THE PAST WEEK
The junk sale was well attended on Wednesday. There was lots of good stuff, a few bargains to be had but it must be said there was also a lot of junk too (some of which I brought … although a few other poor souls could not see radio gear ultimately being thrown away in the skip either!).
GB3WOR our 70cm repeater was moved to a new position at Lancing parish hall, last Wednesday. The antenna was also moved to a slightly higher position, but unfortunately needed to be repaired as it literally fell in half when being moved. This is of course a temporary situation and we will be replacing the antenna as soon as possible. Our HF Windom antenna has also been moved to a new higher position in the clear and away from the roofs. The vertical radiator should also benefit from being away from the buildings. We will be evaluating its performance at the next meeting on Wednesday 1st November. Many thanks to Graham, G8BZL and Roger, G7VBR as well as the crew from A&S Aerials, for making it all a smooth transition.
COMING UP
JOTA takes place on Saturday 21st Oct at 1st Findon Valley Scouts, Parham Close, Findon. 9am to 4pm but Al and helpers will be there from much earlier on to set things up (good luck with the weather).
All helpers welcome. They will be operating HF and VHF. Contact Alastair, M0OAL.
The Fox Hunt takes place next Wednesday at 7.30pm. Frequency is S21 – 145.525 MHz. The Parish Hall is CLOSED. We will meet in the bar at The Harvester in Lancing from after the fox has been found. Non-participating members can also meet there earlier from (say) 8.00pm, so that they can chat and monitor activity.
** If like me you are late paying your WADARC subs (I have only just paid!) remember you can pay on-line: £35 for a year’s membership please pay by October 31st 🙂 **
EXTRA BITS
Alan G4GNX mentioned there were some good conditions on 2m and 70cm last Saturday, so it’s always worth keeping an eye on activity, especially at the weekends. There are people ‘out there’ listening / monitoring, so its worth giving the odd call on the calling frequency.
Noise is a problem for many of us. In the ‘short circuits’ in the next RagChew I will be writing about how you can make simple receive loop antennas for a few quid that can really help cut down on the noise (if they are correctly set up). Although these simple loops can give good performance they are very narrow band. For an interesting and effective wideband loop antenna its really worth checking out LZ1AQ’s devices, see my link for many of the details and an example in use:
http://www.creative-science.org.uk/loop_lz1aq.html
A few Junk Sales ago there was a rather interesting piece of electronics from Peter Dodds collection that no one could work out what it was and no one bid on. I think Phil paid a nominal amount and gave it to me to play with, so look out for my article about it in the next Ragchew.
Details of GB2RS the news service of the Radio Society of Great Britain can be found here: http://rsgb.org/main/gb2rs/
73, good listening and then good DX!
Next newsletter from me in a month …
Jonathan
G1EXG
CLUB MEETINGS & EVENTS
- JOTA – 1st Findon Valley Scouts, Parham Close, Findon – Saturday 21st October – 9.00am-4.00pm
- Fox Hunt – final stage – Wednesday 25th October – 7.30pm onwards – meet in pub afterwards – Note: LPH CLOSED.
- Club Tea and Chat Night – Wednesday 1st November – 8.00pm – 10.00pm
- Sunday Breakfast – Lancing Harvester – Sunday 5th November – 9.00am – 10.00am
For further information as it occurs, please visit the WADARC website: www.wadarc.org.uk
NETS
Monday – 2 metres 145.425 MHz, FM, 7.30pm (local)
Thursday – 40 metres 7.106 MHz +/-QRM, SSB, 11.00am (local)
Saturday – 70 cms on GB3WO, 7.00pm (local)
Sunday – 80 metres 3.712 MHz +/- QRM, SSB, 7.30am-8.00am (local)
RALLIES
21 October 2017 Yeovil ARC 71st Anniversary Event [Saturday] Sparkford Village Hall, Sparkford, Nr Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 7ED.
Open 10:00. Admission free. Also celebrating El Alemein with radios from that era plus 1920s on. Secret Listener radios.
Light refreshments available. Details: Bob, 01963-440167, wjh069@gmail.com
Details of other UK rallies can be found on this excellent website: http://www.g4rga.org.uk/All.html
RAGCHEW
Summer 2017 edition published – http://www.wadarc.org.uk/ragchew/summer-2017-ragchew
PROPAGATION
Beacons often heard in our area:
VHF:
GB3WSX – IO80QW – 70.007 MHz
GB3BAA – IO91PS – 70.016 MHz
F1ZXK – JN18KF – 144.438 MHz
F5ZSF – IN88GS – 144.409 MHz
GB3VHF – JO01EH – 144.430 MHz
ON0VHF – JO20HP – 144.418 MHz
UHF:
F5XBA – JN18KF – 432.830 MHz
GB3UHF – JO01EH – 432.430 MHz
ON0UHF – JO20ET – 432.567 MHz
DX NEWS
HF:
This week’s bulletin was made possible with information provided by K2DM, ON4EI, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, DXNL, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all.
