wythall radio club

Following the success of our recent talk on “Getting Started in D-STAR”, where close on 40 people turned up, Wythall Radio Club is now pleased to announce a “Hands-on” Workshop day.

On Saturday 15th November, Chris G7DDN will be in the club rooms, taking members (and visitors) through the steps of programming for D-STAR and how to get the best from the D-STAR ecosystem.

There will be plenty of opportunities for Questions and Answers and with Wythall House bar open across lunchtime, there should even be some drinks and snacks available.

The day will start at 1100 and go on till about 1400 or 1500, or whenever people have had enough. Our friends at Icom UK have also promised to send some giveaway goodies to make the day go well.

If you are interested in taking part, please register for the day with Chris G7DDN who is at g7ddn@g7ddn.com and remember to bring your radio if you have one – we already have around 15 delegates booked in and there may have to be a limit!

Wythall Radio Club are pleased to announce that we will be holding not one, but two Foundation License Courses starting in January next year!

One will be a traditional course at the club – this will take place on Monday evenings from 8pm onwards, beginning on 26^th January 2015 – it will last for 6 weeks with the exam on Monday 2nd March.

Simultaneously, for those who cannot make it along to a classroom course and are looking for home study, we will be running one of our innovative online Foundation courses culminating in the same examination, again on Monday 2nd March.

Further information on both courses is available by clicking here.

If you are interested in either course, just drop an email to our Training Coordinator Chris G0EYO – he doesn’t bite!

Contact him at g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk and good luck with your studies!

There have been yet more successes today in a recent Foundation Licence Course held at Wythall Radio Club.

John, Les, Carl, and Dave proudly showing their pass certificates earlier today

Four students, all of whom have been working on our innovative Online Foundation Course, visited us in person yesterday to complete their Practical Assessments.

As part of this they had to learn how to connect up equipment, make basic measurements and then operate real radios, making real contacts. They also had a bit of fun using Morse Code, sending and receiving under guidance.

Under the instruction of WRC’s Training Coordinator Chris G0EYO, ably assisted by Peter G4LWF and Barry M0DGQ, students John Borthwick, Les Emmanuel, Carl Jenkins and Dave Cull all completed the required tasks. As a result, they were all able to sit their Foundation Examination earlier today at Wythall Radio Club.

We are extremely pleased to announce that all four passed the exam and are now awaiting their new M6 callsigns. Well done to you from all the members of Wythall Radio Club!

Wythall Radio Club is today saying a very big thank you to our friends at Kenwood (UK).

That’s because they have helped us out with our future training courses thanks to a generous donation of some USB sticks – and they are not just any USB sticks, they are in the design of a Kenwood Handheld Transceiver!

Chris G0EYO, our Training Co-ordinator, is moving away from using CDs for his course material, preferring to use USB sticks instead. And when David Wilkins G5HY at Kenwood UK heard about our need for 10 of the devices, he was more than pleased to help us out.

In future then, all our trainees will be the proud owners of these rare Kenwood USB sticks, while they are on our courses at least! They will have to hand them back once they have “graduated” – they aren’t keeping them forever!

As reported recently, all six of Wythall Radio Club’s Intermediate candidates passed their recent exams and they have now been getting news of their new callsigns!

Kevin 2E0NCO, Kevin 2E0???, Dawn 2E0MIS, Craig 2E0DEM, Anita 2E0DUO, Darren 2E0UDM

Club Secretary Anita was the first to get hers – she is now 2E0DUO. The others followed on quickly, so we are pleased to report that Kevin M6NCO is now 2E0NCO; Darren, who was M6UDM, is now 2E0UDM and our other lady candidate Dawn M6UDY now holds the callsign 2E0MIS.

Craig has confirmed that he is 2E0DEM but we await news on our other Kevin (formerly M6KOR). Our heartiest congratulations to all the new Intermediate licence holders.

With Wythall Radio Club’s next Advanced class starting early in September, we suspect there may be quite a few people back in Training Co-ordinator Chris G0EYO’s classroom working toward the final exam.

In fact, there is a pretty well-substantiated rumour that all 7 places on the Advanced may have already been taken before the course has even been advertised! Phew!

One very pleased George, M0HQV

Wythall Radio Club is pleased to welcome one of our Intermediate members, George Ifrim, to the ranks of the Advanced licence holders!

George is originally from Romania and it should not be underestimated how difficult it is to study for the Advanced using English as a second language.

He was so keen to progress in the Amateur Radio Licensing Scheme that he took lessons as quickly as he could and we are very pleased that he now has his new callsign, M0HQV.

Work commitments mean that George is not always available to visit the club as often as he would like, though we always enjoy seeing him when he does appear, such as at our last Friday Social meeting. From all the members of WRC, well done George!

Meanwhile, our 6 Intermediate class students have all passed their exams with flying colours and we are just awaiting their new callsigns.

More news on that very soon!

Wythall Radio Club is pleased to announce that we are running our second on-line course for those seeking to gain their Foundation licence. It is planned to start on the 14^th July and be completed by 14^th August. 

The members of Wythall Radio Club have their fingers crossed for our latest batch of recruits to the hobby of Amateur Radio.

Candidates completing the practical assignments at the recent Saturday workshop

It’s almost time for the Intermediate Exam for 6 of our Foundation Licence holders.

Over the past few weeks they have been very busy completing their practical assessments and studying towards getting the next stage of the licence.

And if they are successful, Wythall Radio Club will be welcoming a new batch of 2E0 callsigns coming our way very soon.

So it’s congratulations to all of them on finishing the course – now we wish them all the best for the exam tonight (Monday) – we hope to have news of some new callsigns within a week or so!

Further to our post earlier this week advertising the Intermediate Course starting next month, Wythall Radio Club is at the same time pleased and saddened to let you know that it is now full!

We can only accommodate 7 students on a course like this due to space required for practical work and we have had 7 students sign up very quickly.

If you are looking for more information about our Intermediate Courses, contact Wythall Radio Club’s Training Co-ordinator, Chris G0EYO at g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk

Perhaps you can persuade him to run another course later this year!

Some exciting news from the Wythall Radio Club Training Department today! We will be running a 9 week course for the Intermediate Licence starting next month.

The course will begin on Monday 12th May and continue most Mondays until the start of July. As usual, we will hold the training at our Club headquarters at Wythall House on Silver St, postcode B47 6LZ . All sessions are from 20:00 and last for 2 hours.

There is also an additional Saturday session on 14th June. This is for the practical assessments, which are compulsory, so you should ensure you can make that morning. The cost for this this course is £50 all in (no hidden extras!).

If you are a Foundation License holder and would be interested in finding out more, click here for more information or email the Wythall Radio Club Training Co-ordinator Chris G0EYO. He is available (24/7 so it sometimes appears!) at g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk.

Good luck with your studies!