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.

First of all I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you and your families a VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY and PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

Well folks another year has gone and here we are starting another brand new year. What does the future hold for us well that is the thousand dollar question?

The club has survived 30 years so far due to all your efforts so let’s keep it up the good work. Remember it is your club.

My new year’s resolutions are to try and get on the air a lot more often that I have been doing, in 2014 the Activity days certainly encouraged me and I was on apart from the days I was working away from home. It was nice to see others taking part and getting on the air so hopefully everyone will continue and of course many others come in and join the day. I must also try and clear some of my outstanding “shack” tasks. Easier said than done with work and so many background tasks that seem to appear and need dealing with, any way I am going to try.

So what happened over the last year…?

BAD and GOOD NEWS

Like in the previous years I am using January’s editorial as an opportunity to recap on the previous year. I will start with the sad news where Ian GM3VEI XYL, Adrian GM0SRD, Cliff G3YOG and Bob GM4FIB all passed away... As always our thoughts will go out to their families particularly at this time of year. If I have missed any one then I do apologise it is not meant.

CLUB ATTENDANCE

The club’s attendances for last year have averaged 13 people at club nights, the same as last year. 39 people have come through the door an increase of 3 on last year. The trend has gone in the right direction and those that were missing it looked like they are maybe no longer interested in the club night hopefully they will return in 2015. It is my dream New Year’s resolution to have many people turn up to our club night, as I say it is a dream. What can we do to encourage further new faces as well as to encourage everyone who has been before to come more often.

The Foundation, Intermediate and Full (Advanced) Courses have certainly created some of the new attendees and long may that continue but a lot of promises of attending have never materialised. I always live in hope that some of the old regulars will return to the fold but we will have to wait and see. I still feel though that we have a very strong and healthy club but as I have said before it is down to you all making it that way.

In general for those who do not attend I keep on asking the question on what is required to make you come along but sadly I cannot find an answer. Are you just fed up? Are you just not interested in what is happening, tell me what needs changing and I will try my best to make it happen? Do you not like the club now, then why not? What has changed your opinion? I am sure there are many more questions that need asking

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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

and answering. From my side of the fence where I spend a huge amount of time to run the radio club and try to create a varied events program plus all the other items that make it a club then the lack of response just feels like a total “kick in the face”. I do certainly get very “down” at times, to say the least and I have on a few occasions felt like throwing the towel in but if I do that then APATHY wins. I do plead with you all to try and take along hard look at what you want out of the club and then act positively to try and achieve that. Apathy is about negative thinking so lets try and turn it around to positive thinking and “buck” the apathy way. POSITIVE THINKING is my New Years Resolution to you all………………………………

TRAINING

From the training aspect once again we have run Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced Courses and since January 2014 to now as I write this, we have taught the following number of candidates 18 Foundation, 14 Intermediate and 17 Advanced. We had the following passes - 16 out of the 18 people taking the Foundation exam, 14 out 14 on the Intermediate exam and 12 out of 15 on the Full (Advanced)

We have the advanced course for the 2014/2015 session starting on the 24th January so I am sure you will go along with me and wish them all the best.

Later on in the year I will be announcing the 2015/2016 program so anybody interested can you or them let me know and I will add them to my “future” lists. For those interested can you get them to contact me direct at bob.gm4uyz@talktalk.net or Tel: 01875 811723, also full details can be found on the club’s website as well. With regard to the site facilities to deliver the training I certainly must thank the Port Seton Community Centre. The centre staff has certainly been very helpful in ensuring that everything runs smoothly for us. I also must really offer a huge thanks to Cambell MM0DXC for invigilating the exams plus all the extra effort and support that he offers as I deliver the courses, to Cephas MM0INS and

Gary MM0FZV who help Cambell invigilate, Tom GM4LRU for the practical on the air sessions and to all the others who have done their part in helping the candidates get their licence

RALLIES

The club members visited the radio rallies at Blackpool, Crianlarich and Galashiels plus I am sure I have missed some others as well

CLUB EVENTS

Moving on and from the official events calendar we started out in February with our annual radio check night by John MM0JXI, a very useful night indeed, nice to see it was well supported and thanks John for your continuing support here. In March we had a talk by Ian Sheffield GM3VEI on “Aurora”, absolutely fascinating to say the least. In April we had a WinTest Training Night giving people the opportunity to learn how to configure the program for a contest plus an opportunity to practice using it. WinTest is the mainstay software logging program used by the club for logging during contests and special events. In October we had a talk by Geoff MM5AHO on “2014 Maritime Adventures”. Geoff covered the normal Lighthouse Weekend plus a Yachting/Running race around the Scottish Islands. The last talk of the year in November was by Gavin Taylor GM0GAV on Mobile Phone Networks. It was poorly supported but for those who did attend found it to be a very interesting and informative talk on how mobile phone networks have evolved over the year from the start to present day.

Lastly in December along with our wife's and partners we went out for a “Christmas Meal this year Italian at the Caprice in Musselburgh. This year was very special night for me in that I received a massive surprise where I was presented with a beautiful engraved crystal bowl along with its stand as a thank you from everyone for what I have done since I started the club back in 1984. To say I was shocked and speechless is an understatement. You are all a really sneaky lot and I don’t know how you managed to keep it a surprise but you did. Seriously though many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart to everyone who contributed

(Continued from page 1)

3

which I understand was from all around the world. Since then I have also many congratulations from lots of people on the clubs facebook page so to everyone I sincerely thank you all. Yvonne my long suffering wife was astounded to also receive a beautiful bouquet of flowers and would like to say many thanks as well…

Our other event was the starting of a weekly Morse training class starting in October which is still running.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Special events this year were our normal Museum of Flight in June using GB2MOF plus our annual lighthouses event at Barns Ness with GB2LBN. Both again were very successful with plans to run them both in 2015. Port Seton Gala we didn’t manage to do as it clashed with Museums on the Air weekend (GB2MOF).

