the March 2009 in Adobe PDF Format
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1. gt amet Bate tine A ta hs t BS DOVER RADIO CLUB Affiliated to the Radio Society of Great Britain G3YMD pe AS gt The Net March 2009 Enigma e machine constructed by Fred G4GAN SK See a tribute to Fred on page 9 Copyright Dover Radio Club 2009 Information Pages Club Meetings The Club meets at the Dover Grammar School for Boys at 7 30 for 7 45pm every Wednesday during term time The first and third Wednesdays of each month are normally operating natter evenings Operating takes place in a separate room to the natter sessions Members and guests seeking operating experience or hobby related advice are encouraged to use these evenings for their development The second fourth and the occasional fifth Wednesday evening of each month are reserved mainly for radio related talks demo s and event planning Contacts Chairman Matt Curtis MICMN Secretary Brian Cuff G4SAU Membership Secretary and Treasurer Nigel Evans MONDE The Dover Club is registered as an examination centre All forms of training can be arranged Please contact the appropriate person from the list below via the links on the club website Foundation Licence Training Course David Harding GODQI Intermediate Licence Training Course Brian Joyner G8ZYZ Advanced Licence Training Course Tony Phillpott G4IMP Morse Coaching Ian Keyser G3ROO amp David Harding GODQI Examination Secretary Brian Joyner G8ZYZ Contribution and news ite2. off the RF amplifier when on HF On Icom there is a button to do this For some silly reason Yaesu have made this important requirement a menu item AND made it unclear what you are doing They invented this wonderful phrase IPO meaning Intercept Point Optimisation how many of you understand that very few M3 s I expect and plus a number of full licence holders It means RF Amplifier OFF Yes IPO in the ON position means RF Amp OFF Oh Mr Yaesu you have lost the plot completely now So on HF Icom owners have the RF AMP OFF and Yaesu owners IPO ON and the reverse when using the sets on mobile whips This is one of the reasons why I would like the club to buy a decent radio C756 Pro 111 ideally it would be the best set for contesting it would show club members what a good set is like to operate I dearly hope that it will also encourage club members to set up the station on club nights because they can operate a set they cannot afford at home Perhaps even inspire them to higher things There are numerous other useful facilities on your HF radio which I am sure a lot of you do not fully understand Over the next few NETS I hope to make some of them clear so you will get the maximum enjoyment from your radio WORK IN PROGRESS Congratulations to Catherine M1CVF and Matt MICMN for all the time and effort they have put into creating the new look club website They have totally updated it and I must say that the new c
3. VHF UHF Matt MICMN Declan MOTMX D STAR Matt MICMN Declan MOTMX Ben MOTUX Weather Satellite reception Nigel MONDE 14 4 Chairman s Message Well another year has flown past and here is the report I presented to the AGM last week Introduction First of all I would like us to remember Fred who sadly passed away this year I am sure he will be remembered by all members of the club for his enthusiasm help and kindness AS ever we owe a great deal of thanks to many members of the club for the work they do It s often hard to list people in case I miss someone out We have the team of trainers for all courses the examination team people that organise the special events those that contribute to the club newsletter and those that support and take part in the many talks and activity s the club runs A lot goes on behind the scenes at the club with many hours spent organising arranging and planning It s very hard to think of new things to do and keep everyone in the membership keen We have a hobby that has many activities associated with it and we are very lucky to have experts in many fields Special Events During 2008 we ran 2 special event stations at the South Foreland Lighthouse one for Marconi day and one for international Lighthouse weekend This coming year will be very exciting with the lighthouse events planned and the big event on the seafront at the castle this summer Plenty of opportunity to get the ev
4. a station up and running when Ray Butler G3ZAC joined us and loaned us his Canadian 52 set receiver I have one now and it was one of the best receivers at that time and still is a joy to use although looks rather funny The Tx was a three valve AM CW TX for 1670 and 80m that I built We had three club nets at 1030 AM on 80m AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then on Sunday morning on 160m These had the dual advantage keeping us in touch with what each of us was building or modifying and increasing the membership It must be remembered that at that time there were only a few commercial wireless s available to us In the UK we had KW and T Tom Withers And from the US Collins and the equipment cost was way above what most could afford Post war austerity was still very much at the fore we were more interested in keeping warm than anything else For us plebes we either went to jumble sales bought old radios and stripped them for components to built a station or we saved up for a surplus radio and modified it to provide a station Talk about making silk purses out of sows ears some were real works of art All I could afford was a 19 set 65 6p 3 5s 6d but his could be coaxed to give five watts out on CW on 80 and could be made to cover the top end of 160 For this reason the club net was moved to 1990KHz as far HF in the band as we dared to go without attracting the wrath of the Post Master Generals inspectors Frequency measurement then was m
