Hi, Welcome to the new BSARS website hosted by WordPress. Thanks to Steve 2E0GHX for hosting the last one.
All members can have access to post on it, let me know if you want to and I’ll send an invitation.
Here’s the latest Month on the Air from Phil G3MGQ.
Don’t forget that this Sunday, 28th June the club is operating a Special Event station at Alexandra Park in Hastings. Steve, Antony and Dan will be there from 8.30 and look forward to seeing other members of the club there. You will find them opposite the cafe by the stream.
Today in the Visitor Centre car park at the Country Park, Phil G8OPA, down here from Sidcup and staying in a caravan was operating on 2m with a FT-897. The dual band vertical is on a Clark push up mast. Phil is a member of the Cray Valley Radio Society.
28th June 2015
Armed Forces Day (AFD) is held on a Saturday, around the Country, and as local towns to Hastings have AFD on Saturday it has now become a tradition for Hastings to hold theirs on the Sunday. BSARS have been invited to take part in this event, for a number of years, and it has always been a successful day for the organisers and for BSARS. This year was as good as it has always been.
With the weather looking good for the day and the sun shining the BSARS team arrived at around 08.15 and unpacked all the gear. Dan picked up the generator from Martin the night before and he and Antony picked up all the gear from the shack earlier in the morning in Dan’s trailer which makes things a lot easier for loading and unloading equipment. While Antony put the equipment together Steve and Dan proceeded to put up the G5RV. This year we used a fishing rod with a nice heavy lead on the end. At the first try Dan managed to get the lead over the very top of the tree with just a flick of the wrist. Unfortunately this was to high and we would of run out of rope to pull the antenna up. On the next throw it went up in the right place.
Antenna up and an analyser put on the end it was not as good as it should have been but it was not unworkable.
Antenna attached to the equipment Antony tuned the system ready for operation. First on the mike was Phil with Dan logging. Mike, a friend of Antony’s, arrived and although not a member of BSARS he was able to use the key with Phil logging for him. Tony – the clubs Chairman arrived – and duly took his turn on the key. It stayed like this until about lunch time when Steve and Antony took their turn on the mike. Many contacts were made on SSB and CW on 40 meters with a large pile up’s. 20 meters was very quite throughout the day.
Later in the afternoon our two young ladies, Issy and Marie-Clare, took their turn on the mike. This always produces a pile up as many hams like to talk to yl’s with the usual results of yet another pile up.
During the day members of the club were able to see the all the events and presentations going on in the main arena including that of seeing Rear Admiral John Kingwell who took the salute for the day. Admiral J. Kingwell is a local man from Hastings and has gone through the ranks in the navy to reach his present position.
All in all there were over 90 contacts made on the day, which with such bad conditions on the bands, was not a bad number. Contact with the following Countries were made, England, Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland, Ireland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. Please see our log for all the contacts made. As the weather was turning cold and with a few light showers the team decided to call it a day. Most of the stall holders had already gone and it was nearing 16.00.
Many visitors came and had a chat with the team during the day and Amateur Radio (AR) was explained to them all. Strange how nearly all of them thought we were doing CB and had never heard of AR, so it was good to explain to them what it was and now more of the public are aware of what AR is all about and what BSARS do.
All in all a good day for the team, and we, BSARS, look forward to next year’s event.
Thanks to BSARS members Tony G4KLF, Antony G4CUS, Dan M0HOW, Phil G3MGQ, Steve M0SSR, Martin M0MJU, Issy 2E0IJA and Marie-Clare M6MCP
Thanks go to the AFD organisers for asking BSARS to attend.
View the day’s log HERE
The log for AFD 2015 at Alexandra Park, Hastings now uploaded as a .pdf and can be viewed HERE
RSGB are advising amateurs to make sure that their licence re-validation is up to date as they have been advised by Ofcom that they are to draw up plans to revoke those that are not.
BSARS will be operating the International Lighthouse and Lightship weekend from Dungeness Lifeboat station again this year this coming weekend 15th and 16th August. Please come and visit us if you are able. Times subject to available operators but between 10.00 and 16.00 on both days should find the station up and running.
