LLAIS
Y DDRAIG
THE
DRAGON’S VOICE
GW4TTA / GC4TTA
CYLCHLYTHYR CLWB
RADIO AMATUR Y DDRAIG
NEWSLETTER OF THE DRAGON AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
http://www.gw3prl.toucansurf.com/DRACHomePage.htm
GWANWYN 2007 SPRING Rhif /No. 81
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Cynhelir cyfarfodydd y clwb yn Neuadd Ebeneser,
Lon Foel y Graig, Pentre
Uchaf, Llanfairpwll ar Nos Lun y cyntaf
a’r trydydd yn y mis am 7.30 ar gyfer 8.0 o’r
gloch.
Croeso i ymwelwyr ac aelodau newydd.
Club meetings are held at Ebenezer Hall, Foel Y Graig
Lane, Higher Village, Llanfairpwll on
the first and third Monday evenings in the month at 7.30 for 8 .0 o’clock.
Visitors and new members are welcome.
OS GWELWCH YN DDA, pob gohebiaeth at yr ysgrifennydd.
PLEASE ADDRESS all
communications to the Secretary; Martin
Snow GW3PRL,
Rhwng y ddwydre,
****************************************
PWYLLGOR / COMMITTEE
Cadeirydd – John E. Parry GW3VVC – Chairman.
Is-Gadeirydd- Danny Shurmer GW7BZR- Vice Chairman.
Ysgrifennydd-Martin
Snow GW3PRL –Secretary.
Trysorydd
– John Brimecombe GW3GUX – Treasurer
Aelodau/Members-
Billy Williams, GW0IQZ,
Gwilym V
Williams, GW2DLK,
Stewart Rolfe, GW0ETF.
J.Dafydd
Williams, GW4WLZ.
****************************************
PROGRAMME
May 21st- “Learning about Linears –A talk by Les MW0SEC
June 4th - Chairman’s videos.
June 18th -“A lifetime of home
construction” –A talk by John GW3JGA.
July 2nd - Discussing the Thomas Telford
events. (+ The practical side of S - events, GW3PRL)
July16th – “Myths of the speed cameras” –A talk by Terfel GW0RQQ
SILENT KEYS
It is with regret that we report on the passing of two local amateurs who at one time were regular members of the club.
Tom Jones GW0NTO ( Tom Cop) who also in the early days carried the illicit call sign of GW3GPA ( Gwynedd Police Authority).
Tom GW0NTO died peacefully at home on 3rd April less than 9 months after losing Lil his wife. He was born into a police family, both his father and grandfather were members of the force, but Tom first did an apprenticeship in electricity. He then joined the police and saw service in several parts of the old Caernarfonshire and Gwynedd. He met and married PWC Lil and settled down with a family of 3 boys and one girl who remember that their father was always fascinated by gadgets. He was always meticulous in his way and his neat and well laid out shack was worth a visit.
Because of TVI problems he mostly operated HF late at night, but was a keen net operator on VHF at other times. In later years he was unable to attend the club meetings due to the care he had to give to his wife Lil. The club condolences were sent to his family and there was a representation at his funeral His dry wit and comments will be missed.
Trefor Edwards GW0PZS died on 8th April which came as a shock as he looked in good health when he was last seen by the club’s chairman and myself a few weeks previously. On that occasion he presented his amateur radio equipment to be sold towards furthering the training of young people in Amateur Radio.
He was born at Ysgubor Ddu Newborough and saw Service in
Trefor had many interests including Amateur Radio, Painting, Photography , video and film making. But in later months had decided to concentrate on his first love -painting. He had converted his small shack into an artist studio. He was also producing a film in aid of the restoration of the Institute in Newborough.
Trefor had been a keen member of the club and gave talks on film and video making, In these later years he had been unable to attend due to other family demands on his time.
The club condolences were sent to his family and there was also a representation at his funeral. He will also be sadly missed.
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The CQWW CW Contest 2006
The CQWW CW contest was held over the weekend of November 25/26th and for the second year running the club took part from GWØGEI’s contest station at Rhostrehwfa. Steve wanted to enter in the Multi-Two category which allows 2 simultaneous signals on separate bands 10m to 160m, and any number of operators at the helm. If you can get enough people taking part in an event like this, keeping signals on air continuously for the whole 48 hours can be quite painless; in the event the same 3 operators as last year pledged themselves, Steve himself GWØGEI, myself and Martin GW3PRL. Unfortunately for us and particularly for him, Steve had some unforeseen and urgent last minute work commitments which meant he could only operate sporadically during the weekend; I wasn’t sure whether I fancied spending hours on my own in front of the radio but having prepared myself for a weekend away I decided to go for it anyway.