DF NIGHTS

We had two DF nights, one in May and the other in September. Once again they were thoroughly enjoyed by those taking part. Being at two different times of the year where one was done in daylight and the other in darkness certainly added to the events. DF hunting I can tell you is not easy and if you have never done it before why not go out in the 2015 events, I am sure you will enjoy them. The “HYBSZER TROPHY” donated by Ron GM0NTL in memory of the late Bill Gordon GM8ZLI/MM0BXK who died in January 2010, Bill was a keen advocate of our DF Nights, is presented to the winner of each event. The May DF Night the fox was Robin MM0VTV with Cephas MM0INS and Bob GM4IKT the winners. In September the fox was Bob GM4IKT with Cephas MM0INS and Robin MM0VTV the winners. I would like to thank both the foxes for taking on the role and offer congratulations to the winners.

GENERAL OPERATING

This year instead of just the Summer and Winter Solstice Activity Nights I decided to run an Activity Day each month to try to encourage people to come on the air once a month and do some operating. It was generally well supported although I would have liked a few others to have taken part. It is certainly a good bit of fun. I intend running the monthly Activity Days throughout 2015 so again I hope you will support the event.

How have we faired over the year. At the time of writing, the December Activity day has still to take place and if time allows I will submit a report for this newsletter. For those who did not take part, honestly it is just about having a bit of operating fun for a few hours and seeing what you can achieve…. It can be quite surprising.

CONTESTING

On the VHF/UHF contesting front we managed the 6M Trophy and also manage VHF Field Day. The biggest participation by club members was in the VHF Field Day which although hard work is still very enjoyable. This year we once again operated from the site south of Castle Douglas. What a site is all I can say!!!! The results are in and once again we have won the Open Section for Scotland. Well done to all of those who took part. Overall the VHF contesting from a club view point has certainly dropped in volume compared to what we used to do. Robin MM0VTV took part in the 2M PW QRP Contest and he was successful this year as the Leading Scottish station winning the Tennamast trophy. This was presented to the club during our Annual Junk Night in August by Jim Hume MSP (MM0DXH).

On the HF front we took part in the following contests RSGB IOTA and CQWW SSB. The big one being the IOTA contest where again we did it from the Island of Tiree. The results are out and we came 4th in the world in the DX-Peditions section, this again is a fantastic achievement to the club so well done to all of those who took part.

CQWW SSB we took part in from our normal location at Barns Ness Lighthouse, Dunbar. This is a hard contest as it takes its toll on everyone due to its 48 hours duration. This year we decided again to enter the Multi-2 Section which proved beyond doubt that it is the right place for us to be. It is still hard but it is lots of fun and a lot more enjoyable all round... As always we must thank Lafarge Cement for continually supporting us by letting us use the out buildings at the Lighthouse.

JUNK NIGHT

Junk night was once again a resounding success and with the money raised there being put into the club accounts. Although the change in policy there was still a box for British Heart Foundation Donations and from that and other donations throughout the year we still raised £247 making a grand total of £16,235 since we started in December 1993. Well done to everyone in helping raise this sort of money.

NEWSLETTER & WEBSITE

On the newsletter front it is still very much in demand and although copies are handed out at club night there are many, many more downloaded from the club’s website. Many thanks to those who have contributed and I hope you will still continue but as always I am pleading to everyone out there for lots more input as I do need help as I really do struggle each month trying to find and write about interesting articles. Remember the newsletter is everyone’s newsletter and without input it will not survive. Remember also that it offers a window to the outside world showing them what we are doing, etc, etc, so come on can I have some input from you all.

(Continued on page 4)

Club Attire

The club has a design for

Club Tee-shirts, Polo-

shirts, Sweat-Shirts,

Fleeces and Jackets and all

of these can be obtained

from the address below.

When making an order

please quote ‘Cockenzie &

Port Seton Amateur Radio

Club’ as this will ensure

that the Club Logo will be

placed on the required

ordered garments.

If you wish to add your call

-sign to the logo then

please ask at the time of

the order.

Cost will depend on

garment and should cover

the garment and logo, call-

sign addition will be extra.

Order from:

PATRICIA BEWSEY DESIGNS, UNIT 11, FENTON BARNS RETAIL VILLAGE, FENTON BARNS, NORTH BERWICK, EAST LOTHIAN EH39 5BW Tel/Fax: 01620 850788

Mobile: 07970 920431

Please send any articles to John MM0JXI, thanks. For regular paper copy readers you will notice that the newsletter has been printed in colour for quite a long time. Thanks goes out to Cephas MM0INS who does the necessary colour printing for us.

The club’s website I certainly feel is going from strength to strength and is very much a club focal point. After the website being hacked in 2011 John has continually worked hard in the background getting it back to a fantastic website and advert for the club. As always with the website there is continual background work going on as John strives hard to make it even better... Massive thanks to John MM0JXI for all his background hard work in achieving this. I know it involves a lot of John’s free time. The same applies with regard to the newsletter production. From us all John many, many thanks.

CLUB GARMENTS

Lastly as a reminder we have a Club Logo and garments can be obtained from Patricia Bewsey at Fenton Barns. (details in the panel on the left)

CLUB PREMISES

The quest to obtain our own club premises, well we are now nearly seven years into this quest and as yet nothing secured. I must admit it is a harder task than even I first imagined. It is quite frustrating to identify something and then write to the owners and not get any sort of reply. In fact I personally think it is quite rude that they don’t even acknowledge even if the answer is a basic, no. We have not given up hope on this task so if any one does see some opportunity then please let us know and it can be taken from there or why not do a

little bit of groundwork yourself and then let us know.