This year’s ILLW log from Dungeness is available here
Report by Steve M0SSR
Members of the Brede Steam AR (BSARS) arrived early on Saturday 16th August at Dungeness Lifeboat Station in anticipation of a good weekend. The weather promised to be good and there were a few members – Steve M0SSR, Antony G4CUS, Martin M0MJU, Mike M0EDU and Phil G3MGQ (The Team) – around to hoist the 30ft Mast which would hold the Full Size G5RV up at the centre.
As the station was not yet open the team got all the equipment out of the car and started to erect the mast on the car base provided. It actually went up with only a couple of hitches, one we had the G5RV on the wrong side of the three support guys, and two we never have enough carrier bags to hold down the guy ropes!
With the shack open – a room lent to us for the weekend by the Lifeboat Station – the equipment was put together and we were soon on the air. Twenty meters was the order of the day to start and quite a few contacts were made on this band with the longest being Jeddah. A change of operators means a change of bands, this time down to forty meters for the chance of the UK Light Houses and there were quite a few.
During the day we had a few visitors from Littlehampton all the way round to Folkestone where members of the public came and asked all the questions you can think of, and a few that we had to think about! Licensed hams from other clubs came and visited notably Rob M0LYD who always pops down for a chat and Adrian G4DUE and Simon M6HXE who popped in to say hello.
As we have a G5RV up this year, instead of the trailer mast that we have had in the past, we had to dismantle the mast and antenna before closing down the station at 17.00 hours.
On Sunday, The Team, arrived at 09.00 hours. Only this time Mike M0EDU thought that he would give it a try to take his car around the outside of the station and onto the largest shingle bank in the world. To his disbelief he soon found himself stuck hard and fast in the gravel – see picture – with no means of pulling him out he had to stay there until Dan, M0HOW, came along at midday and pulled him free. A lesson learnt maybe?
The mast was soon erected and lessons learnt from the previous day enabled The Team to erect it in 20 minutes, almost a record one could say! Straight onto 20 meters, which was very noisy, but still a few contacts were made until the noise got so bad that we had to change to 40 meters for the rest of the day. Again the club had a few visitors which is always good to see including Fred who will shortly be taking his foundation licence – good luck Fred.
At midday on Sunday the Lifeboat “RNLI Lifeboat 13-02 “The Morrell” went out for a demonstration to Littlehampton. This is always a spectacular event and the station shuts down for while so we can all see the launch, and it stops our communications from possibly splattering over their communications. This is one of the first of its kind in the country for this style of Lifeboat in as much that it is a jet propelled boat. It has two straight 6, 13 litre engines producing some 600BHP and can turn on a sixpence. It was first trialled at Dungeness some two years ago and had to go back for some modifications. The trailer is also unique, as once the lifeboat is back on the trailer it can traverse 108 degrees so that the boat is ready for launching again.
During the afternoon Dan M0HOW showed us his skills in kite flying, assisted by Mike M0EDU, they got a “Cody Kite”, which was very stable, flying. Dan says he should be able to hang a vertical wire from it for AR purposes – watch this space for next year!!
The station finally closed down at 17.00 after quite a busy and warm weekend. A total of 261 contacts were made with a total of 39 Lighthouse numbers collected. Please see the log here. Our thanks to Martin M0MJU who had to trail through the log and put all the times and dates against the log as the computer decided to default everything to 1.1.1990 before posting it to the web site.
Thanks again to The Team, Antony G4CUS, Martin M0MJU, Phil G3MGQ, Mike M0MDU, Dan M0HOW, Steve M0SSR and Tony G4KLF for turning out as always to this special weekend. Thanks also go to The Dungeness Life Boat crew who always make us feel very welcome. They do a valuable service for the community, so please support them when you can.
DMR repeater GB7CK came on the air last Saturday. According to the keeper Matt M1CMN it is performing better than the DStar repeater GB7FK-B that it has replaced, using the same antenna, feeder and filters. I can now access three DMR repeaters from here at Fairlight, Caterham, Rochester and Folkestone with Folkestone being the strongest.
