This week, Geoff G3TPQ, takes us through receiver technology from the first part of the 20th Century – perhaps the most important and progressive period of radio history to date. He’ll cover early spark based communications, and the first steps in electronics. Geoff will then look at the receiver technology available at the time, such as crystal sets and the various methods of amplification used in early 1920′s wireless sets. Geoff will also show us early horn type loudspeakers which allowed several people to listen to the “wireless” at the same time.
So, if you enjoy technology history, why not join us for a look back at this fascinating era when “wireless” became “radio”.
Club opens at 7:00 pm, with the talk starting at 8:00.
Members and all visitors welcome.
This week, we will be showing a DVD presentation produced by the Five Star DX Association and perhaps it should be entitled DX from
Paradise..
So why not get away from the dark, English winter and join us to look back to 2007 and see how to set up a serious DX station on a remote paradise island which is also a rare DXCC entity. The St Brandon Island station, 3B7C, was very successful, achieved 137,500 QSOs, 33,760 unique calls in the log, which broke all records.
Cargados Carajos Shoals (also known as the Saint Brandon Rocks) are a group of about 16 small islands and islets on an extended reef in the Indian Ocean northeast of Mauritius. The islands have a total land area of 1.3 km². The reef measures more than 50 km from north to south, and is 5 km wide, cut by three passes. The reef area is 190 km². The islands have a small population, made up of natives as well as others, and are rich in flora and fauna. The islands are classified as a dependency of Mauritius, which is more than 300 km south, and are administered from Port Louis. The islands are part of the Mascarene Islands. St Brandon is approached only by sea, and is some 240 nautical miles from Port Louis, Mauritius.
What’s is like to set up antennas on a far off paradise beach and have the world wanting to work you? join us this Thursday and find out?
We had an excellent turn out for our first night at Pine Trees with over twenty members and visitors in attendance. It was also good to see our new intermediate licencees, Mark (ex-M6MEA) now 2E0ZPT and Jonathan (ex-M6HBS) now 2E0CTW, and Charles 2E0IMM.
Although our room is slightly smaller than the one in our previous venue, this brand spanking new building complex boasts an excellent, well lit car park with plenty of free space. The room we use is on the first floor which also has its own balcony, giving us a good take-off to the south and east.
Eager to explore the scope for balcony antennas, Rob, M0GKG, Kev G6FOP, Steve M0SPN and Phil M0PBZ managed to hastily erect an 8m fishing pole vertical. Although this was far from optimal, after some interfacing and configuration challenges with a MAC (pretending to be a PC) and our Kenwood TS590S, we managed to get on-air on 40m and worked several QSOs into eastern Europe using PSK31.
James, supplied everyone with a plentiful supply of nice cakes made by Mr.Kipling (I don’t know his callsign) and coffee was available too. Yes, we do have access to a kitchen.
Next week we will be giving our new projector an outing with a DVD presentation about the Five Star DX Association 2007 trip to St. Brandon Island, using the callsign 3B7C. Indeed some of you may have worked them.
Look forward to seeing you in the coming year.
Phil, M0PBZ
Tonight is the first meeting of the year and will be at the new venue. The address is:
Pinetrees Community Centre
The Circle
Swindon
SN2 1RF
AMSAT-UK has confirmed they have a launch organised for FUNCUBE and expecting for the bird to fly in September 2012. More details soon.
The Club Christmas Dinner is now only a month away and we need to confirm our menu requirements to the Village Inn.
The Christmas Dinner is going to be held at The Village Inn, Liddington on December 10th (7:30 for 8pm). The cost will be £18.95 (£10 deposit to confirm your booking).
Christmas Menu 2011
Starter
- Melon & Prawn Cocktail
- Vegetable Soup
- Game Pate
- Fruit Juice
Main Course
- Saddle of Turkey
- Salmon & King Prawns
- Lamb Casserole
- Beef Bouruignon
- Parsnip & Potato Bake
Desert
Coffee and Mint
If you wish to attend the dinner, it is important that you let Frank Whatley, G3JOT know your requirements. Call 01793 812156 or speak to Frank on Thursday.
We would like to see as many members and non members (and partners if you wish) as possible to make this event a night to remember. See you there!
The Mediterraneo DX Club’s DXpedition to Nepal will start this week.
The international DXpedition team will be on air as 9N7MD between November 12-27th. Operations will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY.
QSL Manager is IK2VUC for direct, by the Bureau or the OQRS cards (see the Web page). The LoTW files will be uploaded by the end of March 2012 (four months after QRT).
Activity will also include an entry in the CQWW DX CW Contest as 9N7DX. QSL via 4Z4DX.
Suggested frequencies are:
CW – 1826.5, 3505, 7005, 10105, 14025, 18075, 21025, 24895 and 28025
SSB – 1840, 3799, 7080, 14200, 18145, 21295, 24950 and 28470
RTTY – 3600, 7040, 10140, 14085, 18100, 21080, 24930 and 28085 kHz
For more details and updates, visit the “NEPAL11″ Web page at: http://www.mdxc.org/nepal2011
Source: OPDX Bulletin 1035.1 November 7, 2011
The log processing delay for Logbook of The World (LoTW) remains at approximately 60 hours, with approximately 8000 logs queued for processing. Please do not upload the same log more than once.
According to ARRL IT Manager Michael Keane, K1MK, the League has implemented an interim “fast lane” for processing logs: “In order to do this, resources have been shifted from servicing interactive requests to the processing of logs. As a result, LoTW users may notice some sluggish performance. Since these changes have been put into place, the number of logs waiting to be processed has been reduced by approximately 20 percent. The expectation is that this new measure will continue to make inroads into eliminating the backlog.”
From the RSGB…
To ensure we have the appropriate facilities available at the EGM, the Society is seeking indications of how approximately many plan to attend the event.
If you plan to attend, would you please go to www.rsgb.org/attend and enter your details. This will help ensure that we can handle the number planning to be present.
And finally, if you plan to arrive at Birmingham International by train, you should be aware that there is a free telephone inside the station arrivals hall (next to the Subway restaurant) with a “Hilton” logo on it, to summon the courtesy bus to take you to EGM venue.
Please would you draw this note to the attention of others in your club/committee who might be planning to attend.
Many thanks
Don Beattie, G3BJ
Acting General Manager
Stuart Holland (2E0SUL) from Thermographic Consultancy Ltd, provides a brief insight to the world of IRT (Infrared Thermography). The evenings events will consist of a presentation to demonstrate what IRT is, its many applications and why in the electrical industry plus many others has been adopted as a key part of predictive maintenance and condition monitoring.
For those of you craving a feed for the technical side of your minds, there shall be plenty of information about the equipment, how its constructed, what makes it work and demonstrations to provide a little more interest. Come and see the practical demonstrations and the magic of what the eye can’t see, perhaps even consider how IRT may help assist you in many of your own fields of expertise.
This week, Geoff G3TPQ, takes us through receiver technology from the first part of the 20th Century – perhaps the most important and progressive period of radio history to date. He’ll cover early spark based communications, and the first steps in electronics. Geoff will then look at the receiver technology available at the time, such as crystal sets and the various methods of amplification used in early 1920′s wireless sets. Geoff will also show us early horn type loudspeakers which allowed several people to listen to the “wireless” at the same time.
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January 22, 2012 9:36 am | 
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