The Southdown Amateur Radio Society is a club for anybody interested in amateur radio, with members across the South Downs and even other countries.
We usually meet on a weekly basis at our Beachy Head radio site, as well as once a month in our Eastbourne-based club rooms.
We have members interested in everything from CW to modern data mode and participate in many contests each year – you can read more about what we get up to on the blog, or below.
Latest News
Three SARS members attended this event, Barry G8DXU, Tim M0THM and David M7BDP looking after the sale of selected items and Transceivers from BHRS . Items that were not sold will probably be offered to members at very attractive prices. (Pending committee approval)
It was also good to see other SARS members attending the show and enjoying the perfect sunny weather. These included John G3SGR, Peter M1BCV and other VMARS members.
The society will have another regular meeting at Eastbourne Sovereign Saling Club on Monday. Doors open 1930 for the meeting at 2000-2200.
Steve G8NFZ The RAYNET controller for this area, will be giving a presentation on The Radio Amateurs Emergancy Network.
Afterwards there will be an auction of some surplus items from BHRS. This includes a quantity of HF SWR meters, Sealine Handheld Marine VHFTransceiver, Handheld CB radio etc, for sale to members only.
Members have expressed interest for participating in the 432 MHz Trophy contest on the 7th May at our Beachy Head radio site. Please see the Forum for further details and to register your offers of assistance in Operating or Logging. Members are very welcome to visit the site during the competition.
We will be entering future events which should be posted on the website calendar. Please be prepared for some disruption to our usual equipment set-up at BHRS as we prepare to rearrange the station operating benches, aerials and power connections.
The society is pleased to announce that Jane 2E1PJJ has been unamiously elected as our Chairwoman for another year.
Committee positions were otherwise unopposed, with the addition of Tim M0THM coming forward to offer his expertise as Training Secretary. We are still looking for another editor to our magazine “AirTime” with Barry G8DXU agreeing to assist with publication in the interim period.
Each year the RSGB runs a series of contests over the Christmas period. These are all short events which last for a maximum of two hours between 1400-1600 each day.
The events are on the dates below, with the cumulative scores on each band contributing to an overall position. The results for single band entries also qualify for certificates, with SARS having been placed 2nd in the 50 MHz section and overall Runner-Up in 2016. 26th 50 MHz, 27th 70 MHz, 28th 144 MHz and 29th 432 MHz.
Tim M0THM will be running the 50 Mhz event on Boxing Day from Beachy Head, using the society’s ICOM IC-7300, Five Element Yagi and 400W Linear Amplifier loaned by G8DXU. Tim intends to operate on all of the other bands and contest days as indicated above.
Other members will operate and assist on 70-144 & 432 MHz depending upon their availability, with all being welcome to attend BHRS during these events. Members are warmly invited to make contact with Tim and others oprerating in this series of contests. Contest calls from members and local amateurs to the club station G1KAR/P will be most welcome.
This is just a gentle reminder that the Net on local UHF repeater GB3ZX is still running. Members and indeed all amateurs within range are invited to call in for a signal report and chat if they so desire.
The Net starts at 1400 local time and runs for 30 minutes or so depending upon activity. Our usual control station is Tony G3ZQB with others taking turns accordant to availability.
ZX Input 438.425 MHz Output 430.825 MHz (7.6MHz Split) CTCSS 88.5 Hz
In view of the rising rate of COVID-19 cases and especially the Delta / Omicron variants, the SARS committee have now made the difficult decision to cancel the forthcoming physical meeting scheduled for 6th December. We will be reviewing this situation early in the New Year and hope that normal meetings can be resumed as soon as practical. Members are requested to keep an eye on these postings for any further updates.
With many thanks to our members for their anticipated understanding of the above situation.
Members of SARS continue to play an active role in the AFS series of contests. Our most recent entry was in the 160 metre Club Calls (Phone) contest on Saturday 13th of November. We gained 48 contacts duiring this event using the club callsign GX1KAR/P.
Equipment used for this event was the society’s IC-7300 and a Half wave Dipole from our radio site at Beachy Head.
The next contest in the AFS series is the 144 MHz SSB on Sunday 5th of December from 1000-1400 UTC. We are always pleased to contact any stations either members or fellow amateurs who wish to give us a call.
This event ran over the August Bank Holiday weekend 28-30th inclusive, the FOT is a large annual display of vintage vehicles and static exhibits. Six SARS members and the family of one member camped on site over the entire weekend. We displayed several Land Rovers from 1948-1985 and a Daimler Ferret Armoured Car in NATO white, which attracted a lot of attention from visitors.
Our special event station, using call GB2FOT was active on the HF and VHF bands.
We’re pleased to announce that monthly club meetings at the Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club will be resuming, with the first to be held on Monday 2nd August from 19:30 local. This meeting will be a “Natter Night” – come along for a chat and bring any lockdown projects you’d like to “show and tell”, or queries & calculations you have regarding the new ICNIRP regulations. Members are asked to take the necessary precautions, while the outside doors will be kept open in order to allow air circulation and allow members to stand both indoors and outdoors.