I arrived at about 10.30 pm on
the Friday evening after picking up some provisions from Tesco
to keep me going for the weekend – beer, microwave meals, chocolate biscuits
etc etc – all the essentials for a 48 hour contest! I
brought my FT990 with me as a second radio to Steve’s FT1000 and soon
everything was set up and working nicely. We had benefit of hindsight from a
few problems last year with the same set up and this year everything worked
really well all weekend with the unfortunate exception of Steve’s recently
repaired amplifier which decided to throw a wobbly after only a couple of hours
of operating. Martin turned up in time for the start and we had the luxury of a
‘run’ and a ‘mult’ station for the first couple of
hours when I escaped to my sleeping bag for a well earned short sleep after a
day at work followed by ‘preaching’ to our Advanced exam class earlier in the
evening. Martin pounded away until about
join him(?)…..sleep can play funny tricks on a brain that is just waking up!
CQWW is perhaps the busiest of the big contests in the year. It’s hectic nature is partly the result of the simple exchange which doesn’t require the normal sequential serial number. Instead it is the CQ zone number and this can usually be predicted from the callsign, a job efficiently done on your behalf by the software (N1MM) without any user intervention. You still need to be awake however as US stations have a nasty habit of being outside their predicted zones which requires you to override what the logging program records; and when a /MM calls in you have to be prepared for any zone number ofcourse! Each contact is worth one point, or 3 if it’s with a station on another continent; a new country per band earns a multiplier as does a new zone so the ultimate result is a ‘double mult’. You soon fall into a routine – choose the band for time of day, find a frequency, call CQ and build up a ‘run’ while using the second VFO to pick off multipliers during lulls on the run frequency. Mult hunting is neatly aided by the software since spotted stations collected off the internet by the telnet dx cluster can be identified as multipliers and suitably displayed as such on the logging program’s band map; tabbing from one to another tunes the radio to the relevant frequency ready for you to drop in ‘GWØGEI’ at the right moment and bang, another one in the log. The logger will also warn when you yourself have been spotted by some other station; then the fun begins when dozens of zero beat cw signals suddenly descend on frequency producing a wall of noise which sorely tests one’s concentration to pick out even partial calls to go back to. I’m full of admiration for the handful of big dx-pedition contest stations that were active for the weekend as they were continually on the end of a pile-up like this with little or no respite. I even worked one (VK9AA?) who had resorted to working split – no mean feat in the choc-a-bloc conditions of CQWW.
So it went on. Steve would appear every now and then, often bearing a welcome cup of coffee and Martin did another overnight stint while I grabbed some sleep. Terrific conditions on 15m on Sunday morning renewed my enthusiasm and Steve settled in for a few hours serious operating later on Sunday evening which caused a welcome acceleration in points accumulation to eventually beat our score of the previous year – job done! At the end the qso total was 2008 for a claimed points total of 1.263 million. Not bad under the circumstances but this now forms the target for next year if Steve’s is available. So if anyone wants to join in with the next effort we would be delighted to hear from you – it is fun, honest!
GWØETF
PS. Thanks again to Steve GWØGEI for the use of his excellent station.
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Page 3
The following letter has also been received by e-mail.
During a recent club meeting, at a time when the members were being addressed, a member had a hand-held rig operating in such a way that everyone at the meeting was obliged to hear the received signal. Such conduct is unacceptable.
If it is necessary for any person to receive essential information during a meeting, the courtesy of using an ear-piece would be much appreciated by all.
If it is necessary for two way communication to take place, it would be much appreciated if the operator would excuse them and vacate the meeting room.. Thank you GW3PRL
[I am sure that at one time or another some of us have inadvertently left hand-held or mobile phones switched on during meetings. Especially these days as these gadgets get smaller and smaller. I think that the answer is - Keep all hand-helds and mobile phones switched off when meetings start- GW0ABL]
HERE AND THERE
Not many contributors this time, I am afraid, so the first thing is an appeal to you all to write in with anything that you think will interest your fellow member. Never forget that this is YOUR newsletter
and the more varied the contributors the more interesting it will be.
Training.
Congratulations are due to two candidates who recently passed the Advanced Licence examination and this was due to the hard work of the training team, John GUS, Stewart ETF, Les SEC and myself. Unfortunately two candidates failed to pass but have immediately applied for a re-sit.
Since the last newsletter three have passed the Foundation Licence examination and one has passed the Intermediate Licence examination.
Statistically this has resulted in only two new club members, but it does show that we are helping to serve our local community in leisure activities.
At the moment we are enrolling prospective candidates for a new Foundation Licence course . Four have already applied but if you know of anyone who wants to start in Amateur Radio please get them to phone me as soon as possible.
Holyhead
Maritime Museum.
