Month: May 2023

Tonight we focused on 10m SSB courtesy of Jack M0PLS and his Discovery 599 transceiver and Buddipole in an inverted L configuration. With conditions reasonable Jack worked several countries via Sporadic E.

Some tests were also carried out in a vehicle mounted set up using an Anytone Ares ii and a Sirio 145 on a magmount. Some very strong signals received on 10m SSB as well as SSB on 27Mhz CEPT frequencies.

Meanwhile back in the shack Andy 2E1GQX fired up the Hytera MD785 and made QSOs via Phoenix DMR via GB7TC at Swindon.

Jon G0IUE made several CQs on 145.500 (2m) and worked Darren G1ERM from Swindon followed by Club member Mike 2E0OND.

Back at the DMR radio a change of operator with John G0JYL ‘navigating’ his way to the South West Cluster on GB7BS and working Neville G3LMO near Salisbury.

A good turnout despite being half term and a Bank Holiday week and an enjoyable time had by all.

No Brian G6HUI this week who was unwell and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Have a great week folks and enjoy the Sporadic E on 6/4 and 2m bands.

Another enjoyable evening of Ham Radio at the Club this evening. With news breaking that Chippenham will hopefully soon have it’s own DMR Repeater (GB7WW) there was a lot of excitement about this new project.

Tonight’s HF operating used a new antenna, a UK Antenna’s 20m end fed with the Kevlar wire upgrade. On test with our IC-7300 SWR was <1:2:1 on 14.200Mhz and the internal ATU worked fine on 40m/17/15&12m bands.

Jenni M0HZT our Club Secretary worked several stations on 20 & 17m.

Jenni operating HF as GX3VRE

Meanwhile our regular 2m FM activation continued apace with half a dozen stations in our log book this week. Best DX being George G8AOJ in Coleford.

Phil 2E0CXH brought some Chinese handhelds in for programming but only one was updated as the version of Chirp we used did not have a UV10R Programme. Nice radio Phil but it wasn’t to be this week.

Jack M0PLS recently took part in his first 2m SSB contest and was keen to share his successes. Jack made 31 144mhz QSOs and his best DX was Sheffield. Not bad for 50w and a 9 element tonna!

Gary M0OTL provided advice on rotator servicing and shared his knowledge on how to bring a broken one back in to service.

Club member Mike 2E0OND provided us with QSOs on 2m FM and also 20m SSB. Great to hear you’re on the mend Mike.

UK Antennas 20m End Fed on the drive on mount and Spiderbeam 12m mast.

Well that’s about it for this week. Another enjoyable evening spent with friends. Great to see Karen M3KIR and Vicki M3HUI back at the Club after a period of absence.

73 till next time. Have a great week folks!

Tonight at the Club we operated both HF and VHF. Brian G6HUI arrived early and set up the Hawkins 20m Vertical with Alan G6YCG. SWR was perfect and the scene was set for some HF Ops.

Hawkins antenna on the Fibreglass Pole

Meanwhile on 2m Jon G0IUE set to work on S20 and called CQ working 3 stations, Mike 2E0OND, Eddie G6MJG and Vic G7RRQ. Nice signals all round.

Alan G6YCG was keen to check signals from GB7BS and focused on the SW Cluster DMR Tuesday Net from Andover and he reported plenty of stations active on the network. Joined by Phil 2E0CXH and John 2E0GTQ Alan demonstrated the DMR signals from the Cluster and explained to Phil and John how it worked.

Meanwhile back on HF Brian worked several stations including Mike 2E0OND nearby in Chippenham and several overseas stations.

Brian operating as GX3VRE

This week we also had the 5/8 wave 10/12m Hawkins with us and at 8.30pm we swapped out the 20m one for 10m. Brian and Jon quickly worked a number of stations from South America and demonstrated the benefits of 28mhz with improving conditions. No Sporadic E but good F’s to Brazil and beyond.

Our faithful ICOM IC-7300 busy working the DX on 10m.

That’s about it for this week. Stay tuned for more updates next time round. Best 73 to all.