5. at I had done this before on another wet November night but 40 years earlier It was on a wet Wednesday night back in November 1968 that we held our first meeting of the Dover YMCA radio club in the YMCA building in Layburn Road Dover A group of us had been meeting at a pub in East Langdon during the course of the summer They were Jack Court G3KKF KIPPER KIPPER FLOUNDER Steve Whiteman G3YQR Scott West someone please remind me of Scott s call John Maddison G3KAW thanks for reminding me Brian and Myself John who was the manager of the YMCA in Dover had suggested that we form the club at the YMCA under the banner of the YMCA that way we could use the hall and facilities free of charge At the meeting John was elected Chairman Steve was treasurer and I was secretary I had in my bag a red hard backed British rail account book that was pressed into service as the minute book As we wanted to build some funds there was to be a 10 ten shillings or in modern money 50p annual membership and six pence a night That was a lot of money in those days and it was then decided to split it into two 5 payments on the 1 Dec and 1 June For that reason I think the date must have been either the 21 or the 28 on November I ve just checked the days for Nov 1968 We were soon joined by a SWL Bert Albright who was the manager of a Dover jewelers and then by Bill G2B who lived at 200 Elms Vale Road 14 6 We soon had
6. could be considered guardians and whereas if there were more people arguments would ensue about the best way to utilise the facility John and I had free reign to fit out the interior At the first committee meeting it was decided and agreed that if either of us left the club or turned toes up the 25 would be found from club funds to reimburse us At the next meeting someone suggested that instead of this arrangement we should be offered life membership and this is what John and I accepted as club membership was now 2 per annum and likely to rise Peter Pennington must have joined the club about this time and due to Peters RAE course the club membership soared soon we had a paper membership of 150 with up to 50 members 14 7 present at meetings At this time Class B licence holders far outnumbered class A and the interest was predominately VHF I lost interest in the club due a number of factors a growing family there were few with a common interest to me but worst of all club members piled into the shack making it impossible to use the gear John and I protested but they remained so I decided that II would rather use my valuable time on the air at home In the early 80 s and after a gap of about five years I returned to the club and one day was giving a talk to the membership when I thought I recognized a face I had not seen for some years I walked down the hall to find that it was Dick Pascoe Dick had been a good friend and divin
7. ecretary at Dover until the examining body was changed to the RSGB 14 9 In appreciation of his outstanding contribution to the club and to amateur radio Fred was made an honorary life member of the Dover Radio Club in 2005 I will personally remember Fred as someone who could be completely replied upon When he undertook a task you could forget about it knowing that he would quietly go about it in a professional manner paying great attention to detail and delivering a top class job on time Thanks Fred Brian G8ZYZ Getting the most out of your wireless Pt 1 Choosing a modern radio Ian Keyser GZROO You may think this a silly title for an article but far very far from it Radio s we buy are designed for different uses and we have to be careful if we use a radio for a purpose for which itis not designed This applies to both VHF and HF radios on all modes so do not think that because you only use FM anything will do The main criteria that a designer is wanting to know is what sort of aerial is it to be used on Why Well big aerials produce big signals and front ends must be able to cope with those signals Small aerials produce small signals so the set has to have enough sensitivity to resolve these small signals A set designed for handling small signals cannot be made without very great expense and lots of current to handle big signals When we put that little hand held onto a 5 element Yagi the poor thing suffers T
