wythall radio club

THE OPERATORS FIST CHRIS G0EYO EXPLORES THE CLANDESTINE WORLD OF WORLD WAR II CW OPERATORS .

Many of us will have read the stories of W/T operators during WW2 being recognisable by their style of sending, otherwise known as the Operator’s Fist or Fingerprint. In a book I have just read about Code Writing and Code Breaking in the S.O.E *. by Leo Marks, ** he explains at some length why it was important to be able to recognise the operator at the other end of the link. Agents sent into Europe by SOE often had a W/T operator accompanying them. According to Marks, W/T operators fell into two categories; those who sent from the wrist and those who sent from their elbows.

Apparently, the elbow senders where more consistent in their sending than the wrist senders. The operator’s receiving the W/T traffic (known as” Signal Masters”) had to distinguish between errors caused by “stress” or “morse cramp” – colloquially known as “morse mutilation”; (don’t forget,these agents are sending under extreme pressure. Germans with D/F vehicles were constantly hunting for them), or errors caused by the changing propagation, or “atmospherics”.

The Signal Masters could always distinguish between mis-transmitted groups and  morse mutilated ones for a very simple reason: poor atmopheric conditions affected all the code groups, often making the clear-text impossible to read, whereas an operator’s mistake affected only individual letters

Type 3 MK II otherwise known as the B2. The UK version of the Spy Radio. Image reproduced by kind permission of the owner Steen Wichmand

S.O.E. realised that the W/T operator’s touch on the keyboard was as individual as a fingerprint. so detailed recordings were made of every operator’s “fist” before he or she left for the field. The operators were instructed to transmit every letter of the alphabet at varying speeds, followed by every numeral, but were given no warning that they were being “fingerprinted” to avoid self-conscious transmissions. Their dots, dashes and Morse hesitations were then transferred to a paper tape which moved at 16 feet per minute. This magnified even the smallest Morse dots by quarter of an inch, allowing an in-depth study to be made of every operator’s style. The  on square-ruled paper and lodged with the chief Signal Masters at the WT stations.

When the operators reached the field, their “fists” varied from message to message, responding to the tensions of the moment, but the basic characteristics were always present. Eventually the Signal Masters needed no fingerprinting charts to identify these characteristics: their Morse-trained ears were attuned to every nuance of an operator’s touch, and they recognised it at once. The Funk-Horchdienst (the German interception service) was equally adept. Its radio experts were able to counterfeit our operators’ style to perfection if sufficient numbers of messages had been intercepted.

Even so, if an agent or W/T operator had been caught, anyone else sending their messages back to the UK with a different fist would ring warning bells that the agent and/or W/T operator may no longer be free.

USA Suitcase Radio SSTR-1 . made by the Office of Strategic Services: later known as the CIA. Image reproduced by kind permission of the owner Steen Wichmand

The Code-breakers at Bletchley Park also used this “fist “recognition system to track German operators as the units they were attached to, moved from one location to another.

Chris G0EYO
2/9/24

*  (Special Operations Executive – authorised by Churchill to create sabotage and havoc in occupied Europe)
.** Marks, Leo. Between Silk and Cyanide: A Code Maker’s War :1941-45. The History Press.

What’s happening at the low frequency end of the amateur spectrum?

Dave Pick, G3YXM, RadCom’s LF correspondent, will be revealing all on 5th November at 8.30pm, Darts Room, Wythall House.

All welcome. 

Have some refreshment at Wythall House bar before and after the event.

This is just one of the features in Wythall Radio Club’s new 12 month programme now available here – and on right hand side of our home page.

We’ll post updates as events are added and finalised.  

Photo of Droitwich aerial system courtesy of an anonymous rigger in late 1960s – source and more info here

Is 10 open today?

That’s the question many of us are asking as we wait for the summer doldrums to disappear and sunspot maximum conditions to reappear.

One way is to put out a call and see if anyone answers. 

When I first got my licence I was told it’s always worth calling on a band that seems dead – it may just be that everyone assumes the lack of activity means it’s dead, when in fact it’s open!

Another way for voice mode and CW operators is to see if they can hear any FT8 burbling on 28.074USB.  If there is, decoding signals may indicate what paths are open.

Then there is the VERY extensive beacon network.  There are beacons on all amateur bands, but 10 meters is very well served.  

Most 10 meter beacons are found between 28.200 and 28.300, with some below and above these frequencies.

