News
- Details
- Written by: Chris G4ZCS
- Category: News
- Hits: 585
Another month and another new logbook - they don’t seem to last as long as they used to or perhaps it’s the FT8 effect.
I should have read my own notes last month, as I heard a bit of African DX I needed. In my rush to get a call in I fumbled a bit. I got the guy first call, then I checked my station. I had just called with about 8 Watts! This had broken through the pile up and left me dumfounded and with a new one in the log.
I usually run FT8 at about 100W using the amplifier to do the work rather than let the K3 run at its' full power, but it does help to turn the amp’ on first!
Since using FT8 and FT4, I have managed to increase my all-time DXCC score, and I'm now getting close to the magic 300!
At the time of writing, I just added three more, KH0 The Mariana Isl’s, A52 Bhutan, and 3G0 Easter Island. All were on my ATNO list of 'I never thought I’d work these'.
In the last few days of the month, the sun got a bit agitated with some big flares causing the flux to vary wildly as did the A and K indexes. This caused some apparent blackouts, but in spite of this, one evening I worked ZL4 on South Island closely followed by VK3 and VK2. No one else seemed to be working anyone else, strange conditions.
Then...
The disputer threw its last wobbly blue screen, so a newish replacement was obtained. The transfer of files, programs and logbooks was a nightmare. However, I am up and running now in less than 2 minutes boot time rather than over 10 on the old machine. Unfortunately, I made some mistakes loading the files so although it works, I didn't transfer all of the log properly. Another job for May!
That’s enough for this month, now let’s see what May can bring.
Good DXing,
Chris G4ZCS
Note:
My huge thanks to Chris for producing his monthly updates and sending them over to me, when he must be feeling pretty rough most of the time. Chris has been a great contributor and servant to the club for many years, and it's much appreciated. If anyone else feels that they could drop me a small article that other club members might find interesting, then please do so. Don't bother formatting it - just send me the text and any photos - I'll do the rest.
Berni M0XYF, Webmaster.
- Details
- Written by: Mike G8KMP
- Category: News
- Hits: 662
Tony Bailey RIP
Tony Bailey came along to one of our meetings on 7th September 1966 just a few months after MSARS started and signed in with a BRS 27845 certificate. A year later on the 6th September 1967 Tony had the callsign G3WPO.
1974 Tony gave a lecture to MSARS on 'Oscar 7' and 'FM Transceivers' to 25 of our members, including G5RV.
In 1975 Tony had designed the 'WOPPO' box, a ten channel scanning transceiver that several of our members built. A 25 years certificate was awarded to Tony in 1998.
Tony died on Friday 12th April 2024.
May he rest in peace.
Mike G8KMP
- Details
- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
- Hits: 730
A new historical video has been uploaded to our videos page thanks to Mike Pollock G8KMP (source material), Gordon King G3XTH (editing) and of course the artist K J Farmer.
It makes interesting viewing and I'm sure it will bring back some memories for many of our long-standing members.
The original painting still resides in our shack of course, and the club is also proud to retain Louis' famous G5RV callsign.
- Details
- Written by: Chris G4ZCS
- Category: News
- Hits: 413
If you read last month’s edition you will not be surprised that the last remaining US states got into my log in the first couple of days of March. Alaska and Vermont made it a full house. Now to try for some elusive DX; Galapagos, Nepal and of course New Zealand.
One day I’ll turn the wire direction from N-S to E-W and work Antarctica and over the pole to the Pacific. Still, just over 140 DXCCs this year on my wire loop with 100W. I don’t think the pigeons and squirrels would appreciate it if I wound the wick up to 1 kW!
This month has been good for me, as I have contacted 4 ATNOs (All Time New Ones). I’m getting close to the big 300. All the outstanding ones are remote islands with the exception of Syria. March was also good for islands, 26 in all; 4 in Europe, 6 in Asia, 8 in North America, and 8 in Oceana.
As promised last month, a few tips based on personal experience, on how to get the DX in the log. First of all, get a logbook (or a computer log) HI. Then turn on the radio, check the antenna, PSU, tuner and anything else you might need.
I find it useful to pick a band that is active, so read up on propagation or watch one of the web-based sources. There is little point in shouting into the mic’ if there is no propagation. All pretty obvious so far.
If you are a bit short of experience, voice might not be your preferred mode. Don’t forget there is CW and numerous data modes to choose from as well.
I find that a quiet band is OK provided you can hear something going on. If you hear any station calling CQ answer him to get warmed up, then be brave and find a quiet spot and call CQ yourself. You might have to wait for a number of calls before you get a reply, however, remember if you don’t put out any calls no one can reply!
I have found that using FT8 with my CQ call loaded into the system can produce surprising replies including some of my rare DX! Quite often you can call a rare station for a long time with no luck, however, I have found that without telling anyone the DX has a 'list' it is easy to give up - but unknown to you, you might be next on his list. This happened to me with Fiji. After 8 minutes of calling, I stopped but I kept listening and two of his contacts later I was sent a signal report!
So go on give it a try, but remember listen, listen, listen then make a noise.
This year I managed to get to the club’s AGM, it was great to catch up with some of the 'old' faces again after such a long break. It is noticeable that the club is growing again with new faces & callsigns. Some of the new tech’ is leaving me behind but it was great to see Bob N4XAT, Phil EA8 portable and others more local joining in from afar. All overseen by our RSGB regional rep’ Keith. I had an interesting chat with him about training and the changes Covid has brought to our hobby.
That’s enough for this month, now let’s see what April can bring.
Chris G4ZCS
- Details
- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
- Hits: 388
It was brought to the committee's attention at the AGM that the committee meeting summaries for the last two 2024 meetings were missing from the members section of the website. Alan agreed to ensure that they were forwarded to the webmaster for inclusion. I have now received them, and have duly posted them in the members-only section.
Don't all rush to log in at once, but they do make interesting reading, and if you don't log on, you won't know what your committee is doing with your club and it's funds.
Log in here: https://midsussexars.org.uk/members-only
Forgotten your Username? You can find it by following this procedure: https://midsussexars.org.uk/component/users/remind?Itemid=101
Forgotten your Password? What are you like? 🙂 Get a password reset organised here: https://midsussexars.org.uk/component/users/reset?Itemid=101
Regards,
Berni M0XYF
