The month of February is off to a great start with a bumper turn out for our club meeting, with its guest speaker speaking on a hobby out of control and the tables were filled again down at our weekly meeting at the cafe continental.
We have had a great attendance, despite the cold weather, up at our Beachy camp x site, with the noise free radio conditions and the amazing fry ups, its not rocket science to see why that ham eater radio and amateur radio go hand in hand or is that hammed in ham?
Vegetarians are of course welcome!
Here is last Saturdays report and objectives and as you will see Barry G8DXU literally brought along a ton of military gear for our field day that stretched across the county.
Barry G8DXU has created an excellent blog that is open to read from public perspective. Club members can share comments in the members forum.
G8DXU Report:
The theme for the day was for members to depart to some distant high ground and establish comms with BHRS using Military Clansman portable PRC351 radios. These radios normally run 4W RF into a 1.2 metre whip aerial.
The manufactures published working range for the PRC351 in rolling countryside is approximately 13km.
We wished to set up a small net and prove the working range under field conditions.
Andy departed to Firle Beacon with Richard and his brother Dr Jon (M0JAO) heading for Crowborough (Kingstanding)
Dave and Tom were to go to the Rickney area of Pevensey levels.
Distances from BHRS were M6GND 16km, M0JAO 36km , G4XXM 12km.
Stations were established at the designated locations and the operators called into BHRS where we were using an RT353 capable of over 50 Watts, if needed, into an Elevated VHF (Pineapple) Antenna at 5 metres above the ground.
In most cases the mobile stations received good signals from BHRS running only 1Watt into the EVHF antenna.
Richard and Jon deployed an EVHF aerial at low level from Jon’s Series One Land Rover. Whilst their signals were workable at BHRS the return path signal using a 1.2m whip proved inadequate.
All stations could easily be worked from BHRS with in most case good fully quieting signals (In Army terms “OK”)
The only direct path that did not work was M0JAO to G4XXM probably due to attenuation by Windmill Hill at Herstmonceux.
Thus in these tests the published ranges were easily exceeded and with radios that were nearly 40 years old.
There will be a comprehensive report on the afternoons tests together with some more photographs on the BLOG section.
I believe that everyone involved had a good time in the cold but bright weather and are eager to make a future network larger and more adventurous. The two rounds of Sausage, Onion, Bacon and Egg sandwiches consumed before the start of the trials helped set the mood and fortify us from the winter elements!
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Tom M6ONX seen here below constructing one of our door step rolls out of home laid eggs, bacon, sausages and of course the Special Stuff, bottled in Royston Vasey and sold down at their local shop.
Note: the TON ( almost literally) of radio equipment brought along by Barry G8DXU for this occasion.
Here is Dr Jon M0JAO up at the Crowborough location operating from the back of his Land Rover.
Our next club meeting is our AGM where club members will to be voting in their new committee for the coming year. Our is a friendly and very active radio club with MUCH going on, so why not join in with the fun.
For membership and exam details, please use the contact form on this website.