Beacons transmit their callsigns in Morse code, and may also give their locator square, power and antenna details.  Listening to them can be good practice for copying Morse code!

There is a recently updated list of beacons here.

Remember to enable CW on your receiver to get the correct frequency!

Early this morning I could only hear the German beacon DL0IGI, transmitting on 28.205. 

At lunchtime, I couldn’t receive this beacon – but instead the Faroe Islands beacon OY6BEC was very strong on 28.235. 

This is part of a comprehensive set of beacons in a radome to protect from the weather – shwon in photo left!

There is a special worldwide set of 18 beacons on 28.200 – the International Beacon Project. 

Each beacon transmits for 12 seconds once every 3 minutes at 100 watts.  There are then 4 x 1 second dashes sent at 100, 10, 1 and 0.1 watts. 

This lunchtime I could only hear 4X6TU in Israel, and I copied the 100 and 10 watt dashes, I could just hear the 1 watt dash, but not the 0.1 watt dash. 

Beacons may transmit a continuous tone between sending the callsign – so if you hear a tone, listen for a bit and see if a callsign appears.

At least it’s something to do if the band doesn’t have any QSOs on it!

                     Got to keep dry!!

Sometimes it just seems that the elements only need a whiff of our  ‘Easy-Ups’ to unleash their worst weather!

So it came to pass that under the approving gaze of the twin masts at Droitwich the team survived and indeed enjoyed a very productive  weekend of radio on CW, SSB. Satellite and Digital at this years Stoke Prior Steam Rally

Read on for first hand accounts from esteemed team leader Neil, G1TCZ and Ian M0LQY.

This happy band .. Neil, Gary, Phil, Ian and John

NEIL G1TZC writes:

For me, as always, the challenge is to be part of the team but stay as self-contained as possible. For satellite communication the site was as perfect as it gets. Plenty of south sky, short feeders and ground that you could get pegs in to easily.

Neil gets the operation station ready to go

On arriving on Saturday morning to set up the equipment I realised I had forgotten the second tablet and a feeder. Most of the station was set up and then a quick dash back home to grab the missing items was done. Although wet, there were a steady stream of people interested in what part old TV dishes had in our hobby. Explaining that a small amount of modification was required but they were basically still TV dishes seemed to be helpful for the level that people wanted to know about.

Most found it interesting that we were bouncing signals off a satellite at 25000 miles with a frequency used for wi fi. How come I have such a struggle getting wi fi from one side of my house to the other and you can do this, is often a question.

Also visiting amateurs from other clubs were welcomed to the stand, including a member of the Aberdeen Radio Club. For me, spreading the word about our hobby is almost as enjoyable as the operations side.

Ian and Darren swap a yarn or two. Darren and Carol are regulars at this event

As far as operation was concerned, around 35 contacts were made via satellite using SSB and FT8. As supportive of our events as ever was Garry, ZD7GWM, on St Helena with a rag chew during a quiet and rainy period. EU6DZ, was a very low signal with us but after a few attempts we managed to confirm the contact, sending a 4/5 report. Kadri, TA1D, often calls in to our activities from Antalya and did not disappoint. Also notable on FT8 was BG9HKP.

IAN M0LQY writes

On Friday evening with cars full to overflowing an intrepid group of WRC members set off to continue a ‘summer’ program of event attendance helping to promote amateur radio.

The event chosen this time was the traction steam rally nr. Bromsgrove. This rally in fact has much more than just the mighty steam traction engines with vintage cars, military vehicles, miniature working models and a steam organ all on display.

Ian M0LQY in digital mode

Using a selection of wire and vertical antennas and satellite equipment we made contacts throughout Europe and the UK. For the first time we utilized a recently donated vertical multiband antenna, this performed extremely well and was a definite success. Sustained by tasty bacon sandwiches and hot drinks (Thanks Phil) we bravely battled the worst of this year’s British weather.

Accompanied by a background of steam whistles, organ music and the adjacent mainline railway our hardy group cheerfully demonstrated the fun to be had by Amateur Radio. Clearly global warming having  took the day off tried its best to derail us off but was never likely to win. Great fun was had by all with many laughs and much interest.  People came to our stand to ask questions and hear us operating and of course shelter from the many downpours.