We have enjoyed several special event stations from from this venue and Mr John Cave MBE has phoned me with an appeal for bits and pieces of wireless objects which would help him to set up a small exhibit to commemorate Marconi’s part with Holyhead. He has already received bits of a mast insulator ( from Waunfawr) which would be similar to that used in the old Holyhead Costal Station. Apprentices from Anglesey Aluminium have also made a replica of a Marconi Morse key as a static display. Have you anything, either as a gift or on loan that would attract interest. Perhaps an old service receiver or transmitter, or we could build a Morse oscillator and key which the public could dabble with. This would have to be very robust and pass any risk assessment if powered by a mains power supply.
The museum is well worth supporting and would give the club some publicity on the side. So let us hear from you as soon as possible.
Another letter has arrived re the language on the air and I am afraid that we are being judged as Amateur Radio on the whole, by what other people hear. It is surprising how many people do listen in to the various frequencies.
Abusive
Language
I was disappointed to read the
article in the last newsletter reporting yet more instances of abusive language
being used over the air. As well as being just plain objectionable it also
makes life difficult for those trying to attract newcomers into the hobby. We
try to tempt young people to try amateur radio but what parent will allow their
child to take part if they hear this sort of thing going on. More generally it
drags the profile of the hobby down in the eyes of the general public. What
made this instance even more worrying was the reported use of racist comments;
this again is totally unacceptable and those involved put themselves on the
edge of legality too. If I shout racist comments at a football match not only
do I get evicted and banned from all
football matches for life but I also run the risk of a prosecution; why should
amateur radio be any different? Remember also that our licence forbids such
language because it is an offence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, a part of
Most radio amateurs will be disgusted by such behaviour but may be at a loss as how to respond. Reacting directly on air is probably not a good idea but the Amateur Radio Observation Service (AROS) of the RSGB encourages reporting of such instances whether or not the individuals concerned can be positively identified; see the web site for details. In this particular instance however it was reported that
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Page 4
one of
the individuals involved is a member of this club. Knowing this, the club is in
a position to take action under para 4c of the
constitution and it is my view that we are in fact obliged to act and not to simply ignore such occurrences and hope
they don’t happen again.
I intend to raise the issue at
the next committee meeting and to also canvas opinion as to whether the section
in the constitution referred to above would benefit from expanding in order to
lay out in more detail the types of misdemeanour requiring action and possible
sanctions etc. I’m not sure on this one so if anyone has any opinions the
committee would be interested to hear them. In any case, changing the
constitution cannot be done by the committee alone as a minimum of 4 members
must table a proposal for change for it to be considered at an AGM or EGM. GW0ETF.
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FREE AMATEUR RADIOLICENCE FOR LIFE
To my surprise
I recently received a new licence
through the post , it came as a hard copy all 23 pages and it was free!!
So much for applying on line for my licence, which will not
happen for a least another 5 years.
There were no surprises in the validation document, henceforth known as
SECTION 1. But there are some subtle changes in the terms, conditions and limitations
now SECTION 2 and which replaces the BR 68 booklet.
The first thing to note is that the term “station” is hardly used
instead the phrase “Radio Equipment” takes its place.,
see Para 1(1) of Section 2. Another
example is the old BR68 Para 2(8) “ The licensee shall
operate or permit the operation of the station---“
New Sect.2 Para 3(2) “ The licensee may permit
the operation of the Radio Equipment----“
The word “ stations” does appear in Para11(2)
of the new Section 2.
Section 2(see 17 (1) (cc) defines “Radio Equipment” having the meaning
given to it in Sect. 1 of the licence which is “radio transmitting and
receiving apparatus for wireless telegraphy (the Radio Equipment) in accordance
with the terms, conditions and limitations set out in Section 2.”. Notice that
the word telegraphy is used as in the Wireless Act.
Although there is no definition of the word “station” it is implied that
where radio equipment is installed and used it is a station..
Personally I like the new licence, both Sections 1 and 2 and using the
phrase “Radio Equipment” has simplified things a lot. Notice that there is no
longer mention of AM, SSB, FM, PSK SSTV etc etc. If
you look at the schedule ( not to be confused with
the Band Plans) no longer has a column
for the modes allowed. It is divided into Table A (
Foundation), Table B (Intermediate) and Table C ( Full) parameters and
all classes of licence can use “ Radio Equipment” but within specified
frequency bands. For example an MW3 can now operate ATV BUT would not be able to
use the Anglesey GB3TM repeater in the popular 1 giga
Hzs band as MW3 can only use the 10 giga Hzs Band. As it happens
there is a 3 cm input available on TM. This also applies to the Intermediate
class. So the restriction of the different modes may be the matter of the
allowable frequency and power limit.
