On Thursday, 3rd May, at Pine Trees, we ran a testing evening for projects built by our members. You may recall Phil, M0PBZ, suggesting this at the recent Construction Contest as a way of trying out some of the excellent projects built by our members for the contest.

Suitable test equipment was be provided for use, such as a Signal Generator, Frequency Counter, VNA, Multimeter, Dummy load etc. which allowed members to check and test their projects.

We tested antennas, a couple of preamps and we also tested the clubs TS2000 radios against spec with a radio test set.

Here are a few photos of the evening.

With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the European Union’s new privacy law, coming into effect on May 25th, 2018, we wanted to be clear about the data we collect, how we use it and your rights to control that information, which is why we’ve made some updates to our Privacy Policy.

We made these updates to reflect the high standards established by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a set of laws passed in the European Union.

We respect your personal data. We have never and will never sell it to third parties.

We need YOU to act to help us stay compliant with the GDPR. Please can you email [email protected] providing consent for SDARC to email you else you will no longer receive email from us after May 25th 2018.

You can read the full policy at https://www.sdarc.net/privacy/. If you have specific questions or concerns about the use of your data, please contact [email protected]

This week at Pine Trees, we welcome Colin North, G4GBP, who will be delivering a presentation on Special Event Stations.

Most Radio Amateurs at some point or another will have likely worked one or more of the many Special Event Stations (SESs) that are frequently found on the air and which are activated from sites all around the world.

Up to date lists of those stations operating or planning to operate can be found online or in RadCom.

One such event taking place this weekend from 0000 UTC to 2359 UTC Saturday 21st April is International Marconi Day (IMD) where numerous stations will be on air from sites which are associated with Gugliemo Marconi.

Usually, special QSL cards and/or certificates are produced for such stations which are coveted by those who work them and huge pile ups can occur when the stations are operating.

There are a number of rules governing what constitutes a Special Event Station and how it is operated, such as licencing conditions, public access to the event and its significance to a person, event or place – but how do you go about participating or setting one up??

Colin G4GBP, an ex-Merchant Navy R/O, has a wealth of experience of operating such stations for events such as ROTA (Railways on the Air), MOTA (Mills on the Air) and IOTA (Islands on the Air).

Colin’s presentation to SDARC will be the perfect way to find out more about these stations and how to get further involved in their setting up and operation.

He is also our local (Wiltshire) RSGB Deputy Regional Manager and is hoping to spend a few minutes at the start of his presentation telling us about his role within the RSGB.

This is sure to be a fascinating presentation, so please join us from 7pm on Thursday 19th April at Pine Trees to meet Colin and find out more about Special Event Stations.

James Patterson, M1DST was invited to talk about Amateur Radio with Graham Seaman of BBC Wiltshire. If you missed the show and want to listen again to just the interview it is available below.

We are holding the Construction Competition this week!

The aim of this annual Spring contest is to encourage members to build either radio equipment or ancillary items which enhance their radio operations and to exhibit these to encourage others to follow their example.

Entries can include any radio-related equipment or software, for example, Morse oscillator, test unit, QRP rig, computer/radio interface, PSU, Tx/Rx, linear, antenna, ATU…..

Entries can have been built at any time, but to be accepted as an entry, they must not have been entered in any previous SDARC construction contest.

If YOU have built something that helps you operate, why not enter it?  Remember it is not necessarily the most complex equipment that wins!

Provide sufficient details with your entry to help judges understand the purpose and operation of the entry….”Sell” the concept and its usefulness through your description, diagrams, circuits etc!

The contest will have five principal Product categories:-

Homebrew – This will be for equipment built completely by the club member. (If the equipment is a magazine project with a PCB available, then, the PCB may be used.)

Kit – This will be for equipment built from a kit. The kit should require some soldering to component level.

Hybrid – This will be for homebrew equipment which also contains one or more kits.

Antenna – This will be for special homebrew antenna systems. For this type of contest entry, the member will just need to provide photographs of the antenna together with a specification, a drawing and details of the construction. A list of countries worked with the antenna should also be provided.

Software – This category will be for radio-related software. This can be either, a new piece of “stand-alone” software, or a piece written to add extra features to some existing software.

In addition, three Constructor categories may be brought to bear:-

Novice – This will be for those members who have not previously built or exhibited any equipment.

General – This will be for those members who have built and entered previously.

Professional – This may be awarded to experienced constructors whose work is of an exceptional standard.

The number of Awards will reflect the scope of entries and may include awards made to deal with tie-break situations.

The judges’ decisions on all the awards are final.

Please complete an entry form beforehand so you can bring it on the night. You can download the entry form here.

Newbury and District ARS (NADARS) are delighted to announce the date of the Newbury Radio Rally for 2018.

It will be held again at the prestige venue of the Royal Berkshire (Newbury) Showground on Sunday 24th June.

Gates opening to sellers at 8am and to the public at 9am.

Yes. This is a week later than previous years, but a move has been necessary to gain help from volunteers to run the event. NADARS pride themselves in attention to detail and maintaining high standards of service to both Sellers and Buyers, but it takes a large number of volunteers to staff the event.

We hope the move away from Father’s Day will allow even more interested parties to attend what has become one of the largest amateur radio events of its kind in the South of England.

Apart from the date, everything else is exactly the same and at the same location.

It will also be the 31st year of this much-loved rally and we look forward to providing you with a warm and friendly welcome once again.

Phill, G6EES, Rally Manager