Activity in 2009 2008 2010
New Trapped Dipole Antenna Installed
On Saturday 10th
October 2009, 6 members spent the morning assembling and installing a new Comet
H422 trapped dipole antenna.
The antenna, designed for the 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m bands, has been installed in a ‘V’–shaped configuration between the club’s existing 6m, 2m and 70cm tri-band co-linear vertical.
Initial tests suggested that the new antenna was performing
well, with a ZS station 
(South Africa)
heard on 15m. We will be making further tests in the coming weeks.
It will be good to have an external hf antenna available again, and we are looking forward to making plenty of contacts on 40m during the winter evenings.
RSGB 2nd 70MHz Contest
The Poole Radio Society entered the RSGB 2nd 70MHz Contest on 13th September 2009 at a bright and breezy Povington Hill as G4PRS/P.
The main contest operators were Les Hill M0ARM, Phil Ciotti G3XBZ and Colin Redwood G6MXL.
We came 11th in the Open section with 21 valid QSOs giving us a score of 4,513 points.
Our best DX was GM4ZUK/P 701km away in IO86 square in Scotland.
Advanced Course Underway
Our Second Advanced Course got underway on September 4th 2009.
Initially only one student enrolled, but a second has now joined the course.
Another Foundation Success
Congratulations to Stephanie Morton on passing her Foundation Exam on 28th August 2009.
Stephanie chose to self-study for the exam, with Poole Radio Society providing the practical elements of the course and the exam itself.
Day in the Field
We held another day
in the field on 23rd August 2009 on Povington Hill.
Alan G4UWS/P made a number of contacts on hf including one with the East of Coast of the USA, whilst Colin G6MXL/P tried out his 10GHz gear with different driver transceiver.
Charlie M0AIJ used his combined 2m/7cm beam made by G.B.H.F. in the Netherlands to great effect. Despite a chilly breeze it was good to get on the air and make some contacts.
Poole Radio Society Forum on Yahoo! Groups
With development of the new G4PRS website underway, some members expressed an interest in a members forum/bulletin board. The webmaster said that code is available to do this from within the new website; however, it consequently turns out that the code is unsuitable for the purpose.
Consequently, a new 'closed' forum available only to Society members on request is setup on Yahoo! Groups. This is a moderated forum. To join requires a Yahoo! User ID which is simple to setup - anyone who has BT/Yahoo! Broadband installed at home may already have this Yahoo! User ID. Visit Yahoo! Groups for further details on how to subscribe.
Once subscribed to Yahoo! send an email to Les M0ARM with a request to join including email account details and name.
Every member with
email is encouraged to participate to make this a most useful forum; however,
it is noted that forums like Yahoo! Groups are not to everyone's taste. If the
forum works for the Society, great!! If not, nothing ventured, nothing gained
and the forum can easily be removed.
G4PRS Annual B-B-Q Evening 2009
Our annual B-B-Q was held last Friday, 14 August and very well attended by members, XYL's and guests alike.
The weather, although not perfect, held good for the evening with no-one rushing into the Old Chapel for shelter.
As the image to the right depicts, no matter how hard our Chairman Les M0ARM tried to discuss radio, it is clear the only topic of interest was food!
The Society once again extends a hearty thank you to Alan M0GKD for supplying the barbeque and to members supplying the food.
The Flight Refuelling HamFest 2009
The FRARS HamFest Rally held at the Flight Refuelling club facilities near Wimborne on Sunday, 9 August was very well attended by G4PRS members throughout the day.
We were also
blessed with good weather all day and the 
Society stand did
brisk business. A report of events appears in the latest copy of the G4PRS
Newsletter.
The Society especially wishes to thank Alan G4UWS for his part in helping transport the banners and periphery and to everyone who supported Alan and the Society stand. Alan G4UWS is seen discussing the uses of an interesting piece of essential Field Day equipment with Phil G3XBZ and Charlie M0AIJ.
Day in the Field
On Sunday 26th July 2009, several members were out portable again on Povington Hill (sometimes known as Whiteways). Unfortunately the weather wasn’t very kind on this occasion.
Practical Wireless Contests
Several members
participated in the Practical Wireless 70MHz (4m) low power contest on Saturday
13th June making 25 QSOs.
G4PRS/P was also QRV for the Practical Wireless 144MHz (2m) QRP the next day, when the weather was better. We made 55 QSOs. Following adjudication we were pleased to read that we were 32nd overall in the 2m contest.
We are looking forward to seeing the results of the 4m contest in the December issue of PW.
Day in the Field
Sunday 31st May 2009 saw several members out portable on Povington Hil. This was the first of a number of outdoor events planned for the summer months.
Geoff’s Challenge 2009
Entries for this year’s Geoff’s Challenges were judged at the meeting on Friday 8th May. Click here to see the entries
Another Advanced Licence Success
Congratulations to Peter on passing his Advanced Licence exam and getting his new call sign M0GOH. Peter thanks everyone who has helped him get through all 3 licence exams.
PRS has a New Chairman
At the Annual General Meeting on Friday 17th April 2009, we elected a new Chairman. He is Les Hill M0ARM.
At the time of the AGM, Les had been a member of Poole Radio Society for less than a year, and took over from Phil Ciotti G3XBZ.
Intermediate Success
On Friday 20th March 2009 4 candidates passed their Intermediate Exam.
Congratulations to Mike Norris, Bill Rees, Eddy Cobb, and Richard Noon.
Thanks also to the tutors, and exam invigilators.
Two Events in One Day!
On Sunday 8th March 2009 Poole Radio Society had stands at two separate events on the same day.
The first was at the Bournemouth RS Rally at Pelhams,
The second at the International Women’s Day event where we had an indoor stand and an outdoor station! Many thanks to everyone who helped to support both these events!
Bournemouth RS Rally
Although the number of members available to man the stand was limited, we still managed to have a very successful stand. Apart from selling ‘highly desirable items of surplus equipment’ (a.k.a. junk) we were pleased to meet up with many local amateurs from around the area.
International Women’s Day
For International
Women’s Day at Poole Stadium, we were not content with a single
stand.
Inside we had a stand where visitors could meet Liz and Nicky M5YLO, the ladies from the VP8YLS Falkland Islands DXpedition Team. They had a folder full of pictures from their DXpedition. Even with the current sunspot cycle, they made many thousands of QSOs.
Outside we had G4PRS on the air using a multi-band hf vertical on top of the club’s pump-up-mast, with power coming from the club’s generator. Although we were outside the main building, we were sheltered from the strong winds and rain.
Science Teachers find out about Amateur Radio
On Wednesday 25th February we visited a group of about 18 science teachers to provide them with information about amateur radio. The teachers from the Poole area were fascinated by the many aspects of the hobby.
Another Intermediate Licence Success
Peter Preston recently passed his Intermediate Exam. He has already obtained his new call 2E0BUC.
Annual Lunch
Following our successful change to a lunch rather than a
dinner in 2008, we repeated the event on 25th January 2009, sticking
with the Britannia pub in Lower Parkstone.
There was a good turn out, with many members and their families attending. The food was even better than last year, and the service excellent.
It was particularly pleasing to welcome members who recently joined the Society and meet their families. These are great occasions to discuss topics not related to amateur radio.
Thanks again to Dave G3ZPR for making the arrangements.
4 Metres
Several members got equipped for the 4m band. Some are using ex-PMR equipment converted to the 4m band. Others are using transverters. Transverter kits from Spectrum Communications in Dorchester are popular with members.