Radio Amateur Gets ‘Happy Birthday’ Message From Space

Fabiano CT7ABD/PY5RX had a special contact on 2 metres FM with the International Space Station, the crew sang Happy Birthday to him.

The contact happened on Wednesday, August 25, and a recording made by Francisco CT1EAT can be heard below.

Click here to hear it.    

Foundation Training Course/Exam Passes

SDARC ran another foundation training course for five attendees in July. On July 31st all five of them passed with a good score!

Three of the newly licensed amateurs were part of another organisation called Wessex 4×4 Response who are a registered charity providing 4×4 Response support within the areas covered by the Police Forces of Avon & Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.

They are a team of volunteers prepared to use their own vehicles and give up their time to provide logistic assistance to Category one and two responders (as defined in the Civil Contingencies Act) and other Voluntary agencies, normally via the Local Resilience forums.

They provide reliable transport in times of severe weather (snow, gales, heavy rain & floods), and other major emergencies. This can be to transport essential personnel or supplies to areas that would be hard or impossible to reach in normal vehicles.

They felt that amateur radio is an important technology that they could use to help with the service they provide.

If you are interested in taking a course then please email us or come to the club and find G4LDL, Tony to get your name on the list.

You can also take mock tests by visiting http://www.hamtests.co.uk

SDARC Applies For Lottery Funding

Awards for All England is a simple small grants scheme making awards of between £300 and £10,000.

The Awards for All programme aims to help improve local communities and the lives of people most in need.

We felt that we were able to fulfil two if their main aims which were:

• People have better chances in life – with better access to training and development to improve their life skills.
• Stronger communities – with more active citizens working together to tackle their problems.

We now have to wait for the application to be processed to see if we become successful with our bid.

Together with amateur radio we can make a difference!

Echolink for Android

Phil, G1LKJ confirms that the authors of Echolink have developed an app for the Android phone system and it is live as of now.

Phil adds: I spoke to Mel VK6BMM in Kallaroo Western Australia via the node GB3NS-R this morning.

http://www.echolink.org/faq_android.htm

Amateur Radio World Prefix Maps

Hamcall have produced an Amateur Radio World Prefix Map which is unbranded, i.e. there are no logo’s on the maps. They have found that Radio Amateurs who own a Yaesu tranceiver do not want a map that has a Kenwood or Icom logo and vice versa, so their maps appeal to ALL radio hams.

A low-res image of our Map, which will give you an idea of the look and quality

The finished maps measure approximately 39″ x 27″ and are printed on photo quality silk paper.

Their latest maps were updated and produced late 2009 and are now available. The maps are printed on professional litho printing machines using photo quality paper to the highest standard.

Should any of our members be interested the cost is £6.50 + £3.50 recorded delivery postage which includes insurance.

We can get a small discount (which would be donated to club funds) if we can get 10 orders. If you are interested then please let M1DST know so we can build up a list

www.hamcall.co.uk

Autumn Operating Award

This years club “on the air” competition takes place from September 1st to November 30th.

The aim is for SDARC Members to score points for working as many M3 and M6 calls as possible nationally during that 3 month period on any band, any mode, fixed or mobile.

Entries (logs) must be handed to M0ACM, Den as soon as possible after the competition closes to ensure your log is entered.

The winner will be announced at the Christmas party and the judges decision is final.

Contest starts 2 days ago!

International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend

The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend takes place on 21 and 22 August. So far there are 340 lighthouses, some lightships and one time-ball tower registered. The event, now in its 11th year, was begun by the Ayr Radio Club. Now there are radio amateurs and lighthouses in some 30 countries involved. The 300th registration this year came from Rainer, DO7RKL for the Westerheversand lighthouse in the northernmost part of Germany. Australia has been a strong supporter of this event with 53 registrations, just ahead of Germany on 50 and the United States with 40 lighthouses registered to date. There are still lots of lonely lighthouses looking for the company of friendly radio amateurs to bring radio gear to them for the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. To learn more or register a lighthouse, visit the website at www.illw.net.

Andover Club’s Wildhern Boot Sale

WHEN: 22 August 2010
WHERE: Village Hall at Wildhern, just north of Andover, SP11 0JE (SU350510)

Open 09:00/sellers & 10:00 for buyers. Admission £1.50. Vehicle pitch £6, table in hall £8. Talkin S22. Catering.

Contact: Martin Smith, 01980-612070.

Please visit www.arac.org.uk for more details.

DX0DX DXpedition 2011 Spratly Islands

Only 150 days to go before the scheduled QRV of the multi-operator DXpedition on Thitu Island in the Spratlys 6-24 January 2011 and more substantial progress has been achieved.

The Philippines National Telecommunications Commission has issued the DX0DX licence and DXpedition Team Leader Chris Dimitrijevic VK3FY and DU8/VK3FY confirms that the required documentation is filed with the DXCC Advisory Committee.

Read more…

They will be QRV in 4 months, 2 days!

Graphical Band Plans (for download)

For any of you that have visited us during a contest then you will have seen the graphical band plans that we have been using. They are very well designed by GW6ITJ, Martyn.

Martyn says on his website that he is planning to produce them for 70cm and higher.

They can be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here