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- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
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All in the title. +/- QRM, the net is trying out the conditions on the 15m band as solar cycle 25 progresses. The net will return to its normal frequency of 14.345MHz +/- QRM on Monday.
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- Written by: Maintenance Guy
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All good members of the Society, and prospective new members for 2022.
I would like to make a direct appeal to you all to use the new online membership application system that I've produced.
Yes, the tried and tested paper form method is still available because the club simply cannot afford to have members not joining because the form has gone digital, but here's the thing. We need to electronically capture your details for several reasons, the most obvious of which for me is that I'll need to have a database with everyone's email address on if I'm going to stand a chance of fixing the less than ideal communication situation the club has found itself in over the past two or three years.
I haven't had a chance to research all the potential solutions to this issue yet, but I can guarantee that it's not going to revolve around dog-eared bits of paper.
What that means is that for everyone that goes down the paper form route, muggins here is going to have to get hold of them all from Mike and type them into the form myself. That's kind of adding insult to injury when I've just spent over 40 hours of my time building a robust and safe system for collecting your data.
Both our President and Vice President have already filled in the online form with no problem, so please, use the new form and feel free to leave me any feedback on how you found the process. I've trawled through loads of other UK clubs and societies looking at membership processes, and I'm totally convinced that ours is now the best system that I've come across and it doesn't cost the Society a penny.
OK, so I've begged and I've ranted, now it's over to you.
I will be sending out an email communication to all existing members reminding them of membership renewals in the near future.
Stay safe, and have a good Christmas 
Berni M0XYF
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- Written by: Ken Gibson
- Category: News
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Most of you will know that the HF antenna at Cyprus Hall needs the 300Ω feedline repairing again following yet another break at gutter level and whilst this can be done it seemed sensible to consider if a different antenna might be more suitable and prove more long lasting.
After discussion amongst those members used to HF operations and with the help and assistance of Phil G4UDU it was decided that an end fed ½ wave antenna could be constructed that avoided the use of 300Ω feedline entirely and would fit between the existing poles on the roof of Cyprus hall.
Such an antenna could be matched on all HF bands using the MFJ tuner we already possess. The feedpoint would be at the end of the building nearest to the car park and would incorporate a matching unit which would act as the junction between the antenna wire and a coaxial cable (possibly mini 8) which would then be routed along with the VHF and UHF coaxial feeders into the shack. There would also be a small loading coil at the far end of the antenna near to the entrance in Cyprus Hall.
No more 300Ω feedline getting caught in the gutters, no more junctions between 300Ω line and coax subject to wind and rain. This proposition has been agreed with your Committee and a robust version of the antenna has now been constructed and will be tested on all HF bands at all power levels up to 400 watts before being installed hopefully in the very near future.
The installation of this new antenna will enable the HF transceivers at Cyprus Hall to put out a much better signal than the present arrangement. Much work has been done on this project but it does need MSARS members to use the new antenna or we shall have wasted our time. Remember, as I’ve said before MSARS is a radio club so let’s hear it on the air every time we have a meeting at Cyprus hall.
Ken Gibson
G3WYN
President, MSARS
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- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
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Dear Members,
As you all know the dreaded Covid-19 is still with us.
Since August 2021 we have returned to our weekly meetings and have had several Talks and also our Autumn Surplus Equipment Sale.
However the attendance for these meetings has been very low, so we have taken the decision that as from 14th January 2022 we will be meeting fortnightly instead of weekly. This will save approx. 50% on our annual rent expenditure, and in view of this we will continue to leave the full membership fee at £25 for 2022.
As you will be aware, we still have other annual costs that we have to meet, namely Insurance, Fire Extinguisher Service, PAT testing (24 monthly) and Affiliation Fee.
This decision has not been taken lightly and maybe we will review the situation, although of course a new committee may take a different view.
We will also try to organise outdoor events that will give an opportunity to meet in between our fortnightly hall meetings.
Looking forward, the Society is made up of you the members and without your support and help, it will not be a functioning SOCIETY.
Regards
Russell M Nelson G7TMR
Hon. Chairman
MSARS
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- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
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John's excellent talk from last Friday has now been professionally edited (by John himself, I should say!) and uploaded to Youtube. If you missed it, it's well worth a view. We're very lucky to have members who are willing to gift us these excellent learning opportunities. Amateur radio is a wonderful community.
See all our video back-catalogue on our dedicated page:
