BARSCOMDUNMOW

STEBBING

NOTLEY

RAYNE HALSTEAD

WITHAM

COLCHESTER

COGGESHALL

Monthly Communication of theBraintree and District Amateur Radio Society

GX3XG

G3XG G6BRH

BRAINTREE

Nov 2019

SSB Field Day Contest & JOTA 2019

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Nov 19items to sell and most importantly bringyour money along.

73 Dave, G0DEC

UPDATE !

These chairman chats seem to comeround so fast!

Unfortunately I have to start with somesad news. Betty Brades the XYL of asilent key club member Derek G0IZWdied on the 25th October. They wereboth active members of the club in thepast. At the time of writing I do nothave any more information about theservice.

This month the clubs main activitieshave been the running of our firstfoundation licence course. Well done tothe training team I know there has beena lot of work in getting ready for this.By the time you ready this the coursewill have finished and this yearsstudents will have taken theirfoundation exam and they are nowawaiting their results.

Also this month the club ran the JOTA(Jamboree On The Air) for the first timeat the Coggeshall Scouts hall with thecallsign GB5CSG. Thanks to everyonewho was able to help with this eventwhich went well. The scouts lookedafter us very well. There should be a fullreport elsewhere in this issue.

Later this month we will have ourannual surplus equipment sale, so bring

Contents Chairman’s Chat ………… 2 Meetings Reports .……….. 4 JOTA 2019 …………….. 6A Sojourn in EA7 land ….. 8 Contest Corner …………… 11 Club Calendar ..……..……. 12 Rallies ..…………..………. 13 Contests...……………..….. 14 Committee Info ……..……. 14

Chairman’s ChatDave, G0DEC

Thought for themonth

"If you can count your money, youdon't have a billion dollars."

- J. Paul Getty (1892-1976)

Next Meeting

TX Factor 23

12th Nov

. . . . . 6

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Nov 19

The first meeting this month was JOTAplanning and natter night. This yearBADARS will be working with 1stCoggeshall Scout & Guides at their HQat Honeywood School.

It was explained that the facilitesavailable are very good, with tworooms available for the installation ofradio stations and an extensive outdoorspace for antennas.A lively discussionensued about what antennas andequipment to install.To try to ensurethere would be a good chance of somereasonable DX HF contacts it wasdecided to use the club’s tower andtri-band beam for one HF station. Asecond HF station will use the Windomantenna. In the second room a VHFstation will be run together with DMRfacilities. It is hoped that Scouts andGuides will be able to pass messages toother JOTA stations and participate inMorse code practice, encouraging themto gain thier Communicator badge.

The second meeting of the month was apresentation by Edwin and Nevilleabout the club’s first Foundation courseand examination. Once again our samllclub will be ‘punching about it’sweight’, being the first club to use thelatest Foundation licence specification,which was introduced in September.This raised a few issues that the club

Meeting ReportsMike, G8DJO

helped the RSGB to resolve. Thecourse and examination will be a twoday event run at the club HQ. Thestructure of the course and exam weredetailed together with the duties ofvarious club members with regard toadministering the training, includingthe practical assessments and the exam.A lead trainer, exams secretary and anumber of registered assessors arerequired. The examination isinvigilated by an external invigilator,who also marks the completed theorypapers and gives candidates anindicative mark on the day. Candidatesanswer 26 multiple choice questionsand must score a minimum of 19correct answers to pass the paper.There were some anxious members aswe were then set a practice paper! Theresults proved the Foundation Licencemay not be the walk over some oldhands might imagine.

(Update from Geoff, G1GNQ)Saturday 26th October, the culminationof BADARS first Foundation courserun at St Peter's Church Hall.This second day consisted ofcompleting the practical tasks forassessment and the final stages of thetheory studies. There were eightcandidates on the course but due tounforeseen personal circumstancesthree had to leave the venue before theexamination. The remaining fivecandidates sat the 60 minute examduring the afternoon and the indicativeresults were three passes and two nearmisses. Exam re-sits and furthercourses are in the pipeline.

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Nov 19

with visiting troops from Earls Colne,Hedingham & Gosfield. Many of thescouts were able to pass messages toother scout JOTA stations under thewatchful eyes of some of the 12members who assisted. All were verykeen and showed great interest inworking toward their CommunicatorsBadge.On Saturday afternoon Edwin G0LPOand John M5AJB carried out someMorse demonstrations using a practiceoscillator and straight key, there was alot of interest in this activity with manytrying their hand at sending their namein Morse.After an evening meal provided by thescouts again, a few members remainedand operated until 20:00.Sunday Morning was a 09:00 startwhere on arrival at the scout HQ wewere greeted by the smell of freshlycooked bacon and egg etc. afterpartaking in breakfast we all carried onwith operating until 14:00 hrs.Before we started packing theequipment away a group photo wasarranged with BADARS club membersand the Coggeshall Scout & Guidegroup. Packing away was carried outwith many hands making it light workand all was stowed ready for transportin an hour and a half.During the weekend the contacts madewereHF 32 with notable JOTA Stationsbeing GB100GP & 9H6BPS on MaltaVHF 20 with one contact of 36 minutesto GB1BEL where several of the scoutswere able to pass messages to others atBelchamp

