With Midsummer and the Equinox behind us we enter the second half of the year, we look forward to the annual event of Field Day in Aug but in the mean time here are the known events for July:

05 Jul 2023 SWC & Gateways

Update South West Cluster Repeaters
Overview Of Simplex Gateways

Talk Terry M0TJX  

12 Jul 2023 Fox Hunts
Fox Hunt Discussion Including:

What Is A Fox Hunt
The How To And Techniques 
When & Where

Led by John (M3EQQ)
.
19 Jul 2023 Field Day Discussion 
Field Day Discussion Including:

Layout
Content & Program
Members Assistance To Help Set Up

Led By John (M3EQQ)

26 Jul 2023 OFCOM Consultation
RSGB Guest Andrew Jenner G7KNA

Garry G7NVZ the fox for the event was hidden and transmitting at19:30, hearing calls from

John M0HFH and Paul M0ZMB the hunt was on. We also had John G6RAZ call in and monitor progress. 

Garry initially had some technical difficulties trying to get one of his radios on frequency for when the power was stepped down. The first radio used was a Leixen VV898 mobille  followed by an AnyTone AT-D878UV handheld.  The antennas used at different times were a mag-mounted 2m/70cm whip, the handheld rubber duck antenna and also a dummy load on the mag-mount.

Initially John M0HFH started well and got close before getting a bit further away, Paul M0ZMB did the reverse started getting further away before making a dramatic arrival on locating the fox. John G6RAZ, who was monitoring proceedings, made a guess of where he thought the fox  was located and gave an area within a mile of where the fox was. Terry M0JTX who had a prior engagement that night and inadvertently was within 1/2 a mile of where the fox was located.

TSGARC Mobile Foxhunt 2023

The map shows approximate locations of the hounds and others after the fox was found. 

The club will be holding the first of two Foxhunts, this is the mobile one, so ensure you operate you vehicle safely and legally.

Garry G7NVZ is the fox for the night and will be hidden somewhere in an area no further than 10 miles of Thornbury. Ordnance Survey Explorer 167 (1:25000) will cover the area completely. Due to the area covered by Ordnance Survey Landranger (1:50000) map sheets 162 & 172 as Thornbury is in the area covered by the overlap of the sheets. Sheet 162 will have the Northern part of the where the fox could be and sheet 172 will have Southern part.

The fox will be hidden and ready to transmit by 19:30. The first transmission will on 145.500 and move to a free frequency around 145.400-145.450. After the first transmission subsequent transmissions will take place on the quarter hour 3mins. Power will be reduced as the evening goes on.       

Our normal meeting room at the Chantry will not be available for the evening …

On Tuesday morning I went to the Chantry office to enquire about access to the roof and look at the damage to our 40m Dipole.

A Branch from a tree on the far side of the main building has Snapped and come to rest on the cable attached to the RHS of the dipole and this is putting the balun and RG214 under strain and has snapped the dipole on the LHS of the main building and ropes attaching the balun to the central support.

We need a working party for the repairs, a minimum of four people, two on the roof with access from inside of the Chantry and two on the ground to attend to the ropes. The Old antenna needs to be removed firstly; a ladder will be needed to untie the ropes from the trees and some measuring of distances for our new antenna to be installed.

Our Plans are to fit a 40m off centre fed dipole which requires moving the centre point of the antenna to the LHS of its current position. and re-making all ropes and the radiator lengths which can be carried out on a Wednesday evening at club.

During June 2023 the following Talks / Videos will be covered:

07-06-2023 – Garry (G7NVZ)
Garry will be doing a “Workshop / Talk”  covering the clubs web site including information available and how to post items etc. If there is anything specific you want covered please let Garry or myself know in advance.

14-06-2023 – Led By Garry (G7NVZ)
Fox Hunt discussion
Note: Amateur Radio Exams will be taking place in another part of The Chantry which will not interfere with normal Club activities. 

21-06-2023
Mobile Fox Hunt Event 
More detail will be published when available 

During May 2023 the following Talks / Videos will be covered:

03-05-2023 – Terry (MR0TJX)
Tim Peake’s journey to the ISS with an internal tour by Sunita Williams and concluding with “How To Work The ISS”

24-05-2023 – Terry (MR0TJX)
Overview of the AllStar Link and technology  

A reminder that if you wish to celebrate the Coronation a Notice of Variation (NOV) can be obtained and used from Mon 01 May to the 30 Jun 2023 to add the RSL (Regional Service Locator) of “R” after the UK prefix of “G”, “M” or “2” in your call sign. See link below.

NOV Application

International Amateur Radio Day – Came into existence in the city of Paris on 18 Apr 1925 following the discovery that the “Short Wave Spectrum” could unite people across the world. Since those days interest in Amateur Radio has grown with over 3 million licensed operators. The invention is celebrated across the world with Amateurs “Skipping an Oscillated Wave Signal” across the globe over thousands of miles bringing people and communities together. All long before the invention of the World Wide Web!   

On Sunday 23 April 2023 at 3pm, there will be a national test of the UK Emergency Alerts service. Emergency Alerts are a UK government service that will warn if there’s a danger to life nearby. 

On Wed 19 April 2023, our local RSGB representative will be visiting the club to update us on “All Things” RSGB. If you have any questions / subjects you would like included please let the Secretary know. Look forward to seeing you all at 1930 for 2000.