About the Club.
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This page was started in January 2010 at the suggestion of the Program Manager Andrew, 2W0MGB, to give a better idea of what we have done within the Club and may do again in the future.
All activities and events will be noted here, with newer entries added to the top. Suggestions for future activities are always welcome, contact one of the Program Managers via the email link on the Committee page.
Club Members, both past and present, and their guests were at the celebration of 30 years of the Highfields Amateur Radio Club. We were also joined by Mr & Mrs Sneddon, the South Wales Regionl & Deputy Regional Managers for the RSGB.
The Celebration was not held at the usual Club venue, but at Virginia Park Golf Club in Caerphilly. There was the usual bar for refreshment and, later, a buffet.
There was live entertainment, supplied by female vocalist Janet Matthews (pictured right), who was well received.
There was a specially commissioned and decorated celebration cake, made by Cakey Wakey in Llandaff North. It was a 2 tier cake with a friut lower tier and a sponge upper tier to cater for most tastes. It was decorated with the Club logo. A picture of the cake is shown below, you can click on it for a larger image:
Marc and Roger took their Foundation exam, invigilated by Dave, MW0MWL and Denise, 2W0BDX.
Both passed and the invigilators were back in time for the Chicken or Curry and Chips meal that had been arranged for the same evening.
On Monday 22 Dr Dan took his Advanced Amateur Radio exam, invigilated by Dave, MW0MWL and Denise, 2W0BDX. Before posting this the result was announced that Dr Dan had passed (the Advanced is sent off for marking).
The following evening the invigilators were busy again, this time with an Intermediate exam for Jamie, Nick, Paul and Ricky.
All four waited while Dave and Denise marked their papers and were then informed that they had all passed their Intermediate exam. Well done to all five candidates and a big thanks to Dave and Denise for taking the time to invigilate and mark the exams.
Ewan and Callum, two of our newest junior members, were sucessful with their Foundation exams, well done both. We should hear them on the air soon.
Justin, who took the course with them, has completed the course but has yet to order his exam.
Due to administrative errors the Intermediate exam had to be put of until a future date.
Brian, MW0GKX, brought in his netbook PC, serial to USB adaptor and speakers and demonstrated to interested members the interfacing between the PC and the Yaesu FT-847, using Ham Radio Deluxe, so that the frequency and mode are announced when the relevant dial or buttons are used. The radio itself doesn't talk, that is the job of the PC and software.
This system is (at the moment) a "stop gap" measure while we await the voice chip that makes the radio do the announcements itself (Yaesu stopped making them and a 3rd party manufacturer, telling us earlier this year that they are soon to be available, do not have them available as yet).
Jamie, MW3ZKP, enquired as to whether it may be a better idea for the Club to purchase an older laptop with an on-board serial port to do this as a permanent measure. The laptop could also be used for logging, digital mode communications etc. This idea will be put to the Committee.
Rob, GW6ZHM, was also in demonstration mode this week!
He brought along an Ever Ready Sky Queen radio (left). He used it to show some of the younger members how radio used to be with valves before the solid state era (transistors and ic's). Valve (or tube for our American visitors) technology is also known as "hollow state".
The Sky Queen was first made in 1953. It covered the Medium Wave (194-550m) and Long Wave (1040-1765m) bands. The original cost of the Sky Queen was £9:10S (9 pounds 10 shillings, remember there were 20 shilings to the pound then) plus taxes and battery. The battery was an Ever Ready B136 that supplied 1.5V for the low tension circuit and 90V for the high tension.
Although a little worn (wouldn't you be after nearly 50 years? I know I am!) it still recieves and plays well.
On Saturday and Sunday 18th & 19th September we participated in the Wireless for the Blind Transmission 2010 event to raise money for the Wireless for the Blind Charity.
The charity supplies radio equipment that has been adapted for use by people who cannot see the controls and, therefore, require some adaptations to be able to enjoy radio in the same way that fully sighted people tke for granted every day.