Band: 70CM DVU59 Output frequency: 439.7375MHz RX Frequency: 430.7375MHz
Mode: DMR DIGITAL VOICE REPEATER DMR Colour Code: 3
More info from:- Folkestone Repeater Group
I got this link from an AR forum that I subscribe to that may be of interest to those of you that use Windows, ugh, and the bloatware that goes with it.
There are alternative operating systems out there. Time now to consider a change perhaps?
Martin.
Members of Brede Steam AR – BSARS- took part in the Churches on the Air – CHOTA – on 12/9/2015 at St. Georges Church Brede in East Sussex. The Church was first built in the Saxon times before 1006 and has been rebuilt, and added to over the years, many times.
The day started with rain in the air which did not look good for antenna erecting. Members bought the equipment from the shack – some 300 meters away – to the Church and installed it on a large table in the South Chancel. Unfortunately the door to the tower was locked so we had to wait until we could contact the warden to get the key.
The center of the G5RV was installed on top of the flag pole on top of the tower and the two ends went out in an inverted V configuration to two nearby trees.
The club managed to start only 6 minutes later than the official time to start, that being 10.00 am, but conditions were not terribly good and this was to continue throughout the day.
Members started on 40 meters where a few contacts were mad and when this went dead they switched to 20 meters. There were a few contests on the day on this band and it was not in a good shape to make many GB calls, so back to 40 meters.
Before close down members decided to give 80 meters a try but again it was hard work with contacts mentioning that they had only managed a few CHOTA stations. Station closed down at 16.15 pm.
All in all a good day was had by the members who also had time to sit a chat about many things from politics, history, solar panels and of course Amateur Radio. With no fixed agenda nothing was resolved but plenty of ideas as to how things should be done!
Thanks to Fr Martin for the use of the Church for the event as well as the warden for unlocking the door to the tower. Thanks also to the members who turned out for the day namely; Antony G4CUS, Dan M0HOW, Dariusz M0ZPL, Mike M0EDU, Phil G3MGQ and Steve M0SSR.
Please click here to see our log for the day.
Log now added, please see CHOTA 2015 report for the link
FYI:-
Wed September 30th is the Table sale at the Dover Radio Club –
www.darc.org.uk for latest information.
– Tables will be provided free of charge – bring your items along to sell off.
– £1 entrance for everyone
– tea and coffee as usual!
Entrance from 6:45pm
As part of a review of its strategic goals the RSGB is undertaking a survey of the amateur radio community. This was last carried out five years ago. Please take the time to fill in the online questionnaire as this is your chance to have your say.
The questionnaire can be found here:-
http://rsgb.org/main/rsgb-consultations/active-consultations/amateur-radio-survey-2015-2/
Martin M0MJU
For anyone into digital modes or thinking of trying it out, Steve M0SSR has found this web page that has both screenshots and mp3 sound files of pretty much every amateur digital mode there is:- G4UCJ’s Radio Website
Have a look you may find modes that you have never heard of!!
On the 17th October 2015 Brede Steam Amateur Radio Society (BSARS) took part in the Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) with the First Brede Scout Group – who BSARS are associated with and on who’s grounds their shack is, using the permanent special event call sign GB1FBS – First Brede Scouts. In all there were in excess of 40 scouts, plus helpers and Scout Leaders, from around the surrounding area who camped overnight in the grounds. All of the Scouts were taking part in activities, which they had to complete, to enable them to visit Canada in two years time as a large Scouting Troop.
During the day the Scouts came in to the shack in small groups and were shown various aspects of Amateur Radio (AR) from Data Modes (computer generated code) to SSB (single side band )(speech), including the safety aspect of being in shack with a lot of power. Martin M0MJU pointed out where the master switch was in case it needed to be switched off for any reason. Some of the Scouts, shown by Dan M0HOW, even had a go with Hand Held Transceivers to pass greetings to a Scout, Issy 2E0IJA, who had taken her exams and was now an intermediate license holder. Many of the Scouts passed SSB greetings to other Scouts at another AR Station in Norway who were also taking part in JOTA.
