Cockenzie & Port Seton

Amateur Radio Club Elements

Cockenzie & Port Seton

Amateur Radio Club is

affiliated to the Radio So-

ciety of Great Britain and

holds the call signs

MM0CPS and GM2T which

are used for our special

event and contest entries.

The Club was formed by

Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ in

1984, to help the local am-

ateurs get to know each

other.

Far from being just a local

club we have members

regularly attending from

the Borders, Dumfries,

Strathclyde, Fife and New-

castle.

The Club meets on the first

Friday of every month

(Second Friday of January)

in the lounge of the

Thorntree Inn on the old

Cockenzie High Street from

7pm till late.

Editorial We are now into the month of February already, where did January disappear too, and already we are beginning to see the nights getting longer and the dreary dark nights of winter starting to fade away, thank goodness says I!!!!

First of all I must thank all of you who turned up for the January Club Night. I do have a dream in that I would love to see all those who have promised to come along, those who have gone by the wayside come back to club night and join in. I feel we have so much to offer. Anyway I will keep dreaming.

What has happened since last month? January was its normal quiet month and to be honest I use it as definite rest peri-od before everything kicks off again for the year. I took part in the RSGB 80M AFS CW contest and managed a few QSO’s. It was nice to get back on the air from home and it is something I must do more of this year. One of my 2011 aims!!!!!

On the teaching front my Intermediate pupils sit their exam tomorrow so on behalf of us all I would like to wish them all the best with their exam. I am starting another Advanced Course on the 19th February with the exam in April and after that one more Foundation Course and that will be my last up until September as I definitely need a sabbati-cal. If you know of anyone who is inter-

ested in any of the courses will you ask them to get in contact with me direct and I will get all their required details. I am sure you will go along with me and wish each of the candidates all the best with their respective exams.

The events program for the year starts this month with another of John MM0JXI’s Radio Check Nights on the 18th February. The radio check night has cer-tainly been well attended in the past years and has been very useful to the extent it has found faulty radios so whey not bring along what you have and give it a MOT. THIS REALLY IS A WORTH-WHILE EVENT so I hope you will all take advantage of it. On all our events I hope that you will all make an effort to attend as many as you can throughout the year. For full up to date events please read the Events Column or even go onto the web-site and you will find them all in the calendar area.

I think that is about it for this month, I am sure there was something else but I cannot think what it is, sign of old age or whatever. Anyway enjoy the newsletter.

Bob GM4UYZ

In this issue

Logistics P.2

Future Direction, Radio Test Night P.4

Test Your Knowledge P.5

Club Tables P.6

Website Update P.7

GMDX Convention, 6m News P.9

Events Column P.10

V o l u m e 1 9

Fe b ru ary 2 0 11

02

Have you ever visited a Demonstration Sta-tion, Special Event Station or even a Contest? If you have, have you ever given it any thought to what is involved to put this on, basically have you thought about the logis-tics? I must admit it must be fantastic to turn up to a club event, no matter what, be able to sit down and operate and not even give it a thought on how it was all put together, basi-cally the bottom line, enjoy yourself and then walk away. There are many out there who just do that in essence they want to enjoy them-selves but don’t want to contribute to putting it all together. I know that statement appears severe and there are many who cannot do anything due to factors of being disabled, not fit enough through illness, people work, etc. This small article is not intended to get a “dig” at anybody but just to make you think about what does go on behind the scenes to make the event happen.

Let us look at what is involved in running the special event station at the Museum of Flight by going through the various points. To en-sure that these events can be run then it is imperative that there is insurance available, the club is fortunate that through its RSGB Affiliation we have Public Liability Insurance plus we have a separate policy to cover equip-ment the club has obtained through the last few years. Yes this is what your £2 that you all donate on Club Night goes towards. Yes someone has to collect the money, someone has to ensure that the RSGB Fees and Insur-ance Fees are all paid and on time, again this all happens in the background.

Special Event Callsign – Does the event require a special event callsign if so, then this needs to be applied for not later than 28 days before the event. If it is a new Special Event Callsign then need to ensure that the respec-tive QSL manager for the callsign is sent Stamp Addressed Envelopes for any incoming QSL cards for the event.