Saturday morning provided the best of the weather and we entertained lots of interested visitors. We were even visited by a fellow Radio Ham all the way from Aberdeen.  A couple of our group even stayed overnight preferring the elements to a warm comfortable bed.  Now there is commitment or maybe madness: the jury is out!!   (Commitment! Ed)

Anyway a great weekend of fun and enjoyment ending in dampness. The hope is that next year (September 20th-21st 2025 ) we get some better weather and we can begin again and WRC can continue with having fun with RF……

The tea and bacon butter maker..(mischievous smile.. what went into those sandwiches and who was lucky enough to get one?)

JOHN M6KET writes

….Yes we welcomed visitors from as far afield as Aberdeen George MM0TGG and old friend and current member Darren GW7HOC (last seen on a Sinclair C5!!) and wife Carol…Dave from the Wirral who helped me set up an instant sked with Bill G4YWD and many folk who just stopped by to chat including the Original Chairman of Bromsgrove Radio Club and his wife.

Chris’ CW table was visited and worked but on this damp occasion no certificates were awarded!!

We were pleased to see Gary G5RGS. He had made the effort to come down from Sutton Coldfield and the extra vehicle made all the difference in getting the three Easy- Ups down and back to Wythall.

ALL IN ALL A VERY SUCCESSFUL AND ENJOYABLE WEEKEND.. GREAT TEAM SPIRIT…AND WE CAN’T WAIT TO HAVE ANOTHER GO NEXT YEAR 2025.

COMING SOON: THE PRE-AGM MEETING .8.00 pm WYTHALL HOUSE TUESDAY 1ST OCTOBER

Chase the Gyrfalcon.. oblivious to all the trouble caused !!

THE CHALLENGE

This adventure was interesting and unusual in equal amounts. A bird that went missing. The original message on Facebook was picked up by Clive (M0KNP) in the Wythall Radio Club and posted to the Groups.io reflector. I picked up the information but as I don’t use Facebook I got someone else to contact Nick, the owner of the bird.

Nick got hold of me by phone and we had a chat. The bird, a Gyrfalcon, had a beacon attached but it was on 216MHZ, which is not a band that many amateur operators in the UK have available. He explained that ‘Chase’ has flown away and they had lost both visual and radio contact so had put the call out by as many routes as possible.

Armed with this information I was able to get together some basic, less than ideal equipment. I used a RTL SDR (software defined radio) and a yagi antenna (like the ones you see on houses for TV). This is then connected to a tablet which shows the frequencies in graphical form along with any sound. The rest of Friday afternoon was spent in the Lickey Hills with the equipment scanning around hoping to pick up the beep from the beacon on the bird.

Unfortunately, nothing was heard and after several hours I headed home. Nick was kept up with my lack of progress during this time. However, it did give me time to think. If I was to make a vertical antenna with a magnetic mount for a vehicle this would make tracing quicker and able to cover more area is a faster time. As the weather was poor there was a good chance that Chase was not going to be that active.

A SOLUTION

It was decided that Nick and his dad, Kevan, would come to the workshop where something could be put together.

Magmount and vehicle..(at this stage not attached)

On the Saturday morning, Nick and Kevan duly arrived. We headed to the workshop where I got to look at their tracker. A neat bit of kit with a built in Yagi, but this wasn’t going to work well from inside the van. So we went for the external antenna solution. In the workshop I have a piece of equipment called a nanoVNA which allows you to analyse how an antenna will work in real time. It was at that point I realised we could speed this process up. I had a telescopic antenna that was designed for another band, but by not extending it fully it should be good enough. We put it on the analyser at the frequency we needed it to be and adjusted. Worked like a charm. The only other issue as this antenna had the wrong connector. Fortunately Nick had a spare patch lead, so we quickly soldered a new end on to turn it in to an adaptor.

THE PURSUIT …..AND THE HAPPY ENDING!

The mag mount and antenna were attached to the vehicle and off they went. Nothing was found between where I was, the last reported sighting and their home. Another visual siting was reported and investigated. Visual confirmation was made at the reported location and the antenna received the beacon. Switching back to the yagi and with visual checks, the bird was indeed Chase.

With some persuasion, in the way of food, she was reunited with Nick and is happily back home.

The author Neil G1TCZ and Chase.. 

Since then Nick and I have been collaborating on a UHF tracker. This is very much in the early stages and is a great way for two hobbies to work together. On UHF there will also be a lot more member of the amateur radio community who could help in similar situations.

SEE  AND TALK TO NEIL ABOUT HIS  AMAZING STORY AT THE STOKE PRIOR STEAM FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND.