As the shack has three operating areas it was easy for one small group to have a go and listen to SSB and another group to see how Data Modes are sent via a computer to the outside world.
The group who were doing SSB were shown, by Antony G4CUS and Phil G3MGQ, how to tune a Transceiver, what an Ariel tuning unit (ATU) was and what a “Q” codes represents. “Q” codes are series three letters which have a meaning in AR language. They are not really codes – as codes are not allowed to be sent via AR operators other than Morse Code (CW) – but there meaning is a way of describing something in short. For example QTH means “Where I live” or “My location”. QSL means “Do you understand?” ” Are you receiving me ok?” Depending on the context in which it is used a “Q” code can have sever meanings. Many of the Scouts got to grips with this concept and quickly used it during their time passing greetings including using the phonetic alphabet when they said their name.
The group who were watching the Data Modes section were shown by Steve M0SSR, how a computer, connected to a Transceiver, could send machine generated code around the world with very little power, sometimes no more than 25 watts, and other AR stations with the same type of equipment and software could decode it and understand what was being sent. The group were also told how AR, as a hobby, can help them in areas of their schooling. This they found strange until it was explained that AR covers all aspects of schooling, Maths, English, Science, History, Geography, Astronomy and Physics. Examples of each area were explained to each group which they took on board.
Many of the Scouts showed great interest in what they were being shown and it is hoped that some will even get to take their Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced exams in the future to help keep the hobby alive.
The members of BSARS wish to thank the Scouts from the different groups their leaders, the First Brede Scout Group for organising this event that enabled BSARS members to pass on some of their knowledge.
Thanks to Antony G4CUS, Dan M0HOW, Issy 2E0IJA, Martin M0MJU. Phil G3MGQ , Tony G4KLF, Steve M0SSR and Dominic – not yet licensed -for helping out.
If you would like to know more about AR then please email m0nuc@aol.com with your request.
This Sunday (16th) is the RSGB AFS contest. This is a club contest and any member is able to enter. How about we have two teams this year?
From Steve G6ZZX keeper of GB3ES:-
Following a protracted period off air, GB3ES was returned to service on Wed 17th of Feb 2016.
The repeater is sited at Fairlight, approximately 150 feet higher than the site at Burslems.
This move has involved a huge amount of work from both Steve G6ZZX the keeper, and Chris M1BMR with numerous long winded negotiations with the site owner in order to secure a very favourable deal.
I have had to respond to many queries concerning the delays, if we had been a commercial customer fees in the region of £5000 per year were on the table, this would place the site well out of our reach.
ES has an ERP of 10 W as per the NOV, and initial reports are very favourable. We have purchased and had installed a new folded dipole antenna, supplied replacement RF hardware and a commercial repeater controller to get ES up and running.
There is a Facebook page set up- GB3ES Hastings where coverage reports can be left, there is a picture of the equipment rack taken at switch on, it’s not fully loaded as the spare EF hardware is being prepared prior to installation.
Rainham Radio Rally is this Sunday.
See here for more info.
At yesterday’s AGM we were pleased to welcome three new members.
David G8VPS, Alan G0OFZ and Jason who is starting his Foundation Licence training with Dan M0HOW.
Last Saturday this year’s committee was elected as follows:-
| Chairperson | Tony G4KLF |
| Vice Chairperson | Antony G4CUS |
| Secretary | Martin M0MJU |
| Treasurer | Steve M0SSR |
| QSL Manager | Mike M0EDU |
| Manitenance Manager | Martin M0MJU |
The club will be operating next weekend for the International Lighthouse and Lightship weekend with kind permission from Dungeness Lifeboat station. All members and visitors welcome. Please park at the front and walk round, it would be very embarrassing if we got in the way of a launch!! Times subject to available operators but between 10.00 and 16.00 on both days should find the station up and running.