Contacting the Museum – When we first decided to go to the Museum of Flight the first priority was actually contacting the muse-um. This involved a visit to the site and actually speaking to the Museum’s Manager and ex-plaining what we would like to do and would

it be possible. These days we have an estab-lished contact base and it is a matter of a few phone calls and plenty of emails to get every-thing set-up. (As I write this although the event is in June emails are now going back-wards and forwards covering all aspects of the future visit and this is only January)

Agreement with the Museum – Once we had an agreement then there is the matter of locating a place to operate from, ensuring that there is enough power-points, tables, chairs to allow setting up and anything else that may be required... Then there is getting the agreement to where aerials can be set-up, arranging for access before the Museum opens up, getting Hanger doors open and more so ensuring that all the Health and Safe-ty aspects are covered not just for ourselves but for the museum as well.

Deciding on what the station set-up will be – the next task is deciding what the final station set-up will be. This has now been well and truly established that we run a 40M sta-tion and a 10/15 or 20M station. The 40M using a standard 40M wire dipole and 10/15/20M using a Tribander. The logging to be done using computer log-ging.

Locating the storage of the equipment – So the decision is made on the station set-up so where is all the equipment to make this happen? Are we going to use individual’s equipment? Are we using most of the club’s equipment? The background work now starts to locate the equipment, ensure its availabil-ity ready for the event.

Who is available to help set-up the sta-tion – Another task is trying to obtain a list of people who will be available to help put the station up on the required day. To check if any of the station needs towed i.e. tower and that there is a car or van and someone available to tow it.

Getting ready to leave for the event – Now that all the equipment has been sourced the next task is getting the required cars/vans/etc. loaded up with all the equipment. If on the day we are using a tower to mount

(Continued on page 3)

Logistics... The Club

The Club is run in a very

informal way, 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

who died from heart dis-

ease by donating the

profits from some of the

events we hold, we have

raised over £14,795 since

1994.

Supported by

BT Community Champions

the Tribander, then the tower needs to be collected and towed to site.

Setting Up – On arriving at the site then before any thing is done the Museum contact needs to be contacted to ensure that all the previously agreed arrangements are still ok. Once this is done the task of setting the station can now go ahead. We have through our experiences find that if someone takes responsibility for the Shack and someone for the Aerials then it makes the installations go nice and smooth. In the shack for the Health & Safety aspects there cannot be any trailing cables that the general public could possibly trip over. On the aerial front from the Health & Safety aspect is to ensure that visible tapes are around the roped off area to warn the public that the area is a no-go area. Last thing to do is any on-the-air tests ensuring that there is no interference to any of the museums equipment plus check that the equipment is performing as it should.

The Event – This is the fun bit where anyone can come along and operate.

After the Event – The event is now over so the stations and aerials have to be dismantled and packed away. Like the setting up we have through our experiences find that if some-one takes responsibility for the Shack and someone for the Aerials then it makes the dismantling go nice and smooth. From the logistics point of view and looking towards future events it is imperative that the dismantled equipment is placed in their correct box, container, etc. as this makes life easier for the future. If you have never done events before I suggest that you take the time to get all your storage boxes marked up i.e. guy ropes, pegs, network equipment, etc. and that you ensure that only what is marked on the box actually goes into the box, believe you me it is worth it in the end. Once everything is dismantled and packed then it is time to put it all back into the respective cars/vans to be taken back and given to the rightful owners. Like setting up people are required for this so please do not run away but stay and help. If the tower has been used then again this will need towed

back to its respective storage area.

Storage Area – If you have a storage area for your equip-ment then it needs to taken back and placed in its respective storage area. Any equipment borrowed has to be delivered back to the individuals.

