200701

Editorial

Congratulations First of all congratulations to Janice and John MacLean MM0CCC to the new addition to their family, Janice gave birth on Wednesday 10th January to a boy weighing in at 9lb 6½ozs. They have named him Andrew. They now have what is classed as the ideal family with a girl, called Catriona and a boy.

From us all well done and once again con-gratulations.

On the Amateur Radio front congratulations to Derek Caiden, Gary Bourhill, Ian Gray and Tom McCall who all passed the Advanced Exam in December. Their call signs are as follows: Derek MM0WST, Gary MM0FZV, Ian MM0TDI and Tom MM0GKU.

Commiserations to Hazel, Ian and Kevin who sadly didn’t make it this time, although I would like to wish Hazel all the best as she is re-sitting the exam on the 30th January.

Club Newsletter

First of all I would like to wish you and all your family A VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR it really is hard to believe that we are now into another year. I also hope that Santa Claus was good to you all and you got all that new sparkling ra-dio kit that you put in your letter to Santa, I’m sure you did.

Another year starts, regarding the Newsletter, so I wonder what new ideas John MM0JXI has in store for this year. I am sure he will have put a lot of thought into the matter and a new look will be given. I do hope you will all sup-port John by providing lots of input for the newsletter; remember it is your newsletter so no input means no newsletter. Don’t just leave it up to the normal contributors it is difficult enough for them to continually produce items month in and month out, so try and give them a break and put something in no matter how large or small it is.

John is also revamping and updating the Web Site so if you have any ideas with regard to that I am sure John will appreciate them. I wonder if you can remember when our web site was started. Surprisingly it was in March 1996 so that makes it 11 years old this year. Over the years it has changed dramatically from the initial one that Alistair GM6NEI set-up, sadly Alistair is no longer with us and I am sure he would be proud to see what it looks like today, this I may add is down to the ster-

ling work that John has put in over the years.

This editorial I do not have much to report as I have been giving myself a well-earned break from all matters radio, not 100% I must add, as I was still doing some bits and pieces. On the club front 99% of the club’s main events for 2007 have been confirmed up so please read the Events Column to see what is going on or visit the club’s WEB page, as John should have added a copy there. On the out and about front we will be putting on demonstration sta-tions in June at the Museum of Flight (still to be confirmed by the Museum) and Light-houses in August. Hopefully the events that I have put together will offer something for everyone. I am always looking for any ideas so if you come up with anything well just let me know and it will be added to the ‘TO-DO’ list.

On the teaching front, I have just finished my first Advanced Course where seven people sat the exam. Well done to the RSGB as the re-sults were sent out just before Christmas and glad to say that there were 3 confirmed passes, 2 confirmed failures and 2 I haven’t heard about as I write this. Congratulations to all

(Continued on page 2)

Special points of interest:

• John & Janice MacLean have a baby boy

• New Full Licencees

Bob GM4UYZ

Cockenzie & Port Seton Amateur Radio Club January 2007 Volume 15 Issue 1

Inside this issue:

Christmas Raffle results

2

How Others See Us

3

Test Your Knowledge

5

Training Courses 6

My Christmas Eve

7

PSK31 8

Event Calendar 10

Sympathies 11

Web site news 11

those who passed and commiserations to those who failed. I hope that you will all try again very soon. I know from the comments by those who took the course that they found it a huge jump up from the intermediate and I know myself from the teaching front I certainly had to study and deliver a massive amount of mate-rial and overall was certainly, very, very hard work. The joy though that some passed makes it certainly all worthwhile. I am running a Foundation Course starting the 20th January, of which is now closed with regard to any more candidates. The next Intermediate course starts on the 10th February and the next Advanced Course on the 17th March so if any one is inter-ested then please get in contact with me ASAP. What I will say is that I will stop doing all training after Advanced Course but will start up again in August or September. I would love to do it all the year round but it takes up a huge amount of my personal time and I do need a break so I can spend time with my fam-

(Continued from page 1) ily plus carry out other Radio Club activities that I want to get involved in. Therefore I hope you will all understand my position. If you do know of any one who is interested in any of the training, Foundation, Intermediate or Ad-vanced, then please still get in contact with me as this enables me to plan in advance what training to deliver and when. Thanks in ad-vance for this.

