Next meeting Friday 14th February 2025 at 20:00 online

Usual meeting on Friday 14th with chat about forthcoming events and a club project.

Link to be sent on the day as usual.

Incidentally, the Events calendar on our website https://www.m0xhs.uk/events/ has some links at the bottom that allow you to synchronise it with Outlook or Google or iCalendar so meetings will automatically appear in your normal calendar.  The online meeting is easy to do manually but the meeting at the school is harder as it’s the second Wednesday (12 days) after the online meeting.  Setting up synchronisation will make it much easier.

Meeting report Wednesday 22nd January 2025

We hit the road running with our first meeting of the new year being among the best yet.

We had a decent turnout and were able to operate two stations.  The first was a shiny new Yaesu FTdx10 currently on loan to the club with the amazing HamGeek DP-200 portable telescopic vee aerial that David introduced us to some months ago.  The other was Alastair’s equally shiny new IC-705 and his new JNC MC750 telescopic vertical aerial.  Both aerials punched above their weight as simple portable freestanding aerials go, and between them we made voice contacts into mainland Europe and FT8 into the far east.

We had a new visitor wanting to learn about amateur radio so it was fortunate that we could demonstrate several facets of the hobby.

JJ talked briefly about the new antenna project and showed a 3D printed spacer as proof of concept. By next month we should have most of the necessary parts and be in a position to begin assembly, with a view to being able to tune and test it in March when hopefully the weather will be a little kinder.

Next Meeting Wednesday 22nd January 2025 at William Morris Sixth Form annex

The evening will run from 7:00pm until 10:00pm, but the room will be available from 6:30 onward if anyone wants to arrive slightly earlier (e.g. to set up any kit).

People coming by car are encouraged to use the gated carpark (to avoid neighbours complaining about parking). The roads in the area tend to be very busy until at least 6:30pm, so don’t arrive too early.

To access the room (and car park) you will need to be let in through the security gates. Once you’re right outside the gate Just summon someone using your handheld on 145.500MHz. If you can’t use a radio for entry then contact us in advance and we’ll provide a mobile number you can call instead.  (One planned task is to figure out how to mount a wireless doorbell near the gate so it’s subtly accessible but won’t be abused or stolen.)

Wifi is available in the annex, which also features hot drink making facilities (you’ll need to bring your own cups and ingredients), toilet, and you can bring your own beverages, alcoholic or otherwise.

Don’t forget that the Events calendar on our website https://www.m0xhs.uk/events/ has some links at the bottom that allow you to synchronise it with Outlook or Google or iCalendar so meetings will automatically appear in your normal calendar. 

As usual check the Discord server for up to the minute info and email if you don’t have a Discord link.