The Paperwork – The event is over, all the equipment is stored, borrowed equipment has been returned but it is still not over. There is the paperwork still to do in the respect of writing QSL cards and also entering the Computer Log created for the event into the master Club log. A card has to be de-signed then enough printed off, then the task of writing them. To give you an idea how long it takes to write QSL cards, last year we had 815 QSO’s at the Museum Event and it took me about 12 hours to do, this did include the sorting of the cards into their respective countries (a QSL Bureau requirement) before parcelling them up and posting them. This job never really ends as QSL Cards come in direct, which need to be dealt with, and then there are the cards from the bureau. The-se need to be marked off in the log (paper & computer) to say they have arrived, and then finally filed away.

I am sure I will have missed something even so hopefully from what I have written it will give you an idea in what is involved in putting on an event. I class the Museums Weekend as an intermediate affair if you want a big one then look at the logis-tics of putting on a Contest Station on an island where you need to make sure that everything is thought off, yes we do this when we go to the Island of Tiree for the RSGB IOTA Con-test but again by doing this on a regular basis we have learned from earlier visits and have created what we now call the mas-ter tick list to ensure we forget nothing.

I have never counted up how much background time it does take; to be honest I am afraid to do so as I believe that I would drop with the shock. So the next time you just turn up at an event give it a thought to the amount of work that has been put in and in what is still required and offer any help that you can. From an organisers point of view it will be gratefully ac-cepted.

Bob GM4UYZ

(Continued from page 2)

Duncan MM0GZZ sent in this picture of a well filled shack.

3 HF rigs (2x Icon IC-756 Pro III, Yaesu FT-1000MP MkV)

2 VHF/UHF rigs (Kenwood TM-707G, TH-F6A)

8 Scanners (4x Uniden BC780XLT, Uniden BC785D, Uniden

BC250D, Radio Shack PRO-2006, PRO-2052)

More details from www.milaircomms.com

When did I last visit My Club?

The following was first written and appeared

in the November 2007 newsletter but I feel it

is worth reintroducing again as a general re-

minder so no apologies for submitting it once

again… I will say that I was not the original

author, in fact I am not sure who it was….

“Think very carefully. Try to remember the

last time you walked into a CPSARC meeting.

If you’re struggling to recall whether your last

trip was last month, or even last year or even

longer, then ask yourself whether the club will

be here next year. Although the numbers have

been steady over the last couple of years in

attending talks and club night over the past

year it would be great to see more. Clubs do

not disappear overnight, yet people are still

shocked when a club folds due to lack of inter-

est from members.

We all have busy lives; sometimes going to a

club meeting is just one of those things that

get put off. So, what's Bob to do? Shrug his

shoulders and admit defeat? Try to shame the

membership out of its complacency? I think

Bob’s tried this without much success!

What can you do to keep your radio club

healthy?

What if your club meetings were fun?

What if everyone came to the meetings?

What would it take for this to happen?

Bob needs your input.

What does he need to do to generate interest

and get members coming back to club night?

I shall misquote a famous American President

‘’Think not what my club can do for me, but

what can I do for my club.’’

Therefore please consider if you can, organize

an activity, help with any task, or just fully

support club activities, not only will it help to

Club Attire

The club has a design for

Club Tee-shirts, Polo-

shirts, Sweat-Shirts, Fleec-

es and Jackets and all of

these can be obtained

from the address below.

When making an order

please quote ‘Cockenzie &

Port Seton Amateur Radio

Club’ as this will ensure

that the Club Logo will be

placed on the required

ordered garments.

If you wish to add your call

-sign to the logo then

please ask at the time of

the order.

Cost will depend on gar-

ment and should cover the

garment and logo, call-sign

addition will be extra.

Order from:

PATRICIA BEWSEY DESIGNS,

UNIT 11,

FENTON BARNS RETAIL

VILLAGE,

FENTON BARNS,

NORTH BERWICK,

EAST LOTHIAN

EH39 5BW

Tel/Fax: 01620 850788

Mobile: 07970 920431

Future Direction

John MM0JXI will be holding another of his very popular Radio Check Nights, where Club Members can bring their radios along to have them checked out on professional test gear.

John works in Technical Support for BT and has access to a Marconi 2955 Radiocomms Test Set and a Hewlett Packard Spectrum Ana-lyser and Bird Thruline Power Meter.

