it’s good to be back using the new service provider. Keep checking for Club news and updates.

Smart Speaker Cradle – 144mhz Noise

One of our members had high noise on 144mhz SSB where it had not been detected before. After turning everything off in the Shack the noise was still there.

Then the Smart Speaker that was playing was turned off and the noise vanished. The culprit was not the speaker or its supplied power supply but an after market cradle that has a rechargeable battery so you can use the speaker without plugging in to the mains.

Anyway we did some tests at the Club on Tuesday and the Peak of the noise was 147mhz but so close to 2m it gave 4 to 5 s-points of noise on 144.300.

So if you have unexpected noise on 2m it may be wise to check your smart speakers too. Here’s the manufacturers details below.

Loopy Night at the Club – 17th January 2023

Tonight we did some RX noise level checks in the Shack, the Hall and Outside. These tests were set against an S9 noise level received on our Triband Rotary Dipole on all the HF bands.

The Mag Loop in all 3 locations (indoors and outside) provided improved reception on all bands with a significant reduction in noise.

Here we see Chairman Brian G6HUI explaining the benefits of the Magnetic Loop when trying to overcome local RF noise issues.

Happy New Year – 1st Club Meeting of 2023

The first Club night of 2023 saw us take down the Decorations on behalf of the Hall Committee and GX3VRE taking part in the 144mhz UK Activity Contest. We also extended a warm welcome to Ciaran M7GGC from Southwick who popped in to pick up some kit.

All in all a great start to 2023.