CLUB ACCOUNTS

A full copy of our 2014 accounts will be included in the newsletter. The way that income is raised is from our Junk Night, donations given at our club nights and events where we need to raise the money to pay the hire of the Community Centre or other items. The club night donation is “would you like to donate £2” is the way it is done or in January you can donate the £24 for the year (helps me enormously). We do not have fixed “Annual Fees” although this has been suggested it doesn’t fit with the club ethos of “willing” to help the club by obliging people to pay a fixed sum of money.

GENERAL

Last January we entered into the RSGB’s Club of the Year competition. The year that was covered was 2013 and once again we were successful with the Trophy being presented by Jason O’Neill, GM7VSB RSGB Region 1 Manager whilst we were at the Museum of Flight We will be submitting an entry this year which covers the 2014 year so fingers crossed.

As you can see 2014 it was quite a busy year all round and I feel there is something for everyone. Now we are in 2015 another events program has been created so why not come along and take part. It is what our club is all about……

Enjoy the newsletter and club night…

Bob GM4UYZ

(Continued from page 3)

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5

December Activity Day – 17th December 2014 00:00 to 23:59

This is our eleventh one of the year... so report below on who

or who didn’t take part

Apologies first:

Bob GM4IKT

I was never on. Had a very busy day yesterday

Cephas MM0INS

Nil return from me I'm afraid...

Jim MM0DXH

No contacts made

Ron GM0NTL

Sri Bob, have now gone QRT until next year sometime.

John MM0SNK

I wasn’t on, I’m afraid. Having radio issues at the moment -

hopefully be getting a new one once the hassle of Christmas is

out of the way…

Sohun MM0SBE

Due to other priorities, I have not been able to play radio as

often as I would have liked hence, not been able to take part

in Activity Days recently. I should have made you aware of my

situation a while back but didn't, I apologise for that. I do

switch on my FT 857 every now and then and make the odd

QSO which I log religiously on QRZ. I hope my situation chang-

es for the better in the future and I can reprioritize. Wishing

you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2015

Colwyn MM0YCJ

Yet again I failed to participate in the activity day on 17th De-

cember. I was flying back from a few days skiing in Austria. A

feeble excuse I agree!

Geoff MM5AHO

No activity here sorry.

Duncan MM0GZZ

Sorry bob was not on

Brian M0RNR

Sorry bob was not on

Reports:

Bob GM4UYZ (15:09 to 19:00))

I managed to get on late afternoon after I came back from

Aberdeen where I had been working. Stopped for tea then

tried 20M again but found it quite dead compared from two

hours previous. Moved down on to 40M and worked a few

contacts before deciding to stop. All my QSO’s were done on

PSK31 as I can drive my radio from the house and do data con-

tacts.

Geoff GM0LOD (10:10)

Abject failure! What with being Santa, visiting Audiology at

Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, grandson sitting there wasn’t a

great deal of time to play radio. I managed a single contact

with GD14YOTA, Castletown IoM at 10.10 on 7.16 MHz His

Locator is IO74qb and mine is IO85mv.

Bob 2M0KLL (03:01 to 15:58)

I did manage some Bob. The conditions were not too great on

any of the bands or times of day/night.

However, for what it’s worth here are my contacts.

Andy MM0GYG

I did manage some Bob as very busy here at the moment. Log

sent attached

It is great to see that there is still at least some interest in the

Activity Days but to honest I thought more would take part. I

know conditions are variable but unless you go on and give it a

try you will never know. Overall the 24 hour time is certainly

helping in the sense that it is not restricted to a few hours as it

is allowing people to come on and take part when time is

available to them. Let’s keep this up as this in my opinion is

what the hobby is all about.

Thanks to the sterling

work by M0RNR, our club

has been added to the

excellent Clublog system

developed by Michael

Wells G7VJR.

www.clublog.org

The system allows mem-

bers to upload their logs

in ADIF format and have

them displayed in a table

with all the other club

members.

Clublog also has great

facilities for tracking your

DXCC status etc. so is well

worth taking the time to

register and get your log

uploaded.

To update your log with

the next set of contacts

(SSB, CW or Data) you can

simply upload your whole

log again and the system

will take care of the dupli-

cates. Alternatively you

can export the bits you

want from your own log

and just upload that.

The tables we’ll publish

here will be the club, fil-

tered by the current year,

so everyone starts a new

year at 0 contacts.

With regard to modes being worked then out

of the 26 QSO’s made: CW = 4, SSB = 3 and

Data = 19. Data Modes seem to be winning

hands down at the moment. Best DX was on

50 watts using CW working W1MK at a dis-

tance of 4937kms on 12M. Made by Bob

2M0KLL...well done Bob With regard the rest

of the QSO’s they were predominantly the

normal European contacts. This being the last

of the 2014 Activity Days I will put a report

together with some statistics to show what

has gone on over the year.

The Activity Days will continue again in 2015

and I hope everyone and even more of you

will at least take part and submit their logs or

even if they don’t make any contacts tell us

about what it was like. After the year hopeful-

ly it will show us propagation trends, etc.

Good DXing in 2015.

Summary of who did what:

Total QSO’s 4 = CW, 3 = SSB, 19 = DATA

Bob 2M0KLL CW: 1 x 10M, 1 x 12M, 1 x 17M,

1 x 40M

SSB: 2 x 12M

Bob GM4UYZ Data: 8 x 20M, 4 x 40M

Geoff GM0LOD SSB: 1 x 40M

Andy MM0GYG Data: 7 x 15M

Thanks to those who came on it was much

appreciated.

