Activity in 2014 2013 2015
Record Membership
As we approached the end of the year, we were delighted to welcome our 50th member – the largest ever number of members in the club’s history.
Slow Scan Television Picture from International Space Station
On Saturday
20th December 2014 one of our members received a slow scan
television picture from the International Space Station. The pass was
only for 5 minutes. The PD180 standard picture takes 3 minutes to
send. Fortunately the transmission started almost as soon as the ISS was
within range. The signal was a little weak at first, but by the middle of
the picture, the signal was fully quieting.
Equipment used to receive the picture from the RS0ISS was a small 2m/70cm ‘white stick’ vertical with about 20m of UR67 feeder into a 2m receiver on FM with the bandwidth set to 5kHz. Output was taken to via the computer soundcard to MMSSTV software set to 48kHz sampling frequency and PD180 mode. The Russian text at the bottom of the picture says, “80 Year anniversary of the birth of the first cosmonaut of the planet Earth -Yuri Gagarin”.
Many thanks to Bill Coombes G4ERV, for sending out the details of the ISS passes.
Geminid
Meteor Shower
Bill Coombes, G4ERV sent this screen shot of the Graves Radar on 143.050 MHz in Dijon, Southern France pulsing as the Geminid Meteor Shower ionised the upper atmosphere in mid-December 2014 to allow the signal to be reflected back to the Poole area.
Bill was using a White Stick Co-linear antenna at the time.
Poole Radio Society Table Top Sale – Saturday 25th October
Our Table Top Sale
took place on Sunday 25th October 2014. By opening time, the
hall was packed with tables offering a huge variety of items to tempt would-be
purchases.
Everything from surface-mount components to a brand-new rotator, from SMA connectors to numerous items of test equipment was on offer. In addition Worked All Britain had an excellent table.
If none of this could tempt visitors, then plenty of refreshments together with jars of honey from one of our member’s bees were rapidly snapped up.
Many thanks to all the traders, visitors and members for supporting the event.
Jamboree on the Air (J.O.T.A.) 2014
We were delighted
to help facilitate the Jamboree on the Air station for the Canford Heath Scouts
on Saturday 18th October 2014.
The event was well supported by both Poole Radio Society members and the Scouts.
We made sure that we covered the scope of the Scouts Communications badge, which meant that there was plenty of ‘hands-on’ activity, including receiving various stations and sending a little Morse Code.
The following Wednesday evening, a couple of our members also attended the Scouts meeting, where it was clear that the basic concept of ionospheric propagation had been grasped by the Scouts.
Poole Radio Society Round the Moon!
Poole Radio Society ‘booked’ one of the 2,500 13-character messages that was sent by the Chinese lunar orbiting space craft 4M-LXS. The spacecraft was launched on 23rd October 2014, and travelled from earth to the moon and back in the following 8 days or so. In case you’re wondering, the message was ‘Poole G4PRS’.
Bill’s PP3 Challenge
2014 saw the announcement of new challenge. Bill’s Challenge is to make as many contacts as you can using equipment powered by just a single PP3 battery supplied by Bill. Members can use any equipment they choose (home-made or commercial).
All aspects of the transmission and reception must be powered by the single PP3, although signal sources (e.g. a computer for data modes, or television camera) may be powered by another power supply.
Day in the Park
On Sunday 1st June 2014 we ran a Day in the Park from
Hamworthy Park. Several members attended, and activity included the 40m
band.
Advanced Course Underway
Our latest Advanced Course got underway on Friday 23rd May 2014. In total we have 6 candidates enrolled. The candidates will be sitting their exam in January 2015.
Broadstone Exhibition Station
Our second exhibition station in May was on Saturday 10th
May 2014 at Broadstone. Unfortunately strong wind made it difficult to
operate.
It was so strong that some stall-holders’ gazebos were blown into the road.
With our gazebo lashed down to fences railings and drainpipes, and the outside power socket located we operated on 20m and 40m using a K3 and a magnetic loop antenna.
Even with the ferocious wind we attracted some attention but by one o'clock the wind was making it clear it would be foolish to continue, and regretfully we packed up and sought calmer, warmer places.
Perhaps next year we may get a chance to try again.
Demonstration Station at Charborough Park
On Sunday 4th May 2014 we ran a demonstration station at
Charborough Park as a feature at an event by a local charity.
The weather was very pleasant and, in short, a good time was had by all.
We operated most of the afternoon on CW, SSB and PSK31, while Phil G0KKL introduced youngsters to Morse code and issued all with suitable certificates.
Although we were not overwhelmed with visitors there was
significant interest among most of them, and as usual they were mostly
attracted by curiosity about the antennas.
Whilst at the event, we took advantage of the open space to compare the club's suspect 2m beam with Colin G6MXL's 9-element Tonna. As a result we are planning to replace the club’s antenna and feeder.
Intermediate Exam Success
We had five candidates sit the Intermediate Exam on Friday 2nd May 2014.
They are Leyri Ayre, Mark Tointon, Chris Allen, Roy Rich and Tim Guy. We have heard that they all passed.
Congratulations to all, and many thanks to the tutors for all their assistance. Most of the successful candidates are moving on to join our Advanced 23rd May 2014.
We are RSGB Region 11 Centenary Club of the Year 2013
It was announced that Poole Radio Society is the Region 11 winner of the RSGB Centenary Club of the Year for 2013.
Annual Lunch
For our annual lunch
this year, we changed venue and went to Table Table next to the Holes bay
Premier Inn.
As usual there was a good turnout with 30 members, and guests present.
Thanks again to Dave G3ZPR for making the arrangements.
Intermediate Course Underway
Our latest Intermediate course got underway on Friday 3rd January 2014, with 9 candidates enrolled.
Colin’s Challenge 2014
The fifth Colin’s Challenge, started on the 1st January 2014, and ran until the 31st December 2014.
The challenge for 2014 will be for members of Poole Radio Society to work amateur stations in as many different DXCC countries as possible using whatever modes, bands and locations to operate from as they wish.
Each country worked counts only once, no matter how many different bands and modes a member works it on. The list of DXCC countries published by the RSGB in the RSGB Prefix Guide will be used for the purposes of the Challenge. The result is determined by the number of DXCC entities + bands used + modes.