Brian, G8GHR displayed over a hundred novelty and advertising radios which were produced from about the 1960s to current times. Brian pointed out that it was the introduction of the transistor that made such miniaturization possible along with developments in cheap coloured plastics.  Also on show were many thin vinyl discs which were produced by many companies as advertising. It’s hard to appreciate that without the internet and commercial radio this was considered a viable means of getting product information to the public. Many were produced during the 1920s and 30s and later. Brian played a number of recordings,  some featuring well known actors and musicians of the day. For instance, singing for Remington Roll-A-Matic shaver were Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong and Rosemary Clooney. Then Ben Cartwright who played Lorne Greene in the TV western Bonanza, was advertising Chevrolet cars!

Just a few of the radios on display. 

Don, G4LOO, the winner in two categories, explains how he modified a Bird Thruline Power Meter to show peak readings for his entry in the Weekend Special Class. None of the modifications are permanent so at some later date the unit can be returned to it’s original condition, if necessary.

Entered in the Major Construction Class was a 6M Linear Amplifier built around a Russian ceramic valve. Don explained the problems associated in attaining efficiency in the power output.  As part of the control circuit, Don used a commercially  available PCB which he had to populate but he also decided to add sequencing to insure various areas were powered on in the correct order and proper time.      

It’s always good to get together and have a general chat about club matters. However, we did have a visitor last evening; a person who used to be a member many years ago and hasn’t been able to attend lately because he has been working  and living a good distance away.  Now, due to changed circumstances, Nic,  was able to stop by and offered a short talk, ‘off the cuff’ about his work in Ferrites and Magnetism.  There followed an amazing flow of famous names, and some not so famous names and dates looking back to the 1700’s detailing people who had researched and experimented the subject. His account was brought right up to date with details of present information on the subject.  All together, an impressive talk, and without notes!

This year there were ten entries in the Annual Construction Contest. Of the four possible categories, only three had entries since the Novice category is for members who have never entered this contest before.  The contest was judged by members who were present on the evening.

 Top prize for the Major Project went to Don, G4LOO who had built a 50Mhz linear amplifier. The Weekend Special category was also won by Don who submitted a Modified Bird Power Meter. Last, but not least, was the Kit category won this year by Larry, G4OXY who submitted a Transverter which covered 4M and 6M.

One of the benefits of winning is being able to tell members about the winning projects. Don and Larry will get their chance on the 13^th of Feb.  

Cups and Plaques will be presented at the Club’s Annual Dinner, which for this year, as a trial, will be a Mid Day Lunch!

Last evening, as a last minute substitution, we saw the video ‘Valveman’ which told the story of Gerald Wells and how he came to be the curator of the The British Vintage Wireless and Television Museum. This was in place of the planned visit out that had to be postponed due to a change in our host’s work schedule.  

This museum at West Dulwich, London displays one of the world’s largest collections of valves, vintage radios and other early apparatus from the pioneering days of wireless communication. These are all kept in his house in London.  

More details of the museum can be found at  http://www.bvwtm.org.uk  including a virtual tour and much more.

A good turn out heard Alan, G4PSO describe the little computer originally aimed at youngsters to help them become more aware of what lay behind the computers and game consoles they are so familiar with. The computer described is the product of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a charity founded in 2009 to promote basic computer science in schools. They developed a single board computer about the size of a credit card which they named the Raspberry Pi.  Developed along with the hardware is a coding system based on building blocks called ‘Scratch’ which makes very basic programmes easy enough for youngsters to use.

 The usefulness of this hardware was not lost on more experienced experimenters. Alan showed how the unit could handle and display still photos and videos as well as  HD video on a Television. The uses to which this unit can be used is almost endless and was shown in the dozens of books and magazines Alan had on display. 

For the first meeting of the New Year, we had an informal chat. Many topics were covered and one was the state of the club’s web site. 

 Members must have noticed that, among other things, the calendar hasn’t been updated in a good while.  This is not due to lack of interest or failure on the webmasters part, but a change of software has left the site un-responsive.  For some time now the software used to build the site has been unsupported by our host. We had been given a ‘workaround’ but lately that has stopped working with the result that the webmaster has been unable to access most parts of the site.  This Blog still works because it is done with different software.  Our webmaster and committee are very aware of the potential problems associated with a dead site and please be assured that the situation will be amended as soon as possible.  In the meantime, the programme and updates will be posted here:  http://calendar.g3fje.org.uk

 Discussions also followed about the future use of our club callsign G3B.  We are aware that in order to renew it in three years we will have to use it in more contests.This discussion needs to be taken up by the entire membership and that should be the subject of an evenings meeting.

It was our last meeting before Christmas and the New Year. A good number of members turned up, perhaps not as many as in the past, but I know that one member had a very good excuse, he’s suffering from Gout!

 We were pleased that our club contest callsign, G3B has been renewed again till 2016.  We’ll have to have a good look at some other contests in addition to CQWW SSB, to get our overall score for the year high enough for future renewals.

 The Club will re-start again on the 9^th of January 2014. So, till then, have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Our speaker for the evening told of her work with the RSGB archives which she is currently sorting and cataloguing. Included in the archive are the stories and photos of early pioneers in radio, mostly radio amateurs.  There were tales of WW1 pilots trying to fly their biplanes with one hand and use a radio with the other while still trying to shoot with a pistol, and the story of radio amateurs finding signals from Germany indicating the Zeppelins were being brought out and made ready for flight, giving precious minutes to get UK aircraft airborne to meet them.  In the Second World War many radio amateurs were volunteer interceptors looking for enemy signals and reporting to our authorities, even though they were forbidden the use of their transmitting equipment.

Elaine finished by making the group aware that they will be the subject of future amateur radio archives and that we should make plans now to save photos and documents since so much is stored on Hard Drives and easily destroyed, especially when stations are being dismantled following the final close down of a station.

The second part of Paul’s Software Defined Radio talk was in a more holiday mood. Answers to questions about details of his talk were rewarded with ‘Christmas Presents’!

Paul explained how to get started with SDR by using easily obtained items on the internet. Several free programmes for displaying the SDR output were also shown.