Incorporating the Weymouth and District Short Wave Club THE CATSWHISKER JUNE 2017 The Newsletter of the South Dorset RS First Published in 1967 The next meeting of the Society will be held on Tuesday the 13th of June. SDRS AND OTHER LOCAL EVENTS D-Day Commemoration Station GB0DDM: Portland D-Day Museum, Castletown. 3rd and 4th June. More details below. Museums on the Air: 17th/18th June or 24/25th June, Portland D-Day Museum, Castletown (Possibly GB0DDM) or: Tank Fest, Bovington: 24/25th June, Bovington Tank Museum (Possibly GB0BTM) FRARS Hamfest: Sunday13th August, Cobham Sports and Social Club BH21 1RJ Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend: 19/20th August, Portland Bill (GB0PBL) Mini DXxpedition to Flat Holm Island: 1/3rd September 2017 Contact Ray, M0XDL JOTO (Jambooree On The Air) 21/22nd October, Brownjohn's Copse, Redbridge Road, Crossways DT2 8BG
RSGB YEARBOOK ENTRY Our Chairman, Ray, M0XDL has written the following entry for the RSGB Yearbook. It includes the above picture taken of our Portable activities at Portland Bill which is also used on the Club QSL card. South Dorset Radio Society The club meets on the second Tuesday of each month in the Spark Well-Being centre in Southill, Weymouth and meetings generally feature a presentation by a member or a guest covering many interesting technical, operating or historical subjects. In 2016 the club purchased a new video projector which has allowed presenters to employ PowerPoint and computer video formats to make their talks very interesting and informative. In 2017 the club will be taking part in a variety of Field Day events including Marconi Day in April, D-Day 72nd Anniversary and Museums on the Air in June, Light Houses and Light Ships weekend in August and Jamboree On The Air in October. Also, in September, the Club will activate Flat Holm Island in the Bristol Channel in the first of its planned Mini-DXpeditions. The club runs an HF net on Tuesday mornings from 11.00 on either 80m (3.776) or 40m (7.150) (as conditions allow) and operates a 2 metre (145.525) Simplex net on Wednesday evenings from 19:00. Club callsigns used include GX3SDS and G8WQ.
During the year one club member has progressed from Foundation to Intermediate status and is now pressing on to achieve a Full Licence with the assistance of club members and with valued support from the neighbouring Yeovil Club s tutoring and examination facilities. The club is closely associated with the South Dorset Repeater Group which operates 70cm analogue (GB3SD) and DMR digital (GB7SD) repeaters from Ridgeway Hill near Weymouth and a 2metre (GB3DR) repeater situated on Eggerdon Hill in West Dorset. GB3SD also offers EchoLink connectivity. Based on the World Heritage Jurassic Coast, the South Dorset Radio Society area offers a very good take-off for DX operation to all parts of the World. The club is always ready to welcome new members and guests. Visit the club website (SDRG.co.uk) or Contact Chairman Ray Coles M0XDL for more details. MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION Our Treasurer reminds us that subscriptions for 2017/18 are now due and remain the same as last year at 10.50. If you have already paid, thank you very much, if not you can send a cheque to our Treasurer at the address below, or pay at any meeting. John Rose, M0BQO 45 Ringstead Crescent Weymouth Dorset DT3 6PT. Please make sure that you include your full postal address and if applicable your callsign and e-mail address. Please be aware that your personal information may be held on a computer data base for the exclusive use of the Society only. D-Day Commemoration Station GB0DDM Castletown Isle of Portland DT5 1BD www.castletownddaycentre.com Set up is Friday the 2nd June and main operations will be Sat the 3 rd and Sunday the 4th. I have applied for an NOV for GB0DDM to cover from Friday the 2 nd of June to Tuesday the 7th of June in case any member wishes to operate on other days. The Current Event Format is for possibly 2 or 3 SDRS stations. Morse Code Table: I have 3 keys and Oscillators at present. WW2 Radio Display: Utility Radio, WS17, WS18, pair WS19, pair WS38, CR100, PCR1, R1147, Spitfire Receiver, MCR1 Receiver, RBZ and a Paraset. WW2 Telephone Systems: UC10 Field Exchange. Various F, D and L Field Sets. Plus remote control Sets for WS19 and a pair of Fuller Phones. Rob, G0RYL
NEW CLUB NET G8WQ 145.525 MHz Wednesday 1900 2000 At the last Club meeting it was decided to try a Net on 2 metres and Mike, G8VCN volunteered to run it. A few members are already calling in although many are only using hand held transceivers or very inefficient aerials which limits who can hear them and who they can hear. However it's early days so hopefully that will improve. If you are able to join in please do, you will be very welcome. Mike is using the Club call-sign G8WQ and the frequency is 145.525 MHz (S21) REPEATER NEWS From the South Dorset Repeater Group The DMR repeater GB7SD has been off the air while a new Internet connection is established to enable it to rejoin the South west Cluster. GB3SD and GB3DR continue to function well. It is hoped to carry out some general maintenance at the Ridgeway site soon, including the replacement of the folded dipole receive aerials.
SOUTH DORSET RADIO SOCIETY 2016/17 Incorporating The Weymouth and District Short Wave Club G3SDS G8WQ G8SDS www.sdrg.co.uk CONTACTS AND INFORMATION (Updated 27/04/17) CHAIRMAN: Ray Coles, M0XDL raycoles96@gmail.com SECRETARY: Carol Hodges, 2E1RBH 2e1rbh@sdrg.co.uk 1a Clements Lane, Chiswell, Portland DT5 1AS TREASURER: John Rose, M0BQO m0bqo@sdrg.co.uk 01305832057 45 Ringstead Crescent, Weymouth, Dorset DT3 6PT Fred Talmage, G0LVF Chris Bagley, G4RSL President: Geoff Watts, G0EVW g0evw@sdrg.co.uk 07840694757 Vice President: Robert Hodges, G0RYL South Dorset Radio Society Website: www.sdrg.co.uk South Dorset Repeater Group Website: www.sdrg.co.uk THE CATSWHISKER Our Society s Newsletter has been called 'The Catswhisker' since its inception. The word is defined thus in the Oxford Concise Dictionary. cat's whisker n. a fine adjustable wire in a crystal radio receiver. the cat's whiskers (or pyjamas) slang an excellent person or thing. NEWSLETTER PRODUCTION The SDRS Newsletter is produced and edited by our President, Geoff Watts, G0EVW. Please send any material for inclusion in Catswhisker to Geoff using e-mail: g0evw@sdrg.co.uk You can also phone or send a text message to Geoff on 07840694757. Please note that news material needs to arrive at least 10-14 days before each meeting. SDRS 2017