A TEAM OF OPERATORS FROM  WYTHALL RADIO CLUB WILL BE THERE WILL BE  FOR THE EVENT SO PLEASE VISIT, ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR AMAZING AND VERSATILE HOBBY.

Little Intall Fields, Stoke Pound Lane off Hanbury Road (B4091), Stoke Prior Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 4LF

Members of Wythall Radio Club are not just based in the West Midlands: we can boast membership as far afield as  St. Helena , Cardiff and Torquay! Kev G4XLO is a tremendous supporter of our activities and a real QRP enthusiast. Here he writes of a successful low noise G4XLO/P outing to Daddyhole Plain. (Lovely place name: Ed.)

Kev G4XLO in relaxed mode with friends

“Ever since I moved to Devon in late 2016 I’ve wanted to operate portable as the noise level here in Torquay is really bad- there is so much noise it’s sometimes impossible to really ‘see’ what is out there .

I was quite lucky last year as I’d saved some pennies for a portable setup and has taken a few attempts to get it all working as it should and streamlining the setup so it deploys quickly. Sadly with family and work   I can’t get out as often as I’d like but these are the times I really look forward to.

I woke up this morning and as I have a weeks leave and the station manager (!) gave me a pass out to play some radio, I headed to my normal place I love here called Daddyhole Plain which is in Torquay and the spot I use is a clifftop car park (free of course!) located 300 yards from the Coast watch station.

My equipment is quite simple, this is the station I use:

1.Yaesu FT817ND

2.Yaesu SCU17 digital interface

3.LDG Z817 auto tuner + 4. Long wire supporter on a SOTABEAM 6m mast

          Kev’s very neat mobile set up.

The kit  can be quickly up and working and in 20 minutes I was fully charged on batteries and ready to go with  2.5 Watts maximum. 

It was a breezy morning on the plain so I had secured the mast with velcro supports (again purchased from Sotabeams.) 

Sotabeam 6 metre mast supporting Kev’s long wire mounted high on Daddyhole Plain

I initially started calling CQ on 20m FT8 and then calling individual stations

I worked just the 4 stations in about an hour, Balearic Islands, Mainland Spain as well as a new one for this year Algeria 7X3WPL which was just over 1200 miles away from my QTH; there was also an SSB QSO I didn’t log as I forgot the last letter of his callsign. (note to self, next time take paper and pen!)

There were a couple of people walking on the Plain who were keen to see what I was doing so I spent a good 20 minutes explaining what Ham Radio is and how we communicate using different modes; they were witness to my HB9 SSB QSO. (Incidentally he gave me a 5 by 2 report) 

Another reason I forgot the last letter of the call for the log as I was busy explaining how the radio was working !!

The breeze picked up…. the mast fell down…..  so time to head for Tesco up the road from where I was to get lunch for the XYL and the junior op!!

G4XLO’s impressive log for the mobile QRP session on Daddyhole Plain

A morning well spent  and  some very satisfying  QSO’s with  very low power.”

Kev G4XLO in Torquay

POSTPONED DUE TO POOR WEATHER

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR A RESCEDULED EVENT

Wythall Radio Club members will be demo-ing their radio equipment at their ‘Plug and Play’ event this Sunday 8th Sept.

Come and visit us!

We’ll be in the field behind Wythall House, near the Scout Hut.

We’ll have antenna masts up and Club flags flying!

If you do visit us, don’t forget there is a modest charge to use the Wythall Park car park until mid-day.

More sunny Tuesday evenings extended Wythall Radio Club’s portable operation from the lawn outside our base.

On our third week of activity, we had three stations operational. 

The Club call GX4WAC/P was activated using Neil G1TZC’s portable satellite gear. 

This resulted in an impromptu net through the geostationary satellite QO-100 with DJ4FF (Robert), HB9FIY (Chris) and our new Club member Garry ZD7GWM.

The station was the usual ground-station with the 60cm folding dish. The Goonhilly webSDR was used on receive because the satellite was partially obscured by a tree, but the up-link signal into QO-100 was enough to be given a 58 signal report from receiving stations.

Martin 2E0XFI/P set up on another part of the lawn and was delighted with the results using his IC705 and 17 foot-long telescopic vertical, achieving 5 watt FT8 QSOs with Indonesia and 3W9A Vietnam. 

To complete the trio of stations, Chris G3YHF/P brought a home-made 20m delta loop on an 8m pole. 

