that after looking at several potential new project ideas, a digital antenna analyser was chosen. This would have a two line display showing three pages: the start-up, the battery test voltage and the antenna measurements.  It will also be possible to use a small AC power supply to save the nine volt battery.  It is expected that the current drawn will be about 70 to 80 milliamps, giving a battery life of about three hours of actual use.  An interjection from the floor suggested we might get spare batteries from Boeing!

A block diagram was shown which indicated the use of a PIC and a three line LCD display.  The frequency range is expected to be Top Band to 30MHz but it was noted that measurements could be made down to 400 kHz. to include the new Low band allocation.   Some maths followed to explain the calculations  to be done by the PIC.  An idea of the front panel layout was given and it was noted that the connector could be of the builders’ choice.  In light of other work, Richard said this should be considered as an Autumn 2013 project, as there is still some design work to be finalised. It was hoped that this project would cost about £38 in total and the project will only be offered to existing club members.

Last week’s meeting – 10 Jan 2013

Members were welcomed back fron the Christmas/New Year break and a general discussion followed.

Don, G4LOO gave a good rundown of the equipment that was available to the forces during the period 1940 through to 1970.  Seems there was a lot of kit available from several manufacturers. Some was meant to be carried by personnel and some was for use in tanks, lorries and jeeps.The most outstanding fact seemed to be there was little power output for the weight of the equipment when compared with equipment today!

John Wayman, G4DRS spoke about the 5 Star DXers Association trip to Kiritimati Island  in the Northern Line Islands, part of the Gilbert Group.  Known as Christmas Island, but not to be confused with the other Christmas Island near Australia. This island is just about on the equator and just about in the centre of the Pacific.

After two years of planning, first class equipment, including 16 Yaesu FT 5000 transceivers and 16 Yaesu Quadra Amps, Yagi antennas, two 11 KVA generators and all that is needed to set up first class stations was packed in a container, complete with satellite tracking and sent on it’s way by ship to Fiji.  Unfortunately, the various shipping companies made promises they couldn’t keep and the container never got closer to it final destination than Tarawa Island which was about 2000 miles to the west. There were no ships available to move the equipment, so Plan C had to be activated in which all 38 operators in the team would hand carry the equipment on their flights.  They took Laptops, Yaesu  FT450 rigs and small amps along with the glassfibre poles, coax and wire  which would be used to make vertical dipole arrays on the beach.

John explained that each member paid their own way and the sponsor’s money and  donations were used for operational specific items.  The final QSO tally showed they had broken previous DXpedition totals by racking up 213,169 contacts!

John and his wife, Sandra are ex club members as were several other visitors who came to hear about this amazing DXpedition.

The annual Club Quiz was held last evening. An excellent quiz was prepared and delivered by David, G0UOD.

It was a shame that nearby clubs who had been invited to attend, did not come.

The quiz covered various subject, including history, politics, radio, mathematics, and general knowledge.  There were three teams of four members, however, the past winners could only field three members which must have contributed to their downfall.

The four members of the winning team received a bottle of wine each and the team of four who found themselves in last place received wooden spoons!   In all, everyone had a good time and we now look forward to the next Quiz!

The hall was in use for local elections, so no meeting was possible.