David began by giving his requirements for a 4m and 23cm beacon: Transmitter location close to Central Bedford, Nominal tx power of 10w erp, Antenna omni or simple dipole with horizontal polarisation, Operation 24/7, FSK and Data operation, Mains power on site. Filtering of low and high power stages, and a Remote switch off. The site found had been previously used by another repeater now closed down. Construction of the beacon began with an RFzero commercially produced PCB available on line for about £70.
23cm Received signal reports on Beaconspot.co.uk showed best DX reported so far by G4DDK was 120km at Felixstowe and G8FIG in Rainham Essex, Also 73km by G4HTZ in Suffolk. Further measurements will give David info as to how weather and the Seasons affect signal propagation at UHF
Our first presentation in the hall’s new set up: a very large screen and suspended projector along with a new lecturn. Althouth the system appeared to be working during the test session days before, it just wouldn’t work on the evening!
But Sean’s professional background shown through as he did the lecture without the visuals for backup. He described early days in what would become Bomber Command during the First World War. He said it was apperent that much work needed to be done on the accuracy of hitting targets. Even during the start of WW2 the targets could be missed by as much as seventy miles! Even though the crew thought they had actually hit it.
Sean decribed the forming of the special groups which would become the Path Finders. He named may well known names from the time which he had actually interviewd after the war for the books he was writing. With the onset of Radar,and lots of training, the Path Finders managed to hit most targets, even in cloudy weather.
Don began with a report of the contest last held which was IOTA in July 2024.Some photos from the field were shown then Don explained the two problems with the equipment. After giving the raw scores he pointed out our error rate of 3.53% compared to the average error rate of 4.23%. So, how did we do? 102 out of 226 in the World, 59 out of 130 in Eu, and 6th out of 9 in the UK.
On that note, Don moved on to the up coming CQWW contest on the 26th/27th of October 2024. For those members who might not know, Don explained what CQWW was all about, Most members were very much in the know! Don pointed out where the “run”station would be situated and their equipment.. followed by the “multiplier” station.
Followed were details of logging and how to identify the multipliers and how the unwanted stations could be identified. (only work stations that come up in Green or Red in the log)
Don ran through the details about equipment operations, followed by a reminder of the Saturday set up time and Monday take down time.
A banner with SHEFFORD AND DISTRICT AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY was fixed to the side of a Land Rover 110 announcing our presence in the Memorial Hall.
The hall was opened at 6:15pm and equipment carried in. Dave, G4FKI, set up a two metre repeater station. Using a 20ft push up mast for 2m with a co-linear. Contacts was made with former member John G4AHM in Maulden who has recently got back on the air. Further contacts were made via Dave G4FKI echolink 2m fm node in Ampthill to various stations in North America.
One notable visitor was Alan Waring, a member from the 1960s he now runs the community radio station Biggles fm in Potton.
The banner attracted the attention of a Polish radio ham. He came in to enquire about operating in the UK. He left suitably encouraged and with documentation to get a UK licence. Later a husband and wife came in and spent time talking with several members. They too were interested in becoming licenced.
Eight members attended and a rehearsal of the equipment, posters and demonstrations were completed. Tea was served and seven members enjoyed fish chips.-
This year the Islands on the Air contest will take place this week end 27 July to 28 July,
The set up will begin at 10.00 (clock time) today (Friday) and the pack up will take place starting at 13.00 (clock time) Sunday. Don passed around a copy of the rota for any member who would like to operate.
Don explained the contest details, i.e. SSB and CW on all bands except 10 MHz, 12 and 17 MHz. The club will be running two stations, “Run” and “Multiplier” A run down of equipment to be used followed. Aerials to be used were listed and where each station would be located. Station 1 will be the Run station attempting to work as many stations as possible by calling CQ. The multiplier station must not operate on the same band as the Run station and should use the Cluster to find multipliers. Often hearing a station report their IOTA number will be a clue. “World” stations i.e. will not have an IOTA number so will not count as a multiplier. The only details to be exchanged to make a valid contact are Callsign, Signal report (usually 59 or 599 for CW), Serial Number and IOTA reference e.g. EU-005 .(if applicable)
Don continued with descriptions of equipment to be used etc. and made the reminder that equipment will be taken down Sunday at 13.00 (Clock time)
The Club, along with a few visitors from the Stevenage club, paid an afternoon visit to Chicksands, the home of the Military Intelligence Museum. It was a pleasant afternoon but a somewhat tiring walk about, but there were seats and chairs for our use. For anyone familiar with WWll it was a look back at what was being planned and accomplished at the time. Most of the displays featured aspects of British operations. Only one small corner was devoted to the USAF radio activities and their famous aerial, locally known as the “Elephant Cage”, which is no longer there.
