EGM

The meeting this month started with an Extraordinary General Meeting, to vote on a change to build the role of our contest coordinators: to give them greater status and voice to those who progress a key club objective – contesting. It would give our coordinators greater input to discussions
on the club’s programme and equipment. The coordinators would become full members of the committee, and their roles would be given in the club constitution.

Our chairman Mike M0RYK/F4VRD introduced the proposal, which was seconded by Phil G3MGQ and Barclay 2E0WOH, and on a vote, was accepted unanimously.

The updated WKARS Constitution has now been published, and is shown on the Downloadable Files page.

West Kent Amateur Radio Society has some of the most enthusiastic contest operators, keen to progress in the many contests we follow, covering all the main contest modes: voice, CW and data. In order to effectively take part in HF contests and increase our standing in the various RSGB contest results, and to be seen as an active radio society, we need a HF contest coordinator! Please contact us via mailto:secretary@wkars.org.uk if you feel you could contribute your energy and enthusiasm for contesting!

In other news, we have had another successful training session with three young students; we are soon to train a further fourteen students from a local school. The school are to set up a station in January, with the support of the physics department, with donated transceiver, feeder, antenna and books. WKARS have trained over twenty students this year.

Show And Tell!

Matt M0CUV gave a demo of attempts to build a packet radio station using a pair of Quansheng UV-K5(8) transceivers. As the popular APRS-K1 Cable does not key the PTT, it requires VOX operation, which takes time to key the transmitter, so the start of transmitted packets can be lost. A better solution is to use an interface that handles PTT directly, such as the Mobilinkd TNC4, which is a £116 KISS modem that can be controlled by APRS software such as Xastir. Mobilinkd’s first version was an Arduino-based KISS modem that they published as Open Source/Hardware with full breadboard build instructions. Matt built one of these which is working for transmit, but not yet for receive (to be investigated). Using a Baofeng UV-5RH Pro that transmits its position via APRS periodically, Matt demonstrated the DireWolf sound-card modem listening to the first Quansheng connected to a LogiLink USB TRRS Sound Card via an APRS-K1 cable. This decoded the Baofeng’s APRS data. He showed Xastir sending location information to this breadboard KISS modem, which transmitted on the second Quansheng. DireWolf (listening on the first radio) could decode this successfully. This is all using 1200 baud AFSK, with the Quanshengs being suited to voice. An upgrade from the Quansheng, providing a better option for 9600 baud packet is the VGC VR-N76 Dual Band Handheld which has a flat response.

Chris G6HTH gave a cautionary talk about contingency planning. There are many aspects of modern life that can go wrong, causing significant stress – in order to reduce this, you could plan for these eventualities, write down what you would need to do in the event of emergencies, and most importantly DON’T PANIC! For example, in your house, where are all the stop cocks, and what do they do? Where is the fuse/distribution board? Ensure you have got readily-available charged batteries for essential devices, with the manuals easily available. Do you have lightning protection for your aerials? Do you have a backup plan for the event of living without essential amenities for a prolonged period? Do you know where your passport and driving license is? If you have an emergency generator, is it in working condition? Do you have sufficient fuel for cold weather? Do you have a small store of food in case the shops run low, or if you cannot get to the shops? Do you have a small amount of emergency cash available?

With the subject of emergencies on our minds, Chris G6AHK and Mike M0RYK recalled several incidents where what should not go wrong, did.

Malcolm G4FWG demonstrated his collection of antique torches – several of which were hazard area approved. The bulbs had been replaced by MES style LED units, and batteries modernised. Several design elements of the torches were shown, and how these led to the torches being usable in hazardous environments.

Mike M0RYK demonstrated the zBitx from HF SIGNALS, (Ashhar Farhan, VU2ESE) – the zBitx is a portable SDR QRP transceiver, powered by a pair of 18650 batteries. 5 Watts, all modes from CW, SSB, FT8, all bands 80m to 10m. It arrives in around 15 days, pre-built, with a test certificate, and the construction is undertaken by a women’s collective in India, providing them with a livelihood. It costs $197.

During our tea break, Matt M0CUV showed photos and performance graphs of his latest loft-based QRP four-band fan dipole, that’s suspended from the rafters by strips of plastic from soft drinks bottles, and fed by a SOTAbeams HF 1:1 125w balun. The elements are spaced about 3cm apart, and interact, meaning that adjustment is a repetitive process – but it’s in the loft, so this doesn’t require climbing a tower, and there’s no weatherproofing necessary. The ends are held aloft by string, hence the antenna’s name, The String Quartet. It’s resonant near the FT8 frequency on 18, 21, 24 and 28MHz.