Using this equipment he can test almost any radio you can to bring along for:

Power Output (from 1mW up to 400W)

Deviation

Spectral Purity

Receive Sensitivity

Frequency Accuracy

Sub-audible Tones

The Test Night takes place on Friday 18th Feb-ruary in one of the Resources Room in the Community Centre from 19:30 to 21:30, entry fee £2.

Over the years this has been a very popular event and also very worthwhile. It is a great opportunity to give all your radios an annual MOT.

Remember to bring all your power/microphone/etc. leads for your respective radios.

Bob GM4UYZ

Radio Test Night

Test Your Knowledge

1. The selectivity of a radio receiver is often expressed as

the bandwidth of the receiver response at a level below the greatest sensitivity. The level is usually

a. 3dB b. 6dB c. 20dB d. 60dB

2. In a superheterodyne receiver the key to good selectivi-

ty is a. A narrow IF filter b. A broadband RF input circuit c. A double balanced mixer d. A double tuned band pass filter in the RF amp.

3. The AGC voltage from the detector stage of a receiver

varies the gain of the IF stages by a. Varying the DC bias to the IF amplifier transistors b. Varying the RF bias to the IF amplifier transistors c. Varying the coupling in the IF transformers d. Off-tuning the IF by means of a variable capacitance di-

ode

4. It is desired to achieve both a good image rejection and

good channel selectivity in a radio receiver. This can be done by using a

a. High intermediate frequency b. Low intermediate frequency c. High intermediate frequency followed by a low interme-

diate frequency d. Low intermediate frequency followed by a high interme-

diate frequency.

5. Which mode of signals is demodulated with a ratio de-

tector a. FM b. SSB c. CW d. AM

6. The purpose of the RIT control on a transceiver is to a. allow the frequency of the transmitter to be adjusted

without varying the frequency of the receiver b. allow the frequency of the receiver to be adjusted with-

out varying the frequency of the transmitter c. vary the frequency of both receiver and transmitter d. Allow the frequency of the receiver IF amplifier to be

varied to avoid interference.

7. A waveguide normally consists of a rectangular section

tube of suitable dimensions for the intended frequency. It is normally constructed of

a. Plastic b. Copper or brass c. Iron or steel d. Ferrite

8. Placing passive conducting elements close to a dipole

will affect the radiation pattern of the dipole to make it directional. It will also

a. Increase the dipole feed impedance b. Reduce the dipole feed impedance c. Rotate the polarisation of the EM wave d. Suppress the E field of the EM wave

9. A quad antenna comprises a. 4 dipoles in parallel b. A square loop of wire of 1λ perimeter c. A square loop of wire of λ/4 perimeter d. A four element directional antenna

10. The sum of the forward and reverse signal voltages on a

feeder, divided by their difference, is known as the a. standing wave ratio b. maximum working voltage c. vector sum d. return loss.

There has been a very poor return for the first

club tables of 2011. Only 4 including myself

have uploaded logs to club log. Martyn

MM0XXW, Bob GM4UYZ & Brian M0RNR and

Bob and Duncan MM0GZZ have sent me

emails to tell me what DX they have worked.

MM0GZZ

Duncan has been working PSK31 on 20, 40 &

80 metres running 30-50 watts to a vertical.

Stations worked include

YV5IAL Bob, ZS6AKU Dirk, KP4FD Luis, HI8CSS

Guillermo, PY2YN Alex, ZS2CR Colette, Z2/

AC7GF/MM off coast of Angola, LU6DEZ Hec-

tor & ZS6GRL Geoff.

Some very nice ones there Duncan.

GM4UYZ

Bob took part in the RSGB AFS 80M CW Con-

test on Sunday 9th January 2011.&I managed

to get 2.5 hours in and had 50 QSO’s working

4 new countries for the start of the 2011 club

tables. Scotland, England, Wales and the Isle

of Man. The Isle of Man is a total first for Bob

since he got my licence back in 1983 and

great to now actually add it to his DXCC coun-

tries list. Using his trap 40/80M Dipole Invert-

ed “L” in real earnest on 80M and it per-

formed very well indeed so very happy with

the outcome.

