Cockenzie & Port Seton Amateur Radio Club is affiliated to the Radio Society of Great Britain and holds the call signs MM0CPS and GM2T which are used for our special event and contest entries. The Club was formed by Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ in 1984, to help the local amateurs get to know each other. Far from being just a local club we have members regularly aending from the Borders, Dumfries, Strathclyde, Fife and Newcastle. The Club meets on the first Friday of every month (Second Friday of January) in the lounge of the Thorntree Inn on the old Cockenzie High Street from 7pm ll late. As in previous years commitments are forcing me to write my editorial a lot earlier than it should be. It is hard to believe that soon we will be moving into the major holiday period, isn’t me flying by. I would like to also thanks everyone who responded to me plea for arcles you have no idea how much I appreciate it. For me it has taken quite a bit of work load off me and I also know that we will be connuing to produce what I think is a fantasc newsleer. I do also plead that you won’t give up and that you keep the arcles coming it doesn’t just help me but it gives John a choice for what he can use. Massive thanks from us both. I just learned last club night that Jim GM7LUN lost his mum back in January aſter a short illness. I know it is belated but on behalf of us all Jim please accept our deepest sympathies. On the club front we had our first DF night and I am sure it will have been another resounding success and hopefully will have a full report further in the newsleer. Thanks to Ron GM0NTL for pung up the Hybszer Trophy in memory of Bill GM8ZLI/ MM0BXK for this event. To the future, this month, there is one important change and that is the July Club Night will be one week early and will take place on Friday 28 th June. The reason for the change is that our normal first Friday of the month is clashing with VHF Field Day where many of the club members will be away to. So, what else is happening? well we are now starng to enter the main contest season for the club of which we will be entering a few. They are the 6M Trophy and PW QRP Contest. This month we also have on the 15 th & 16 th the “Museums on the Air” weekend again from the Museum of Flight, East Fortune. We will be operang from our normal hanger up beside the Vulcan bomber. These Museum of Flight staons offer everyone the opportunity to have a real go at HF operang using a tremendous HF set up so I hope you will take the opportunity to come along and give it a try. Also we will have done our first “Demonstraon Staon” by pung on a radio staon at the Port Seton Gala Day. It is early this year and the reason for that is the whole event is based on when there is a high de due to the Sea Going Bale that takes place. Last but not least is our own Summer Solsce Acvity Night on the 19 th June. It is an Acvity night in the hope that many will take part. It is all for a bit of fun and an opportunity to see what can be worked. It is not a serious event but just an excuse to go out for a few hours on a Wednesday evening to “play at HF Radio”. If you can’t get out then why not go on the air from home as a single operator and see what you can work. (Connued on page 2)
It is hard to believe that soon we will be moving into the major holiday period, isn’t time flying by. I would like to also thanks everyone who responded to me plea for articles you have no idea how much I appreciate it. For me it has taken quite a bit of work load off me and I also know that we will be continuing to produce what I think is a fantastic newsletter. I do also plead that you won’t give up and that you keep the articles coming it doesn’t just help me but it gives John a choice for what he can use. Massive thanks from us both.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Cockenzie & Port Seton
Amateur Radio Club is
affiliated to the Radio
Society of Great Britain
and holds the call signs
MM0CPS and GM2T which
are used for our special
event and contest entries.
The Club was formed by
Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ in
1984, to help the local
amateurs get to know each
other.
Far from being just a local
club we have members
regularly attending from
the Borders, Dumfries,
Strathclyde, Fife and
Newcastle.
The Club meets on the first
Friday of every month
(Second Friday of January)
in the lounge of the
Thorntree Inn on the old
Cockenzie High Street from
7pm till late.
As in previous years commitments are forcing me to write my editorial a lot earlier than it should be. It is hard to believe that soon we will be moving into the major holiday period, isn’t time flying by.
I would like to also thanks everyone who responded to me plea for articles you have no idea how much I appreciate it.
For me it has taken quite a bit of work load off me and I also know that we will be continuing to produce what I think is a fantastic newsletter.
I do also plead that you won’t give up and that you keep the articles coming it doesn’t just help me but it gives John a choice for what he can use.
Massive thanks from us both.
I just learned last club night that Jim GM7LUN lost his mum back in January after a short illness. I know it is belated but on behalf of us all Jim please accept our deepest sympathies.
