Club News

Visit by W & S on 5th February 2008

How very nice it was to welcome our friends Peter Waters and Mark Francis back after a long break of almost two years. No fault of theirs of course, just that the club had a bit of a rough patch thankfully now behind us. Its quite amazing though, how the time flies. Anyway, the members turned out in force for the long awaited talk by Peter on the joys of S D R. What an eye opener! What a great time the new generation of radio hams are going to have! It makes you wish you were a year or two younger. It's not too late for us more seasoned members to join in either, as Peter pointed out, it's possible to 'get your feet wet' for very little money and the rewards of doing so can be wonderful. Our thanks to W & S for a most enjoyable and informative evening.

Meeting on 8th January 2008

Our first meeting of 2008 was a very pleasant social occasion and it was pleasing to see so many of our members turn out on a less than perfect evening to take part. It has now been provisionally decided to have our VHF net on Tuesday evenings which it is hoped will be more convenient for some members.

'Nibbles Night'Meeting on 4th December 2007

Due to circumstances beyond my control this was the first meeting that I have been able to attend in many moons. It was with great pleasure, therefore, that I found the club in such good shape. With both new and returned members present, the evening was bound to be a success, and it was - All due to the recent efforts of your committee while I was away. I believe that everyone present enjoyed this social event and the future of the club looks better than it has for a long while. Happy Christmas everybody.

Meeting on 15th May 2007

The intention was to show something of the history of the flying bomb and V2 rockets of WW2. Although Don,G3JNJ had made a big effort to produce an excellent presentation, the meeting was poorly attended. This was due to the sickness of some members and the family commitments of others. Several members have expressed their disappointment at having missed the event and it is hoped that Don will be prepared to repeat the exercise when more members can attend.

Meeting on 20th March 2007

A most enjoyable evening was had by all the members when Alan,G4WIP brought along several of his model aeroplanes and helicopters for us to see. All of the craft were powered by high capacity batteries and high power motors which Alan explained in detail and then allowed us each to 'have a go' at flying a model helicopter. Thanks to Alan for a real 'Fun' evening.


Airborne.	Caught it!.

'Vista' Meeting on 6th March 2007

John's,(G4VMR) talk on the new operating system was very well attended and it was a lively meeting with many questions and answers together with demonstrations of the many new facilities embodied in the system. There were a few criticisms but members in general were very impressed with the ease with which common problems were dealt with. Many thanks to John for bringing his equipment and his expertise.

Meeting on 20th February 2007

The planned subject for Tony's (G8XFP) talk was postponed due to certain equipment being unavailable. The members were fortunate though, that he was able to switch to an alternative subject at short notice and we were able to enjoy an insight to another of his skills when he demonstrated reloading gun cartridges. Thanks for your effort Tony.

Meeting on 23rd January 2007

In spite of the cold and miserable weather it was pleasing to see so many members had recovered sufficiently to attend this meeting and we now seem to be back on track for some more active meetings in the future. More members have signed up for skype and this is already proving to be useful for members who suffered damage to their antennas in the recent high winds.

Nibbles Night 5th December

A good number of the members who intended to come to this event were able to do so, resulting in a very pleasant evening with the sort of party atmosphere that you would expect. There was plenty of food and I am pleased to report that this time there was very little left by the end of the evening. It was a shame that some members who had hoped to attend were not able to make it. We hope that we shall see them in the near future.

Meeting On 21st November

Although many members were unfortunately still unable attend, those who were lucky enough to get to the club had a very interesting evening with a nostalgic look at some of the entertainment that we enjoyed years ago. We send our members who are still recovering our best wishes and hope that they are well enough to come to our 'Nibbles Night' at the next meeting on 5th December.

14th AGM on 7th Nov

The meeting was surprisingly well attended considering the number of members that have suffered sickness recently. Several issues were discussed including the dearth of articles submitted for the club magazine lately, and the lack of support for club events such as the club dinner, the BBQ and the Nibbles Night. The discussion resulted in a number of members offering to prepare articles and the commitment of most of those present to attend the next Nibbles Night on 5th Dec. A stimulating meeting which promises a better year ahead. The committee remains unchanged.

John's Computer Clinic - 26th Sept

Once again John,G4VMR provided the members with an entertaining as well as informative evening and distributing the free software on cd to everyone at the end. After discussing the various programs at some length he answered member's queries in his usual expert manner. Thanks again John.

'Rig Testing' Evening 12th Sept

Tony,G8XFP, brought along his impressive (and heavy) analyser for the benefit of those members who wanted to know their rig's 'virtues and vices'. Those members who took advantage of Tony's offer were able to discover the power they could put out, how near they were to the indicated frequency, the amount of deviation and other useful information.