ANNOBON ISLAND, 3C0. Operators Yuris, YL2GM and Kaspars, YL3AIW are QRV as 3C0L until October 22. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and various digital modes. QSL via YL2GN.
SRI LANKA, 4S. Alex, UT5UY and Roman, UR0MC will be QRV as 4S7AYG from October 22 to 31. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and various digital modes. QSL via M0URX.
LESOTHO, 7P. Pista, HA5AO is QRV as 7P8AO until October 28. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters using CW, RTTY and FT8. QSL to home call.
WEST MALAYSIA, 9M2. Look for 9M2SJM to be QRV by members of the Scout Melaka group during the 60th Jamboree On the Air.
BOTSWANA, A2. Andre, NJ0F is QRV as A25A until November 5. This includes an entry in the upcoming CQ World Wide DX SSB contest. QSL direct to home call.
MOZAMBIQUE, C9. Johannes, PA5X is QRV as C93PA from Beira and is here for the next few months. Activity is on various HF bands using SSB, JT65, WSPR and FT8. QSL to home call.
PALESTINE, E4. Janusz, SP9FIH is QRV as E44WE from Bethlehem until October 29. Activity is on 30, 15, 12 and 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. This includes being active in the upcoming CQ World Wide DX SSB contest as a Single Op/Single Band on 15 meters entry.
QSL to home call.
CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Members of the Grupo DX Teide are QRV as EH8FA from the Lighthouse Anaga, ARLHS CAI-001, until October 22. Activity is on the HF bands using SSB and various digital modes.
QSL direct to EA8NQ.
IRELAND, EI. Oliver, ON4EI will be QRV as EI8GQB from October 21 to November 1 from a caravan using mainly green energy. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters. He will be QRV as EI1A in the upcoming CQ World Wide DX SSB contest. QSL via PA3249.
MOLDOVA, ER. Ben, DL7UCX is QRV as ER/DL7UCX until October 22.
Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW. QSL to home call.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA, P2. Roly, ZL1BQD is QRV as P29RR until November 6. Activity is mainly on 40 and 20 meters using CW, JT9, JT65 and FT8. QSL to home call.
FERNANDO DE NORONHA, PY0F. A group of operators will be QRV as PY0FW from October 22 to 27. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using SSB and vTagsarious digital modes. QSL via PP1CZ.
BANGLADESH, S2. Operators G3KHZ, G4EDG, DL6KVA, S21ED and S21TV will be QRV as S21ZDC from Saint Martins Island, IOTA AS-127, from October 21 to 25. Activity will be on 40 to 15 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via SM6CVX.
SEYCHELLES, S7. Kasimir, DL2SBY is QRV as S79KB from Mahe, IOTA AF-024, until November 1. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB with a focus on RTTY. QSL direct to home call.
EGYPT, SU. Look for SU60J to be QRV during the 60th Jamboree On The Air. QSL via SM5AQD.
TUVALU, T2. Tony, 3D2AG will be QRV as T2AR from Funafuti, IOTA OC-015, from October 21 to 28. Activity will be on the HF bands, as well as 6 and 2 meters, using CW, SSB, RTTY, JT65 and FT8. QSL to home call.
TURKEY, TA. Look for TC68JOTA to be QRV during the 60th Jamboree On The Air. QSL via operators’ instructions.
COCOS (KEELING) ISLAND, VK9C. Keith, GM4YXI and Chris, GM3WOJ will be QRV as VK9CZ from October 24 to November 7. Activity will be on the HF bands with two stations. This includes being an entry in the upcoming CQ World Wide DX SSB contest. QSL via N3SL.
MONTSERRAT, VP2M. Operators K2DM and N0SMX will be QRV as VP2MDG and VP2MMX, respectively, from October 26 to 30. Activity will be on the HF bands using CW, SSB and FT8. This includes being a Multi/Single entry in the upcoming CQ World Wide DX SSB contest. QSL direct to home calls.
THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO
Scouts Jamboree On The Air, the Stew Perry Topband Challenge, JARTS World Wide RTTY Contest, Araucaria World Wide VHF Contest, 10-10 International Fall CW Contest, RCB XYL Test, New York QSO Party, Worked All Germany Contest, South Dakota QSO Party, Feld Hell Sprint, Illinois QSO Party and the RSGB RoLo 80-Meter CW are all on tap for this upcoming weekend.
The CWops Mini-CWT CW Test, UKEICC 80-Meter CW Contest, SKCC CW Sprint and Phone Fray are scheduled for October 25.
Please see October QST, page 94, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest web sites for details
VHF/UHF:
All times – Local
22nd October – 50MHz AFS Contest – 09.00-13.00