Last weekends log for the Lighthouse Weekend is here
Club trainers Steve M0SSR and Phil G3MGQ are running a training weekend for the Foundation Licence at Brede including the exam on the Sunday on 29th/30th October. There are still some places left. Anyone interested please contact us for further details.
Saturday 1st October there is an open invitation to members of the Hastings Electronics and Radio Club to visit our shack on one of our operating days.
Some time ago my Aouye decided to completely pack up, the hot air side having died a long time before. The lack of a circuit diagram or manual with at least some service info was going to make trying to repair it too time consuming and I replaced it short term with a Maplin badged thing that works but the stiff cable, lack of any callibration on the temperature pot and slow heat up time made it less than ideal.
Looking at Hakko irons I found that there are a lot of clones about and also cloned parts. A 50w 907 “handle” with ceramic heater and tip can be bought for £3.49 and a 936 controller panel for £4.99. This just needs a 24 volt ac supply and as I had such a transformer in my shed thought it must be worth a go. The bits arrived very quickly, from China of course, mains cable came from a dead tv leaving me to rummage through a box to find a rocker switch with a neon indicator. The controller panel slots into the case on the 936 and has no fixing screws so I decided to do the same and made my case from offcut plywood that I had left over from lining my shed, just cutting the slots with a hand saw. I had a couple of stands but the iron fitted neither of them so to finish it off I made a stand from a short piece of 22mm copper tube and a wire coat hanger and screwed it to the top of the plywood case.
The finished article heats up in about 10 seconds, has a silicone cable and calibrated dial making it much nicer to use and different tips are available very cheaply too. How long will it last? Well with replacement parts readily available at those prices, I don’t see that as an issue.
M0MJU
There is a link that I have already put on the web site so you can hear the signals but I thought it would be a good idea to show you a few – courtesy of THE Russian Data modes club. There are variants of above signals in speed and width ie’ BPSK63 is wider than a BPSK31 signal but not as wide as BPSK125 signal.
I shall post some more signal types as I get them.
Good luck Steve M0SSR
Antony G4CUS and Tony G4KLF had a number of QSO’s both SSB and CW mostly EU stations and Antony made contact with EJ0M on 40m SSB an IOTA DXpedition, who are operating 4 stations from Aranmore Island, Co Donegal between September 24th and October 1st. Antony was using the Ten Tec Orion that was kindly bequeathed to the club by silent key “Jakey” G3JKY which now occupies the right hand station at the shack following the demise of the club’s TS2000.
Antony, G4CUS reports rather terrible band conditions today with most contacts coming from the EU but this did include six of the fourteen AN400 Spanish special event stations to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Don Miguel de Cervantes the author who wrote Don Quixote. There are a number of diplomas and trophies to be awarded to stations who meet the criteria of contacts with AN400 stations laid down by the URE (Unión de Radioaficionados Españoles). He also had one Israeli contact 4Z1SH who’s QRZ page he tells me is worth a visit.
Yes I know, BSARS has yet to participate in Windmills on the air but two club members have just been active in the Don Miguel de Cervantes awards organised by the Spanish Unión de Radioaficionados Españoles to commemorate the death of the author of Don Quixote that finished yesterday and Antony G4CUS and Steve M0SSR were 99 and 120 respectively on the digital side and Steve M0SSR was 171 for all modes for England. A very creditable result for the club.
The bands were still poor with a lot of QSB and again mostly European contacts. One from Hollywood but this was Hollywood, County Down, and a Canadian VA3ITA but he was on holiday on Ischia Island in Italy! However a portable station from Zefat City, Israel was quite strong. Another holidaying ham, a German in Crete had been allowed to set up a 40 metre dipole on the roof of his hotel.
The club was given 5 points from II0IEM, an Italian Special Event Station run from December 8th 2015 to November 20th 2016 to celebrate the Giubileo Straordinario della Misericordia or Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy declared by Pope Francis. Awards are available for stations in Europe gaining 50 points or more.
