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Just a quick update on the above.
A large throng of members (up to around a dozen on and off) attended the hall this morning, and together with the really handy guy from Aerialbeam, we managed to get all three new/replacement antennas up on the roof and all cabled into the shack.
The plan was to leave the 2m and 6m beams alone on the rotator, so no change there. Both are a little out of tune, but work OK, as does the rotator.
The 6m 2m 70cm colinear was replaced like-for-like with another Tri-Band Comet GP-15N for the same bands, mainly because the old one was apparently a bit sick.
The broken G5RV was replaced with a horizontal End Fed Half Wave antenna, resonant on 80m 40m 20m 15m and 10m. This will also tune on the WARC bands with an ATU. It's around 23m long overall, including a loading coil and 2.4m extension for 80m. This fitted perfectly between the two existing poles front and back of the hall, almost like we had planned it that way, which we hadn't!
All the lanyards were replaced, but the pulleys turned out to be serviceable and were therefore re-used.
The additional antenna is a Wellbrook Magnetic Loop - ALA1530AL which covers all of HF from 20kHz to 30MHz. This will be connected to the new KiwiSDR web-enabled receiver, but could also be used generally as an HF Rx-only antenna for any receiver. It's an active antenna using a 12V supply provided by a BIAS-T in the shack. Both the antenna and the KiwiSDR will be powered up and running 24/7. The Wellbrook is particularly good at low frequencies, but is directional and was be set up with the maximum gain east-west.
The EFHW and mag-loop were cabled with all-new Mini-8 coax into the shack, while the Comet Tri-Bander used the existing coax for VHF/UHF.
We did do some very brief testing, and it was obvious that we were getting something useful out of all three new antennas. More analysis and testing will take place over the next few weeks and months.
All that remains to be done is the installation of the KiwiSDR itself and some cable routing, plug-soldering and tidying up.
All in all a very successful day.
Huge thanks to everyone who played their part.
Berni M0XYF
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All our new antennas and rigging parts are either now in hand, or in transit. Next Friday at the club will see the inventory checked off and final plans made as to what goes where.
This of course in advance of our upcoming commercial installation for which we now have a date - Tuesday 13th September, starting at 09:00.
Tea and coffee will be free-flowing, and parking will be available directly behind the hall as the barrier will be up.
We've managed to get the club shack to this point, and we now just need a few members to show up on the day to prepare the hardware on the ground and keep the aerial contractor fully occupied and fed with antenna parts and instructions.
Please come along if you can, and it would be really useful if you could let Peter G4AKG know in advance if you can make it.
That's Tuesday 13th September at 09:00.
73
M0XYF
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The first Tonight@8 talk of the new season will be on Monday the 5th of September.
Mike Richards, G4WNC will talk about going back to the keyboard! He says that now we have filled our logbooks with FT-8 contacts, maybe it’s time to move on and start communicating again. In an illustrated talk, he will introduce you to the best data modes for keyboard QSOs with a special focus on VarAC.
In addition to explaining their operation, Mike will run through some operating techniques to take the strain out of keyboard QSOs. It will be streamed live on the RSGB’s YouTube channel and via the BATC allowing you to watch the presentation and ask questions online.
To watch the Tonight@8 talk, go to youtu.be/SC0UxNG2itE
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A productive evening at the hall last Friday, as Chris M7VJE re-installed the souped-up shack computer, which now has 8GB of RAM, a solid-state hard drive, new speakers and a webcam for Zoom.
I added a new 4-port Gigabit switch-come-WiFi Access Point, which gives us a direct hard-wired connection for the shack computer and spare capacity for the (soon to be installed) WebSDR as well as for a future remote-access SDR transceiver. The SSID for the wireless in the shack is... well, I'll let you search for it. You'll know it when you see it, and the password is available from the shack manager.
Everything is working fine, and we are getting more than adequate upload and download speeds. Thanks once again to the CHCA (Cyprus Hall Community Association) for allowing us to have this facility.
I am also manually updating the fundraising totaliser for the new transceiver as and when I'm advised of incoming funds. I'm happy to report that so far, we have had at least four donations, with more on the way.
Please do think hard if there are any commercial entities that you may have contacts within who may wish to support and be associated with this great club. I'm more than happy to publicise their patronage with a banner or logo on the website.
Berni M0XYF
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We have received an invitation to support the the Mid Sussex District Scouts at a camp site near Hailsham on Saturday 15th October 2022 - the weekend of JOTA-JOTI - Jamboree On The Air and the Internet.
These are only preliminary enquiries and plans so far, but would involve doing some educational radio activities with Explorer Scouts (14 - 18yrs) on the day.
I'm assuming this would be in-person and on-site, but I'd like to try and whip up some interest in helping them out, whatever it turns out to be. I'm keen to get MSARS back involved with some real community-based activities whenever possible, and this is surely the perfect place to start.
There are a couple of defined 'Badges' that the Scouts can do. One falls under the umbrella of the 'Science and Technology Activity Badge' which is pretty flexible and would be very achievable, and then there is the more difficult 'Communicator Activity Badge' which is too ambitious for one weekend. The latter seems more akin to the Foundation Licence, and can even be attained directly by actually obtaining a Foundation Licence, so that might be one for the future?
So, I'm gauging interest from MSARS members right now. Please contact me directly if you would like to get involved. Don't make me beg, or set up camp outside your house, though I will do both if I have to. I still have my urban camping badge.
Put it in your diary - JOTA-JOTI 2022 - Saturday 15th October.
The Scout leaders will be managing the 'Internet' bit, so maybe we could do some HF/VHF, perhaps even some DMR or FT8?
I'm talking to John Berry GM8JBJ this evening, as he has done a marvellous job with organising JOTA activities in the past, and I'm sure that will be very helpful.
73
Berni M0XYF