The weekend of 19th-20th October sawBADARS taking part in Jamboree onthe Air with the 1st Coggeshall Scouts& Guides. The set for the variousstations commenced at 16:00 on Friday18th with 10 club members on hand tohelp, the club trailer mast was set upwith the 10 meter spider mast and 12element ZL special for 2meters and theV2000 vertical for FM. One of the clubfiberglass masts was also deployed with70cms. Beam for the DMR StationMelvin G0EMK bought along a 30 foottower and three element tri bander for20-15 & 10 meters, this was erected inthe corner of the rugby field adjacent tothe scout HQ. Inside we were able to use two largerooms and so set up two HF rigs in oneand VHF – DMR in the other. TheKenwood 590S was set up with the TriBander and the IC746 on the Windom,the Yaesu FT897 on VHF duties withthe clubs 160watt Mirage linear forSSB, The Motorola DMR setcompleted the station. Setting up hadtaken an hour and three quarters withthe weather holding dry for the process.After some testing of the station on air,the last club members left for theevening at 20:00.Saturday morning saw a 08:00 startwith the scouts providing breakfast forall present, during the day there wereapproximately 45 scouts at the event

JOTA 2019Geoff, G1GNQ

Cont.d on p8

19-01-17 …7

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Nov 19

I am writing this while it’s a balmy 24degrees and bright sun in the usual clearblue sky. Sad isn’t it?I have been coming here for 6 or 7 yearsnow and mostly enjoy my time here, butstrewth, the Spanish authorities makelife hard to keep a house and car here,and that is without the language barrier.The Spanish authorities have turnedtaxation into an art form. Trust me, theycould tax the hooves off a donkey.

I can get by here in rudimentarySpanish for day to day living, but it doesnot come easily nor naturally, I have tothink about it, and that presents otherdifficulties when operating amateurradio here. I haven’t as yet applied for areciprocal EA7 licence but I could, andmay well in the fullness of time once Iget in the mood for another Spanish redtape battle.

Anyway, operating herecertainly has it’s challenges; it is notstraight forward, especially if you areoperating from a small community ofmixed nationalities as I do in ComunidadAlcazaba, Cortijo Cabrera, comprisingof British, Spanish, Belgium, German,and Austrian nationals. We are acommunity of 20 small and unusual, 2bedroom villas perched 1400 feet up theside of a mountain in the Sierra Cabrerahills, close to the better known towns ofMojacar and Turre. Trying to negotiate

DMR 17 Contacts with two in Japan andone in Australia.We were made welcome by the Scoutsand very well looked after throughoutthe weekend.All in all a very good weekend andgreatly enjoyed by both Scouts andBADARS members alike, there werethree enquiries regarding foundationlicence training from the weekend andfurther interest in club activities, Wehave been requested to attend one of thescout group meetings early in the newyear and set up the Morse practicefacility again.Finally a big thank you to all the clubmembers who helped to make theweekend a great success

Hola y buenos dias desde Españ. Helloand good morning from Spain.

I am fortunate enough to have awee place I can bolt to, high in themountains, above the Mediterraneancoast of south eastern Spain. EA7 land(Just in the west part of IM97BC);Almeria province. Indeed, that is where

A sojourn in EA7 Land,Autumn 2019

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Nov 19

agreement with the other owners in 5languages and then to put up “discrete”antennae with little previousexperience, has been both challengingand inventive. It is fortunate that I havesome very understanding immediateneighbours.So, what do I have operational here?HF is on 17 & 20 mtrs only and only onvoice, just the 100watts fed into twodipoles utilising a common feed pointpart suspended from adjacentstructures.

VHF – I have 2mtrs and 70cms, againfrom the same rig, in all voice modesplus now the Anytone AT-D868UVEDMR, fed into a Diamond X-50antennae, painted the same colour asthe buildings as dictated by thecommunity agreement.

I have a simple station using an Icom706MKII that I brought here in my flightcabin bag a few years ago, along with it’sauto ATU and PSU. There were nowtmuch else in the bag that trip I’ll tell you.The X-50 antennae for UHF/VHF and aload of co-ax was kindly brought overseparately by a friend of mine, Eric, fromnorth Wales who was driving over to hisvilla, just a few doors down from mine,and offered to bring it all for me. Goodchap is Eric.Other various antenna parts, such as di-pole radiator cable, brackets, poles,fixings etc. were either sourced locallyor (like the di-pole centre) stuffed in mypockets on a flight over. Installation wasa different matter. Involving a trip to thelocal Lidl store in a place local calledGarrucha, when I saw they wereflogging long series mason masters for11 euro for a set of 3.Then I borrowed an SDS drill from (whoelse but Eric). I drilled two 25mm holesfrom the solarium on the roof into thespare bedroom that doubles as the shack.