With Ian, M0LQY, he worked around Europe on the key and had a very pleasant chat with Torgen SA5TBE on SSB – 59 both ways. 

Finally, the light faded, the midges came out and the lawn was emptied of kit and activity.

But that’s not the end of the story!

Our portable lightweight antennas inspired Ian M0LQY to search the SOTABEAMS web-site, where he found a design for a multi-band doublet. 

Quickly purchasing some lightweight SOTABEAMS cable and spaces, he had one constructed within an hour. 

For the doublet centre, he crafted a small piece of plastic tube with two holes drilled in it and a cable tie to fit the top of a telescopic mast.

The following week the doublet was quickly raised on Chris G3YHF’s 8m telescopic mast. 

The mast survived some bending as the two doublet legs were untangled – as the photo shows!  But within a few minutes we were on the air.

Using an FT817 and small auto-atu, a very low SWR achieved on the higher HF bands and 5 watts of FT8 gave PSK-Reporter spots across Europe.

Even as dusk turned to night, members – and visiting RSGB District Representative Martin M0JZT – could be seen discussing the results of Ian’s experiments.

Members went home for an early night or retired inside the Wythall clubhouse for refreshment, and to continue sharing experiences and ideas.

Very pleasant evenings! 

Our Club meets every Tuesday evening and visitors are always welcome there and at our special events, the programme for which is on our web site.

Our next big event will be ‘Plug and Play’ on Sunday 8th September on the rugby pitch behind the Wythall House complex. 

Members will be bringing along their own equipment to operate, using power kindly provided by Martin G8VXX’s generator.  Come and visit!

Neil G1TZC  describes yet another successful Tuesday Evening Activity at Wythall Radio Club

” This evening we had an outdoor activity to demonstrate the use of the nano VNA tool. The aim of the evening was to demonstrate how we can see what our antenna is actually doing rather than what you think it is doing.

Several members brought along an array of interesting antennas for testing

                                               The test station ready for use

The test equipment was the VNA with the N type connectors. This was my preferred choice only because I find the N type more durable than the SMA. The VNA was connected to a Fusion 5 tablet with a clip on keyboard, running Windows 11. My reasoning is that I find the software easier to use than using the touch screen.

An important thing that many people don’t understand is how to set the unit up for use. Until recently this included me. This next bit is vital!

Once you have selected the device you must set the sweep parameters BEFORE you run the calibrate sequence.

The sweep parameters will give you the lowest hand highest frequency that you are interested in. For the first round of tests we used 1MHz to 31MHz so that it showed the full HF band for people who thought they might have multi band antennas.

Neil (foreground) demonstrates to R-L Mike, Peter and Martin. Phil and Dave G7IBO in earnest conversation in the background

Next is the calibration sequence. Connect the short / open / load adaptors to the port you are using (we used 0). After connecting each adaptor click on the button on screen. There will be a short pause as that calibration is done. This is repeated three times. Then apply the calibrations.

We were looking at SWR so we set both the SWR11 and SWR21, from the dropdowns, as what we were looking at in this instance. As soon as the antenna is connected you get to see the SWR for the entire sweep that you set. The SOTA vertical was resonant at around 6.6MHz and with a quick shortening of the antenna it was retuned to 7.1MHz.

                                        Phil’s mystery military vertical

The military antenna was attached as Phil didn’t know what it was. Instantly on connection it was showing that the it was a 28MHz antenna. We recalibrated the VNA to sweep 25MHz to 55MHz and Phil removed a couple of the lengths that made the whip and moved it down to 51MHz, so he now has two bands on the old bit of military kit.

Martin and Pete also came along with compact HF antennas designed for portable working. Martin left understanding much more about the way his antenna does what it does. Pete liked the confirmation that his antenna really did work as it said on the packet.

Chris works on his impressive 40m vertical.. with a shortening of the vertical wire an impressive SWR achieved for CW operation at the lower end of the band.

It was a very productive evening and already people are asking for a re-run focussing    on seeing how portable VHF, UHF and SHF antennas work.

If you live in the south Birmingham area, please pop along to the Tuesday club night. Sometimes we are doing stuff, other times it is a pint and a chat. “

                               TUESDAY  6TH AUGUST   8.00 ONWARDS ON THE ‘LAWN’ WYTHALL HOUSE.

RADIO ACTIVATION  AS WE TRY THE RECENTLY DONATED  HUSTLER VERTICAL (THANK TOU CHRIS EYO) WITH THE FT857