All posts in Announcements

Dear Members,

I have the pleasure of announcing today that from January 5th 2012 we will have a new meeting venue. Over the last couple of years we have been suffering with car parking issues at our current location in Savernake street. This has caused frustration for some members. I can assure you that the committee hasn’t been ignoring the issue and has actively been looking for alternatives. This has proven difficult without compromising other things including cost, day, and location.

We were made aware that a new £2m building was being built in Pinehurst which was due to open in this month. For various reasons the project was delayed and will now open on the last week of December. Den and I took the opportunity to make a site visit a couple of weeks ago to check on progress and we were impressed with the facilities and progress to date. We met with the committee and it was agreed that the club would be far better off in the new building.

The two-storey centre is being built on the site of the former Pine Trees residential home on The Circle and replaces the Pinehurst People’s Centre, which was located on the site where the Swindon Academy now stands.

What other benefits are there I hear you ask. There will be site wide WIFI and computers in the cafe. We have a balcony on which we can set up antennas. Outside, there will be a large car park and community garden, where groups can grow their own flowers and vegetables.

I am really excited about the move and think it will be a perfect start for the club 2012.

The committee and I would like to invite you to the first meeting of 2012 at the new site where we will be providing free drinks and cakes. We will also ensure that a radio is set up and available for use on the evening.

Hope to see you there

James (M1DST)
Chairman

A team of four highly experienced IOTA activators have plans to operate from the extremely rare and dangerous Isle of Rockall, EU-189.

Accompanied by an expert climber, they aim to land and stay a top Rockall for maximum 48 hours, in what will be considered one of the most ambitious island activations the ham radio world has seen.

The four operators are George EA2TA, Christian EA3NT, Simon IZ7ATN and Col MM0NDX – all part of the larger MS0INT IOTA adventure group which has previously been on air from EU-059, EU-111 and EU-118. Completing the team is Nick Hancock, a climber with considerable experience in inhospitable places, thus increasing the chances of activating the islet.

Due to the fact Rockall is the most isolated speck of rock surrounded by water on the surface of the Earth, weather and seas dictate this entire expedition. The team are very aware near perfect landing conditions are required, and the skipper of their yacht has final say.

With research and historical data, we believe the end of May / beginning June 2012 is a viable time period to put Rockall on the air.

Each member will pay their own flights,additional travel costs,food, equipment and charter boat expenses.

To help offset some of this expense, the team seek generous donations from within the IOTA community, DX organisations and like-minded individual operators who all appreciate the scale involved in this difficult activation.

All donors form part of this exciting project and will be listed on our website which is currently under construction. Significant contributors will be added to our QSL card. To donate, you can use paypal: [email protected]

Thank you!

MS0INT – Rockall 2012 Team

It is with regret we announce the passing of our friend David Parker known as M0XUK. Dave suffered a heart attack last Thursday and had his funeral in Oxford yesterday. A card was circulated last night for club members to sign which will be passed to his family.

David had been an active member of the club in the past and even the web host for several years. He enjoyed contesting and construction and more recently moved into astronomy.

During most of Saturday the club website was suffering major issues caused by a PHP upgrade. I have had to spend most of the day getting things back on track. I hope I am almost complete now. If you find anything which doesn’t work or that I’ve forgotten, please email me.

Thanks

James

The EGM was held last evening and the new constitution was passed unanimously.

It was amended from that of 2006 to bring it more into line with the RSGB Model Constitution for Clubs, was discussed and agreed unanimously by the 20 current members present at an EGM on 17th February 2011. (Total 2010-2011 membership=33)

The constitution can be found here.