On the club front we had our first DF night and I am sure it will have been another resounding success and hopefully will have a full report further in the newsletter.
Thanks to Ron GM0NTL for putting up the Hybszer Trophy in memory of Bill GM8ZLI/MM0BXK for this event.
To the future, this month, there is one important change and that is the July Club Night will be one week early and will take place on Friday 28th June.
The reason for the change is that our normal
first Friday of the month is clashing with VHF Field Day where many of the club members will be away to.
So, what else is happening? well we are now starting to enter the main contest season for the club of which we will be entering a few. They are the 6M Trophy and PW QRP Contest.
This month we also have on the 15th & 16th the “Museums on the Air” weekend again from the Museum of Flight, East Fortune. We will be operating from our normal hanger up beside the Vulcan bomber.
These Museum of Flight stations offer everyone the opportunity to have a real go at HF operating using a tremendous HF set up so I hope you will take the opportunity to come along and give it a try.
Also we will have done our first “Demonstration Station” by putting on a radio station at the Port Seton Gala Day. It is early this year and the reason for that is the whole event is based on when there is a high tide due to the Sea Going Battle that takes place.
Last but not least is our own Summer Solstice Activity Night on the 19th June. It is an Activity night in the hope that many will take part. It is all for a bit of fun and an opportunity to see what can be worked. It is not a serious event but just an excuse to go out for a few hours on a Wednesday evening to “play at HF Radio”. If you can’t get out then why not go on the air from home as a single operator and see what you can work.
(Continued on page 2)
So please do not dismiss the idea and go on and try to participate.
I am interested in what people do work so any chance you could send me your logs and I will try and do a small write up on what was achieved. So can I please have a copy of your log by the 28th June at the latest?
A busy month then all rounds so I hope you can take part in all the events.
This month certainly has a lot of operating activities so there is something there for everyone. Some of the events will certainly give you an opportunity to practice some of the skills required to go contesting so why not take time out and give it a try.
Although events like Museums on the Air are demonstration set-ups they can at the same time be extremely hectic. What they offer is the ability to use some of logging programs and learn all about them, and also how to handle a pile up like we have experienced over the last few events we have run at the Museum of Flight. It is better to practice at these events rather than try and learn when you are involved in a major contest.
The opportunity is there so why not use it.
That’s it then for me this month, I hope you will take part in all of the events; it would be tremendous to see.
Enjoy the newsletter.
Bob GM4UYZ
(Continued from page 1) The Club
The Club is run in a very
informal way, just a group
of like minded people
doing something they
enjoy!
This does not mean that
we don’t do anything, we
enter (and win!) contests,
train newcomers, hold
talks and video nights and
run a popular annual Junk
Sale. Our newsletter has
won the Practical Wireless
‘Spotlight’ competition on
several occasions.
The Club supports the
British Heart Foundation
in memory of a member
who died from heart dis-
ease by donating the
profits from some of the
events we hold, we have
raised over £15,832 since
1994.
2
Supported by BT Community
Champions
Alex Falconer writes: You probably don't remember me as I haven't been active with the club for a long time. I attained my Foundation license several years ago at Port Seton and attended some events (including the removal of the generator from the lighthouse) but since then due to family obligations I have done absolutely nothing connected with radio, only listening with my scanner. I really enjoyed my brief spell with the lads and the banter was brilliant. Anyway, I read Bob's e mail re items for the news letter and thought that I would submit a few lines. My interest in radio started back in the early 60's when my uncle allowed me into his sanctuary (the spare bedroom in the pre-fab) it was crammed with different sizes of metal boxes with dials, buttons and switches, and I was amazed when he started to talk to someone from Spain. It was only as a very special treat that I was allowed to sit in when he was working on the radio.
He had hundreds of cards from contacts but god knows where they are now. Also, my father was a radio operator in the RAF during WW2 and spent most of the war in India lugging a huge radio around on his back. He used to tell me stories about being able to hear the Germans panicking when the RAF planes came into the area, but I don't know where this was, I've still to do some research. Our wee prefab was choc full of half built ra-dios and all the bits and pieces that go with them, that used to drive my mother mad. So this was my early exposure to radio, and
now that I am nearing retirement I intend to
get back into the hobby soon.