To the future we are now into another year’s club events so please as a reminder read the Events column for all the details. Nothing is planned for January but we kick off in earnest that we will be having another Radio Check Night in February courtesy of John MM0JXI so I hope you will all bring your radios along and put them through their annual MOT. That’s it then, enjoy the newsletter and I will see you all at all our events!

Bob GM4UYZ

The raffle raised a Grand Total of £50 towards our Annual Donation to the British Heart Foundation. Once again thanks for dipping into your pocket and putting a little bit more towards our adopted charity. I would like to thank all those who donated something to-wards the raffle without your donation there wouldn't have been a one.

The results then in Raffle Ticket Order...

Thanks again...........

Bob GM4UYZ

Editorial cont...

Christmas Raffle results

Club Newsletter

Did you win a prize in the Christmas Raffle?

Caption describing picture or graphic.


Ticket Winner Prize

25 Peter 2M0DMT Radio

30 John MM0CCC Bottle of Blue Nun

33 Colin GM0RLZ Bottle of Red Wine

36 Jim GM7LUN Various Pickles

46 Ricky GM1PLY Bottle of White Wine

48 Gary 2M0BEB Bottle of Whisky

I received this email in early December which I found “highly enlightening” to say the least. It is all about how we are seen from the outside, it is a personal view point but I feel that some of the points are of great value. I have personally replied to the email giving, I hope an explanation for various points especially the website as I know that in the background John is very, very active in preparing a total revamp of the site with lots of nice “goodies” as he puts it.

Please read the following and why not air your opinion through the newsletter as at the end of the day it is your club and it would be nice to see what you think as well. If you are just a casual reader of our newsletter or have heard about our club what is your opinion of us.

Please send all input to [email protected]

“A point of view”

Bob gm4uyz

The following is my own personal opinion and personal experiences and nothing is implied or inferred. The following comments and remarks are from observations taken from visiting CPSARC.COM, listening and communication on the bands as well as con-versations overheard and being party to.

I must apologise for my anonymity but for personal reasons feel I can only put my points of view across in this way. I felt I had to write to you after reading your editorial in CPSARC Newsletter – December 2006. I can empathise with your feeling “kick in the face” and feelings of despair after all of the work you must put into running the “Club” Unfortunately I have never met you or had the pleasure of working you on the bands but have great admiration for you and the work you do for our great hobby. You are spoken of very highly by many people, both far and wide and rightly so.

I myself have only recently returned to Scot-

land after living the last 20 years in various areas of England where I visited and was a member of many Radio Clubs. I have never had any inclination to join or attend any clubs in Scotland of what I would call within a reasonable travelling distance.

The following may be some reason why you have falling numbers or lack of new member to your club.

Your club is inviting, except for the fact that your Friday Club Nights are held within a Public House. My reasons for not visiting are two fold; the main reason is that I am a Recovering Alcoholic of three years and will NOT put myself under temptation, the sec-ond is that my Granddaughter who accom-panies me almost everywhere, inspires to one day becoming a Ham, is only 12 years old.

No way am I opposed to people having a drink and a good time but get the impres-sion, both from your web site and overhead conversations that you are as much a drink-ing club as a Radio Club. To quote from your web site “Club meetings are VERY informal events and are really an excuse to have a rag chew and a few beers of course!”

I have heard of people who have attended your other evenings and one comment that they made that stands out, is that they found some of your members couldn’t wait for the talk or whatever to finish so they could get away to the pub! Another comment made was that during one evening a few of your members kept on making the comment that they wanted to get it finished and let’s get to the pub. As an observer I have no idea if this is true or not but other people listening and hearing this would also make their own con-clusions.

My point to the above is that your “club” comes over as much as a social club who talk radio with a few radio related nights thrown in. Most of the Radio Clubs I have

(Continued on page 4)

How others see us...

Volume 15 Issue 1

One person’s view of our radio club—do you agree? Let us know.

Barns Ness

Page 3

been involved in are at the other end of the spectrum where Radio is the pinnacle of the club, albeit that they have a club station set up for members to use on club nights, con-struction or maintenance projects, test equipment and advice for beginners.

I don’t have the answers but find it very dis-appointing that you have a forum on your web site but “your members” don’t appear to want to use it.

This has been proven as a great way for clubs to involve “new” people and expand. A great way to communicate updated infor-mation, make plans for forthcoming events and most of all keep the membership enthu-siastic that it is an active club and inter member communication is encouraged.