Bob GM4UYZ

(Continued from page 5)

6

(1) Date See Dates below

(2) Time 00:00 to 23:59 Local Time

(3) Modes SSB/AM /FM /CW/ Data

(4) Bands 1.8, 3.5, 7, 10, 14, 18, 21, 24, 28, 50, 70, 144 & 432 MHz

(5) Power As per your licence

Full=400W, Intermediate=50W and Founda-tion=10W

(6) Your Locator World Wide Locator (WWL) i.e. IO85MX

(7) Eligible Entrants Open to any one who wishes to take part

(8) Transmit Exchange Report (RST)

(9) Receive Exchange Report plus Contacts WWL

(10) Closing Date Closing Date for the Logs is 5 days after the Month date

(11) Return Logs to Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ, 7 Castle Terrace, Port Seton, Prestonpans, East Lothian,EH32 0EE

Email: gm4uyz@cpsarc.com (12) QSO’s not Eligible Any HF/VHF/UHF QSO’s via a repeater do not

count

7

History:

For a few years we tried running our own “small” contest on

the nearest Wednesday to mid-summers day. We started at

first using 10M but as the sunspot cycle started to fall it was

moved to the 20M band but sadly over the years it was not

really well supported. Many of the comments that came back

after the event are, “it is a “Contest”. Why not change the

event to an Activity Night”? To that end it changed to just that

an Activity Night. Up to 2012 this event was run just at the

Summer Solstice and starting in December 2012 we tried the

same activity at the Winters Solstice. In 2013 we did both the

Summer and Winter Solstice dates. It was interesting to see

the differences. Another change is that it now includes all

Bands from 1.8MHz up to 432MHz to allow those who have no

HF equipment to take part by submitting their VHF/UHF con-

tacts. Developing this activity night further starting in January

2014 it will be run on a monthly basis throughout the year to

try and encourage club members to go on and operate even if

it is just one night a month.

Aim:

The aim of the event is to:

Encourage everyone to operate at least once a month

Go on the air and work as many stations that you can in the

allotted time period

Upload your contacts to Clublog and have them added to the

club’s DXCC table.

Most of all have some fun.!

Using the World Wide Locator (WWL) system as part of the

exchange gives the ability to measure the distance between

your location and the contacts location and it also offers the

challenge to obtain the remote contacts WWL. I have certainly

noticed that over 98% of all QSL cards that I receive have the

stations locator written on the card so obtaining one should,

hopefully be quite easy. Note: I will accept the locator as 4

characters (FN32) if that is what the station gives you but

please try to obtain the full 6 characters as this will give a very

accurate distance. If 4 characters are given I will use the centre

of the square which is LL to make the locator FN32LL

Lastly, we are Radio Amateurs after all and we are supposed to

get on the air and make contacts so come on then let me see

you doing it.

After the Event:

After the event can you send me a copy of your log, example

below so that I can write up some report on what you all man-

aged to achieve plus why not update the ClubLog club tables

and show everyone else what you achieved.

Copy of a blank log (CPSARC ACTIVITY DAY LOG SHEET-ENTRY

FORM) can be downloaded from the clubs website and I would

appreciate if you would use this for your submission:

http://cpsarc.com/downloads/

** Distance between the two stations in Kilometres (Note: Use

the Locator Calculator within the link below to calculate the

distance).

http://home.arcor.de/waldemar.kebsch/

The_Makrothen_Contest/fmaidenhead.html

** If you don’t have the means to calculate the distance please

leave blank.

Look forward to a massive turnout for all the activity days …

Bob GM4UYZ

Date of the Event: xx/xx/2015

Call Sign: GM4UYZ

Name: Bob Glasgow

QSO Band Ant Power (W) Mode Station Wkd Your Locator Their

Locator Distance

Kms Time

1 20 Vert 100 CW AD4J IO85MX EM73VX 6427 15:10

2 20 Vert 100 CW NC4CW IO85MX EM92IC 6408 16:20

3 20 Vert 100 CW WA9MAG IO85MX EN51VS 6020 16:30

8

Club Accounts Year 2014

CLUB EXPENDITURE Total

OUTGOINGS INCOMING

£6,870.58 £6,870.58

Date Action Cheque No: Outgoings Incomings

01/01/2014 Transfer from Year 2013 £5,254.76

10/01/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. £75.00

14/01/2014 RSGB Affiliation Subscription 000400 £51.00

07/02/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. £20.00

21/02/2014 Money Raised Radio Check Night £20.00

01/03/2014 Community Centre Fees..Ext Let - Feb (Radio CN), Mar (Ian Talk), Apr (WinTest) CASH £42.00

07/03/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. £42.00

21/03/2014 Money Raised -- Talk "Aurora" By Ian Sheffield GM3VEI £28.71

28/03/2014 Royal Bank Account -- Interest £0.51

04/04/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. (Jim MM0DXC - 28, John MM0CCC - £68.00

25/04/2014 Money Raised -- WinTEST Night £37.00

02/05/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. (Duncan MM0GZZ - 12) £65.00

09/05/2014 Money Raised DF Night £20.00

06/06/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. (Billy 2M0OAN - 8) £54.00

27/06/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. £12.00

27/06/2014 Royal Bank Account -- Interest £0.65

01/07/2014 GB2MOF QSL Cards purchase (1500) 000401 £49.00

11/07/2014 Kit bought by Martyn MM0XXW Bank Trans £30.00

21/07/2014 Posting Club QSL Cards (GB2MOF & some Others) CASH £12.98

01/08/2014 Derek MM0WST Monthly Standing Order (Aug) Bank Trans £3.00

01/08/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. £14.00

08/08/2014 Kit bought by various people via Geoff MM5AHO £70.00

08/08/2014 Money raised Annual Junk Night £475.10

09/08/2014 Community Centre Fees- Large Hall - Junk Night CASH £78.00

13/08/2014 Chairs CASH £110.35

15/08/2014 Duncan MM0GZZ Repair to lawnmower after cutting Lighthouse Grass CASH £15.00