Over the last two years I've probably for-
gotten more than Bob taught me, but I intend
to take the Intermediate exam eventually.
Alex
We must insist that people sending articles for the newsletter or with items for sale don’t
bombard Bob GM4UYZ with them, he’s already busy enough with the many other duties
he performs for the club and other people in the club deal with these as follows.
Club Night for July has been moved forward by one week to Friday 28th June. The reason being is that VHF Field Day, one of the club’s major contest activities takes part on the first week-end of July.
We have moved to a site located down near Castle Douglas, Dumfries which means that we have to travel a day earlier.
Quite a number of the club members will be attending this event and will be travelling to site then starting to construct the contest station on the Friday that would normally be club night.
If you wish to join us for VHF Field Day, and all are welcome then get in touch with John MM0CCC [email protected]
Last month we wrote about our visit to Bletchley Park where we showed our friend's Mystery Object to David White G3ZPA, who looks after the Diplomatic Wireless Service Exhi-bition in Hut 1 there (http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/edu/collect/diplomatic.rhtm). The collection of equipment is ex-tensive and varied as can be seen in a video of David showing people round at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTb6Og1H6eo. These are some of the morse keys:
The Park continues to grow of course: we missed out on the National Radio Centre, which opened at Bletchley after our visit, see http://www.nationalradiocentre.com/
Signal monitoring was crucial to the decoding work. As there wasn't space at Bletchley Park and the antennas could have attracted attention to such a top secret location, it took place at listening stations such as Chicksands. Mainly though not exclusively morse, those signals were transcribed along with other information which enabled triangulation for position-finding and sometimes even notes on the "hand" of morse key operators. Despatch riders brought these to Bletchley Park for decryption.
It wasn't just the visibility of the antennas which were a secu-rity problem. Some of the traffic was two - way: to embassies, overseas forces or agents, for instance. Just as the British could triangulate on enemy stations, the Germans would lo-cate our traffic sources. So it was important not to draw atten-tion to Bletchley as an active station and eventually all trans-mission had to take place elsewhere. (Although early in the war there was a communication station concealed in the wa-ter tower!)
The code-breaking successes in Bletchley came in many forms - sometimes mathematical, sometimes taking advantage of
over-rigid German procedures which left breakable trails, and sometimes by exploiting the human errors of tired German operators like Jane's Mum. People made mistakes. Bletchley found and exploited them. More than that, they guided the British encryption services away from such errors: we and our allies were using very similar equipment to the Germans, and continued to use it for decades. Hence Churchill's paranoia after the war which led to the destruction of machinery or the suppression of technologies - even as the Americans were commercially developing from the same baseline. Our govern-ment didn't want our secret traffic broken as Bletchley had broken the German signals. As it turned out, there were other human factors in Cambridge and Whitehall which were far more important.
David was thrilled by our Mystery Object. He'd hoping to find one for over twenty years. He told us it was a mark sense sounder. He said that a skilled operator could by listening to the Baudot codes monitored on one of these, get a diagnostic handle on landline transmission problems. So we left the item with him.
And then there was a surprise. Our friend had thought she had two of these devices. When David heard there might be another one, he was keen for it to go to his pal Cecil Duncan GM0EKM who looks after these:
at the Hoswick visitor centre at Sandwick on Shetland: http://www.shetlandheritageassociation.com/members/south-mainland/hoswick-visitor-centre, where there is quite a wire-less collection, following radio, domestic marine and military equipment from the early 1900’s through to the mobile phone innovation of today. So as it turned out instead of going 300 miles South, we could have identified the Mystery Object just as well by going 300 miles North.
(Continued on page 11)
10
Bletchley Park and the Mystery Object, continued
Many of the exhibits at Bletchley have come via these kinds of routes - attics, sheds, people who didn't want history just to fade away. Maybe you have some items yourselves?
Something as mundane a few decades ago as a valve could now be a missing piece in a story, or even a spare part in Co-lossus.
If so, we urge you to dig it out, write a note and find a place to show it.
Think of the shed space you'll free up!