One last point that I would like to make is in regard to your presence on the Internet, mainly your web site. Whether new or a regular visitor the first impression is that nothing is happening within the club be-cause on your “home page” as at today the 10th December you are faced with

The web site of the Cockenzie & Port Seton Amateur Radio Club “Site last updated 24

(Continued from page 3) October 2006”

I also think that you are giving out the wrong impression when you give news about storage etc and give out a plea for money. This although essential should be kept either within a members only area or away from your front page as first impressions should be about selling the club and creating a de-sire to read further and finally wishing to get involved in the club. A Web page is your chance to reach the world and sell your-selves. A Total revamp and appearance of your site would help to create a new interest and an excellent way to start 2007 (some pages are almost 4 years old!)

I do not wish to sound that I am knocking your club or your efforts but wanted to re-late some points of view. Good Luck for the future

Wishing you and your family all the Best for Xmas and the New Year

PS Congratulation on your Grandson, they are the future”

Bob GM4UYZ

How others see us… (cont)

Club Newsletter

Do we give the wrong impression?

Beam at IOTA

I feel I have to respond to some of the com-ments above.

The website has been a labour of love for me for nearly a decade so critical comment does sting a bit.

The writer above comments that the front page is out of date, indeed it did say ‘updated 26 October 2006’ but that was only when the front page was last edited with a new news item, much of the active content of the site is now handled by php modules which don’t update the front page.

Some of pages deeper inside the website are several years old and that is something I have been working on to address for several months—developing a more interactive web-site where everyone in the club can contribute

new items.

There are several Radio Clubs in and around Edinburgh, all of them are different in charac-ter, some formal, some not, so Radio Amateurs should all be able to find one to suit them.

The writer hasn’t been to our club meetings so he hasn’t experienced the camaraderie and enthusiasm that is generated by the people who do come, we welcome all and do our best to encourage everyone to join in our events and maybe find a niche in our hobby that inspires them. Yes we meet in a pub, and we are aware that prevents some people attending but we also run many external events and do a great deal to nurture younger people.

John MM0JXI Club member, webmaster, newsletter editor.

1. What is the frequency 145.675MHz used for?

a. A repeater output frequency b. A repeater input frequency c. A FM simplex frequency d. An “all modes” frequency 2. The call sign M1DAH is pronounced

phonetically as a. Mike One Delta Alpha Hotel b. Mike One Dog Alpha Hotel c. Mary One Delta Alpha Harry d. Mike One Dog Alpha Harry 3. The mains supply should be discon-

nected whilst equipment is being re-paired because

a. Power surges could damage compo-nents

b. Transistors or valves may be hot c. An electric shock could be received by

the repairer d. Components could overheat 4. When finding a casualty who has suf-

fered an electric shock you should a. Pull the casualty away from the source

of the hazard then call for medical help b. Call for medical help then pull the

casualty away from the hazard c. Call for medical help then switch off

the power d. Switch the power off then call for

medical help 5. In a single sideband (SSB) transmitter,

which stage removes the carrier? a. Oscillator b. AF amplifier c. Balanced modulator d. Mixer

6. Amplitude modulation (AM) consists of

a. Radio frequency signal which is chang-ing in frequency

b. A single sideband with no carrier c. A single sideband with a full carrier d. Two sidebands and a full carrier 7. What is the third harmonic of a trans-

mitter set to 21.100MHz a. 42.200KHz b. 63.100MHz c. 63.300KHz d. 63.300MHz 8. How should one respond to a call from

an overseas amateur that is on a fre-quency not specified in the first column of the schedule?

a. By using the same frequency and advis-ing the station to QSY to a frequency specified in the first column of the schedule.

b. It is not permitted to respond at all. c. By using a frequency that is specified

in the first column of the schedule. d. By replying on the same frequency but

only using CW. 9. When joining a group of amateurs al-

ready in radio contact the Licence re-quires you to

a. establish communication with the con-trol station

b. establish communication with any one member of the group

c. just join in at suitable moment d. establish communication with each

member of the group as they speak. 10. You plan to operate from a hotel room

during a visit to London. Which of the following frequencies must you not use?

a. 430 to 431 MHz b. 431 to 432MHz c. 432 to 435MHz d. 435 to 438MHz

Test Your Knowledge

Volume 15 Issue 1

How good is your radio knowledge?