20/08/2014 Derek MM0WST Monthly Standing Order (Sep) Bank Trans £3.00

04/09/2014 GB2LBN QSL Cards purchase (1600) 000402 £94.00

05/09/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. £26.00

15/09/2014 Royal Bank Account -- Interest £0.65

22/09/2014 Derek MM0WST Monthly Standing Order (Oct) Bank Trans £3.00

26/09/2014 Money Raised DF Night £12.00

02/10/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £12.00

03/10/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. £16.00

06/10/2014 Posting Club QSL Cards (GB2LBN & some Others) CASH £12.98

09/10/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £18.00

16/10/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £18.00

17/10/2014 Money Raised -- Talk "2014 Maritime Adventures" By Geoff Crawley MM5AHO £40.20

18/10/2014 Community Centre Fees - Club Events up to 31/10/2014 CASH £90.00

23/10/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £30.00

06/10/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £12.00

20/10/2014 Derek MM0WST Monthly Standing Order (Nov) Bank Trans £3.00

07/11/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. £18.00

14/11/2014 BT Community Champions (Aug 2014) £230.00

13/11/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £9.00

17/11/2014 Postage for Special Event QSL Card Envelopes for Buro (28 x 2nd Class [20.44]) CASH £20.44

17/11/2014 Storage Fees Towers 3 x £140 CASH £420.00

20/11/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £15.00

20/11/2014 Derek MM0WST Monthly Standing Order (Dec) Bank Trans £3.00

21/11/2014 Money Raised -- Talk "Mobile Phone Networks" By Gavin Taylor GM0GAV £10.00

27/11/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £16.00

04/12/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £17.00

05/12/2014 Money Donated Club Night - Club Insurance, etc. £12.00

11/12/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £15.00

18/12/2014 Money Raised -- Morse Training Night £15.00

18/12/2014 Community Centre Fees - Club Events up to 18/12/2014 CASH £120.00

20/12/2014 Derek MM0WST Monthly Standing Order (Jan) Bank Trans £3.00

20/12/2014 John MM0CCC Club Fees - 2014 £24.00

31/12/2014 Transfer to Year 2015 £5,754.83

9

The six days of Christmas in Oscarecholand (SOTA in The Aus-

trian Tirol and Voralberg)

Christmas skiing trips mean my YL’s family don’t need to spend

time with me, my YL doesn’t need to spend time with my fami-

ly and someone else cooks Christmas dinner! What’s not to

like?

The chalet was in the beautiful and busy ski resort of St Anton

in western Austria and we flew in to Innsbruck courtesy of

Thomson Airlines in the late afternoon for a short coach trans-

fer and a delicious supper courtesy of our chalet host.

Sunday 21st December we were up and out early, enjoying the

limited skiing available; we were on a ski holiday after all. The

first activation was a peak called Galzig (OE/TI-637) an 8 point-

er, plus winter bonus of course, which I found particularly

attractive as it has a big comfortable chairlift all the way up to

the summit, almost. Lunch was sacrificed (by me!) and after

climbing the short distance to the summit cairn I started call-

ing on 20m SSB just after midday local time (11:11 UTC). First

up was SV2HWH, Kostas in Plagiara, Thessaloniki, Macedonia

working QRP; although he still had twice the 5 watts power

output of my FT817 despite the additional AA alkaline batter-

ies! We had a good chat and afterwards a spot got through

giving contact with G6TUH, SP9AMH, G0RQL, G3VXJ, M0MDA,

SP9MA, EB2EZF, EI2FJB, EA2LU, EA2LMI, EA2DT and M0BKV. At

11:37 EA2DXY/P on a peak called Soila (EA2/VI-029) in North-

ern Spain gave a summit-2-summit QSO. Plenty more QSOs

followed with M0IML, GI4ONL, SP8RHP, OH9XX, DJ5AV,

EA2CKX, EA3EGB, PA0INA, G4FGJ, G6WRW, SP9DPM, PE4WJ,

EB1IFK, G4TJC, M3FEH and finally SQ7LQI. I had been on the

summit near the spout of a snow making machine, pointing in

the opposite direction thankfully, so any wind noise on that

particular day was, like the snow, artificial.

Monday 22nd December we were up early again and caught

the cable cars to the main summit above St Anton, Valluga

(OE/TI-109). There is even a small James Bond lift right to the

summit and a convenient viewing platform. Unfortunately the

summit is festooned with huge aerials and dishes so despite

trying both 12m and 20m, the QRM on the summit of Valluga

thwarted my attempt at an activation. There is a small ridge

on the opposite side from the antennae but I was wary of

attempting to climb down in the strong winds and any grip on

the brick hard snow in my ski boots might have been subopti-

mal. Perhaps also the lift attendants might have reasoned

with me that climbing down an ice field with inadequate

equipment was not wise. Thirteen points were at stake but

sometimes you just have to accept the inevitable! The moun-

tains will always be there, the trick is to make sure you are too

(Hervey Voge). However, I had a plan B. To the west of the

resort Pfannenkopf (OE/VB-240) had not been activated and

should be easily accessible from the top of a nearby chair lift.

So it proved and after attaching climbing skins to my skis I was

quickly on the summit just after midday while the YL went for

lunch. PD7RF got me started followed by SV2OXS, PA2CVD,

G6TUH, G0RQL, EA2DT, G4OBK, F5UBH, CT1HIX, EA2LU,

G4WSB, M0IML, M0MDA, EB2CZF, GW4CQZ, G0TRB, YO2BP,

G6ODU, EA1DFP, EA1LQ, PA0B, G0ODR, EI9GLB, GM0AXY (Ken

back home in Edinburgh), and PA1CW.

