Weston super Mare Radio Society

Well it was great for the Club to take part in National Field Day again after an absence due to Royal celebrations last year.

A change in the RSGB rules allowed us to set up 48 hours in advance rather than the what has always been 24.

This fitted in well because due to shortage of towing vehicles we were able to call on the services of Barry M0JOG who was only available on the Friday.

Thanks to Tony G4KMB a suitable field for operation located at Loxton was acquisitioned from a farmer friend of his.

With “failure to plan is planning to fail” in mind, Warren M7RVD, Tony and myself visited Loxton on Wednesday and chose where in the field it would be best to site the caravan bearing in mind the request from the farmer not to destroy too much of his grass !

So with that in mind we picked a suitable spot by the hedge after dismissing the other entrance to the field which had poor access due to being overgrown. 

I already had the club’s Icom IC 7300 in my possessing having previously used it last weekend at WarAG Westonzoyland,

I was taking my “military” pump up mast. Morse key, cables, tools and all the rest of the paraphernalia that I deemed was necessary from previous experience.

Peter G3TJE with his amazing CW skills,  confirmed his attendance along the Club’s laptop computer for logging.

Dan M0WKS confirmed he would be in attendance with the Club’s generator which he has been fully overhauled and serviced by him and seems to be running on fresh air rather than petrol !

On Friday Barry collected our Caravan from Lyns at Clevedon and with myself as escort, we drove to Loxton and positioned the caravan in the field by the hedge.

Soon after our arrival at the field Warren arrived with his Motorhome. 

I can’t actually remember the order in which other Club members arrived but we were soon set up and ready for the Saturday 1600 hours “ key off”. Well it was kick off day at Wembley as well.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the event so enjoyable and successful. 

Special thanks go to Warren M7RVD and his XYL Dotty. Warren spent the whole weekend at the site, sleeping at the site overnight and keeping his eye on the caravan etc.

Warren and Dotty ( Dianna ) provided superb catering facilities cooking “hot dogs” for us all on Saturday pm and making us endless cups of tea and coffee throughout. 

Dan set up a station on VHF so we could keep in touch locally and a secondary hf endfed antenna which actually worked better on the higher bands than the main one !

But don’t tell anyone as we were only allowed one antenna ! 

I don’t want to miss anyone out, as everyone who came played a very important part, so many thanks to you all, but again special thanks go to Barry for picking up and returning the caravan on Sunday.

Oh and of course must not forget Steve and Alison who turned up with a dozen ice creams for us all as well ! 

Great to see Paul G3SDH. Thanks for staying past midnight on Saturday John G4GAU and then having to drive back to north Bristol. 

On Sunday we had a visit by G3RKF who with his XYL was on holiday in Weston. Certainly made G4KMB Tony’s weekend as they hadn’t met each other for 60 years since being at Brunel Radio College in Bristol. 

Thanks to Peter, Warren, Tony, John (and myself ) who operated and managed between us to make a score of 414 contacts. 

A great successful weekend. 

73 

Dave

G4CXQ

Chairman

A/Secretary post vacant

A/ Treasure post vacant

Dear members

Being keen members of the Radio Society you will know that this coming Saturday is “International Marconi Day”, and the day we have our annual expedition to the Fort at the end of Brean Down to participate in the celebration of the birth of Guglielmo Marconi on the 25^th April 1874.

We will be meeting by the Car Park/Cafe area at 10am and driving two or three vehicles to the Fort. Once set up we will be operational using the callsign GB0IMD, using mostly CW with maybe a splattering of SSB !

Look forward to seeing you on Saturday. Should you like a lift to the end and there’s room, be there at 10am, but it is a pleasant walk along the Down should you wish to come along later during the day.

73

Dave

G4CXQ

07871034206

GB0IMD - Callsign Lookup by QRZ Ham Radio

Weston Mercury article 23rd February 2023.

THE Weston-super-Mare Radio Society has recently celebrated its 100th anniversary.

On January 3, 1923, the society held its inaugural meeting.

From that point on, members pledged to understand radio transmissions, brainstorming new technologies and uses of radio to benefit local people.

This is a sentiment that current members now carry with them into modern day. As stated on their website, the group undertakes challenges and competitions to test themselves and learn from one another.

This includes:

• An 80 metre Club Championship Contest - CW - February 23.
• National CW Field Day (NFD) - June 3.

The society meets every Monday evening at the Weston-super-Mare Social Club on Devonshire Road.

New members who have an interest in amateur radio are welcome to join.

You can drop in to any Monday evening meeting or, if you would prefer, you can email westonradiosociety@gmail.com or call 07871034206 to register your interest in joining the society.