Don began with a question: What is a Utility Station? He continued by saying that the term utility station is used to describe fixed radio broadcasters disseminating signals that are not intended for reception by the general public.
As radio amateurs we often pass a hill or field with aerials and wonder what they are for and who is using them. We seem to spot them the way a botanist spots rare flowers. It turns out that most fall into the category of either Military (aeronautical), Civilian Aeronautical (commercial), Maritime (commercial) or Signals Intelligence (GCHQ).
First on the list was Croughton Airways, the USAF facility for military air traffic to and from Europe and further afield. The main aerial seen from the road is a receiving type as the transmitter is located far away to stop interference.
Don showed many aerial locations as found on Google Earth, although many are difficult to discern from the aerial photos, the shadows were the main source of info.
Prior to 2003 British services used their own individual comms systems, The RAF had six sites in the UK and the Navy had twelve. In 2003 the MOD decided to merge all the existing HF comms systems into one. This was to be called the Defence High Frequency Communications Service (DHFCS). The DHFCS became operational in 2008, and uses three pairs of transmitter receiver sites
With regard to Maritime services, the Coastguard established NAVTEX to broadcast weather warnings covering 270 miles of sea. as well as other facilities for Maritime use. More photos of the aerials used were shown. Don said for the time being other weather reports are broadcast on MF from six sites around the UK.
Working at the BBC, Steve experienced all sorts of problems. The greatest being those dealing with outside broadcast, but his start was in the studio for the BBC TODAY PROGRAMME where he dealt with microphones, audio tape editing, sound mixing desks and making sound effects! He explained the sound of military marching was done by putting gravel into a cardboard box and turning the box from side to side.
Steve continued working in the studio but moved to News and Sport where he stayed for five years, followed by a short time in Schools Radio. When the chance arrived, he moved to Outside Broadcasts. He says the skills are the same but in a temporary environment. He stayed in OB for the rest of his career totalling forty years working as Engineering Manager. The job was varied but always contained the same challenges, but now in locations such as Glastonbury, Kings College, Ibiza nightclubs, Royal Ceremonials and an almost endless list of locations around the world including the Brazil World Cup. As the Engineering Manager he was responsible for things like planning set ups at large events including power generation, cable routes and rigging plans, microphone locations, wiring connections back to the studio, radio licences, Health and Safety and the cost of it all!
Steve’s presentation to the club was very professional and most entertaining, lots of slides of events and the almost tons of wiring and equipment needed to do outside broadcasts.
After the meeting Paul G1GSN, our Club Chairman presented two cups which he was unable to present during the March AGM
Brian G8GHR received the Cup for the best talk last year. Paul, G8IUG received the cup for the best week end project in the Construction Contest.
First up was CQWW SSB 2023 on 28 – 29 October 2023. Don began with our claimed score and gave a comparison to the year before. It appeared our score was a bit lower than last year. Most of the problems were listed starting with logging errors. A chart showed where the mistakes were made in incorrect calls, incorrect exchanges and duplicates as well as some calls not in the recipients log. Of course all errors lower the score in the end.
Don continued by showing who was first in the world, then first in EU and finally, who was first in the UK in our section. The tally showed we were sixth. Don also showed a comparison as to where we finished in years past. The totals seemed to change with the conditions each year.
The next contest to be looked at was the CQ WPX RTTY of 11 – 12 Feb 2024. The score looked high and was much better then last year coming third in our section!
The BIG question of the evening was have we made enough points to continue with our callsign G3B? The answer was YES!
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