CQWW

Flags at IOTA

Page 5

Full Registration information and course fees can be found on the club’s website at www.cpsarc.com by clicking on the “Training” button or by contacting Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ direct on 01875 811723 or via email at [email protected]

FOUNDATION COURSES 2007

Please contact Bob as none planned at present time but a course could be ar-ranged at reasonable notice.

Next planned courses will be announced after my summer break.

INTERMEDIATE COURSES 2007

Course 1: Resources Room 2

10th February 2007

17th February 2007

24th February 2007

3rd March 2007

10th March 2007 (Exam at 14:30)

Closing Date for Course Fees:

27th January 2007

ADVANCED COURSES 2007

Course 1: Resources Room 2

17th March 2007

24th March 2007

31st March 2007

14 April 2007

21st April 2007

28th April 2007

5th May 2007

12 May 2007

Exam: Thursday 17th May 2007 18:30 to 20:30

Closing Date for Course Fees:

24th February 2007

Training Courses

Club Newsletter

“To catch the reader's attention, place an interesting sentence or quote from the story here.”

Flags at VHF FD

I would like to pass on my sincere thanks to Bob Glasgow (GM4UYZ) and Cambell Ste-venson (MM0DXC) for running and success-fully completing the first Advanced Licence Course at the club this year. I know Bob has put in a significant amount of time and effort in preparing the course content while holding down a full time job! I know I speak for all of us who attended the course when I say their time and effort was very much appreciated. The course was held at the Cockenzie & Port Seton Community Centre on Saturdays over an

8 week period. Although the training was diffi-cult in parts, as you would expect at this level, the pace of the course was just right and we had a good laugh as well. I would thoroughly recommend the course to anyone looking to achieve the full licence.

Derek Caiden MM0WST

The Advanced Licence Course 2006

CW Practice Nights It normally lasts for about 30 minutes, time for about 2 overs each then we have a chat on 2m 145.400. We QSO at c. 18 wpm so it’s a nice easy pace. What do we talk about? Any old nonsense, it’s just practice. Even tune in and just see what you can take down.

Why not blow the dust of that old Morse key and join the CW practice night every Thursday at 1900 hrs on 20 meters (14120). Tom (GM4LRU), Bob (GM4UYZ) and Derek (MM3PYX) have been tapping away on Thursday evenings for the last 2 months and its good fun.

example, I can’t print off a copy of my licence so I called them (0207 981 3131) for advice. I was told to switch off the security settings within my browser. This is pretty lousy advice; if you do this make sure you restore your security settings immediately as there is no better way for hackers to gain access to your PC.

Once these problems are fixed the system should be a real benefit. It would have cost me £20 for a form based application. I would also like to point out that the person I spoke to at Ofcom was friendly and helpful.

Have you tried the Ofcom website?

This new service allows you the user to update your contact details, apply for new licences and check the details of any licences you cur-rently hold. In order to do this you will first need to register by submitting your contact details and choosing a password on the follow-ing page.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/licensing/olc/

Ofcom will then send you a unique username by post that will allow you to use the system. Clearly their new system has some teething problems and they are trying to fix these. For

OFCOM Licencing Centre Website

Volume 15 Issue 1

M3INO was on the radio on Christmas Eve, he wasn’t alone!

VHF FD

Page 7 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Answers from January 2007 newsletter “Test Your Knowledge”.

1a, 2a, 3c, 4d, 5c, 6d, 7d, 8c, 9b, 10b

I shall start by wishing all Club members a Happy New Year; I hope Santa brought all the radio goodies you asked for.

My story begins……..

Christmas Eve started off like every other, get up put the TV on, have breakfast and plan what to do for the rest of the day. This year breakfast got put on hold when I ob-served that all the TV channels could only be seen through a haze due to the high pres-sure we were having the WX outside was freezing fog, not a pleasant day. So to the shack I went and turned on the two metre rig, I was picking up a repeater I would not normally hear, such as GB3AG this I nor-mally do not access from my QTH so I de-cided to call in, I had some QSO’s with GM0KKE, MM3ENW, MM3NRX and MM0SJT which were all good QSO’s.