8. ent running well Talks and Demos The club has seen a variety of talks demonstrations and social evenings during the year we have had several talks from guest speakers to the club all of which have been very well attended by members A big thank you to Anne G4RJZ Marion who continues to serve the refreshments at every meeting and outside special events and to Marion who has done an excellent job with the raffle with a great selection of prizes each week The club needs to continue to move forward in the future first I think to try and find some young blood we are all getting too old But I would like to finish by saying to everyone please get involved with the club The club needs ideas and support to continue in the future and to grow 73 Matt MICMN Your Officers and Committee for 2009 At the Annual General meeting of the Dover Radio Club held on Wednesday 18 March 2009 the following persons were elected to hold office for the forthcoming year Officers Chairman Matt Curtis Secretary Brian Cuff Treasurer amp Membership Secretary Nigel Evans Committee Members Ann Philpott David Donahoe Declan McGlone Ian Keyser Peter Love and Brian Joyner Non executive posts Web Master Matt Curtis Net Editor Brian Joyner Auditors Tony Phillpott and Marion Joyner The birth of Dover radio club Ian Keyser G3ROO While driving down to the club one wet evening last November I suddenly realised th
9. eption Gandhi was always Gandhi Dates for your diary International Marconi Day Saturday 25 April The club will be operating GB2SFL from the South Foreland lighthouse over the weekend of 25 26 April Please listen out for announcements at the club or see further information on the G3YMD group very soon SOUTH FORELAND LIGHTHOUSE Dover Radio Club Programme April 2009 Ist April Presentation on Radio Signal Mapping by Denis GOSLJ 8th April School holiday Net on GB3KS 19 30Hrs 15th April School holiday Nosh and Natter night at the Mayfly Hawkinge Nr Folkestone 22nd April Contest group discussion lead by Declan MOTMX 29th April Operating night in the new club shack PLEASE NOTE On the odd occasion the committee may be forced to change the programme at short notice due to circumstances beyond their control Please check for updates on the club website regularly 14 14
10. g buddy of mine but for some reason we had drifted apart People who know Dick will know that as soon as he joins a club he rapidly rises to the top Within a couple of years he was Chairman and I was Vice chairman At about this time 1984 the RSGB took over the Morse testing service I became the senior examiner for Kent and Dover Radio club was to host the tests Fred G4GAN and a team had recently moved the shed to the back of the YMCA and did a wonderful job of repairing it and modifying it to fit underneath a car port I fitted it out for Morse testing and training The club bumbled along the face of amateur radio changing rapidly but then disaster struck and we were no longer welcome at the YMCA I am not sure of the politics but it was not a happy time At this time I had met Katherine Carson when she asked me to give a talk to her class on Samual Morse This was a great success and resulted in Katherine joining the club It turned out that her husband Mike was head of Science at the Duke of Yorks school and we were invited to hold our meetings up there It was ideal We had a dedicated shack a 60ft tower and the use of three classrooms This continued for some years until the shack was required for other uses We then moved to our present location at the Dover Grammar School where David Harding was a teacher We had the use of the tower for a shack and again three classrooms Unfortunately the tower started leaking and soon became untenab
11. he first thing that happens is that is loses sensitivity this is because the signals arriving at the aerial socket get distorted by the RF amplifier and cross modulate The effect of this is to produce noise which swamps the weak signals The other is squawks and bangs and snatches of speech that cannot be explained On HF there are two requirements the set for portable and the set for main aerial use not base set that conveys nothing as your set can often be used in the field on massive aerials Unfortunately companies have tried to make a general purpose set and to a degree they have succeeded The problem is that very few amateurs really know how to use them to enable them to be used on a big aerial and when I mean big I only mean a full size dipole not a beam Sensitivity on HF is rarely a problem even in very basic sets it is possible to hear solar noise if you know what to listen for and in the average environment that is masked be local QRN So the most important thing is for the set to handle Bill s transmission in the next street without cross modulating Sets like the IC706 7000 FT857 and 897 do not stand a chance unless driven properly and Icom and Yaesu have both built in provision for this but very few modern amateurs know how to utilise them the reason is they have failed to read the user manual and UNDERSTAND what they are reading If you have one of those sets the first thing to do is to turn
12. is year Judging by the number of people who have already expressed an interest it looks as if it will be very well supported 14 12 Some thought on operating Ian Keyser GZROO I have just been visiting a friend and we did a lot of listening to 80 and 40m SSB Generally we were pretty disgusted with the standard of operating that we heard Not only operating procedures but bad language one amateur who I intend to report to Ofcom was continually Effing and Blinding Of course this is a case of one in a thousand but it does highlight one of the problems with the new UK amateur licence structure A large number of newly licensed amateurs have not had an apprenticeship in the hobby as short wave listeners This manifests itself in poor operating practice and other related problems Operating the average FM VHF hand held creates little problem once repeater shifts and tone bursts are mastered and communication can proceed normally or near normally One of the major stumbling blocks is how to order callsigns It may at first seem silly to have an order of callsigns but there is a real reason for having a convention and keeping to it On VHF FM there is little problem signals are usually Q5 and so if there is some confusion it is soon cleared up On VHF SSB and HF it is completely different signals are weak and often troubled by QRM QSB and QRN In these conditions it is far better to know when to expect the callsign you are interested i