Phil Odor & Jane Hesketh
(Continued from page 10)
11
Back to 2009, we ran a challenge as part of our 25 Years Club
Anniversary. As part of this challenge, a trophy, "Left Handed
Capacitor Trophy" in memory of Vic GM4GGF was awarded to
the winner of the Foundation Licence holder with the "most
Distant QSO". Martyn MM0XXW, then MM3XXW won this.
Another challenge where the trophy could be once more pre-sented, but this time on an annual basis, was suggested by Cambell MM0DXC in 2011. is to present it to the person who has been licensed for up to one year, and makes the greatest number of QSO’s during our Special Event Stations. The aim is to encourage newer operators to “operate” and help over-come any microphone hesitancy. Criteria:
Those taking part must have obtained their Foundation Licence within the previous year, even though at the time of taking part may have obtained their Intermedi-ate or even Advanced Licence.
The year will run from the 1st May through to the 30th April. This covers the club’s September to April training program
Entrants must be able to demonstrate that they ob-tained their Foundation Licence at some time during the stipulated year dates.
Entrants need not have been trained by the Club for all of the three licences but must have at least obtained one of them via the Club’s training program.
Entrants must operate at the Special Events run by the club over the specific year period. Normal events that the club participates in each year are the Port Seton Gala Day (MM0CPS), Museum of Flight (GB2MOF), Lighthouse Weekend (GB2LBN) and also the Club’s Ac-tivity Night. There may be others depending on re-quests and these will also be included.
Win-Test Logging soft-ware will be used to cre-ate our log of an event.
Each operator should use Win-Test OPON / OPOFF
commands to register their operation periods
After an event the log will be checked and the number of QSO’s made by each operator will be counted and recorded.
After the completion of the year period each operator’s totals for each event will be totalled and the operator with the most QSO’s will be deemed the winner.
The winner can retain the trophy for a year before re-turning it to the club.
YEAR ONE – 2011 2011 was the first year that the trophy was used to encourage “new blood” into taking part in the Special Events run in the Club’s Event’s Program. There were a possible 17 people who were eligible but only 3 did take part . The winner of the Trophy was Paul Rice MM0VPR/2M0CEX/MM6ANB who made a total of 598 QSO’s during the year. Congratulations Paul on winning the trophy for the year, you have now set the standard. YEAR TWO – 2012 This year there were 10 people eligible The only person out of the 10 who took part in any of our events was Cephas Ralph MM0INS/2M0INS/MM6INS so the winner is automatically Cephas. Congratulations Cephas on winning the trophy for the year, YEAR THREE – 2013 This year there are 13 people eligible and they have all been notified by email so hopefully they will step up for the chal-lenge.
Good luck to you all...
Bob GM4UYZ
The Left Handed Capacitor Trophy Challenge
Friday 10th May
Our DF Nights are now an integral part of our club events where we run one in May and the other in September. Each DF night has its own characteristics, otherwise the May night is in total daylight and the September night is 80% in the dark...
No matter what, they both offer some interesting challenges.
Our first DF night the weather certainly wasn’t really kind to us as it is the first year that I can remember that it rained heavily, thank goodness not for the full time though. It was interesting as I had been keeping a close eye on the MET weather site and I had watched a rain front slowly move across country all day with its prediction to arrive just before the DF Night started ... as they say it turned out to be totally accurate.
The fox this time was Cambell MM0DXC and what a “wily fox” he turned out to be. Like previous foxes a notification was sent, this time a text, before the event started made sure that everything was in order before the start of the DF Night.
The 4 teams that took part this time assembled as in past years, at the Ship Inn Car Park. The teams consisted of Robin MM0VTV and Cephas MM0INS in car 1, Colwyn MM0YCJ and his partner Ann in car 2, Bob GM4IKT and Robert MM1BJO in car 3 and lastly Robbie MM6RBC, Liz 2M1GLD and me GM4UYZ in car 4. All of the teams for this DF Hunt used mostly a 2 ele-ment beam. Over the years a lot of people have really enjoyed taking part but alas you all seem to be missing……
At the start time of 19:00 we all went our separate ways to try and catch the elusive fox. I headed this year to the Gladsmuir car park where we took our first bearing, nothing heard. We then moved to Haddington, nothing heard then to the Garlton Hill, nothing heard, to Drem, to Dirleton, to Gullane and still nothing heard. Young Robbie had said earlier that he had a gut feeling that fox was to the west of Port Seton and to be honest in hindsight we should have went with his gut feeling. The time was really getting on so we headed to Prestonpans Yacht Club. It was here that we got our first indication as at the predefined time there was a change in the signal but could get no bearing, continuing our thoughts of him being at the Mining Museum we just managed to get there and got a signal and actually heard the fox’s voice. It gave us a direction of up towards Wal-lyford... he can’t be there as that is off the map. Anyway we headed up to the middle road and again could hear the fox but got no bearing. With twenty minutes to go we made the wrong decision and headed in the Tranent direction to get no signal at all.