Another
change is the use
of the suffixes /P,/A etc where Section 2 now recommends that they MAY be used
( not SHALL as in the old booklet)- see note (d) to the licence. I cannot see any term
or condition which requires the licensee to give his location when
operating away from the main address. There is a note (e) which recommends
which location identifiers be used when the location of the Radio Equipment is
given.
And , of course a log, is no longer required unless a person authorised by Ofcom requests one to be kept –see 12(1) and 12 (2).
At the moment I shall keep a logbook for my own use and no doubt will
continue with it.
But as it is stressed in Section 2. it is matter for
the individual to make certain that he keeps within the terms, conditions and
limitations. What are your views?
NOTE (h) The Wireless Telegraphy (Content of Transmission) Regulations
1988 make it an offence to use any station for wireless telegraphy or any
wireless telegraphy apparatus to send a message, communication or other matter
in whatever form that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or
menacing character. GW0ABL
*************************************
TOPAZ – FOR
THE RADIO ENTHUSIAST.
Servicing and repairs,
Accessories and parts.
PMR- Amateur- Marine – CB.
Antennas, leads, plugs, etc.
SKYLINE I T SERVICES.
PC repairs and upgrades etc.. all at
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Page 5
(reprint)
Amateur Radio as she is spoken …(or not)..
John GW3VVC.
Listening on the bands, especially 40 metres, I sometimes have to double check the rig’s frequency readout as sometimes it sounds more like CB. Well really a cross between CB and amateur.
At the height of the CB ‘boom’, large portions of our 10 metre band was occupied by CB operators. I must admit to occasionally calling a CB station up to remind them they were operating illegally within our band (and arguably contravening regulations myself by working an unlicensed station…) In retrospect that was probably a waste of time as many didn’t understand what I was talking about and those that did carried on operating illegally in the amateur allocation anyway.. I always found the ‘language’ used by these operators as rather odd most of it being imported from the states ( along with some of the illegal rigs…).
Now
it looks as if it is happening again, this time on 40 meters… and operators
instead of having ‘handles’ like Hippy Chick, Desperate Dan, Pipe Bender, Sooty
and similar, often have M3 callsigns. Let me hasten to say that this is not an
M3 kicking exercise- this appears to be a popular pastime these days and whilst
I have serious concerns over the ‘dumbing down’ of
the amateur exam generally I welcome more activity on the bands. I would like
to think that many operators rather than seeing the M3 licence as an easy way
onto the amateur bands will move on and continue to study and improve their
knowledge, both technical and operating.
I do have concerns about the operating standards that I hear on the amateur bands. Sadly the M3 examination does not really appear to teach ‘proper’ operating techniques to any extent. I use the word proper rather tongue- in- cheek as whilst I’m not against change I do feel that sound operating procedures evolved over a long period of time should not be changed without good reason.
Very few of the new breed of amateur have spent years as short wave listeners as used to happen in the old days and so after having obtained the M3 call signs they are free to operate the only way many of them have known – using CB lingo.
So what am I saying?. That we as amateurs don’t want ex CB M3 on our band?
Certainly not, what I am saying is that, as the old adage goes- ‘ when in
To my mind one of the worst habits to have been carried forward from the Children’s Band (CB) is the habit of breaking in on other people’s conversations This is down right ignorant and should really be avoided like the plague. Usually if someone breaks into my conversation I ignore them- you have been warned.!
If whilst walking down the High Street you saw two people in conversation, would you cross the road and butt into their conversation? I certainly hope not. If you wish to talk to either person you would walk across and wait until they had finished conversing and then address one or both. So please no ‘break break’… This is no so bad as ‘breaker on the side’ but…Have any of you listened to the graveyard net at the top end of 40 in the afternoons? I did hear a local station breaking in on that and being very rudely told where to go. I’m not in favour of being too severe with the offending station but I do think we should wherever possible point out the correct way to do things – after all if we don’t we’ve only ourselves to blame.
The habit of saying QSL at the end of every over is another annoying habit- my name is John QSL?, I live on Anglesey QSL?, I’m running 100watts QSL?. If you want to conclusively prove that you are from the Children’s Band why not say ‘I’m running 100 whiskeys QSL?’ The Q code was originally designed for cw use – it allows long (ish) questions or statements to be sent using as few morse characters as possible so QSL? Means did you receive that correctly omitting the question mark the meaning would obviously be ‘ I have received correctly’.
A few days ago I heard the following on the 2 meter calling channel (S20)-‘M3---Fred this is M3+++calling (I’ve disguised the call signs to save owners embarrassment). The call was repeated a number of occasions. I eventually called M3--- and politely suggested that if the station he was calling had passed the relevant examination and possessed a call sign then surely he should know his own name!!! Anyway we have Birth Certificates as we can always check if we’re not sure.