The 2m band extension Notice of Variations are due for renewal now. There is a change this year which removes the excluded grid squares which now allows us to operate from our own QTH’s or the club shack (using your own callsign).
Details and link to the application form here. Use it or lose it!
Brede Steam ARS & Hastings Electronic & Radio Club organised, and ran, their first Foundation course over the weekend of the 29th & 30th October. This was a trial for both clubs and it is hoped that it is a way of increasing membership and encouraging youngsters into the hobby. The weekend was successful, if not a lot of hard work, for the students and trainers alike. Clubs thinking of going down this route need to give the weekend plenty of thought as to its structure and balance. It is important that clubs undertaking this type of training organise somewhere for the training and practical assessment to take place, in our case the First Brede Scout group provided the Scout Hut for the training and the BSARS club provided the VHF and HF stations necessary for the practical assessment at their shack. Breaking the training down into manageable bits will help with concentration and fatigue, on all parties.
All the local Scout groups were asked if they wanted any of their members to take part and interest was encouraging. It was soon realised that many of the Scout groups are currently rehearsing for the local Gang Show and as rehearsals are done at the weekend we were not going to get many students for our first weekend. The students we had did very well and they are looking forward to doing their Intermediate exams.
Thanks go to Phil G3MGQ, Steve M0SSR, Antony G4CUS and Martin M0MJU for giving up their time at the weekend for this new adventure.
The two groups are now looking to run their next training weekend and if you would like to take part then please contact the BSARS Exam Secretary on the clubs email of m0nuc.bsars@gmail.com
Antony G4CUS reports that conditions on 20m today at the shack were somewhat better and he had contacts with 2 Algerian, 1 Turkish, 1 Asiatic Russian, 1 Cypriot, 1 Canadian in Newfoundland and 2 USA stations. He also heard some strong VK (Australian) stations and 1 from Vietnam but in those cases they QSY’ed off the frequency as it was not theirs.
Plenty of Europeans including 2 IQ special event stations both worth 10 points for the Italian Armed Forces Award.
We have been sent a list of equipment for sale from the late Tim G8VGU’s estate by Fraser G8FEZ. Please contact Fraser directly if you are interested in any of the items. His phone no and email are on the list which may be viewed here.
Congratulations to Bob M6HXN and Paul M6HXG on getting their new callsigns. BSARS wishes them all the best in the hobby and looks forward to them proceeding on to their Intermediate licences. Hope to hear them both on the air very soon.
Antony and Tony worked a good number of stations yesterday including A61HA in Abu Dhabi, 7Z1RR in Jeddah, TC17TRC, commemorating the earthquake in Duzce, Turkey 17 years ago and R26MDXC a special event station for the Miller DX Club of Millervo, Russia for which a diploma will be given to amateur stations achieving 6 contacts with the station on different modes and bands.
It was good to see so many club members on Saturday for the annual “bring some nibbles” get together at the shack. No contact reports this time as it was a social rather than an operating day.
BSARS is pleased to announce that we’ll be running another Foundation Licence training weekend 4th & 5th February 2017. Interested? Contact us here
I have been informed by BRATS that they have had to find an alternative venue at the last minute for Rainham Radio Rally due to a double booking. It is now at the Victory Academy still 10:00 am Sunday 26th February 2017. See map below.
On the weekend of the 4th & 5th February Trainers form the club held another successful training & Exam weekend.
Congratulations to Harry, Dan and Jason on soon to be gaining their M6 call signs after passing the Foundation Exam.
Two other students Dan and Gavin did their training and will take their exam on the 4th March.
The students who passed their exam have expressed a wish to take their intermediate exam and it is hoped this will start very soon.
The club wish to thank the First Brede Scout group for allowing us to use their facilities for the weekend. Also Antony G4CUS, Mike M0EDU, Phil G3MGQ, Steve M0SSR and Martin M0MJU – Exam Secretary for their assistance in making the weekend a success.
The next Foundation course is planned for some time in June 2017. If you would like to take part then please use the reply form on this web site.
Here is a link to the RSGB response to the Ofcom Consultation on Proposed Annual Plan 2017/18.
