Activities in 2004 2003 2005
On this page you will find illustrated reports of some of our activities in 2004. These are mainly in addition to our main meetings and shack nights. The most recent activities are at the top of the page.
First Successful Foundation Licence Candidate
Congratulations to Andrew on passing his Foundation Licence Assessment on Saturday 9th October 2004. Andrew is the first PRS member to follow the Poole Radio Society Foundation Licence training scheme, and now has the callsign M3XAM. Listen out for Andrew on the air! We are looking forward to congratulating many more in the future.
Inter-Club Quiz
Poole Radio Society won the annual inter-club quiz held at the Flight Refuelling ARS on Wednesday 22nd September.
Third Day in the Field 2004
Our
third day in the field was organised at very short notice for Sunday 5th
September 2004. It was nevertheless very successful, with date chosen to coincide
with the European hf ssb field day and European 2m contests.
Alan G4UWS brought along one of his kites, and used it to support a long-wire antenna with 6 radials. Conditions on the hf bands were good, so many stations were heard. He used the time to prepare for future events by identifying the best setting on his ATU for various frequencies.
Up on 2m, Colin G6MXL operated in the final RSGB 2m backpackers contest of 2004 coming 5th in the 10-Watt single operator section.
As can be seen
from the QSL card, some excellent DX was worked on 2m ssb, including EA2CN/P in
Spain, some 826km away. Not bad with just 10Watts!
46 QSOs were made on 2m at an average distance of 246km, in 8 different countries. It just goes to show that there are times, when the VHF bands are far from just ‘lines of sight’ bands!
As usual on these occasions, both stations fielded a number of questions from the public. This time we were better prepared, in this respect at least, as Alan had a number of the Poole Radio Society leaflets to give to those who were interested in finding out more.
Both stations forgot to take items for their stations, so for the future, click here to see a Checklist for Field Activity.
Second Day in the Field 2004
Our
second day in the field for 2004 was held on Sunday 22nd
August. Despite the adverse weather forecasts, several members set up
stations at the top of the Purbeck Hills.
The activities show what a diverse hobby amateur radio is, and how the interests of members of Poole Radio Society reflect this.
Two of our members made contacts on a variety of bands with special event stations that were on the air for the weekend at Lighthouses around the coast. Equipment used included a 2m/70cm hand-held and a home-brewed multi-mode h.f. transceiver.
Another member dusted off his 10GHz microwave gear, and made several contacts using just 200mW (yes 1/5th Watt). 5 Contacts were made as far away as West Sussex and North Hampshire.
At the other extreme of the radio spectrum, Alan G4UWS supported his long wire antenna by one of his kites.
Hamfest
On Sunday 8th August we had our usual stand at Hamfest. In common with most people, we got the impression that visitor numbers were down this year, probably due to a rather pessimistic, but accurate, weather forecast.
Barbeque
Our annual Barbeque was held on Friday 9th July. Although cool, the weather remained dry throughout the evening. We put up the club’s gazebo as a precaution, although it was also a good opportunity to practice putting it up.
Members and their partners tucked into the usual fare of chicken, sausages, chops, burgers etc., accompanied by salads, rolls etc all washed down with a variety of liquid refreshments.
Exhibition Station at Oakdale
Following our successful exhibition station in Poole Park, we staged a further successful exhibition station at Oakdale on Sunday 20th June 2004. We had a station running on h.f. into a vertical antenna. We made contacts with other amateurs in countries as far away as Greece and a few ex-Russian states, Las Palmas, Fleetwood amongst others.
If you visited us, we hope you enjoyed your visit. If you would like to find out more about amateur radio, then please come along to one of our meetings.
First Day in the Field 2004
We held our
first ‘Day in the Field’ of 2004 on Sunday 13th June. We were running as
many as 4 separate stations on various h.f. bands plus a further station on
vhf.
Operation on the
h.f. bands was mainly using low power (QRP), with simple antennas. One
station ran more power to try out the club’s new generator, which performed
faultlessly, and is surprisingly quiet, not disturbing the peace of the Dorset
countryside. Other stations used mainly battery power, although one
station supplemented this with solar cells.
Several stations experimented with various vertical antennas, using fishing rods as the main support. In addition one station used a W3EDP antenna at just a few feet above the ground and then run along the top of a hedge. Another member brought along a kite that he uses to get aerials up in the sky.
Up on the 2m band, QRP was still the order of the day for Colin G6MXL, with participation in the Second RSGB 2m backpacker contest (coming 14th out of 22 entries in the 3-Watt single operator section) and Practical Wireless QRP contests (coming 45th out of 86 entries). Here a 9-element beam was used on a 4m pole (replacing the usual sun-shade) supported by a plastic patio table with 15kg of water in the base. This proved remarkably effective and stable, despite a gentle sea breeze in the afternoon.
We were very lucky to have a hot summer day.
Antenna Work
On Sunday 6th June 2004, several members somehow managed to get out of bed in time for 7am start on re-erecting our VK2ABQ antenna and installing our new 6m antenna. Whilst there is still some work to finish off, we were on the air on 6m metres for the first time a couple of weeks later.
Geoff’s Construction Challenge 2004
Entries were judged at our meeting on Friday 14th May 2004 for this year’s Geoff’s Challenge construction contest.
The theme this year was ‘Station Accessories’. Entries were as many and varied as the title might suggest with items such as a portable operating table (with power distribution) and a capacitance meter. The builder of each item stood up to give a very brief description of each item, before members voted for the winner. Click here to see the entries and results.
At the meeting we also agreed to purchase a generator for the club. Some ideas for activities for the rest of the year were also given some thought.
Mayor’s Charity Fair in 
Poole Park
We had a very successful
exhibition station in Poole Park on Sunday 2nd May 2004. We
had stations running on the h.f., vhf, uhf and microwave bands. We made
contacts with stations in many countries, including Croatia, Poland, Italy, and
Spain.
Visitors were able to try their hand at sending Morse code using the Foundation Licence Morse Assessment Crib Sheets, and received a certificate to confirm that we had received their name correctly – which seemed very popular with the younger visitors.
Other visitors had a go at operating, exchanging greeting messages under supervision.
One Chinese visitor works in broadcast radio in China, others included ex-military operators, and many who just wanted to know a little more about our wonderful hobby. After a misty start, the weather improved into a glorious sunny day – most of us went home with a suntan.
If you visited us, we hope you enjoyed your visit. If you would like to find out more about amateur radio, then please come along to one of our meetings. More pictures of the event can be found on the front cover of the July 2004 issue of Practical Wireless and inside.
Yeovil QRP Convention
We had a small stand at the Yeovil club’s QRP Convention held on Sunday 18th April 2004 at Sherborne. Alan G4UWS is seen supporting a 6-element beam for the Band 2 (100MHz) broadcast band. Whilst we only had a small amount of surplus equipment for sale, we used the opportunity to promote the club.
Bournemouth Rally
In mid-March 2004 we had a stand at the Bournemouth Rally. We took another opportunity to recycle (again) some superb items of surplus equipment to the local amateur population. We hope you came away with a bargain from the Poole Radio Society Stand. It was also a great opportunity to chat with other local amateurs face-to-face.
Antenna Work at the Shack
We have taken down the VK2ABQ h.f. antenna for maintenance. Hopefully it won’t be too long before it is back up. In the meantime we are still on the air, using our 40/80m trapped-dipole.
Annual Dinner 2004
In early January
2004 we held our annual dinner at Corkers
Restaurant on Poole Quay. It is an occasion when partners can join
in, and the subject of conversation tends to cover just about anything except
amateur radio!
The food and service was as good as ever.