On
40 recently a newly licensed station was heard to say..’the personal here would be Fred’ He was quizzed on
a number of occasions and eventually changed to ‘the name would be Fred’. I was
quite amused when the old G3 he was talking to came back and said …’OK Fred
would be a nice name but what do you call yourself now’? It’s only when you sit
down and think about it that you realise just how
stupid it really is – the name would be Fred!!!
Maybe he was waiting for a sex change operation and his present name was Cynthia!!!-we’ll never know.
Let’s all do our bit to educate newly licensed stations to use correct procedures and leave CB lingo where it belongs- on the Children’s Band.
From my house to your house- 10,10 Good Bud-‘till we do it again – breaker break!
[This article was written by John 5years ago when he felt very strongly (and still does) about the poor operating procedures on the Amateur Bands. Although I agreed with his comments in general I disagreed at the time with his view on the training aspects, nowadays at least pupils are taught an appreciation of operating sans the Q code and CB and Amateur jargon. On my RAE course we were not even allowed to touch a microphone. One problem is that nowhere is a set form of operating laid down and as John quite correctly points out it is a matter of LISTENING, Listening and Listening. But unfortunately have you listened to the operating procedures now carried out by supposedly experienced full licensees especially on 2 metres. Come on!! Let us have your comments and views and rally to John’s call to improve matters. GW0ABL]
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LLAIS Y
DDRAIG
THE
DRAGON’S VOICE
GW4TTA/GC4TTA
CYLCHLYTHYR CLWB
RADIO AMATUR Y DDRAIG
NEWSLETTER OF THE DRAGON AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
http://www.gw3prl.toucansurf.com/DRACHomePage.htm
HAF 2007 SUMMER Rhif /No. 82
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Cynhelir cyfarfodydd y clwb yn Neuadd Ebeneser,
Lon Foel y Graig, Pentre
Uchaf, Llanfairpwll ar Nos Lun y cyntaf
a’r trydydd yn y mis am 7.30 ar gyfer 8.0 o’r
gloch.
Croeso i ymwelwyr ac aelodau newydd.
Club meetings are held at Ebenezer Hall, Foel
Y Graig Lane, Higher Village,
Llanfairpwll on the first and third Monday evenings in the month at 7.30 for 8
.0 o’clock.
Visitors and new members are welcome.
OS GWELWCH YN DDA, pob gohebiaeth at yr ysgrifennydd.
PLEASE ADDRESS all communications to the Secretary;
Martin Snow GW3PRL, Rhwng y ddwydre, Brynsiencyn,
LL61 6TZ 01248 430848.
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PWYLLGOR/COMMITTEE
Cadeirydd – John E. Parry GW3VVC – Chairman.
Is-Gadeirydd- Danny Shurmer GW7BZR- Vice Chairman.
Ysgrifennydd-Martin Snow GW3PRL –Secretary
Trysorydd John Brimecombe GW3GUX – Treasurer
Aelodau/Members -
Tony Wright GW0LIS
Gwilym V WilliamsGW2DLK
Stewart Rolf GW0ETF
,John Jones MW0BER
Newsletter Editor. Dewi E. Roberts GW0ABL, 23 Lon Hedydd,
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PROGRAMME
Awst/Aug
6th Talk
on Lighthouse DX Expedition by Ian Wright GW0VML.
9th Special
Event GB250TT – Thomas Telford Anniversary.
14/15th
8/19th Special
Event GB2TD “Lighthouses on the air.”
20th SSB
Field Day discussions
Medi/Sept
1/2nd SSB
Field Day
3rd Secret
Radios GCHQ by Tony Wilkinson –to be confirmed
17th ‘Air
your views’
22nd GB2VK
Special Event
Hydref./Oct
1st Dxpedition
Videos.
My Apology for being late with this Summer Edition, if we can call it Summer with the cool temperatures and torrential rain but thankfully no floods here. I have had a bit of antenna trouble and was confined to barracks, whereas I should have been outside enjoying more favourable weather, if there had been any !!
To cap it all the jolly old computer decided take over, like a dog who knows a weak master and do its own thing. My first attempt at this newsletter ended in disaster and the Thunderbirds (in the guise of our esteemed Chairman John GW3VVC) were called in. The immediate and drastic surgery given to the Microsoft WORD programme has got me this far – keep your fingers crossed.
The next issue of the newsletter will bring us to within sight of the AGM and (although there has not been much feedback) a raise in the membership fee So do not forget when renewing your subs .will be £10.00 for 2007.
VALUE FOR MONEY.
For the first time and ready for the AGM of 1996, the club membership fee was raised to £6.00. That was eleven years ago and amounted to 50p a month,
which at that time even, was called a very nominal amount. It was kept at a low level because people were prepared to give talks and demonstrations without fee and members lent their own equipment, transceivers and antenna for the special events.
