wythall radio club

Tuesday evening is a big night for Wythall Radio Club members – the results of the 2013-2014 Christmas Contest will be out.

Every year between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, Wythall Radio Club hosts this in-house Contest, designed to encourage activity between our many members. It has become a firm favourite with just about everyone – some people have been known to join the club just to take part in it!

It is designed as a relaxed fun “party” exchanging serial numbers and generally having fun on air in keeping with our club motto. It has to be said though, it does bring out the competitive side in more than a few folk! There are two trophies up for grabs too and this Tuesday at 2030, we have our presentation evening.

Adjudicator Lee G0MTN has been busy wading through over 40 entries and has come up with 2 winners. They will be presented with the G7OJO Trophy (for all modes/all bands) and the FM trophy (for 2m FM only entries) this week. 2nd & 3rd place certificates and other certificates of merit will be given out too.

This is one of the most anticipated evenings in the Wythall RC calendar so space is likely to be limited – an early arrival is advised! This Tuesday 28th January at 2030 in the Darts Room at Wythall House, Silver Street, B47 6LZ. Visitors, as always, are very welcome!

This Tuesday’s meeting at Wythall Radio Club is a very special one in our calendar for 2014 – pleasing then that it is coming so early in the year!

Richard G3CWI, owner and proprietor of Sotabeams is visiting the club to demonstrate to us how to go portable this coming Spring, Summer and Autumn, preferably with his superb products!

Not only is Richard the purveyor of truly excellent and innovative portable goodies, he is a also leading light in the UK “Adventure Radio” movement.  He was one of the Founding Fathers of the SOTA (Summits on the Air) movement. Richard will often be found hiking or biking his way to the top of mountains far and wide in search of Amateur contacts from 1.8MHz to 10GHz!

Many members have been eagerly awaiting Richard’s visit and laments were heard last year that his visit was not taking place just before Christmas, but there are bound to be some January sales on(!) and Wythallians will have a little bit of cash left over, we are sure!!

Why not come and meet Richard this Tuesday? 2030 in the Darts Room at Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall. B47 6LZ. E-mail our President Chris Pettitt G0EYO at g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk if you want any more details.

For many years, Wythall Radio Club has offered a full range of classroom based learning programmes for those wishing to gain their Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced Amateur Radio licences. Now we are pleased to announce that we have designed an on-line course for those seeking to gain their Foundation licence.

The programme is based around Virtual Learning Experience software and allows our tutors to connect with students at home via the internet. We think this might be ideal for those who cannot commit to several evenings of study over a period of weeks. This way, you can study in your own time with support via posts from our lead tutor. The only attendance required is a weekend at the end of the course so you can complete the practical assessments and actually sit the exam paper!

If you are interested in this programme then click here for more information. We aim to start our first Foundation License Course on 17^th Feb with the practical/exam weekend scheduled for 29/30^th March.

Richard Radford G1GRD of ML&S presents Callum M0MCX with his new MONSTER radio!

Wythall Radio Club member Callum M0MCX has been on a mission today – to Martin Lynch’s Store in Chertsey, Surrey to be exact!

There he became the second Wythall Radio Club member to join the ranks of proud owners of a brand new Kenwood TS-990S (plus accessories of course!).

He is now a member of the exclusive club started by our Chairman Mike G4VPD in becoming the second Wythallian to own this fantastic radio, courtesy of our friends at Martin Lynch & Sons.

It is serious money for a hobby radio, but the performance and feature set justifies the price, and what is more, the deal from Martin Lynch’s store was a very good one, as always with ML&S!

Who will be the next Wythall Club member rushing down the M40 for this wonderful piece of radio nirvana, we wonder? Perhaps we can persuade Callum to write a review and put it here on the website for you all to read!

Following on from the great coverage afforded to Wythall Radio Club by Practical Wireless Magazine last month, we note yet more club members making an appearance in this illustrious radio monthly!

This time it is the turn of Ian M0IDR, (wallet at the ready!) together with cameo appearances from Anita M6DUO, Dave G3YXM and Chris G7DDN on the recent club outing to the Martin Lynch & Sons open day.

