wythall radio club

A lonely M0MCX operates on 144MHz while everyone else barbecues! Don’t worry, he eats well!

VHF Field Day is one of the highlights in the Wythall Radio Club calendar. Not just for the fun and camaraderie we have around taking part in the biggest VHF outdoors contest, but also because of the fun we have socially.

Last year’s event was one of the best (if not the very best) Field Days in the memory of most people in the club, from founder members to new recruits. It will be difficult to better but we are keeping our fingers crossed for good weather, which always helps!

This Tuesday sees a very important evening at the club, as it is traditionally the evening where we “dot the i’s” and “cross the t’s” in terms of getting our final preparation right for the big day.

It’s a good evening to come to especially if you harbour any plans about turning up on the actual day!

2030 in the Club Shack in the cellar at Wythall House, Silver Street, B47 6LZ.

Is this the ultimate 80m antenna?

Please don’t think that the members of Wythall Radio Club are about to burst into a Mary Poppins song – really, that is something no-one would want to hear!

When Radio Amateurs talk kites, we are usually thinking about getting a wire antenna strung into the air!

Roger Stafford G4ROJ is perhaps the best known amateur in the UK when it comes to using kites to string up antennas. He is an expert, not just on the antenna side of things, but also in his knowledge of kites themselves. His work has recently been featured on the Amateur TV Channel the TXFactor.

Fortunately for us, Roger is this Tuesday’s visitor to Wythall. He is planning to give us a talk and possibly even (weather permitting) a demonstration of using a kite to hoist up an antenna safely.

We welcome visitors to come along and see just how much fun one can have with RF in the great outdoors. The talk will start at 2030 in the Darts Room at Wythall House, B47 6LZ but may (or may not) be outdoors too (and may therefore be earlier around 1800! – email ian.radioworkshop@hotmail.co.uk for final details!)

Perhaps you might “breeze” in for a visit?

Western Power Distribution’s John M1JSS (left) presents the cheque for GB3WL’s antenna to Chairman Mike G4VPD (right). Project Manager Chris G7DDN & Repeater Keeper Dave G3YXM look on, with GB3WL itself in the foreground.

Wythall Radio Club are pleased to announce the arrival of the new antenna for forthcoming repeater GB3WL.

Once cleared by Ofcom, the 70cms unit will transmit to a wide audience across the West Midlands thanks to a brand new commercial quality antenna that will soon be installed at the club.

The stacked array of 4 folded dipoles has been professionally built exactly to match GB3WL’s frequencies and has been purchased following a generous donation from Western Power Distribution, the electricity distributor for our local area.

Club Chairman Mike Pugh said: “We are delighted to be able to purchase the highest quality antenna that we can afford. This is in no small part thanks to the financial help we have received from our friends at Western Power Distribution. We are pleased that, like us, they can see the value to the wider community in having a repeater station like this installed underground to give continued coverage in the event of any kind of emergency.”

It’s finished and ready to go, almost!

Wythall Radio Club’s new 70cms repeater GB3WL is getting ever closer.

The modified Tait unit’s inner workings have been completed on the test bench of G1YFF in Cambridge and delivered to the club for public show at tomorrow night’s (Tuesday 10th June) Committee Meeting.

Repeater Keeper Dave Pick  G3YXM said, “This is another milestone in our repeater project. It is great to have the repeater complete and ready to go. As soon as the license to operate GB3WL arrives, we will aim to get the repeater on the air as quickly as possible”

Another recent development has seen Wythall Radio Club gain a community grant towards GB3WL’s antenna system.  A spanking brand-new commercial 4 stacked folded dipole array will be in use for GB3WL, courtesy of club member John Smout M1JSS and his employers, our friends at Western Power Distribution. We hope to have more news on this exciting development soon. 

So while we await the Notice of Variation that allows GB3WL to become “live”,  it seems that Wythall members have more than a little antenna rigging work to do!

Wythall – Gateway to the World!

The members of Wythall Radio Club have something to celebrate. The club is supporting a new Internet Simplex Gateway for Digital Ham Radio.