The fee is now raised to £10.00 which is 83p a month and you can work out yourself what that can buy in comparison with eleven years ago. As an Honorary Member I appreciate that I should not be giving out this argument, but as the Editor of the newsletter I hope to entice some comments.
I though at first in that we would lose because our postal members would fall at the roadside. But the first three (for last year) who sent their subs via me enclosed a £10.00 note --- for fee and a donation!!!!
So that was the wind out of that argument.
Looking back a few weeks to May I see that we enjoyed an informative talk on Linear Amplifiers (Les MW0SEC), a very interesting talk on the history of home construction (JohnGW3JGA), how to safely raise a 30 foot mast with 2 persons (MartinGW3PRL) and a talk on speed cameras by Terfel (GW0RQQ). And if that is not value for money at 42p a meeting, I wonder what is- Café cup of tea 75p to £1.00, pint of beer £2.00 plus, packet of cigarettes £4 to £5 etc.
We can argue that in 1996 we did not posses much club equipment, but since then we have accumulated a complete set, as it were, partly as the result of grants and the hard work of members. That in itself does not mean we can relax financially, but rather brings with it the responsibility for keeping and maintaining the equipment in good order. Something that was lacking in the past, as we well know.
In addition to all this we have held numerous special events (and some still to come), taken part in contests, ran several training courses including an Advance course, had training sessions in computer logging and Morse Code training is ongoing. By the way some of the lads are now up to about 20 w.p.m.
If that is not value for money, I ask again, What is?
YMA AC ACW / HERE AND THERE
First of all congratulations to the Club’s team on their success in the 2007 Affiliated Societies SSB contest when they came 23 rd out of 102 with a total mark of 4780. We thank them on our behalf for such an excellent result, Diolch yn Fawr, to Steve GW0GEI, Martin GW3PRL, John GW3GUX.
That is in addition to other successes during the year.
Several members have been ill during the last few months and it is difficult to catch up with everyone with the danger of leaving someone out. Billy GW0IQZ has been in and out of hospital having suffered a nasty and painful accident at work. A fork lift machine ran over his foot and he was in plaster for some weeks. I learnt about it when I saw Billy limping towards me in the Topaz shop. A belated get well Billy, hoping to see you in the club one of these days.
I last saw George MW1BTA, when he
was recovering from a stroke at
Glad to see that Dan GW3HCL is now attending regularly at the club meetings, thanks to lifts from Derek and Dafydd. Please let me know if anyone has been ill so that the news can be updated.
Nothing startling on the training side, two have recently tried the Advance examination and are awaiting the results. Three will be sitting the Foundation licence in a fortnights time. It is a steady plod at the moment but names are beginning to come in regarding future courses and examinations.
[The computer is trying to take over again, keep your fingers crossed]
Membership list 2007. –Please make the following changes.
Malcolm Arnett – Call sign MW0MAH email address -
malc-ha@tiscali.co.uk
Dafydd Owen MW5DJO email address - evan.o@tesco.net
WIRELESS MICROPHONE. Did you know that the wireless microphone was “invented” by an Amateur Enthusiast named Reg Moores who was an entertainer, ice skater, theatrical agent, unicyclist, fire eater, barrel jumper and ice comedian. Working in ice shows he had the idea that it would be a great step forward if the audience could hear the performers in what was basically a dumb show. If it was possible to get the spoken word over the public address system, the Ice Stars themselves would be heard.
on Ice’
when no less than 6 radio microphones were used. For future productions it was felt too risky
to ask skater to concentrate on the skating and speaking – so dubbers were used. The radio microphones are on display at
the
The following is a description
of the American side of the
The completion
of the American station or rather stations, for the system employed is duplex
and the transmitting and receiving are some distance apart, provided an
opportunity for mentioning the more prominent features. The plant and equipment
of the
In
In selecting
the sites for the erection of the new stations of the American Marconi Company,
a number of elements had to be considered. The transmitting and receiving sites
had be more that 20 miles apart ad
correlated in such a manner that the line connecting them would be at right
angles to the direction of the desired transmission. The sites had to be chosen
on low marshy land on the coast, or near some waterway that would afford a
direct electrical connection with the ocean. Where it was not possible to get
the whole property in a marshy district, it was necessary to have land around
the power house at least damp and moist. Then by burying a network of copper
wires and zinc ground plates, a good earth connection was possible.