Tuesday 23rd December was a fine day, though windy, and we

travelled by the excellent postbus service the short distance to

the Voralberg region and the postcard village of Lech. OE/VB-

207 (Zuger Hochlicht) a 10 pointer was the first target with an

uphill skiing approach of about an hour from the nearest open

lift. I was enjoying the ascent and was admiring the sublime

view while the YL stopped to attach ski crampons as the crust

of hard snow was proving difficult; my substantial extra weight

meant I was able to break through for the climbing skins to

grip. She had deftly attached the crampons, put her skis back

on and, as is usual stamped the skis a few times to check eve-

rything was working properly. We were on the lee side of the

(Continued on page 10)

summit where the wind driven snow had collected over the

last two days. Horror is the only word I can use to describe

my view as the full thickness windslab avalanche slid off down

the hill. Luckily we were both just to the side of the fall and

aside from the feeling of helplessness and the absolute stun-

ning power of tons of falling snow, we were fine. Uphill ski

tracks usually zig zag as the gradient you can climb is limited,

and I had zigged right where the 1 metre high crown wall of

the avalanche had fallen. Lucky or experience, whatever? If I

had zagged and carried on I would have triggered the ava-

lanche and been swept away. Who says SOTA isn’t exciting!

After settling our breathing and heart rates we carried on and

shortly reached the safety of the small, but windy summit.

There is an old hut up there and a short ladder for the final

climb to the diminutive space, which was too small to rig the

20m inverted-V dipole; I wasn’t going anywhere near the

edge! So I used the much shorter 12m one I carried as a spare

and had made for the 12m SOTA challenge earlier in the

year. Calling at 10:21 UTC I spoke with Alan; GI0OTC, then

CT2KCG, UX7VA and EA1LQ. We didn't linger on the top and

had a nice ski down to the patrolled ski area, with a stop to

admire the chaotic jumble of avalanched snow slabs which

was now solid. In the early afternoon I was able to activate

the nearby OE/VB-299 (Kriegerhorn) which is accessible by

chairlift. SV2OXS was kind enough to spot me and I spoke

with EA2DT, G0RQL, G0TRB, SP8RHP, M0IBC, M3FEH, G4WSB,

EA2DXY, YO2MSB, EA2CKX and G6PRL. Later I decide to have

an alcohol free evening.

Christmas Eve, (Wednesday 24th December, for those in any

doubt!) Was another fine day and, despite the excitement of

the previous day we travelled back to Voralberg and the vil-

lage of Lech. I activated OE/VB-216 (Rüfikopf) which was

again strangely attractive by virtue of the cable car almost to

the top. It involved a small trek to get to the true summit and

Manuel (EA2DT) was first to respond on 20m. He was kind

enough to spot me and QSOs resulted with EA2CKX, ON5SWA,

G4EOW, G6TUH, CU3BL, PE1RMO, G0RQL, G8AUN, EA4ZK,

DJ5AV, EA2IF, G8ADD, SP9AMH, EB2JU, M3FEH, G4OBK and

F4FWO. In the afternoon we devoted ourselves to skiing in

some excellent snow above the village of Zurs.

Thursday 25th December dawned with an over cast sky and a

worsening forecast. Santa had brought new ski socks and ski

poles which we were keen to try. But would anyone be on air

on Christmas day? Anyway, I decided to take the kit which is

lightweight, I needn’t have worried. After a very festive

breakfast, which included Bucks Fizz; carefully titrated to

make me festive, but to avoid any loss of visual acuity or ap-

preciation of safety. The YL and I set off to Kapall (OE/TI-325)

directly above St Anton. This is not a logistically challenging

summit as the chairlift takes you to within 50m of the summit.

The Christmas blizzard was more problematic but I was able to

set up the 20m dipole and dig a comfortable snowhole shel-

tered from the worst of the wind. The YL was drinking coffee

in the nearby restaurant. Once ensconced in the makeshift

shack and sitting on my rucksack and radio bag to add to the

inadequate insulated foam mat, I started calling at around

10:09 (09:09UTC). EA2DT (Manuel) answered my CQ call, and

I had a busy activation! PA7ZEE (Geert), SV3IEG (Dinas),

G0RQL (Don), YO2LIW, EA2CKX, M0MDA, G8ADD, HA5LV,

SQ9JQL (Tomas), SP8RHP, G4OBK, EU2MM, G0VOF, OM3CHR,

9A2AA, G0VWP, ON5SWA, EA7PY, OH9XX, SP9AMH, GW4VPX,

EA2ECA. Then a summit-2-summit contact; on Christmas day!

So my madness is not unique! GW4WSB/P was on GW/SW-

002. Despite my excellent skiing gear I was getting pretty cold

by now and the snowhole was steadily filling with drifting

snow. Condensation from my breath was freezing on the out-

side of the microphone blocking the grill, but didn’t seem to

be affecting my signal reports. G4TJC, 2W0KGQ, GW4CQZ,

SQ8KFH, ON7KJW, F4FWO, M3FEH, PA0B, I0KHY, PA3ABR,

EB2CZF, DJ5AV from Mainz and EB1IFK. A final call brought no

replies so I packed the electronics then found that the blizzard

had worsened when I emerged from the snowhole. Not cer-

tain what had kept the aerial upright either? We skied further

down the hill but finished early to dress for the excellent

Christmas dinner that evening.

On boxing day the winds and drifting snow had closed all of

the upper slopes so we skied the fresh snow back down to the

village on the lower slopes, ending my six radio days of Christ-

mas.

Colwyn MM0YCJ

(Continued from page 9)

10

11

Below is our entry to the RSGB for the 2014 RSGB Club of the

Year with many thanks to Geoff MM5AHO who has compiled

our entry and to John MM0JXI for its proof reading. I think you

will agree with me that it is quite amazing what we achieve in

a year. Well done everyone... Bob GM4UYZ

As it celebrates its 30th anniversary, CPSARC has achieved

much to look back on, but looking forward to much more.

Structured in a very informal manner, without officers, formal

membership or other sometimes “club throttling” bureaucra-

cy, the club maintains its health more along family lines with

transparent affairs, and active encouragement of youngsters.