We should have stayed in the Mining Museum area but great saying that in hindsight. Sadly no fox found... The question was did anyone else? The answer was no...
This is the first year that I can remember that the “fox” won with no one finding it. Well done Cambell a great achieve-ment. The trophy was handed over to Cambell as in fact he was the winner.
A massive thank you from us all to Cambell for taking on the role of the fox and once again producing another fun packed night. Also thanks to everyone who turned up I know from all your comments you all seemed to enjoy it so hopefully you will all come back for the next DF night in September 2013.
Those of you who do not take part you do not know what you are missing. Believe me DF’ing is not as easy as you think, give it a try and you will see what I mean.
Congratulations again to the fox for winning and commisera-tions to the rest of us.
Bob GM4UYZ
12
13
1. A balun is
a. used instead of a dummy load
b. used to connect a dipole to coaxial cable
c. a particular type of antenna
d. A type of feeder.
2. Two receiving stations are situated on clear open
ground 5km and 10km from a VHF transmitter. The further station will
a. receive a weaker signal because the signal has spread
out more
b. receive the same signal because they are both in clear
ground
c. receive no signal if it is directly behind the closer station
d. Only receive a signal if it is correctly licensed.
3. The ionosphere is
a. another name for the air we breath
b. conductive gasses at heights of 70 to 400km
c. a type of spherical transmitting antenna
d. a piece of amateur radio test equipment
4. Amateur transmissions might be picked up by
a. any wiring in the neighbour's house
b. only wiring which is longer than 2 metres
c. only wiring that does not have an earth lead
d. Earth leads only.
5. One way of reducing the possibility of interference
from a single sideband (s.s.b.) transmitter to a televi-sion receiver in the next house is to
a. use an indoor transmitting antenna
b. increase power input to the transmitter
c. decrease power input to the transmitter
d. Decrease the number of frequency multiplying stages in
the transmitter.
6. Why is it advisable to purchase a ready made filter for
fitting in the mains lead of a radio receiving device?
a. A home made device may not let the radio signals
through.
b. A purchased item will look much nicer.
c. The filter may not work well.
d. It is dangerous to put home made devices in the mains.
7. The difference between a CQ call on 2 metres FM and
one on HF SSB is that the call on FM
a. is usually much shorter than when on HF SSB
b. must be made at the lowest possible power
c. needs to be repeated many times while somebody is
tuning in to your signal -F
d. Is only permitted on the set calling channels. -,
8. In the 2 metre band plan, the frequencies from
144.994MHz to 145.1395MHz are allocated to
a. fm simplex channels
b. fm repeater inputs
c. SSB and CW only
d. Satellites.
9. An adult should be present when erecting an antenna
because
a. it is a hazardous activity
b. heavy items will need to be lifted
c. they have more knowledge of First Aid
d. The antenna must be placed out of reach of a child.
10. Turning the power off in an emergency is made easier
and quicker if
a. all the switches and plugs are colour coded
b. proper fuses are used in each plug
c. Each socket has indicator lights when they are on.
d. There is a single switch controlling all the power.
Last month I wrote my article on one of the reasons people get involved in HAM Radio, that was using radio for events and in times of emergencies. I think we can all agree that HAM radio in such circumstances can literally be a life saver.
This month I intend to look at another reason for people to enjoy our hobby and that is the friendships that can be made over the airwaves. Our Global Village.
For myself I have to say that I am a "people" person. I find them interesting animals and enjoy a good ragchew, the fact that you talk via radio to me makes no difference as to talking face to face.