With the
middle of the oscillating circuit as a centre, wires radiate to a circle of
zinc plates at a radius of 100ft. This circle is continuous, all the plates
being bolted together and buried vertically in a trench, so that the radiating
wires can be led down to the ground and soldered to the upper edge of the zinc
ring. From the centre of the system cables, made up of stranded copper wire,
are led from two sides of the building through insulators to the top of the eight
poles, of eighty feet radius. From the insulators, on top of these poles, the
cables are separated and led down to earth and soldered to points along the
circle of zinc plates. The location of the eight poles and the separation of
the cables is so arranged that the length of each
cable from the centre of the system to the point it enters the ground is
approximately the same.
Radiating from
the ring of zinc plates there are cables soldered to the ring at equal
distances, each of these extends a few hundred feet beyond the zinc ring ad
terminates in a zinc plate buried vertically. From these outer plates, on the
side of the circle under the aerial wires, extends a further grounding system
parallel to the aerial and a little beyond. Local conditions however, usually
make it necessary to slightly alter this general arrangement Thus the site of
the power station at
At the
receiving station the circle of ground plates is made with a fifty foot radius,
with the receiving room of the operating house as the centre. The only wires
extending beyond the circle of zinc plates are a number of cables radiating
from the centre and extending in a marsh, or waterway, near which the operating
house is situated Each of these lines, terminates in a zinc plate, as at the
transmitting site.
A precaution,
which is essential in the construction of the power house and the running of
power and lighting circuits, is to run all lines in iron conduit and thoroughly
ground the conduit at frequent intervals: otherwise considerable difficulty
might be caused by the current induced from the high frequency oscillating
circuits.. Wherever possible, all circuits have been
carried underground and the supply run in conduits underground for about half a
mile, approaching the power plant in a direction at right angles to the direction
of the aerials.
The Marconi
Company have not concentrated all their attention on the technical plans of
this station. The utmost provision has been made for the comfort of the
engineers and operators and all employed on the station. No detail has been too
small for their consideration and as a result the Belmar station is a model
establishment and those who are fortunate enough to be appointed to work at
this station have every reason to “thank their lucky stars”. To give an
instance of the forethought employed by those responsible for the welfare of
their employees, it would surely have been sufficient to have provided the married men on the station
with comfortable well-furnished homes and the unmarried men with an hotel equipped with every modern
convenience; but they have done more than this. Recognizing the natural
beauties of the high bluff on which the station is located, they have
determined to assist Dame Nature in her profession as beauty specialist. A
landscape gardener has been employed and the grounds occupied by the station
have been laid out in a beautiful manner, with rustic bridges and parterres of
flowering plants, which set off the dull green of the trees and make delicious
contrast against the background of the dark undergrowth. From the river only
the standing masts appear above the densely wooded slopes, so that the Belmar
station is amongst the most picturesque of the Marconi Stations.
The operating
building which is designed on the same plan as the rest of the station, has an equipment second to none. It is over 82 ft
long and contains a generously proportioned office for the manager and a
similar one for the engineer in charge; also a large storeroom and a cloakroom.
The room containing the tuning apparatus runs the full length of the building,
and is connected by a Lampson tube with the receiving room adjoining. Nearby is the charging room for small accumulators and the main
operating room with five large tables, which when fully manned will require
thirty operators.
The hotel,
built for the convenience of the large staff necessary for the maintenance of
the 24 hour service at the station, is of dark red ornamental brick with a
lighter red tile roof. The veranda runs the whole circuit of the building,
which is slightly raised from the ground on a well laid-out parterre. The
structure is fire-proof and contains 45 Bedrooms. There is an excellently
appointed hotel lounge and smoking room. The dining room is furnished with
small tables and from the deep windows the diner an
look out beyond the sweeping shore line of the
Already Belmar has become a “sight” for touring motorists, who avail themselves of the opportunity to spend a quiet hour at the hotel or to wander through the beautiful country with its hills covered by thick woods of Laurel, birch, oak, maple and pine trees or again to wander through the undergrowth in search of spoils from the wild grape vines, huckleberries, mulberries and black berries. Spinney and coppice, wood and open meadowland offer of their abundance and the countryside teems with wild life. To any with a bent for natural history there is an unending source of amusement, while to those whom sport claims for devotees there is an equally wide range of interest. Fishing and shooting and what is the most sportsmanlike of sport, long tramps over the miles of open country with a chance of bringing home a mixed bag at the end of the day.
The Earth has many pleasant places and Belmar one of them
[I do not know if the writer of
the above article was a poet, a travel agent or a technician, but to read it
when published in 1914 must have made the operators and staff on Cefn Du mountain
very envious. But, of course the 1914-1918 War put paid to the luxury and
romance. In 1919 RCA took control of all American Marconi property and the
Marconi Wireless company of
CONTRIBUTIONS.
No articles were contributed this month, so what about it? It would make the newsletter more varied and interesting. Why not appoint a member at a special event to give us an account, thus giving the station manager some relief. Some technical subjects would be appreciated
I see that our local shop has a
nice selection of Amateur Radio used equipment building up, why not give them a
visit.