13. le The gear was then moved to a locker in one of the classrooms with the idea of setting it up in one of the classrooms each week I erected a doublet and the feeder could be retrieved through an open window to connect the radio Unfortunately this was not a very satisfactory arrangement and soon the gear remained in its locker Fortunately that is now changing back the tower is now repaired and usable the operating bench has been refurbished and in a very short time we will have a dedicated shack again It is now time for someone else to continue the story of Dover radio club and correct any errors I have made dates all a bit vague now 14 8 Fred Knight G4GAN Silent Key Fred passed away suddenly at the talking newspaper studios in Deal on Monday 12 J anuary He will be remembered by so many for his voluntary work in several fields in fact the local Deal newspaper stated Fred was one of Deal s most devoted volunteers for local charities Fred was a volunteer for the White Cliffs Talking talking newspaper for over 20 years Working behind the microphone his contribution was probably one of the most important as he installed all of the equipment in the studios carried out repairs to the players used by the blind listeners and also acted as sound and recording engineer during production As if that wasn t enough to keep him occupied Fred actively supported the Deal Maritime and Local History Museum Over the past year or more he
14. ms for inclusion in The Net should be sent to the NET Editor Brian Joyner G8ZYZ Website www darc org uk Local Net The Dover Radio Club White Cliffs Net is on air at 10 00 Hrs local time on 3 745MHz then QSY to 1 888 00 Monday to Sunday Please feel free to join in Dstar Net There is a local DSTAR Net for locals on GB7FK GB7DX GB7IC on Tuesday evenings from 8pm Please contact Matt M1CMN or Declan MOTMX for more information Local Repeaters VHF voice repeaters covering the catchment area of the Dover club are GB3KS at Dover 145 625MHz and GB3FK at Folkestone 145 750MHz There is no UHF repeater in the immediate locality but GB3EK at Cliftonville Tx Output 430 8875 MHz RX Input 438 4875 MHz Offset 7 6 MHz CTCSS 103 5 Hz look at www gb3ek co uk for more information and GB3SK at Canterbury 433 150MHz provide good coverage with the exception of the low lying areas of Shepway GB3FK is operated by the Folkestone Repeater Group further information can be obtained by logging onto www gb3fk com The remaining repeaters mentioned above are run by the Kent Repeater Group and full details of all their repeaters can be found on their web site at www krg org uk Voice Repeater Access and Usage All the voice repeaters in Kent can be accessed by a 1750 Hz tone of between 200 m seconds and 1 second OR by CTCSS tones of 103 5 Hz except GB3SK followed by at least 3 seconds of audio this can be achieved by givi
15. n Think of it this way if you give the other stations callsign first he is far more likely to recognise it in the QRM and know which voice to concentrate on So if I hear deep down in the noise Gee Radio Oscar I am alerted to the fact I am being called so can then concentrate on the this is Victor Kilo six Hotel and can go back QRZ Victor Kilo Six and can likely get the contact Compare that to This is victor kilo six delta calling germany three radio oscar oscar mentally what happens is who was that calling me A hopeless situation This is the problem on sideband but it is just as bad with CW perhaps even worse My foreign friends are very upset by poor operating practices of M3 s to the point that they will not call them They complain that they have enough of a problem having to converse in English without having to try and decode who is calling them When I mention this problem to the newly licenced I get the very narrow point of view back I don t go on SSB or HF so why bother well my answer to that is that you MIGHT do so in the future and if you do not get it sorted in you mind now you WILL make a fool of yourself in front of our international friends The whole ethos behind amateur radio is consideration to others and that we are all equals In the past when I worked Sir Cliff Richard or any other licensed celebrity or royalty it is Cliff or Hussein Ah one exc