It took a full day, and many ice coldbeers, working in the sweltering sun toget those two coaxes through, and thefull length of the metre long drills thanksto a huge cavity between two parts of thestructure. Why the 80 cms wide cavity?I have no idea, the normal answer herewould be, “That’s Spain for you”. Thenanother day to mount and connect theantennae up, and quite a few dayssuspending, cutting and arranging the

Nov 19

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HF dipoles so they would work withoutthe ATU and still be discrete.Sourcing some really good heavy duty(28kg), clear nylon fishing line went along way to helping here, as one end ofeach dipole is supported apparently inmid air with the fishing line being tied offonto a separate pole at one end (anexisting pole for my wireless internetlink), and the community car portsstructure at the other end , spanning overthe access road along the way! Do youknow, it was a full month before anyonespotted it !!!I have three operating areas to choosefrom. Am I not the lucky one? Wintertime or bad weather days I operate fromthe spare bedroom/shack, which is reallythe “norm”.

Spring/autumn I can use the roofsolarium with it’s stunning views andcooling breeze,

or summer time, under the sunshade onthe solarium or indeed in the airconditioned shack..

Finally, it is all installed. Great, time formy first QSO from Spain. Of course thesimplest to technically operate isVHF/UHF FM voice. That is once youhave worked out how to call CQ and havea basic QSO in Spanish, and got yourscript ready, for there are not manyEnglish speaking ops on VHF in thisregion. I embarked on my first SpanishQSO with great optimism andenthusiasm. For we are all brothers in acommon hobby. Right?Can I just say; it did NOT go well.I managed the one QSO in Spanish and itwas a bloody nightmare, for we all uselocal or country and hobby slang ornicknames for equipment and GoogleTranslate is no help with them! andanyway, here in Andalusia, they speakAndaluz, a deep variant of CastilianSpanish. It’s a bit like an East endCockney trying to decipher Gordie!Anyway, one guy had been listening onthe side, a Spanish guy, Jose Antonio,about 40 miles away, who does speakEnglish and called me after that disastrousQSO. He was very patient and told mewhere I had gone wrong. It turns out,most of it was wrong. I vowed then tostick to HF and latterly DMR, but we willget to that.

(Continued next month - Ed.)

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Nov 19

In the immortal words of Sir BruceForsyth, ‘Didn’t they do well!’

SSB Field Day results are in. G3XG/Pcame a very creditable 9th of 19 entriesin the low power assisted section.Congratulations to everyone whoaprticipated in this contest.

Next 80m CC SSB 20th November

Reminder (following emailnotification last week)

On Saturday November 9th the RSGB1.8Mhz Club Calls AFS Contest takeplace. The contest times are 20:00 -23:00 UTC We are planning to set upon Saturday afternoon at the contestsite in Stisted and operating from thestatic caravan as a HQ station

With this short contest a mixture ofCW and SSB can be used by multioperators, Dean has kindly offered toloan his portable top band set up andassist with the operating (mostly CW Isuspect with Dean) so a few moreoperators for SSB or CW are needed.

If we can Field six operators eachcould work a 30 minute shift and havea play on Top Band.

The heat will be on in the Caravan anda supply of refreshments on hand. Ifyou fancy a play on Top Band pleaseget in touch with Geoff G1GNQgeoff.nurse@outlook.com07715272434

Contest Corner

Geoff, G1GNQ

Next MonthWhat items can you

contribute???

Plus the usual …New Events, Rallies, Contests, etc.

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Nov 19

Jan 8th 2019Natter night / TX Factor 21

Jan 22nd

PAT/PAC Testing / Prep for Canvey

Feb 12th G3ZPS 999 Emergency

Feb 26th CW presentation

Mar 12thRig Clinic, club equipment

checking for 2019 events

Mar 26th

Talk ‘History of Braintree’

Apr 9thConstruction Evening DF

Equipment

Apr 23rd Sausage and mash

May 11, 12 Mills on the Air

May 14th MOTA update

May 28th The AGM

Jun 11thThe ins and outs of metaldetection

Jun 25th Club BBQ

Jul 9th Construction Contest

Jul 23rd Aerial ClinicAug 10-11th Summer Camp

Aug 13th Operating Evening & Coax TestingAug 27th Andrew ‘Computers in the Shack’Sep 10th

Railways on the Air Planning

Sep 21 - 22nd ROTA

Sept 24th Natter Night

Oct 8th JOTA Planning

Oct 19 - 20th JOTA

Oct 22nd DF Beam Construction

Nov 12th Tx Factor 23

Nov 26th

Surplus Equipment sale

Dec 10th Christmas social

Dec 24th Natter Night?