TOPAZ
–
For the radio enthusiast.
SKYLINE
I.T. SERVICES
Both
at
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LLAIS Y
DDRAIG
THE
DRAGON’S VOICE
GW4TTA/GC4TTA
CYLCHLYTHYR CLWB RADIO
AMATUR Y DDRAIG
NEWSLETTER OF THE DRAGON AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
http://www.gw3prl.toucansurf.com/DRACHomePage.htm
HYDREF 2007 AUTUMN Rhif /No. 83
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Cynhelir cyfarfodydd y clwb yn Neuadd Ebeneser,
Lon Foel y Graig, Pentre
Uchaf, Llanfairpwll ar Nos Lun y cyntaf
a’r trydydd yn y mis am 7.30 ar gyfer 8.0 o’r
gloch.
Croeso i ymwelwyr ac aelodau newydd.
Club meetings are held at Ebenezer Hall, Foel
Y Graig Lane, Higher Village,
Llanfairpwll on the first and third Monday evenings in the month at 7.30 for 8
.0 o’clock.
Visitors and new members are welcome.
OS GWELWCH YN DDA, pob gohebiaeth at yr ysgrifennydd.
PLEASE ADDRESS all communications to the Secretary;
Martin Snow GW3PRL, Rhwng y ddwydre, Brynsiencyn,
LL61 6TZ 01248 430848.
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PWYLLGOR/COMMITTEE
Cadeirydd – John E. Parry GW3VVC – Chairman.
Is-Gadeirydd- Danny Shurmer GW7BZR- Vice Chairman.
Ysgrifennydd-Martin Snow GW3PRL –Secretary
Trysorydd John Brimecombe GW3GUX – Treasurer
Aelodau/Members -
Tony Wright GW0LIS
Gwilym V WilliamsGW2DLK
Stewart Rolf GW0ETF
,John Jones MW0BER
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Newsletter Editor. Dewi E. Roberts GW0ABL, 23 Lon Hedydd,
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RHAGLEN / PROGRAMME
Hydref/October 1st DXpedition Videos
15th
Tachwedd/November 5th Annual General Meeting
19th To be arranged
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Let the Chairman and/or committee know if you are keen to have a Christmas Party or a formal Christmas Dinner.
How about letting them know if you have a talk to give or know of a Speaker for the New Year 2007-2008.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Annual General Meeting of the Dragon Amateur Radio Club
will take place at the EBENESER HALL, Lon Foel Y Graig, Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.
on
AGENDA
Welcome by the Chairman and apologies
Minutes of the last AGM
Matters arising
Chairman’s Annual Report
Treasurer’s Annual Report
Election of
Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Treasurer
Secretary
Members
Any Motion
Please Note- The Annual Subscription is due on or before the 30th September each year and ‘ that non-payment of the subscription removes all voting rights’ ( para 6 of the club’s Constitution). Now £10
‘Items for discussion as ANY MOTION must be given to the Secretary, at least two weeks prior to the AGM’ (para. 11 of the club’s Constitution). [If the Secretary is not available I would hand it to the Chairman]
A copy of the constitution is available on request.
[ Ed. Note. Attendances at the AGMs in the few past years have been very good, let us hope that you can attend this meeting. This is the forum where you can show your appreciation by reappointing the committee or show your grievance by voting for a new committee.
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For
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Contests with a Difference
I like contests with a difference. In the Autumn 2005 Newsletter I wrote about the twice yearly Eusprint contests and their unique QSY rule; it makes it far harder to operate than the normal 599 plus serial number but I like it because it’s something different. This month (August 2007) I’ve aired my call in two other contests with a difference.
Ropoco
Ropoco is a twice yearly 2 hour CW contest run by RSGB on 80m on Sunday morning at the ungodly hour of 0700 utc. No serial numbers but instead rotating post codes are exchanged! For your first qso you send your own postcode and receive one back in return; for the second qso you send the postcode just received from the previous contact and so on and on and on……. It’s a bit of a test of your CW though speeds seem to be sensible on the whole; probably the early hour makes folk that bit more restrained. Receiving your own post code back later on often shows just how mistakes creep in as the data passes down the contest; this time I had mine back twice, once near the beginning when it was intact and again near the end when the final R had become a J..! I also heard it being given out by someone else with the final R as an A. Occasionally you’re given one that is just plain ludicrous but you still have to record exactly what you’re sent – correcting it to what you think it should be will lose you the points. This contest would benefit from a few more participants (the hour doesn’t help…) so if you fancy a laugh and remember your post code……
Worked All
Organised by the German national society, this is a major weekend long international contest on all bands except 160m. Europeans are only allow