Congratulation to Brian Matthews -M6YBM – on passing his Intermediate exam today 25/4/2017.
Thanks to the Brede Steam ARS, Martin M0MJU and Steve M0SSR, and the Exam Department of the RSGB for setting this up and enabling Brian to complete his course and take the exam. Brian is now looking forward to moving on to the Advanced training and taking his exam.
A new course for the Foundation Training, a whole weekend, is due to start in June and should you wish to participate then please contact the Brede Steam ARS. Secretary in the first instance. m0nuc.bsars@gmail.com
Steve M0SSR
Lighthouses worked 34 Total No of contacts 225
Country’s
England 80, Scotland 10, Wales 4, Northern Ireland 4, Ireland 8, Fed. Rep. Germany 59
Italy 9, Spain 2, Czech Republic 2, Turkey 1, Croatia 3, Austria 1, Ukraine 2, Poland 6
European Russia 1, Asiatic Russia 1, Sweden 9, Denmark 2, Belgium 3, Netherlands 8
Portugal 1, Latvia 1, Belarus 1, France 3, Norway 2, Switzerland 2
Longest Contact Turkey 2,963 Miles.
Some photos from Churches on the Air 2017 courtesy of David G8VPS
From the left Alan, Antony and Dan
Brede Steam ARS would like to wish all our visitors and the rest of the amateur radio community out there a Happy Christmas and good DX in the New Year.
BSARS will be operating from Dungeness Lifeboat station on the weekend 18/19th August for the 21st International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. The club will be on site from 09:00 on both days, visitors welcome. More details on QRZ.com under the callsign GB1DLH.
BSARS will be operating from St George’s Church, Brede again this year for Churches and Chapels on the Air (CHOTA) on Saturday 8th September. Set-up time for club members 09:00 and operating from 10:00 to 16:00. Visitors welcome, or come back to the call sign GB0STG (recommended frequencies for the special event, from the organisers, 7.140 – 7.180 SSB).
The weather was pretty good for this year’s annual special event at Dungeness. Overall 253 contacts were made on both SSB and CW (117 on Saturday and 136 on Sunday). The best DX being South Africa on 20m SSB. A .pdf of the log is here.
Countries worked over the two days were:
Austria, Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Corsica, Denmark, England, European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Isle of Man, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Market Reef, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Southern Ireland, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine.
The pileups were ferocious at times, especially during the final hour of operation on Sunday afternoon. There was never a shortage of contacts and being spotted on the DX cluster a number of times helped. Operators were Dan M0HOW, Tony G4KLF, Phil G3MGQ, Mike M0EDU and Antony G4CUS and 2 visitors John G0GCQ and Rob M0LYD dropped by.
The club used a borrowed 30 ft mast and cobweb antenna on both Saturday and Sunday plus the club G5RV on the Sunday to enable operating on more bands.
Information and photos provided courtesy of Antony G4CUS
Martin M0MJU.
Churches and Chapels on the air is an annual special event organised by WACRAL the World Association of Christian Radio Amateurs and Listeners
BSARS again took part this year and the station was set up on Friday 7th September at St George’s Church, Brede with the club’s G5RV aerial in an inverted v, the centre 100ft up on the church tower and the 2 ends on an oak tree and a large bush. The station was tested on 40m using the club call sign M0NUC/A, resulting in 26 contacts.
On Saturday, the day of the special event the club used the special event call sign GB0SGB and started on 80m until that band became too noisy and moved to 40m.Other bands were poor and 20m was full of contest stations, so alternating between 40 and 80, when 100 contacts was reached at 15:40, it was decided to close down.
13 Churches contacted and 1 Cathedral, Christchuch GB2CCC. Log is here.
Operators, Antony G4CUS, Steve M0SSR, Mike M0EDU, Dan M0HOW. Visitors, Steve 2E0PSK (thanks for helping with the logging), Dave M6XXO, Alan G0OFZ.
Thanks to Antony, G4CUS for providing the info and photos for this report.
Martin M0MJU