After that I moved down on to my local repeater GB3BT, Berwick and called in to wish all the locals all the best for Christmas, they were G3YOG, GM7NVA, GM4XZZ and MM3OXB, the time was around 11am, little did we know then that we would be on for another 14 hours, it was good because John GM7NVA and Ben MM3OXB would spend the rest of the day with me on the frequency. At the times it was quiet we would have chats about various subjects but

it was not quiet for long because we had contacts from Germany, France, Nether-lands, Aberdeen, Dundee, Peterhead, York-shire, Kent, Newcastle, Sunderland, Hum-berside and many more.

One station M0GWS, Adam called in to ask what repeater he was picking up, we told him GB3BT he was surprised as he was calling in from only a stones throw from Stansted Airport, he told us we were coming across very strong to him. The DX stations were starting to call in around 14:00hrs UTC onwards with the last QSO being Bill G0GJQ from Gateshead, all in all it was a great day and good fun. I would say it’s my best day I have had on VHF since I have been licensed.

It has also changed my opinion on VHF or should I say Wave Mode (as Landles GM4XZZ calls it). The list below shows some of the stations worked throughout the day, 24th December 2006.

GM0KKE, M0GWS, G0GJQ, GM7NVA, MM3ENW, 2M0TIA, GM7MTQ, MM3NRX, 2E0RVY, GM4XZZ, MM3NXY, F0FHM, G3YOG, MM3OXB, DL4WE, MM0SJT, M3XYP, DL9EJ, MM0DXD, MM3RLG, DL1JK, M0VKX, M3TLX, DM1FG and PD0DHS

Happy radio …. Gareth M3INO

My Christmas Eve

PSK31 is a popular digital (keyboard to key-board) mode of contact using a standard PC with a cable connected to your rig (fig. 1). During the current low sunspot cycle condi-tions, PSK31 is a preferred way of contact due to its strong readability in poor signal conditions. In fact, when SSB and CW are suffering due to flat bands and solar noise, PSK31 can often get through, even on

power as low as 5 watts.

PSK31 is simple to use and easy and to set up; it uses free software which can be downloaded from the Internet and the only other requirement is a cable that connects your PC to your rig. You could easily make one yourself but I purchased one from Bux-comm http://www.commparts.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=23 for c. £20. The cable connects your PC’s com port and sound card and back to your rig.

My thanks to Landles GM4XZZ for getting me interested in PSK31 during the last IOTA contest in Tiree.

So what is PSK31? PSK31 was invented by Peter Martinez, G3PLX, the same guy who gave us AM-TOR. “PSK" stands for Phase Shift Keying, the type of signal modulation used. "31" is the bit rate. If you want to split hairs, the bit rate is actually 31.25.

Like Morse code, it’s a simple binary code expressed by short signal pulses (dits) and longer signal pulses (dahs). By combining the dits and dahs, we can communicate the entire alphabet along with numbers and punctuation. For PSK31 Peter devised a new code that combines the best of RTTY and Morse. He called this Varicode because a varying number of bits are used for each character. Building on the example of Morse, Peter allocated the shorter codes to the letters that appeared most often in Stan-dard English text. The idea was to send the least number of bits possible during a given transmission.

For example:

E is a very popular letter on the English alphabet hit parade, so it gets a Varicode of 11. Z sees relatively little use, so its Vari-code becomes 111010101.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to learn Vari-code, your computer does all that for you. Peter used the DSP capabilities on the com-puter’s sound card to create an audio signal that shifted its phase 180° in sync with the 31.25 bit-per-second data stream. In Peter's scheme, a 0 bit in the data stream generates an audio phase shift, but a 1 does not. The technique of using phase shifts (or lack of) to represent binary data is known as Binary Phase-Shift Keying, or BPSK. If you apply a BPSK audio signal to an SSB transceiver, you end up with BPSK modulated RF. (there’s loads of stuff on the Internet about this, this is where I got this!). At this data rate the resulting PSK31 RF signal is only 31.25 Hz wide, which is actually narrower than the average CW signal!

How to get started First you download the free software. There are many different types; I use the one that comes with Ham Radio Deluxe (http://hrd.ham-radio.ch/) as it automatically logs all my PSK QSOs into my logbook. The software configuration takes only a minute; you basically tell the PC which com port the cable is connected to. Next you set up your macro boxes; these are pre-defined blocks of text that you can use in a QSO. For exam-ple…

Calling Macro

CQ CQ CQ de MM0WST MM0WST MM0WST pse k

Replying Macro

<his callsign> de MM0WST thanks for your call your signal is 599 599 – my name is Derek my QTH is Edinburgh - BTU <his callsign> de MM0WST k

My Rig Macro

My rig is an Icom IC-7000 – Antenna is a W3DZZ – 10 Watts

You can have as many macros as you want. (Continued on page 9)

PSK31

Club Newsletter

Ever wondered about digi modes? Read on...