Club Net - 08.00 pm local time, 2 Metres (S15) (145.375 MHz)First, third & fifth TUESDAYS

Club Meetings, Activities and Nets

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Nov 19

Rallies

9 NOVEMBER 2019

BATC ATV CONVENTION(SOUTH)

Chilton Village Hall near Didcot,Oxfordshire OX11 0SH

ATV Clinic, Show and Tell, Bringand Buy and 2 interesting talks.More information athttps://forum.batc.org.uk

16 NOVEMBER 2019

ROCHDALE & DISTRICT ARSWINTER RALLY

St Vincent de Paul’s, CaldershawRoad, off Edenfield Road (A680),Norden, Rochdale, OL12 7QR.

Doors open to the public at10.15am with disabled visitorsgaining access 15 minutes earlier.Admission is £2.50 with thoseunder 12 years free. Further details:Robert, M0NVQ, by email tom0nvq@outlook.com or07778113333.

24 NOVEMBER 2019

BISHOP AUCKLAND RADIOAMATEURS CLUB 2019 RALLY

Spennymoor Leisure Centre, 32High Street, Spennymoor, CountyDurham, DL16 6DB

Venue has good parking and accessto a large ground floor hall. Therewill be the usual Radio, Computer,Electronics, and Bring & Buy stallsas well as catering and bar. Doorsopen at 10.30 with disabled visitorsgaining access at 10.15 am.Admission is £2:00 under 14 freeof charge with adult. More detailsfrom rally organiser John, G4LRGon 0777 569 6568 or Brian,G7OCK 01388 762 678.

24 NOVEMBER 2019

CATS 42nd RADIO &ELECTRONICS BAZAAR

Oasis Academy Coulsdon,Homefield Road, Old CoulsdonCR5 1ES

Doors open from 10am until 2pm.£1.50 entry that includes a freetea/coffee. There will be secondhand equipment, flea market tables,traders and an RSGB bookstall.The CATS Bring & Buy willoperate on 10% commission.Refreshments are available on site.Contact Andy G0KZT on 07729866 600 or bazaar@catsradio.org

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Nov 19

CommitteeChairman: Dave, G0DEC 07974267421 26 Falkland Court, Braintree

Secretary: Edwin, GØLPO 01376 324031 42 Panfield Lane, Braintree,

Treasurer and Membership Sec: Neville, G8CDG

Ordinary Members: Geoff, G1GNQ Colin, M6NCU

Contests3 Dec 1900-2000 144MHz FMAC8 Dec 1000-1600 144MHz AFS AFS Super League

HF9 Nov 2000-2300 Club Calls (1.8MHz AFS) AFS Super League HF Championship11 Nov 2000-2130 Autumn Series DATA16 Nov 1900-2300 2nd 1.8MHz Contest HF Championship20 Nov 2000-2130 Autumn Series SSB28 Nov 2000-2130 Autumn Series CW AFS Super League 2018-19 AFS Super League 2019-20 HF Championship

VHF12 Nov 1900-2000 432MHz FMAC12 Nov 2000-2230 432MHz UKAC14 Nov 2000-2230 50MHz UKAC

14 Nov 1900-2000 50MHz FMAC

19 Nov 2000-2230 1.3GHz UKAC

21 Nov 2000-2230 70MHz UKAC

21 Nov 1900-2000 70MHz FMAC

26 Nov 1930-2230* SHF UKAC

3 Dec 2000-2230 144MHz UKAC

http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/

Braintree and District Amateur Radio SocietyThe club meets every 2nd and 4thTuesdays of each month at StPeters Church Hall, St PetersRoad, off The CausewayBraintree. Doors open at 7.30 pm,meetings run from 8.00pm to10pm.

Membership is £18.00 annually;Senior Members (State RetirementAge) and Junior members , under18 pay £12.00. A door fee of £1.00is also payable at each meeting bymembers and visitors.

BARSCOM the clubs magazine issent to members as an e mail

attachment, normally during thefirst week of the month. Wheremembers do not have access to email, they should discussalternatives with the Secretary.

The Club Net operates on 2 meterson the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of themonth and will use V30 (S15)145.375MHz starting at 20.00hrslocal time.Where the month has 5 Tuesdaysthe 5th Tuesday net will be onGB3BZ Input 438.450MHzOutput 430.850MHz CTCSS110.9

Please send articles for publication tomike.adcock@physics.org

The deadline for submissions for the next edition is 1st of the month. Items will be published in the first

available edition subject to space availability.

For more information and pictures of events and projects seeour Web Site at www.badars.co.uk

Please contact our Chairman for details about commercialadverts.

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Nov 19