wythall radio club

Wythall Radio Club’s annual summer celebration of outdoor radio operating and bar-b-qing took place this weekend. This ‘Plug and Play’ weekend is designed so that Club members can bring along radios and erect large antennas that they might not have the space for at home.

Over 40 members and families attended for the Saturday night bar-b-q, part of the Club’s regular social programme.  

Members also used a variety of radios and antennas to contact stations across Europe, and into the Caribbean – where we spoke with Steve PJ4DX – using SSB (voice) and FT8 (digital) modes.  The Club used the opportunity to participate in the Cricket World Cup Radio Marathon, with the special callsign GB19WI (West Indies).  

Activity started at 1030 Saturday with a small team erecting antennas and operating tents – as well as the well-equipped kitchen!!  Several Club members camped overnight, enabling some late night and early morning radio activity.  Pack-up took place on Sunday morning.  The location was in the fields near the Club’s base at Wythall Community Centre.

Lots of activities will keep Wythall radio Club busy during June.

All club members are encouraged to come along to the Club ‘shack’ and have a go operating using the special call signs for the Cricket World Cup during regular Club meetings on Tuesday 4th and 11th June and 2nd July. 

The special call signs will be GB19EB – for Edgbaston Cricket Ground – and GB19ENG for the England Team.

In addition, GB19CWC – the HQ station for the Cricket World Cup – will be activated from the Club on the morning of Monday 17th June.

We will be providing Communications Badge training for 89th Birmingham/1st Hall Green Scouts on 18th June.  This will include passing messages using handheld licence free radios, phonetic alphabet, sending names in Morse Code and passing greetings messages over the air to other radio amateurs using our portable radio station.

And we will be up early on 23rd June to provide communications for the annual Wythall Fun Run.

Our regular Morse Class takes place on Tuesday evenings in the Club meeting room, and Intermediate Licence practicals take place on Saturdays.  On 29th June Club members will be helping out at the Wythall House Bar-b-Q.

New members and visitors are always welcome at Wythall Radio Club –  Tuesdays from about 7.45pm at Wythall House. 

Awards for Wythall Radio Club contests attracted a big turn-out of members this week.

There was keen competition between members over the festive period in the Club’s annual Christmas Contest. 

Only 30 points separated the winner of the 2meter/70cm (VHF/UHF) section, with Kevin 2E0NCO (photo below) repeating last year’s success ahead of Jim 2E0BLP.  Stu M0NYP came third, a great result as he was less active during the contest than many other entrants. 

One point was awarded for contacting another Club members on each day of the contest, and a multiplier for the first contact with each member.  Operating mobile or portable gained bonus points.

Entrants in the ‘all bands/modes’ section were not restricted to operating on VHF and UHF.  They could also gain bonus points by using the many short-wave bands available for amateur radio and by using different modes such as voice, Morse code or digital. 

The top places were separated by only a few points, with Chris G3YHF (photo below) wining the G7OJO Trophy for the first time, and Don G0NES and Ian M0LQY in second and third place.  

There were several special awards.  Tim M6OTN received a certificate for making the most contacts using digital voice (D-Star/DMR) modes.  He also won the ‘Out of Town’ award for operating in the contest while on holiday in Somerset! 

Awards were given for the leading Foundation licencees  – Maz M6NKO in the 2m/70cm section, and Miles M7ACN (photo below) in the all modes section.  Miles had an impressive entry – he received his licence 2 months ago and made all his contacts using a hand-held radio and antenna! 

Some members used Zello – a mobile network-linked radio mode – and Mark M0LXQ received a certificate for making the most contacts.   John M6KET and Chris G3YHF were equal first in making contacts using Morse code.  

Photos of all award winners are in the gallery below.

It’s February at Wythall Radio Club – and we have lots planned!

Awards night for our Club Christmas Contest is on Tuesday 5th. Feb., along with the results of the Wythall Worldwide Awards for 2018.  The Christmas Contest is a regular feature of the Club’s calendar, as members contact each-other for points and multipliers over the festive period. 

We look further afield for the Wythall Worldwide Awards.  These involve working as many different countries as possible.  There has been keen competition between Club members!

Tuesday 12th is an evening to ‘try your hand at UHF contesting’, where members will use the Club’s radio ‘shack’ and beam antennas to try and contact other stations on ultra-high frequencies (UHF).

Another hands-on evening is planned for 19th Feb., when Club member Ian, M0LQY, will be demo-ing computer control of a short-wave transceiver and use of various digital modes to contact other amateur radio stations around the world.

And our eyes turn skywards on 26th Feb. as our visiting speaker Lyndon, G8JLY, shares the secrets of bouncing radio signals off meteor showers!

Alongside all this activity, Club members are continuing to prepare for our 34th ANNUAL HAMFEST!  More details to follow soon.

