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This will be the last outing in 2026 for the special callsign in memory of Gavin G6DGK, as I have unfortunately had to cancel the Railways SES at the end of September due to a change in my availability. I'll try to get the call back on the air again next year.
As an aside, I'm also thinking of maybe GB4XAT some time in 2027 - perhaps for Mills or Battleships weekend - in memory of Bob N4XAT. I'd like to do something, but I'm not sure what yet.
Anyway, I had a pleasant afternoon out at Ardingly reservoir yesterday, where the weather was changeable but generally favourable overall, and band conditions were similar. 40m was doing its usual thing, but I made a good sprinkling of contacts on both SSB and FT8, plus a few more on 17m.
I made an unusual percentage of contacts into Scotland - a whole string of them - and I'm guessing it had something to do with having a large (or maybe not so large) body of water directly between the front (...and to the north) of my in-car shack and our friends north of the border. Slightly disconcerting, but it was an interesting phenomenon all the same.
I broke out my SGC SG-230 ATU for the day, but for some reason, it really did not want to tune my 8m or so of wire, though it was perfectly happy to do so on just about every other band, including top band. The best it could manage on 40m was a post-tune result of about 2:1 SWR, and of course my radio (Yaesu FT-710) wouldn't even try to match that poor excuse for an antenna on its own. I ended up using both ATU's inline together to get the radio to push 100w out at what it saw as a 50 ohm load. Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable can tell me why this was a bad idea, and how I've likely sent some otherwise perfectly good hardware to the ATU graveyard in the Ionosphere, but it got me the contacts I wanted on the day with fair signal reports. I'll do some more testing at home on some different lengths of wire to make sure everything's OK.
Nothing else out of the ordinary to report on the event front, but I can tell you that Ardingly Reservoir is looking pretty crispy around the edges, as you can see in my last photo.
Oh, and by the way, there is absolutely no O2 4G mobile signal out there, so I was flying a bit blind all afternoon! That's the first time that has happened to me at a UK outdoor station setup, and it took me a while to accept that fact. My router is dual-SIM with failover, so I'll throw an EE card in the other slot as backup before my next outing, because I felt about as exposed as the current Chelsea back three.
Finally, huge thanks go to Stefan and the rest of the hard-working crew at Nunsfield House ARG for putting on such a well run event again this year. A credit to the hobby, and a pleasure to work with them.
Catch you all soon, and my thoughts are with those individual club members who are currently having a particularly tough time.
Berni M0XYF
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I have now received committee meeting minutes for January, March and April 2026. They are available for viewing and download in the members area.
Regards,
Berni M0XYF
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The society is in need of a new chairman, and an Extraordinary General Meeting has been called to fill this post on the committee.
Please attend if at all possible, and if you feel you can step forward to save the society, then please contact Alan G8YKV before Wednesday 16th September.
Thank you for your attention.
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Short report to follow when I find a quiet moment, but I had a great day out by the seaside, and made 60-odd contacts, including many lighthouses on both 40m and 20m. A fun event, airing Gavin's commemorative callsign.
Berni M0XYF
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- Written by: Chris G4ZCS
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First may I add my condolences to our late friend Bob N4XAT who passed away on the 13th. I was fortunate enough to meet Bob on several occasions on his visits to the UK. I would like to pass my good wishes to Kathy and the rest of Bob's extended family. RIP.
The month started off well. On the 3rd. Four contacts including YS3, 9V1 and FP, which bought my DXCCs to over 200 for the year. As a bonus the postie delivered a handful of bureau cards including HL3EIL, I've attached a scan of this as the format is a bit interesting.
The weekend of the 11th and 12th was the IARU contest. Unfortunately I was not up to operating a contest, however I did give away a couple of points. On the 13th, our postie did it again; 3Y0K Bouvet Island from the southern ocean. This Isl' is rated as No 38 on the ClubLog all-time most wanted list.
Having worked RI0SP (The drifting Russian research ship) on a number of occasions, each time in a different grid square, I thought I would describe the situation near the North Pole. On the 12th he was in JQ09, on the 13th KR01, then I heard him in KR11 and within the hour I worked him in KR21. How can you get round these so fast? Imagine a peeled orange or a Terry's chocolate orange made up of 18 segments. The bit in the middle is quite thick while at the top or bottom really thin. For radio purposes the 18 grid segments start at 'A' on the international date line and travel via 'J', the Greenwich meridian, and on to 'R'.
As the world is 360 degrees round, dividing by 18 leaves each segment 20 degrees wide. Likewise, dividing each segment by 10 gives us 2 degrees. The latitudes are divided the same way, however they are pretty much he same size from the equator to the poles. This time 'A' is in Antarctica and 'R' is in the North Pole, so 'I' or 'J' straddle the equator. As far as permanent stations are concerned, VY0ERC, Eureka on Ellsmere Island grid ER60, is only about 600 miles from the North Pole. Working stations up there is a bit tricky as auroras interfere with the signal paths. I think that is enough technical stuff for now as I have a headache! HI
Back to operating in a quiet month. My logger program has a colour code for stations worked, new grid squares, wanted this year, and ATNO. This month I have had only 4 new ones for the year showing on the screen so I have reverted to working anything - 8 islands, 7 states, 10 Chinese and 5 Japanese stations. Very lean pickings indeed and a taste of things to come as the sun cycle starts to decline again.
And, just as the month came to an end I worked RI0BU for AS-057 and JR6AG. I thought this was just another Japanese station until I looked it up.
AS-017, Okinawa.
See you next time.
Chris, G4ZCS