You can carry out an entire QSO by just clicking on these blocks of text or you can manually type in messages at the keyboard during a send, the choice is yours.

Where do I find PSK traffic? On HF you can try these frequencies. Most of the DX can be found on 20 and 40m but check the other bands too.

1838.150 3580.150 7035.15

10142.150 14070.150 18100.150 21080.150 (although most activity can be found 10 kHz lower) 24920.150 28120.150

Ready to go In this example, let’s tune to PSK traffic on 20m at 14.0715 MHz USB. Then start the software and you will see a screen that looks something like this one below.

The section at the bottom is a blue waterfall display; each of the white lines is a station transmitting. If you click on a white line the software will begin decoding the message in the RX section at the top of the screen. If

(Continued from page 8) you want to call CQ then find a gap on the waterfall display and click it with your mouse, then click on your CQ macro and the software will automatically key your rig with your CQ call. The message from the replying station will appear in the RX win-dow at the top. If you right mouse click the station’s callsign, a drop down list will ap-pear, click callsign and all your macro mes-sages will be updated with the callsign and ready to use. Do the same with the callers name and QTH and you’ll be sending per-sonalized messages throughout the QSO and all with a click of the mouse!

Some pointers. If your rig has a pre-amp, keep it switched off, the increased back-ground noise level does not help the signal resolution. Like other data modes the aver-age signal modulation is much higher than voice and therefore hard on the PA stage of your rig. So keep your power output to no more than 50% maximum. To be honest you don’t need it, it sounds crap and no one can read you. Landles (GM4XZZ) has worked Japan on 20 watts. PSK31 has no error cor-rection but compared to RTTY it’s far more reliable. Give it a go, you’ll enjoy it!

Derek Caiden MM0WST

PSK31 (cont)

Volume 15 Issue 1

Work the world on 20W!

MM0CCC

Page 9

Event Calendar

Club Newsletter

What we’re doing this year. If you want an event added email [email protected]

IOTA Station

12th January Normal Club Night

2nd February Normal Club Night

16th February Radio Check Night by John MM0JXI Port Seton Community Centre Resource Room 2. 19:30 to 21:30

2nd March Normal Club Night

16th March Talk by Derek Caiden “ A Pilots Operation” Port Seton Community Centre Youth Activities Area 19:30 to 21:30

6th April Normal Club Night

21st April 10 Pin Bowling Night – Megabowl Kinnaird Park @ 20:00

4th May Normal Club Night

11th May FIRST 144Mhz DF Hunt Meet in “The Old Ship Inn” Car Park (East) 18:30 for 19:00

1st June Normal Club Night

June Port Seton Gala Day – Community Centre Park 10:00 to 16:00 ** TO BE CONFIRMED**

10th June “Practical Wireless 144Mhz QRP Contest”

16/17th June Museums on the Air Weekend “Museum of Flight- East Fortune” GB2MOF

20th June C&PSARC 20 Metre Contest 19:00 to 22:00

29th June Normal Club Night *** NOTE CHANGE OF NIGHT ***

7/8th July VHF FIELD DAY

28/29th July RSGB IOTA Contest from the Island of Tiree

3rd August Normal Club Night

10h August “14tth ANNUAL JUNK NIGHT” Community Centre, Main Hall, Port Seton. Bring along your own “junk” and sell it yourself. Tables on First Come First Served basis. Entrance fee £1 for everyone. Money Raised DONATED to BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION. Time 18:30 to 21:30

18/19th August LIGHTHOUSE WEEKEND BARNS NESS GB2LBN

7th September Normal Club Night

28th September SECOND 144Mhz DF Hunt Meet in “The Old Ship Inn” Car Park (East) 18:30 for 19:00

5th October Normal Club Night

7th October RSGB 21/28MHz Contest

19th October VIDEO NIGHT Port Seton Community Centre Resources Room 2 19:30 to 21:30

27/28th October CQWW SSB Contest

2nd November Normal Club Night

16th November Talk by Colin GM0RLZ “Radiography” Port Seton Community Centre Resources Room 2 19:30 to 21:30

7th December Normal Club Night

15th December Club Christmas Night

Below is an email I received from Ali 2M0PMR informing me off the untimely death of his Step Father so on behalf of us all through the newsletter I would like to offer Ali and all his family our deepest sym-pathies at this time.