GM4IKT

I have not been as active this year as usual

but have managed to work some good DX

including VK on 20 metres, PY on 20 metres,

TJ3AY Cameroon on 15 metres, TR8CA Gabon

on 20 metres, C56YK Gambia on 15 metres,

UN7MM Kazakhstan on 17 metres, 7P8JW

Lesotho on 15 Metres V51B Namibia on 20

metres, ZD7FT St Helena on 15 metres.

Let’s see if we can have a few more members

sending in club tables next month!

Good DX & 73s de GM4IKT

Thanks to the sterling

work by M0RNR, our club

has been added to the

excellent Clublog system

developed by Michael

Wells G7VJR.

www.clublog.org

The system allows mem-

bers to upload their logs

in ADIF format and have

them displayed in a table

with all the other club

members.

Clublog also has great

facilities for tracking your

DXCC status etc. so is well

worth taking the time to

register and get your log

uploaded.

To update your log with

the next set of contacts

you can simply upload

your whole log again and

the system will take care

of the duplicates. Alterna-

tively you can export the

bits you want from your

own log and just upload

that.

The tables I’ll publish here

will be the club, filtered

by the current year, so

everyone starts a new

year at 0 contacts.

Club Tables report

Callsign 160 80 60 40 30 20 17 15 12 10 6 4 2 70 Total Slots

MM0XXW+2 0 0 0 7 0 16 12 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 45

GM4IKT 0 0 0 6 0 10 3 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 27

GM4UYZ 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4

M0RNR+2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3

The web site continues to go from strength to strength.

There are presently 154 registered members of which 92

logged in at least once during 2010.

We had 24 new users register in 2010, the most recent being

Peter VK6PA and Stevie VK6SMK (ex GM0WRY) (Stevie emi-

grated to Australia a number of years ago and has recently got

back in touch via the website)

The most active users are:

Most Visits Bob GM4IKT 2822 John MM0JXI 2043 Bob GM4UYZ 1967 Cambell MM0DXC 1379 Garry MM0FZV 1199 Most Forum Posts Bob GM4UYZ 420 Geoff MM5AHO 352 Cambell MM0DXC 340 John MM0JXI 277 Bob GM4IKT 254 There are 100 users who have never posted anything in the forums and 61 users who have not logged in since 2009 who can probably be considered as not active.

We continue to get spammers trying to register but this has reduced since I installed the latest captcha module which pre-sents new users with a distorted word they have to copy, how-ever I’m still deleting a couple of rogue applications each week.

The website has been fairly fixed in its configuration for the last year, there have been a couple of security updates to the e107 framework, the last of which caused some problems with the chatbox module, as it meant that users trying to submit news etc. were getting ‘access denied’ error messages so I had to take the chatbox offline until I could find a work around. I’m pleased to announce that the chatbox is now back again.

I’ve tried to introduce a couple of new site themes in my on-going quest to keep the site looking fresh but have met with considerable resistance from users who like it just the way it is. The new themes are still there, if anyone wants to try them out there is a theme selector on the menu bar once you’re logged in and you can choose a different theme from there.

The newsletter archive is now complete thanks to the work of the late Bill Turner MM0BXT who scanned all the old paper copies.

I’ve placed the whole archive at www.cpsarc.com/newsletter as well as having them in the usual download section so that the archive will get indexed by Google and www.archive.org to preserve the newsletters for posterity.

I’ve also started publishing the newsletter on issuu.com which provides the fantastic interactive preview you now see on the website every month. The PDF version of the newsletter has also been downloaded 1153 times last year, an average of 96 times per issue.

The traffic on the website is as follows

I don’t have any explanation for the huge spike in numbers in the middle of the year except that the site may have been be-ing attacked by people trying to exploit security flaws before I updated the e107 Content Management System. The numbers seem to be settling back to 700 or so visits a day from the peak of 2100 visits per day in July.