An extensive inventory of rigs, antennae, towers and other

equipment has been accumulated over years to enable the

club to successfully participate in both RSGB and other activi-

ties.

Age Profile and Membership

The club has a diverse but informal membership with a range

from 8 years and 79 years. A good mix of ages participate in

most events, with several who started as teenagers and now

as young adults are gradually becoming the mainstay of activi-

ties, while those growing older do as they are able.

With a wider geographic spread than might be expected for an

essentially local club, members range from Newcastle to Glas-

gow, Western Scotland and further north. Most members are

from the East Lothian area, and many activities are based

there though travelling to contesting locations all round Scot-

land has always been successfully pursued.

Training

The club has always been very active in training and licensing.

As in most years 2014 again saw a course for each level of li-

cense, and a special arrangement to support those undertak-

ing self-training. Also, as in previous years, candidates have

come from near and far, some travelling 30 miles and more to

attend classes.

To encourage newly licensed members, training activities such

as the WinTest Users training day, the CW classes (held both in

class and on air), and the “Left Handed Capacitor” trophy, only

for 1st year licensees and is an activity-based award.

New licensees are strongly encouraged in contesting and spe-

cial events stations as a means to hone their operating skills,

and some of younger members have become very competent.

A scorecard record, keeps a tally of members activity through

each year to encourage DXing. During 2014, 49 keen learners

received licensing training from the club, with 40 of them pass-

ing several of the three levels.

Training doesn’t stop for other members though, with usually

three of the monthly meetings dedicated to an educational

talk for all, such as this year’s Mobile phone technology, and

one on Aurora working.

Spectrum Use

Members are active from LF through to UHF. VHF Field day is

one of our best attended contests, but behind the scenes

members continue experimenting on LF with contacts across

Scotland and beyond. An in-club monthly activity day encour-

ages use of all bands with some competitive element to gather

more interest. VHF field day is the major club activity for the

VHF area, though DF nights have brought out some interesting

new antennas for 2m. HF activity is the mainstay of activity

with contesting, special events and activity days all in that part

of the spectrum.

Outreach and Promotion

The club is a social one as well as a technical and competitive

one. Attending the other rallies as far south as Blackpool, run-

ning its own annual Junk Sale, and with several purely social

activities annually, the club makes solid efforts to attract new

members to the hobby. Special event stations are run several

times a year, in public places where all interested are invited

to participate. The most popular one is activating GB2MOF

during Museums on the Air from the Museum of Flight at East

Fortune, where in 2014, museum visitors gathered round to

see what was happening, and members were on hand to ex-

plain what the operators were doing. Lighthouses on the Air is

another event that attracts many of the walkers on the seaside

walking paths near the lighthouse used with cooperation from

a nearby company that owns it.

The Commonwealth Games station GA14CG, mounted by the

(Continued on page 12)

12

Stirling Club was supported by members helping to operate

the multiple stations that Stirling ambitiously but successfully

operated.

The club has long been a supporter of the British Heart Foun-

dation and every year donates a portion of income to this

worthy cause.

The club’s website receives >27,000 visits a year, and from

the forum traffic and interest in sale items, a wide UK follow-

ing seems apparent. Some of the new members have been

attracted this way, and it continues to be the major means of

communication with current and prospective members.

International Amateur Radio Day in April 2014 was a well

attended special activity.

Contesting and Activity

Recognising this as a valuable training tool, the club encour-

ages less experienced members to join its contesting activity.

VHF field day, IOTA, 6m Trophy, 2m QRP, and CQWW were

all entered, using mixed ability teams, but gaining creditable

results.

Monthly Activity nights have proved popular with the Winter

Solstice being quite different from the Summer Solstice. DF

nights are well received, and lots of fun for those partici-

pating in the twice yearly event.

In this its 30th year, CPSARC has arranged a special 30 Year

Challenge activity. Spread over 30 weeks, the aim is to work

30 stations on a band and gain the maximum cumulative dis-

tance. Multiple entries were encouraged, and many of the

club members participated.

In summary, the CPSARC is an active RSGB affiliated club,

which though having a non-traditional structure, is effective

and healthy. Active training and examining of newcomers

ensures new blood is always flowing. Regular activity ensures

the membership see value in the club.

Compiled by Geoff Crowley, MM5AHO

It is declared that the above is a true account of the activities

of CPSARC for 2014.

John Innes, MM0JXI

Robert Glasgow, GM4UYZ

Bob GM4UYZ being presented with the trophy

for CPSARC winning the 2014 RSGB Region 1 Club

of the Year

13

This was a new venture for 2014 moving away from our sum-

mer and winter solstice activity days. The change from just

being an evening event to a 24 hour event also allowed people

to take part when time suited their circumstances and it seems

to have worked.

The real aim of this move to monthly Activity Days was to try

and encourage people to make the time and actually go on the

air and do some operating, as mentioned before we are “Radio

Amateurs” and the function of that is to make “On-Air” con-

tacts. I know personally if has certainly encouraged me and I

managed 10 months out of the 12 to get on the air. The two

that I missed was due to work reasons where I was working

away from home.

I know John MM0JXI will love me with the next bits and pieces

as they are tables, sorry John but I think they tell the story

rather than me trying to explain it all…………

Below is a list of everyone who took part and I am most thank-

ful to you all. Some managed to make quite a few contacts and

others very few but at least they went on the air. The Activity

Days are being run once again in 2015 so hopefully many more

of you will take part.