I for one always find it very difficult what to say at times like this as everyone deals with the situation in their own way.

There is no right or wrong way.

Ali our thoughts are with you at this time…

“Bob,

I don't know how to word this but my step dad Jimmy 2M1HIN passed away peacefully last night in intensive care at the Western last night after fighting for his life after a car smash on Xmas eve

We were all by his side and know he is at peace now

Jimmy was well known although did not operate the last few years

He was such a kind man & would think about others rather than himself

Both my mother & I will miss him greatly & he will always be in our hearts”

Deepest Sympathies

Web Site Developments articles.

The news section will be used for Club an-nouncements and snippets from Ofcom and the RSGB where appropriate. There is also a web link section where links to other clubs, vendors and organisations can be submitted.

The new site also has an RSS newsfeed to allow users to keep an eye on the site and see when new items have been added.

I’ve also taken the step of moving the site onto a new host, part of the old site was hosted on my PC at home so if my ADSL connection went down it went offline.

Obviously the new site depends on getting new content to grow, but the load can be shared with more people so once its online take a look, register on the site (only needed to post anything) and help to make it grow. The old site has 11,000 hits, here’s hoping that cpsarc.com for the 21st Century will be even better!

John Innes MM0JXI

Webmaster

Want a sneak preview? cpsarc.110mb.com

You’ll have read earlier that I’ve been doing a lot of work preparing the next generation of the web site which will completely change the way we’re perceived as a club. The old site was created with FrontPage and as a result was very static in its content, changes had to be made on my PC then uploaded to the server, very time consuming.

Last year I introduced some php modules which automated the newsletter and picture galleries, now I intend to re-do the whole site using a content management system called e107. This allows everyone to contribute to the site and the admin tasks can be shared by several people.

The front page of the site will display the latest news and a summary of posts in the forums in a fresh new way. Links on the page will take users to a brand new photo gallery based on the Coppermine photo gal-lery, this also handles the downloads for the newsletter.

The heart of the web site will be the content management system where registered users can write their own articles and submit them for publishing on the site. The system allows pictures to be uploaded and embedded in the

Volume 15 Issue 1

Sad news about 2M1HIN

Aerials at CQWW

Page 11

from 7pm till late.

The Club is run in a very informal way, there are no fees, no real committee structure, just a group of like minded people doing something they enjoy!

This does not mean that we don’t do anything, we enter (and win!) contests, train newcomers, hold talks and video nights and run a popular annual Junk Sale. Our newsletter has won the Practical Wireless ‘Spotlight’ competition on several occasions.

The Club supports the British Heart Foundation in memory of a member

The Cockenzie & Port Seton Amateur Radio Club was formed by Bob Glas-gow GM4UYZ in 1984, to help the local amateurs get to know each other.

Numbers have increased steadily over the years and now average about 20.

Far from being just a local club we have members coming from the Borders, Dumfries, Strathclyde and Fife.

The Club meets on the first Friday of every month (Second Friday of January) in the lounge of the Thorn-tree Inn on the old Cockenzie High Street

who died from heart dis-ease by donating the prof-its from events we hold, we have raised over £12,393 since 1994.

IOTA Team

Bob Glasgow 7 Castle Terrace Port Seton

Phone: 01875 811723 Fax: 555-555-5555 E-mail: [email protected] Contacts General correspondence, training and Contest entries Bob Glasgow [email protected] HF Contests Cambell Stevenson [email protected] VHF Contests John MacLean [email protected] Newsletter, website, event calendar John Innes [email protected]

Cockenzie & Port Seton Amateur Radio Club

The Club is affiliated to the Radio Society of Great Britain and holds the callsigns MM0CPS and GM2T which are used for our special event and contest en-tries.

We have our own internet domain www.cpsarc.com where you will find a popular web site which now features interactive discussion forums and photo gal-leries with a slide show. Club members can get their own ‘[email protected]’ email addresses.

The club also has a Yahoo! Group which is used to manage our mailing list. (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cpsarc)

Information

www.cpsarc.com

200701

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