Wythall Radio Club members, families and friends enjoyed the annual Christmas Party at the club this weekend. 

It was a great turnout with all the tables occupied – and even Santa paid a visit!

There was much discussion over festive drinks about the various exam successes the club had achieved over the last week, together with the anticipation of new callsigns. Other members were sharing their plans to take part in the forthcoming Christmas Contest.

The American Supper highlights included the famous G3YXM Tagine, the authentic G4VPD Spanish meatballs, not forgetting the 2E0DUO roast pork.

And of course, the usual games – the skittles competition, stand-up bingo and of course the traditional raffle.

Our thanks go to Kev 2E0NCO and Anita 2E0DUO for their work organising the party. Perhaps we will see you there next year?

Antennas were turned skyward last weekend as Wythall Radio Club members listened for signals from the ISS – the International Space Station!

Slow Scan Television (SSTV) pictures were transmitted from the ISS amateur radio station using the callsign RS0ISS. 

Keen Wythall club members tracked the ISS’s location (see map below) and received the transmissions during its six 10-minute passes over Wythall during the weekend.

The pictures commemorate important events in space exploration.

The ISS used a VHF transceiver with 25 watts output.  This provides a very strong signal on 145.800MHz enabling reception using simple equipment – signals were even received on a handheld radio with a simple whip antenna!  These SSTV transmissions are planned to fit around the ISS crew’s normal duties, so there are usually only one or two each year.

Each SSTV transmission lasted 2 minutes.  As you can see from some of the pictures, we were unable to receive the complete transmission before the ISS travelled over the horizon and contact was lost.  Compare the quality of the picture on the right with the much better reception of the same one above! 

Luckily the same pictures were transmitted on several passes!

This event continues Wythall Radio Club’s activities with space radio – for more information click here.  You can track the ISS and other satellites here and see views of earth from the ISS here.

Peter Waters G3OJV with WRC members Chris G7DDN, Phil 2E0WTH, Roger M0GWM, Peter G4LWF & Roy G0HDF

At the weekend, Wythall Radio Club members were celebrating again! We came runners-up in the National Radio Club of the Year Competition.

Club of the Year is run by the Radio Society of Great Britain and supported by Waters and Stanton radio retailers. Each year most clubs from around the UK compete to see who will be honoured with the title of Club of the Year.

Wythall RC has been the regional winner every single time we have entered, but we have never made it to the finals, until now!

Coming second to the excellent Essex Ham group is nothing to be ashamed of either. Essex Ham are probably the most progressive forward-looking Radio group in the country and are blazing a trail in how to re-invent such clubs for the 21st Century.

So we are very proud of our achievements and apparently we have a £250 voucher to spend in Waters and Stanton‘s store too!

What will we be getting next?

“How many different countries can you contact by radio?” That’s the challenge for Wythall Radio Club members!

Almost 700 amateur radio operators in 163 different countries have been contacted by Club members in the past month – and several of our operators have contacted 100 or more countries each. 

The map shows in green the countries one of our members has contacted.  Still a lot of countries in Africa and south east Asia to talk with!

Members are using voice, Morse code and digital transmissions in their quest to span the world! 

Some are having great success with simple antennas and low power – you don’t have to be high tech to work stations around the world!

Our Wythall Worldwide Awards competition runs for 6 months.  There are 339 different countries for amateur radio purposes so there are lots more opportunities for Wythall radio operators to reach around the world!

Wythall Radio Club was in full swing ‘on the air’ last weekend!

Members braved the hot weather to operate all manner of portable radio equipment and antennas and contact other stations around Europe on Sunday morning.  Operating from the field near our Club HQ, this ‘Plug and Play’ event is one of many activities Wythall Radio Club offers to its members.

Cool drinks and a camping grill kept the group hydrated and energised!

At the same time, two Club members were contacting stations around the world in an international radio competition – making over 13,000 contacts in a 24 hour period!  

Lee G0MTN and Jamie M0SDV used powerful radios and antennas on 60 foot towers, as part of the UK national radio society’s ‘M6T’ team based in Suffolk.  

Nine happy students passed their Foundation exam at Wythall Radio Club.

Congratulations to Terry, Tim, Marcin, Mo, David, Darren, Andy S and Andy W, and Paul!  We hope to hear them on the air soon with their new M6 call signs.

The photos show them completing their practical assessments, and three of the successful candidates – Paul, Darren and Andy.

We expect that some will want to progress to the Intermediate course offered by Wythall Radio Club’s training team.  And some of the graduates from this course have recently signed-up to study for their Advanced amateur radio licence!

Perhaps there are more aspiring radio amateurs out there who would like to study our on-line courses? 

Further details are on the Wythall Radio Club web site or visit the Club which meets every Tuesday evening from 8pm at Wythall House, Silver Street, Wythall!