16. ng your own call sign twice to ensure the repeater is opened properly ALWAYS wait for the over signal usually a K or a G between overs before transmitting The G indicates access by CTCSS D STAR Digital Repeater GB7FK This digital repeater is located in Capel between Dover and Folkestone Port B 439 7375 MHz Port C 145 7875 MHz Please send your reports to Matt M1CMN This is very new technology and we are all still learning about it To join the fun and find out more information please join the Kent DSTAR Yahoogroup Also visit the GB3FK Website for more information www gb3fk com APRS Internet Gateway MB7USK Folkestone Based APRS Internet gateway using UIVIEW operating on 144 800MHz under the call sign of MB7USK To find out more about UIVIEW visit http welcome to mb7usk Television Repeater An Amateur Television repeater is located on the Isle of Sheppey with an output frequency of 1 310MHz It is run by the Kent Television Group KTG who provide further details on their website www kentelivision org New to the hobby or the club There are many parts of the hobby to explore and we have many members with experience in different areas Please contact Brian G8ZYZ for the list to be modified updated Mode Name Callsign to contact CW Morse Ian G3ROO David GODQI HF Antenna design Ian GZROO 6 Metre Operation Tony G4IMP Amateur Television Brian G8ZYZ David GODQI Repeaters and
17. ore than a little hit and miss to get within 3 Khz of any frequency and you were doing well Unlike now there were three inspectors in any area Canterbury area at that time I believe included Folkestone to Faversham and all points east and we all got regular visits to check our logs and station output One day I was talking to Mike Dennison later editor of Rad Comm on 160 who at that time lived in digs in Canterbury He had aerial problems and I related to him on air that when in London I used to use a disused telephone line that was still attached to the house the following morning I had two gents in bowler hats at the door to tick me off and sign my log with a warning They had been monitoring our QSO The club shack was in the old air raid shelter at the front of the YMCA and was not damp but WET Very soon the gear started to suffer so John Maddison and I decided that we would buy a shed between us for the club He knew a chap who made sheds and inquired the price of a really good shed We had expected to pay about 20 but the price was a staggering 50 over a weeks wages for both of us but we persuaded the company to accept 10 per week When we went to see the shed we agreed that the quality was excellent We also got the agreement that the company would erect the shed a big advantage as the place it was to be located was only just big enough to take it The committee agreed that it would be better if only two bought it as they
18. put his considerable woodworking skills to good use in the complete restoration of one of the few remaining man powered whalers of its kind in the UK As a radio amateur Fred will be remembered for many things An example of his construction abilities can be seen in the cover picture He built the Enigma E machine from a kit but then housed it in a splendid wooden case and then searched everywhere until he obtained a 1940s typewriter from which he removed and adapted the keys to give his machine an authentic WW2 keyboard I hope to be able to bring you some good news about this in a future edition Others may remember Fred as a very keen operator On VHF during the 1980s he worked some very impressive DX from his sea level QTH and was a very active member of the clubs successful contest team He also loved Special Events not only operating but also researching archives and producing some excellent displays to enhance our patch at many events Fitting out the shed at the Adjusting the H F beam Operating at South Foreland YMCA in the 1980s during Quexpo 1982 Lighthouse 2007 So many amateurs will remember and thank Fred for his training role In 1990 it was announced that the Novice grade of licence was to be introduced and Fred was amongst the first to offer his services to instruct and administer the courses at Dover In those days the City amp Guilds was the examining body in addition to his other duties Fred took on the role of Examination S
19. risp and clear format is a great achievement Work is still in progress so keep an eye on it frequently over the course of the next few weeks Brian G8ZYZ Training Brian G8ZYZ Foundation Course Eight students attended the course run on 21 and 28 March I am pleased to report that six of them were successful in the examination with two more failing by the very narrowest of margins We have now had 161 successful candidates and we have just maintained our success rate of 92 Some of the Foundation course students and instructors 28 March Photo by Tony G4IMP Another of Tony s photos with the names of each student can be found on the homepage of the club website Intermediate Course The most recent Intermediate course was completed a few weeks ago and I am pleased to say that Bruce Stewart Whyte Graham Wells Iain Vickers John Roberts Kris Aird Leslie Brett Owen Cooper and Tony Willsher all passed the examination held on 11 March This result maintains our excellent record of a 100 pass rate at this grade The result was something of a relief as just two weeks before the course commenced Fred G4GAN silent key advised that he was unable to continue as an instructor Tony G4IMP very kindly offered his services he was joined by Steve MOSGE so the construction side of Intermediate training was soon back in very capable hands Advanced Course The next Advanced training course is scheduled to commence during the autumn th
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