In order to meet the costs of our www.cpsarc.com domain (£65 for 5 years) and the web hosting for the web site(£80 for 2 years), I set up an Amazon affiliate account which is linked to the banners and Amazon Store links on the web site. I wasn’t very hopeful at first as my previous experience with using Google adsense was that it generated very little money. However the Amazon link has proved to be very successful, every time someone uses the banner link to get to Amazon and buys something, we get a commission fee. In 2009 we received £197.66 and in 2010 £235.04 which is more than enough to cover our website costs. We also received very generous sponsorship for the website of £50 from Stevie Hargreaves MM0GZA so thanks to him for that. This means that the website is completely self-supporting, placing no drain on our limited club funds.

John MM0JXI Webmaster

Web Site Update

CQWW WPX Success

Club members have had lots of success in the 2010 CQ WPX Contest

Robin MM0VTV #1 in Scotland—Single Op Low Power All Bands—Rookie

Bob GM4UYZ #1 in Scotland—Single Op Assisted Low Power All Bands

Ron GM0NTL #1 in Scotland LP,SSB, Single Op, All bands

#1 in Scotland Triband/Single element, LP, SSB, Single Op, All bands.

Well done to everyone who received certificates.

NEED ARTICLES URGENTLY

Everyone enjoys the news-

letter and there are many

people out there reading it.

Just checking the down-

load’s area on our website

and this year alone we have

had a total of 1150 news-

letter downloads.

We are really short of arti-

cles so why not take a little

time and write up an article

and submit it to

newsletter@cpsarc.com

It is an old hobby horse this

plea but we are now really

struggling for material. Over

the years I have had many

promises of people saying

they would write something

but sadly nothing appears so

folks I am now pleading for

those articles. Remember it

is your newsletter and with-

out any input it will not hap-

pen.

I am very conscious that in

many cases I have written all

the articles in the newsletter

and people could regard it

as “Bob’s newsletter” and

don’t want to put anything

in that may upset the “apple

cart”. Yes there have been

comments made in the past

saying that.

I stress it is YOUR NEWSLET-

TER and it needs YOUR IN-

PUT.

So PLEASE, PLEASE can you

help out……………….

Bob GM4UYZ

14th ANNUAL GMDX CONVENTION AND DINNER Saturday 16 April 2011 at the King Robert Hotel, Stirling The GMDX Committee is pleased to announce that this year’s Annual GMDX Convention will be held on Saturday 16 April 2011, at the King Robert Hotel, Whins of Milton, Stirling, starting at 1300 hrs. Bar snacks will be available from 12 noon. Provisional Programme 1300 - 1330 Registration and Welcome 1330 - 1400 DX0DX - DXpeditions are not always Successful! By Colin GM0RLZ and Clive GM3POI 1400- 1430 "Major DXpedition Finances including aspects re-lating to QSLs and LOTW" By Christian DL1MGB leader of the ZL8X,VK9DWX and VK9DNX expeditions 1430 - 1500 Planning for your Tower ? the rules by Len GM0ONX 1500 - 1530 Coffee Break 1530 - 1615 9Q50ON Republic of Congo Expedition by Ronald PA3EWP 1615 - 1730 ZL8X Kermadec Expedition by Dietmar DL3DXX and Christian DL1MGB 1730 - 1800 Convention close and raffle draw 2000 DX Dinner 2200 Hotel Bar

Card Checking available for DXCC, WAZ, WAS, IOSA and RSGB awards. Non-members are most welcome. The cost for the afternoon’s convention is £8 including tea or coffee, while the dinner is £22 per person. We would be grate-ful if you could pre-book to give us an idea of numbers – see below. As numbers are limited, booking your dinner tickets is particularly important. The King Robert provides special rates for convention dele-gates – £65 B&B for a double room, and £45 B&B for a single room. If all single rooms are taken, the rate for single occu-pancy of a twin room is £45. Should you wish stay at the hotel, please contact them direct-ly. Indicate that you are attending the GMDX Convention to get the special rates. Arrange your accommodation early to avoid disappointment. The King Robert telephone number is 01786 811666. John MM0CCC is coordinating the CPSARC booking so if you want to go, contact him direct or via the club website.