Having been a HAM for ten years now and logged over 20,000 QSOs its probably not surprising that a few of those contacts would result in friendships. Probably the first of those was a contact with an Italian station. I had already booked a holiday into Italy via a flight deal to Bergamo when I randomly contacted a Bergamo HAM - IZ2FME, I of course, mentioned that I was flying into Bergamo in a month’s time. He replied saying that he was planning to come to Scotland at a similar time. Both of us being of the sociable type invited each other to visit.
So we did.
At the end of my scheduled break I met him in Bergamo, plus his family and friends, and treated to finest Italian home-made
cuisine and of course given a tour that no tourist would normally get of the Old Town of Bergamo An ancient City, sitting at the feet of the Piedmont Hills in North Italy. We had a great time and IZ2FME, Michele Carlone, with his then girlfriend now wife Anna, came back on my return flight to Scotland. I returned the hospitality received, showing them around parts of Scotland that no tourist would normally see. This was the beginning of a lasting friendship that continues to this day.
I've visited Michele and his friends several times in Italy, was invited to his wedding with Anna, met several of his HAM friends at his local club, www.aribg.it, including one of the fastest CW operators around - IK2CIO -Vini, he also visited myself at home. Vini can be found on many Italian DXpeditions, last year completing three of them, plus his usual trip to African Italy - Pantelleria Island to operate IH9P for the big contests.
Another great ham that I met whilst in Bergamo was the late great I2BCU - Aldo - a pre War ham, who I had also talked to often via radio and when I walked into his club with a wee Italy/Scotland flag badge for him, he almost melted with pleasure at the face to face meet. These Italian contacts even lead me to holding the callsign IZ2KFI, though little used I’m afraid;
Friendships made have not just been with Italy though, I have struck up others much further away. I was playing radio one evening, conditions were good and I was managing a good signal into New Zealand. It was my frequency and they were queueing up to talk to Scotland. Two HAMs in particular were keen for a QSO, they were both farmers and had picked up from my previous discussion that I too at that time was farming.
The two fellow HAM farmers were ZL1ALA - John Halden and ZL2RJF Robert Fleming.
We had the usual farming blether, weather, prices and costs. All very interesting, honest. Anyway at that time my oldest Duncan (MM3YDH) was starting his plans to travel for a gap year to NZ, this I discussed with the two ZL HAMs and both of them said that they could find Duncan some work, and they did. A few months later Duncan, at the tender age of 18, flew to NZ, was greeted by ZL1ALA at Aukland airport, stayed with him for a few days before travelling to the South of NZ for several months when he then flew back to the North Island and spent several weeks working with ZL2RJF in his large Agricultural Contracting company, driving some of the biggest combines and tractors you could imagine.
The friendship Duncan made with the Fleming family still continues, he flew back to NZ five years later and worked with them for nearly a whole year and my other son Callum - MM3PAE - also spent several months with the same family on his year in NZ. Duncan on his last fortnight in NZ spent a fortnight with ZL1ALA from where he explored the tropical Coromandel coastline.
Other people of interest. KR0E - Don Hume - was busy telling me of his Scottish surname and how he had visited the village of Hume during a trip to Scotland. He eventually visited me in
Scotland, and we had a great time, so I have an open invitation to Boulder, Colorado, to take up some time.
To call the World a wee place is not an exaggeration, the second time my son Duncan was in NZ I flew out for a fortnight to take in the sights with him, most enjoyable.
Of course I had to visit Robert Fleming ZL2RJF and him being a keen HAM had to show me his shack, and there on the wall a picture of a friendship ZL2RJF had made over the airwaves by the very same KR0E - Don Hume, what a coincidence.
There are other friendships over the airwaves - JA5VQ - Vic and his wife Keiko, regular visitors to Scotland , he has even popped down to the club and operated GM2T in the CQWW contest.
More recently OK2HBY - Kamil - enjoyed a tour round Edinburgh after a CW QSO just before he travelled for his first Scottish visit - the list goes on.
Difficult to imagine what other medium you could use to create friendships across the World, so my advice is turn the radio, start talking and you'll never know where it could lead you to.
Jim Hume MM0DXH/IZ2KFI
(Continued from page 14)
Robert ZL2RJF
MM0DXH and Vic JA5VQ
General correspondence,
training and contest
entries
Bob Glasgow 7 Castle Terrace Port Seton East Lothian EH32 0EE Phone: 01875 811723