wythall radio club

This weekend you will find Wythall Radio Club members out literally “in the field!”

Image © R G Newman 2012

Down at Stoke Prior, a village not too far from Wythall, the annual Autumn Steam Rally is taking place across the weekend and Wythall Radio Club puts on an Amateur Special Event Station in the rally field to coincide with it. We operate on 40m, 2m and sometimes other bands too and our aim is always to have fun!

Watch out for Darren GW7HOC & family as well as Les M0COK and others manning the station on the field this weekend.

For more information about this popular event, or to plan a visit, you can click the link below to the rally website – it gives you all the information you need to know!  http://www.shakespearesrally.com/Stoke_Prior.htm

Just about a year ago now, a team of intrepid operators made their way to Timor Leste in Australasia with the intent of putting on air the Amateur station 4W6A.

4W is a rare prefix in the Amateur Radio world and Wythall Radio Club are fortunate in having one of the members of that DXpedition team, Tim Beaumont M0URX, as a club member.

This coming Tuesday, Tim is set to reveal all the secrets of the 4W6A DXpedition to Wythall Radio Club members with an illustrated talk/presentation. Somewhere in the region of 40,000 QSOs were made during the event and Tim will doubtless have some fascinating stories to tell us.

As always, visitors are very welcome. The talk begins at 2030 in the Darts Room at Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ

I am happy to report that SSB Field Day went according to plan. We entered the unrestricted section although with only a fan-dipole for 80, 40 and 20m at 45 feet. We did run an amplifier though. 811 contacts made with many more dupes than I can remember. Lots of fun, laughs and we even slept the night. The days of 24×7 operating finally over for the old duffers?

Pictures score more points than words. Check these out.

Last night at Wythall Radio Club, there was a proud moment for one of our members.

Chris G0EYO was presented with the latest club trophy, the Lew Williams Shield. Lew was a former President of our club, who, although not a licensed radio amateur himself, was an expert in Morse Code. Many longer standing members have him to thank for passing their, then mandatory, morse test.

Wythall Radio Club decided to honour Lew’s memory after he sadly passed away last year with a memorial shield, this to be awarded to the member who, in the opinion of the judges, had made the most progress in Morse proficiency during the year. Chris’ entry was an excellent submission and a story of how he overcame his nerves to start making contacts on air using the code.

With the engraving complete, Chris is seen in the photo receiving the trophy from the Chairman of the judges, Lee G0MTN, who himself is a very well known Morse Code contester and fast sending/receiving expert! Congratulations, Chris!

Wythall Radio Club will be running their annual Advanced Class starting Monday 3rd September and every Monday until 3rd December with the exam being taken on Wednesday 5th December.

The classes run from 8-10pm and there is one Saturday morning session which covers measurements with practical demonstrations.

The cost of the course including exam fees, course book, course materials and exam room hire is £60.

We have just a few spaces left on this course so if you know of anyone who is interested, please contact Chris G0EYO on g0eyo at blueyonder dot co dot uk.

Rob M6HCS, James M6BXG, Darren M6LPD and James J (awaiting callsign)

We are proud to announce the birth of four new members into the Radio Amateur & Wythall Radio Club Community!

Following an intensive Foundation License Course guided by Lead Instructor Chris G0EYO, Rob, James, Darren and James J all passed their Foundation Exam last Sunday with flying colours and, it has to be said, some impressively high marks!

Callsigns have been quickly issued by OFCOM, so look out for M6HCS, M6BXG and M6LPD on the air.

Their course represented something of a departure from the norm for Wythall Radio Club.  It took place over two weekends in the middle of the Summer Holidays; Saturday and Sunday for 3 hours each day.  It ended on the second weekend with the Foundation Exam; Sunday lunchtime must seem like an odd time to sit an exam, lads!

The happy hams are pictured right with their pass certificates. All the members of Wythall Radio Club congratulate you! Now is it true that we are already hearing rumbles about when the next Intermediate Course is likely to take place?

Any club or organisation has a pleasant problem when new members introduce themselves. How you do get information to them so they can fit in and feel at home as quickly as possible?

Wythall Radio Club have been trying to address that issue recently. One of our members who is pretty handy with Desktop Publishing, Colin M0GJM, has put together an excellent introductory booklet – in essence a Guide to Wythall Radio Club. Designed for enquirers or relatively new members, it covers all aspects of our club life together, from how the club is structured to when we meet and who to contact when advice is required and so on.

Judging by the initial response, quite a few of the established members think they should have one too! However, in truth, it is another useful tool to help welcome new members into our throng.

Who knows? You might be the next!

Wythall member G3YXM - 144MHz portable

August is probably the month of the year when most of us in the UK go on holiday. Wythall Radio Club members are no exception of course; we are all to some extent tied by when the children or grandchildren find themselves off school.

One thing that many of us enjoy however is the chance to engage in a little “holiday portable” operation. Whether it be a handheld transceiver, a Yaesu FT-817 or a larger radio with a hefty Power Supply, most amateur operators enjoy the opportunity to make a few contacts wherever they go.

Many Wythall members will be heard throughout August and September “on the air” from more exotic locations; Ireland, Spain, France, to name but a few. Doubtless some will also be trying to “make the trip” back to contact other members in Wythall.  Either way, holidays are another great opportunity to “play radio” in the open air (hopefully in the sunshine!) once again.

It never fails to amaze us, the power of the internet.  Just about every subject under the sun is covered on it in some way and of course Amateur Radio is no exception.

Since Wythall Radio Club had a broadband wireless connection installed earlier in the year, members have been making a lot of use of it with all kinds of connected devices from phones to iPads and laptops and it is proving useful on our training courses also.

This coming Tuesday, we will be hosting our second “Internet Night” following the success of the first one a few months ago. Members bring ideas for sites they have visited in recent times and share them with the other members.  It proved very popular first time around, so why not consider popping in for this informal evening and see just what Ham Radio, at least on the Internet(!) is about?

Tuesday 31st July at 8.30pm at Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall B47 6LZ

Rockall – not just a name familiar from the UK Shipping Forecasts on Long Wave, but an extremely small, uninhabited, remote rocky islet in the North Atlantic Ocean, and a very dangerous place to attempt a DXpedition to!

The Rockall Islet

Indeed, not many have attempted it but one intrepid Belgian Group has. What is more, they have now made a DVD of their exploits so we can all share in the excitement.

Wythall Radio Club has recently purchased one of these and it seems a useful way in which to spend a dark Winter evening at the club. So be aware that on the 15th January next year, we will get to see one of the most dangerous DXpeditions to have taken place off our shoreline.  It cost over €35,000 to mount and sailing to Rockall in a Force 11 storm makes some interesting viewing too!

For a taster of what is to come, visit this link but then make sure you come along in January to the club to see (and hear) the whole story!