GMDX Convention

Sunspot News Solar cycle 24 is proving disappointing, so far. At this point in the cycle the number of sun spots should be steadily rising but the cycle seems “stuck” in its minimum stage. Predictions now seem to be for a far less active cycle than number 23 that peaked in April 2000. Regular sun spot updates are available on the desktop page of the UKSMG web site athttp://www.uksmg.org

G0KSC LFA Antennas The ground breaking work carried out by Justin on LFA yagis, and other designs, has featured prominently in the UKSMG magazine Six News many times and Justin was awarded the G5KW Memorial Trophy for best article of 2010. A fascinating journey from design via construction to getting two seven ele-ment arrays for 50 MHz into the air is detailed by Chris Gare, G3WOS at http://www.gare.co.uk/6m_antenna/ It really is worth a look. Congratulations Congratulations to Bolton Wireless Club for their convincing win in the RSGB UKAC 50 MHz contest.

Thanks also to the other 47 clubs who put in entries. As an illustration of how the popularity of this contest has grown, in 2005 20 individual stations entered, in 2010 230 stations put in an entry. Six News Issue 106 of Six News, the quarterly journal of UKSMG, is due for publication in February. As well as the regular features and “What’s on Six”, a digest of operating around the world, this edition also contains articles including dxpedition reports by GJ/GM4FDM; solid state amplifier review; and “OWL” antenna design by G0KSC. Six News is available to members of UKSMG which costs as little as ten pounds per annum for Internet only membership. A “try before you buy” edition of Six News is available for download at http://uksmg.org/download.php?view.5

Reprinted with permission from the UKSMG Newsletter

6m News

Contacts

General correspondence,

training and contest en-

tries

Bob Glasgow

7 Castle Terrace

Port Seton

East Lothian

EH32 0EE

Phone: 01875 811723

E-mail:

gm4uyz@cpsarc.com

HF Contests

Cambell Stevenson

mm0dxc@aol.com

VHF Contests

John MacLean

mm0ccc@cpsarc.com

Club Tables

Bob Purves

gm4ikt@cpsarc.com

Contest Reports

Robin Farrer

mm0vtv@cpsarc.com

Newsletter, website,

event calendar

John Innes

newsletter@cpsarc.com

4 February 2011 Club Night

18 February 2011 Radio Test Night

26 February 2011 REF Contest

26 February 2011 Newsletter Deadline

4 March 2011 Club Night

18 March 2011 Talk by Malcolm Gibson MM0YMG

‘Emergency Communications in the Community’

26 March 2011 Newsletter Deadline

1 April 2011 Club Night

2 April 2011 SP DX Contest

9 April 2011 10 Pin Bowling

16 April 2011 Holyland DX contest

30 April 2011 Newsletter Deadline

6 May 2011 Club Night

13 May 2011 1st 144MHz DF Hunt

28 May 2011 Newsletter Deadline

3 June 2011 Club Night

Port Seton Gala Day (Date to be confirmed)

12 June 2011 Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP Contest

18 June 2011 Newsletter Deadline

18/19 June 2011 Museums on the Air Weekend GB2MOF

22 June 2011 CPSARC 20m Activity Night

24 June 2011 Club Night (Early to avoid clashing with VHF Field Day)

2/3 July 2011 VHF Field Day

30/31 July 2011 RSGB IOTA Contest

30 July 2011 Newsletter Deadline

5 August 2011 Club Night

12 August 2011 18th Annual Mini Rally Night

20/21 August 2011 Lighthouses Weekend GB2LBN

2 September 2011 Club Night

23 September 2011 2nd 144MHz DF Hunt

7 October 2011 Club Night

21 October 2011 Video Night

29/30 October 2011 CQWW SSB Contest GM2T

4 November 2011 Club Night

18 November 2011 Talk by Len Paget GM0ONX ‘Planning Permission’

Event Column Answers from February

2011 newsletter “Test

Your Knowledge”.

1D, 2A, 3A, 4C, 5A, 6B, 7B,

8B, 9B, 10A