Suffice it to say we were not expecting a photo of more Wythallians in the radio press so soon, but as they say, any publicity is good publicity!

…and it is well known that Ian M0IDR can never resist a good bargain!

Click on the images to see a larger version and remember to pick up a copy of Practical Wireless from your local newsagent!

Wythall Radio Club are proud to announce that we will be running a Foundation Course early in 2014 – this is a great opportunity to take your first steps in the hobby of Amateur Radio.

The course takes place on 6 Monday evenings starting on Monday 27^th January 2014 between 2000-2200. There is also one compulsory Saturday morning, 15^th February, when the practical assessments take place. The exam itself will be on Monday 3^rd March. The course will be held at our club shack in the basement of Wythall House, Silver St, Wythall B47 6LZ.

If you are interested in joining us, then please click here for more information or contact our Training Co-ordinator, Chris G0EYO at g0eyo@blueyonder.co.uk as soon as possible.

Please note that due to popularity, spaces will be limited.

The members of Wythall Radio Club wish all radio amateurs worldwide the very best of New year wishes. 

May all your New Year desires come true in 2014!

Remember to subscribe to our site via email (left) to make sure you keep up to date with all the news from our busy club!

For our part we will be having fun with RF throughout 2014 with lots of events planned and a full programme of events to keep members happy.  See our events page for details!

With 2013 fast approaching its end, the members of Wythall Radio Club have been celebrating some successes in the end of year contest results. 

Chairman Mike G4VPD is celebrating a win in the AL Section of the year-long 144MHz 2013 UK Activity Contests. He also came second in the 50 MHz and 70 MHz contests – a fantastic result! Club member Mark M0RKX also made some excellent showings for the club in these events.

Also recently released are  the results of the 1.8 MHz Club Calls Contest, where Wythall Radio Club finished in 3rd place overall for the second year running, albeit closing the gap on the two other teams in front of us.

The detailed results can be found here, but our special thanks to Dave G3YXM for organising this one and finishing as top individual Wythall Station in front of Chris G7DDN and Simon G4TVR. We are especially proud of our Club Station GX4WAC, operated by Mike G4VPD, Stan G4JGV and Callum M0MCX. which came 2nd in the list of Club Stations in the UK.

A great end to a great year at Wythall Radio Club!

(Please click on the certificates for a larger view)

The Wythall Radio Club Christmas Foxhunt Trophy has its first winners! Steven 2E0SDD & girlfriend Stacey M6STJ scooped the M0GJM Trophy earlier today.

The morning unfolded with Phil 2E0WTH volunteering to be the first “fox” – he was found by Colin G6ZDQ & Janet, Pete M5DUO and wife Anita M6DUO, though they had to negotiate a ford to get to him!

The DUO’s acted as next “fox” and placed themselves by a church where signals would reflect and give possible false readings. It took 4 transmissions before David G7IBO caught up with them.

David then became the final “prey”, but was found after just two transmissions(!) by Steven 2E0SDD and Stacey M6STJ, who were then deemed winners by virtue of being the fastest “hunters” of the day – very fitting as they were two folk for whom the late Colin M0GJM had a very soft spot!

Enjoy the photo gallery below to get a flavour of how much fun was had by all!

Tomorrow, December 27th, is a very important date in the life of Wythall Radio Club. It signifies a morning of “hunting the fox”!

Now real foxhunting is currently illegal in the UK in the traditional sense of the term, but to radio enthusiasts, it is all about trying to find a hidden radio transmitter (the “fox”), transmitting at short intervals every 10 minutes or so. This is not therefore an activity that one needs an amateur licence for and so is an event that friends and relatives can (and do!) join in with.

In true Wythall tradition, it ends with lunch at a nearby pub (well it would have to really!) and many tales will be told of how close people were to finding the “fox” first!

And this year, there is a special trophy (pictured left) in honour of Colin Truran M0GJM, (who sadly passed away in the last month) which will be presented to the teams who found the “foxes”.

We can’t think of a better way to honour the memory of a man who absolutely adored this event!