MB6IWL is a D-STAR gateway and it’s situated in Major’s Green, a nearby village. The project has been in the pipeline for a little while now; it was inspired by the number of club members who have been taking advantage of a rather good offer from our friends at Martin Lynch & Sons. He has been discounting the Icom ID-31E handheld transceiver and several members have been relieving him of them!

With around 12 Wythallians now on the D-STAR mode, it seemed a good idea to have a way of accessing the D-STAR Internet Reflectors world-wide, and so MB6IWL was born. Clearance from Ofcom was swift and the Gateway is on air daytimes as of now.

There is more information about the Gateway here, and though supported by Wythall Radio Club, anyone passing through the area is very welcome to make use of it.

This Tuesday sees the members of Wythall Radio Club enjoying the second presentation put together by our national society, the RSGB, to celebrate its centenary.

Operating – World War 1 style

Continuing our look at the last 100 years , the focus this week will be on a closer examination of the role played by Radio Amateurs during the two World Wars.

Upon the outbreak of both wars, Amateur licenses were inevitably revoked and precious few transmissions were heard on the bands.

However, that is only half of the story, as Amateurs then gave their considerable skills to serve their country in its severest hour of need.

Stories abound of how these radio enthusiasts literally helped win the wars.  We have all heard about the interception and decryption of the German Enigma codes, but there are many other stories of Radio Amateurs’ service to be discovered.

The presentation takes place this Tuesday evening in the Club Shack in the basement of Wythall House. Visitors are welcome as always, so if you would like to come along, head for Silver Street, B47 6LZ . The evening starts at 2030 with drinks from 2000 onwards. See you there!

As if it weren’t enough that we have a story involving the BBC below, this Tuesday we have a BBC employee coming to give a presentation for us!

Dogger, Fisher, German Bight? Jim G4AEH is a man who may actually understand the shipping forecast!

Jim Lee is one of the voices of Radio 4, a continuity announcer if you like. Well someone has to introduce the Shipping Forecast!

However, Jim is also a licensed radio amateur, holding the callsign G4AEH. He is also known to many radio hams across the UK for his appearances at the RSGB National Convention where he acts as chief compere.

This Tuesday 20th May, Jim is visiting Wythall Radio Club to give a talk entitled “From Top Band to Radio 4” which will look at varying aspects of his life and hobby.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming Jim to Wythall. Why don’t you come and see too? This Tuesday at 20:30 in the Darts Room at Wythall house, Silver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ.

Rob 2E0MEX contemplating buying a new rig!

Regular readers of this website will know that quite a few members of Wythall Radio Club have had a lot of media publicity, especially in the last year or two.

Well here is a slightly sideways appearance on local TV, courtesy of Rob 2E0MEX.

In a recent BBC Midlands Today piece, our friends at Coventry Amateur Radio Club put on a special event station to commemorate the birth of Birmingham comedian Tony Hancock (GB8TH) and ran it from his birthplace in Hall Green – and the first callsign they are heard working is… you guessed it… Rob 2E0MEX!

Of course, this comes as no surprise to Wythall members – Rob is one of the most active members on 144 MHz FM, especially on our club channel of 145.225 MHz. He works as a courier and is often out and about mobile, so has many opportunities to get on the air.

Nonetheless, rather a nice little mention of his callsign on the BBC. Well done, Rob!

Watch out D-STAR, the Voice of the Midlands is coming!

The members of Wythall Radio Club are preparing for a very special occasion this week, the 80th birthday of one of our long-standing members.

Jim 2E0BLP is a grand fellow who is Wythall to the core! Often to be heard on the club frequencies, Jim has a very distinctive voice and with his broad “Brummie” accent has become known in these parts as the “Voice of the Midlands”!

Anyone in the local area cannot fail to have noticed his strong signals especially on 2m FM. Jim was a very active CB-er many years ago and becoming somewhat disillusioned with the behaviour of some on those bands, he migrated to the Ham bands where he has found a home at Wythall Radio Club.

We will be celebrating in style this Friday (his actual birthday) but meantime at last night’s Committee meeting, Jim was presented with an Icom ID-31E, bought for him by all club members chipping in.

Welcome to the Digital age, Jim and here’s to another 80 years!