Activity in 2011 2010 2012
Tony Emery G3YWG SK
Members of Poole Radio Society were saddened to hear the news of the death of Tony Emery G3YWG. Many years ago, Tony was a member of the club, and more recently gave us an excellent talk on making printed circuit boards.
Jamboree on the Air (J.O.T.A.) 2011
The first Scout
Jamboree on the Air (J.O.T.A.) was held in 1957 and was organised by Les
Mitchell G3BHK from Wareham.
It became so successful he subsequently handed it over to the World Scout Council in Geneva to organise.
Over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday 15th & 16th October 2011, Poole Radio Society facilitated the J.O.T.A. station for the Wareham and Purbeck Scouts this year, using the callsign GB0WPS.
Stations were set up at Cleaval Point on the southern shore of Poole Harbour, using wooden antenna masts some 15m in height built by the scouts themselves. A 20m inverted V dipole was attached to one mast and a 40m inverted V dipole attached to the other.
The scouts were able to exchange greeting messages with other JOTA stations in many countries. Between contacts, the scouts had fun sending messages in Morse code between themselves using Morse oscillators.
In addition to the
operating aspects of JOTA, the younger boys used plug-in components in a
commercial ’Electronics for Beginners’ type board about 30cm x 30cm to make a
variety of projects.
The projects included an audio amplifier (with a well amplified emergency vehicle siren imitation demonstrating successful completion) and adjustable speed motors being used to eject 6cm diameter Frisbee-like propellers up into the sky. They certainly had fun and got confidence to enjoy electronics.
The older boys were assembling a variety of commercial kits using ‘proper’ components, printed circuit boards and soldering irons. Before being let loose on these, they practised soldering resistors to veroboard in order to get familiar with soldering.
The kits included a 6-led light chaser and a light sensitive alarm (designed to be placed in a biscuit tin to warn off little fingers during the night).
With the emphasis firmly on construction, little theory was
covered. But the boys can now solder (in some case quite well), and they
know that some components must be put in round the right way, and some 
components have colour bands on them (resistors), and others have a
black bar around one end (diodes).
Reg Noquets M6REG SK
It was with great sadness that members learned of the passing of Reg Noquets M6REG.
Reg passed his Foundation exam in April 2010 at the age of 95, and obtained his callsign M6REG. He is seen here at the annual dinner on Sunday 30th January 2011.
Our condolences are with Reg’s son Peter, who is also member of Poole Radio Society.
Two More Foundation Passes
On Friday 2nd
September 2011, two more candidates, Lydia and John,passed their foundation
exam with us.
As they were travelling some distance, they had studied at home, and attended for the practical elements and the exam only. Congratulations, and we look forward to hearing them on the air soon.
Advanced Course Underway
Our latest Advanced Course got underway on Friday 26th August 2011, with 5 students enrolling, all of whom had taken and passed their intermediate exam with us.
Hamfest 2011
Poole Radio Society had a stand at Hamfest on Sunday, 14th August 2011.
All sorts of highly desirable surplus equipment was available for purchase from the PRS stand.
As usual on these occasions, it was good to meet up with old friends from far and wide.
Intermediate Success
Congratulations to Paul on passing his Intermediate Exam on Tuesday 19th July.
Paul had previously taken and passed his Foundation exam with Poole Radio Society.
Paul would particularly like to thank all the tutors.
We are looking forward to hearing Paul on the air with his intermediate callsign.
QRP in the Country
Several
members attended the QRP in the Country event, hosted by Tim Walford G3PCJ of
Walford Electronics. Along with many other local clubs, Poole Radio
Society had a table to exhibit various projects that members had built.
The event was a thoroughly enjoyable, providing an opportunity to see home construction projects old and new, covering most hf bands plus 70MHz and 10GHz. Some equipment was of historic interest, using valves dating back to the 1920s, whilst some was very much up-to-date including SDR equipment.
The equipment on the Poole Radio Society included examples of recently completed Intermediate Course projects, entries from Geoff’s Challenge over recent years, an Elcraft K2, and a transceiver that is still under development.
Beside the radios, there was an opportunity to sample the local beer and cider, and to enjoy the BBQ food. The inclement weather in the morning meant that the event was held in a couple of open-sided barns.
The event is probably unique in the radio calendar. An opportunity to see, talk and discuss QRP. Apart from a couple of QRP black-boxes, just about everything to be seen was home constructed. The low-key organisation was particularly welcome – just the minimum needed to make the event successful. Let’s hope that Tim decides to make this an annual event! Click here to see our stand on You Tube.
Poole Radio Society Library
As a service to paid-up members only, Poole Radio Society now has a library of amateur radio books for members to borrow. Eddy Cobb is the librarian, and he will be pleased to receive requests to borrow books, and to receive donations of additional books. Click here to see the current list of books.
Practical Wireless 2m QRP Contest
Heavy rain and strong winds prevented our participation in the Practical Wireless 144MHz (2m) QRP contest on Sunday 12th June 2011.
Club BBQ A Success
The BBQ held on Friday 10th June was well supported by members. Thanks to Sue and Bill for organising it. Thanks to other members and partners for helping to erect the gazeebo, providing additional food, cooking equipment and additional food. We all enjoyed it!
Geoff’s Challenge 2011
Entries for this year’s Geoff’s Challenges were judged at the meeting on Friday 13th May 2011. Click here to see the entries
QSL Communications Closing
QSL Communications based at Weston-Super-Mare closed as the owners retired. Over the years, QSL Communications have attended the local rallies at Merley and Pelhams.
Intermediate Successes
7
candidates passed their Intermediate Exam on Friday 1st April. This was
our largest intermediate course to date with (left to right) Peter
Beckwith 2E0PEB, Roy Layton 2E0RLL, Karol Kolesnik, Peter, Sue Coombes 2E0SUZ,
Sean Metcalfe 2E0CMT and (photo on right) James Harris all succeeding at their
first attempt.
All the candidates had previously taken and passed their Foundation exam with Poole Radio Society.
Congratulations to all our candidates, and many thanks to all the tutors.
We are looking forward to hearing them all on the air with their intermediate licences.
RSGB Region 11 Club of the Year – Runner Up
Poole Radio Society was Runner Up in the RSGB Region 11 (South West of England & Channel Islands) for 2010. It was the first year that we had entered. We send our congratulations to the Torbay Amateur Radio Society on winning Region 11.
Bournemouth RS Rally
On Sunday
6th March 2011 we had a stand at the Bournemouth Radio Society Rally at
Pelhams.
Although attendance by traders and visitors again appeared to be lower than in recent years, probably due to another rally in Exeter taking place on the same date, we had a very successful stand.
Again this years we were fortunate to have a particularly good range of ‘highly desirable items of surplus equipment’ (it really would be unfair on this occasion to describe it as junk), including a couple of modern receivers and a selection of brand-new components.
With the reduced numbers of visitors and a particularly high level of support from club members, we had more time than usual to meet up and talk with many local amateurs from around the area.
Annual Lunch
Following
the successful move to an annual lunch rather than an evening meal in 2008, we
continued kept with the successful formula on Sunday 30th January 2011.
We again held the lunch at 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 new carvery arrangement for the main course was found to be really successful.
It was particularly pleasing to welcome members who recently joined the Society, including some students on our training courses, and to meet their families.
These are great occasions to discuss topics not related to amateur radio.
Thanks again to Dave G3ZPR for making the arrangements.