A good club turn-out heard Dr. Colin Gooch detail radio equipment used to track birds during daily feeding habits and migration. Three systems were explained: Radio Tracking, good for short range, A Position Logging GPS receiver gives good data, but must be retrieved from the bird to access the data, and for the longest range measurements, Satellite Tracking, which yields good data but is expensive.  Of course, small birds can only be expected to carry small transmitters which must not be more then 5% of the birds body weight. The limiting factor is generally the weight of the battery. These transmitters are only detectable over a short range of perhaps a hundred meters, so not useful for GPS or Satellite tracking.  Dr. Gooch showed maps of various feeding patterns exhibited by types of gulls and also the long range migration patterns of those birds that travel to western Africa and sometimes beyond.

A formal report written in 1959 stated the need to augment water supplies in this area and led to the Great Ouse Water Act, 1961, which in turn led to the construction of the dam and reservoir at Diddington.

Philip Laws, Security, explained to our 15 members the need to supply up to 40 million gallons of water a day to nearby towns and villages including the new town of Milton Keynes. In December 1964 water was pumped into the newly named Grafham Water Reservoir.  Philip detailed the construction of the dam and the reservoir and explained that it is checked every ten years by an independent authority to verify it’s integrity. Of course, Grafham supplies more than just water since the area is also used for recreation and conservation.

Quentin, G0BVW volunteered to be the fox. Although his signal was not strong, he was soon found by Martin, M6SCI at 20:25 having travelled only 3.3 Miles. Second was Steve, M0DYR, followed by David, G8UOD and then Paul, G1GSN.  The final meeting place was the Stone Jug at Clophill where members enjoyed a pint and a chat afterwards

An evening of planning VHF NFD. Don, G4LOO gave the layout of stations and antennas, while Ian, G1JCC sought helpers for setting up and operating. The list has been posted on this site under the Contests Tab.  Send an email to Ian, G1JCC to be added.