Amateur radio in West Sussex - Training, Exams, Contests and Special Event Stations

Weekly Bulletin – April 6 2020

THE PAST WEEK

Apologies for the slight lateness of this Bulletin. My laptop is dying and although I now have a new one, transferring everything over is a nightmare and is still on-going. I’ve managed to coax the old one to display again (for now).

The nets seem to be popular as usual, with more joining in each week. Hopefully Les, G3JSU will soon be able to access GB3WO, thanks to the generosity of George, G0UCF. Also, I’ve heard from Ron, G3SKI who’s doing well and will also hopefully join in on the Tuesday net. Nets will continue for the foreseeable future.

Bryan, G0SIU is having issues with his Yaesu FT1DE – a strange issue. Trying to access GB3WO a press of the PTT will access the repeater, so his setup is correct for the repeater, but even though the PTT is still asserted, the transmitter drops out after a second or so and the rig goes back to receive. At first we thought it might be a battery issue, but Bryan now has a new battery and it’s still the same. Could it be that it’s been set to transmit a brief burst of data and then cease TX? If anyone has a good knowledge of this rig, please help us out.

Graham, G4FNL has come up with an idea which can help us keep in touch and interact with each other. Graham proposes that each of us take a photo of your shack / aerials – and add a few words (half an A5 sized page max) that will give readers an idea of what’s in the picture, plus any other interesting facts or restrictions that you’ve overcome.

Also, submit an article for RagChew. This can be on almost any subject matter – as long as its loosely connected to Amateur Radio. It could be that you’ve returned to the hobby after many years, or you’ve moved QTH from somewhere exotic to the local area, or you’ve made something that you find of use (a kit, or entirely home brew) or indeed – what you do or don’t like about the hobby!

Please send all to Graham ( graham@g4fnl.co.uk ) and he will collate and pass on to Roger G4TNT for inclusion in RagChew. Please do this by Sunday 12th April. Let’s see if we can inundate Roger with items…..

Stay home – stay safe……………….

CLUB MEETINGS AND EVENTS – All suspended for the time being and replaced by nets.

  • Net on GB3WO – Tuesday 7th April – 8.00pm-10.00pm
  • Net each evening (Mon-Thurs) on 3.712MHz – 6.00pm onwards
  • Net on GB3WO – Tuesday 14th April – 8.00pm-10.00pm
  • Net on GB3WO – Tuesday 21st April – 8.00pm-10.00pm
  • Net on GB3WO – Tuesday 28th April – 8.00pm-10.00pm

For further information as it occurs, please visit the WADARC website: http://www.wadarc.org.uk

NETS

Monday – 2 metres 145.425 MHz, FM, 7.30pm (local)

Tuesday – 70cms on GB3WO, FM, 8.00pm (local)

Thursday – 40 metres 7.106 MHz +- QRM, SSB, 11.00am (local)

Saturday – 70cms on GB3WO, 7.00pm (local)

Sunday – 80 metres 3.712 MHz +- QRM, SSB, 7.30am – 8.00am (local)

Weekday evenings – 80 metres 3.712 MHz +- QRM, SSB, 6.00pm (local)

RALLIES

Unlikely that there will be any rallies globally for a while, but you can still check when times get better:

Local, national and some international rallies can be found by visiting this excellent website: http://www.g4rga.org.uk/All.html

RAGCHEW

Winter 2019/2020 edition published – http://www.wadarc.org.uk/ragchew/winter-2019-2020

PROPAGATION

HF and VHF

RSGB propagation information can be found by following this link: https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/gb2rs/propagation-news/2020/04/03/propagation-news-5-april-2020/

BEACONS

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:

WADARC members (and others) can subscribe to the DX News service without joining ARRL.
Send an email to this address: w1aw-list-request@arrl.org
In the subject line put the word Subscribe followed by your email address
ARRL will send an acknowledgement and you will receive the weekly DX News as an email, usually on a Friday

VHF/UHF:

The RSGB VHF/UHF Contest and Activity calendar is available via this link: https://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/readcal.pl?year=2020

FINALÉ

With the recent attacks on 5G installations – keep an eye on your aerials – the great unwashed public mostly can’t tell the difference!

Vy 73,

Alan. G4GNX