Over the course of the 2 days, operating under the Club call of GW8NP, contacts were made into USA, Canada and all over Europe despite the fact that conditions were not very kind with lots of fading of signals and lost/unreadable contacts. Despite the bad conditions the operators managed to make around 100 confirmed contacts.
Thanks go to the operators and loggers:
Around half of the members were present and the weather was warm and sunny for our night out courtesy of Club Member Paul, MW6PDG.
He and his family laid on a lovely BBQ with burgers, sausages, buns, Tuna & salad plus trifle and, of course, drinks.
Club Shack Manager Dave, MW0MWL, supervised station operations (as GW8NP) using Pauls' Icom IC-7400 through his MFJ loop antenna that works surprisingly well despite its' small (36" (0.91 metre) diameter) size! Contacts were made to Bulgaria, Northern Ireland and European Russia over the course of an hours' operation.
A total of 60 tickets were sold with a last minute flurry of sales. Winners of, and their prizes, were:
Thank you to all who took part, especially the members who donated prizes.
We had a great meal that was enjoyed by all who partook, with huge pieces of chicken and plenty of curry, rice, chips and prawn crackers to go around.
My poorly shack cat enjoyed the some of the left-over chicken that we bought home too (she does enjoy a nice bit of chicken).
One of our newest members, Nicholas, took his Foundation Exam and passed with a score of 24 correct answers to 25 questions (that's 96%).
Dr Dans' construction talks and practicals have been progressing weekly. He has 2 of the younger members (10 and 11 yo) constructing kits, as well as some of the more mature members constructing power supplies.
Chairman Brian, MW0GKX, and Secretary Denise, 2W0BDX, presented a stand at the Swansea Rally, publicising the Club, making new contacts and selling a few items to raise funds.
On display was the Regional Club of the Year Trophy. Leaflets about the Club were available as were copies of the August and December Newsletters and an Upcoming Events sheet covering March, April and May for interested parties to take.
We were visited by RSGB area manager J. Sneddon, MW0MWL, and sub area 74 manager K. Smith, MW0YAC, whose company AA Couriers has sponsored the regional competition, to present the trophy to us as winners of the 2009 Regional Club of the Year.
Club President Sid Hudson, GW0NQQ, received the trophy on behalf of the Club.
More photos of this event are available in the photos area.
Dr Dan gave the first of a series of talks and demonstrations in the mystic art of home construction. No not building a house! Electronic construction done at home!
He had a few interested people but says that people are always welcome to "drop in and pick up some hints and tips" if they want to over the coming weeks.
Steve, CUR, showed his netbook computer around to small groups during the evening, pointing out its features and uses.
Brian, GKX, showed the memory he'd pulled from his PC (the one he uses to write this site) and told us that the PC had been running at the speed of an elephant going uphill on a roller skate.
This module was not the present, but the one he removed to make room for the present. The one he showed was 256 MB and the only one fitted in his 5 year old XP based system at the time.
The single module has now been replaced by 2 512 MB modules (the PC has 2 slots) giving him a whole Gigabyte of memory. The PC now goes at "the speed of a sports car" again. Actually this was an early Chirstmas Present, as it was done at the end of November.
By far the most interesting "toy" shown was by Andrew, MGB. It was the Kapten Voice Interactive Personal Sat Nav System from Kapsys (right), which is smaller in size than a credit card though, of course, a bit thicker (74 x 44 x 13 mm H L D).
Hold on there! It's not just a Sat Nav (suitable for all modes of transport including walking), it's also an MP3 Player with 3 GB of storage, a multiple track voice recorder, an 8 point compass and an FM radio. Added to that is a Bluetooth interface so it can link to your phone and a USB connection for connecting / updating via your PC / MAC and to charge the battery.
There is no screen on the device at all, making it very suitable for the visually impaired, all Sat Nav directions being given by the unit speaking to you.
Perhaps the best feature of all is that it is fully voice activated! That's right, you tell it what to do by, well, telling it! (Now if only I can get that module fitted to Denise!).
For more details see: Manufacturer Website. To purchase one here in the UK see: Play.com or Cobolt Systems Ltd.