NAME No. JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Total

Bob GM4UYZ 1 X X X X X X X X o o X X 10

Alan MM0WXT 2 X o o o X o o o o o o o 2

Andy MM0GYG 3 X X X o X X X X X X o X 9

Bob GM4IKT 4 X o o o o o o o X o o o 2

Tom GM4LRU 5 X o o o o o o o o o o o 1

Chris 2M0YSR/MM0YAB 6 X o X o X o o o o o o o 3

Jamie MM0JMI 7 X o X o X o o o o o o o 3

Jim MM0DXH 8 o X o X o o X o o o o o 3

Martyn MM0XXW 9 o X X o X o X o X X X o 7

Billy 2M0YLA/MM0MLD 10 o X o X o o o X o X o o 4

Duncan MM0GZZ 11 o o X X X o X X o X o o 6

Colwyn MM0YCJ 12 o o X o o X o o o o o o 2

Bob 2M0KLL 13 o o X o o o X X X o o X 5

John MM0SNK 14 o o X o o o o o o o o o 1

Sean MM0SRY 15 o o X o X o o X o o X o 4

Ron GM0NTL 16 o o o X X X X X X o o o 6

Sohun MM0SBE 17 o o o X X o o o o o o o 2

Cephas MM0INS 18 o o o X o X o X o o o o 3

Geoff MM5AHO 19 o o o X o o X o o o o o 2

Brian M0RNR 20 o o o o X o o o o o o o 1

Alisdair MM0XAB 21 o o o o X o o X o o o o 2

Martin 2M0BEC 22 o o o o o o o o X o o o 1

Geoff GM0LOD 23 o o o o o o o o o o o X 1

Stations On the Air 7 5 10 8 12 5 8 9 6 4 3 3 80

QSO's Made Each Month 36 108 142 135 88 34 60 54 55 43 31 26 812

The following are some statistics on Bands and Modes worked. There is no doubt about it that the data modes are the pre-dominant mode and I reckon it is because the amount of activity with the different data modes compared to SSB and CW. Per-sonally I have done more data but the reason is that I can control my radio remotely and send data whereas I would have to be physically at my radio to do CW or SSB. I wouldn’t say it is my favourite mode but it has been a challenge getting it up and running remotely and I suppose that is what Amateur Radio is all about with regard to experimenting. QSO’s/BAND

As I expected the main bands of operation were 20M, 15M and 40M which will become more prominent as the Sunspot Cycle diminishes. Great to see some activity on 10M plus the WARC Bands and for me they are bands I tend to forget about so may-be in 2015 I need to look at them as well. QSO’s/MODE The following tables have been broken down into the separate months for the different modes. I did not include the table that I had produced for any AM contacts and the reason being that none were made. Over the year there were a total of 185 SSB contacts, 135 CW Contacts, 436 Data Contacts (All data modes) and 6 FM Contacts.

That is the summary for our Activity Days in 2014 and I hope you will all take part in 2015. Thanks again to all who took part and I hope you will continue into 2015. Bob GM4UYZ

14

MONTH MODE BANDS Totals for

Year ALL YEAR

ALL 1.8 3.5 7 10 14 18 21 24 28 50 70 144 432

BAND TOTALS 0 48 129 81 254 27 163 52 52 0 0 5 1 812

MNTH MODE BANDS Totals

per Month 1.8 3.5 7 10 14 18 21 24 28 50 70 144 432

Jan SSB 0 0 3 0 2 2 7 0 4 0 0 0 0 18

Feb SSB 0 0 5 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 11

Mar SSB 0 0 8 0 21 0 2 5 1 0 0 0 0 37

April SSB 0 12 17 0 7 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 43

May SSB 0 0 2 0 3 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 17

June SSB 0 0 5 0 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 12

July SSB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Aug SSB 0 0 4 0 12 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17

Sep SSB 0 0 0 0 6 4 3 0 6 0 0 0 0 19

Oct SSB 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6

Nov SSB 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

Dec SSB 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3

BAND TOTALS 0 12 49 0 65 15 26 7 11 0 0 0 0 185

15

MONTH MODE BANDS

Totals per Month 1.8 3.5 7 10 14 18 21 24 28 50 70 144 432

January CW 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

February CW 0 0 5 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 10

March CW 0 35 2 0 4 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 46

April CW 0 0 11 0 9 4 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 56

May CW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

June CW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

July CW 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4

August CW 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

September CW 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 6

October CW 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

November CW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

December CW 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4

BAND TOTALS 0 36 25 0 20 8 40 3 3 0 0 0 0 135

MONTH MODE BANDS

Totals per Month 1.8 3.5 7 10 14 18 21 24 28 50 70 144 432

January DATA 0 0 7 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 12

February DATA 0 0 9 23 14 0 8 14 19 0 0 0 0 87

March DATA 0 0 0 14 8 0 13 13 11 0 0 0 0 59

April DATA 0 0 0 19 1 0 15 0 1 0 0 0 0 36

May DATA 0 0 0 0 43 3 19 3 3 0 0 0 0 71

June DATA 0 0 0 0 21 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 22

July DATA 0 0 10 21 20 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 54

August DATA 0 0 2 4 27 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 35

September DATA 0 0 4 0 6 0 8 8 4 0 0 0 0 30

October DATA 0 0 12 0 9 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 32

November DATA 0 0 7 0 10 0 8 4 0 0 0 0 0 29

December DATA 0 0 4 0 8 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 19

BAND TOTALS 0 0 55 81 169 4 97 42 38 0 0 0 0 486

MONTH MODE BANDS

Totals per Month 1.8 3.5 7 10 14 18 21 24 28 50 70 144 432

January FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 4

February FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

March FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

April FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

May FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

June FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

July FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2

August FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

September FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

October FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

November FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

December FM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

BAND TOTALS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 6

16

MASSIVE THANKYOU

It was our Christmas Night out on Saturday the 13th December which we held in the Caprice Italian Restaurant in Musselburgh.

Must admit it was a great meal with great company. Apologies though to KeithMM0KTC and his wife Fiona for not thinking about

the actual location and the difficulties that it caused due to his infirmity and which meant they couldn’t attend, really sorry

What the big thank you is for is the fantastic surprise that you all gave me.

See CPSARC on facebook for the pictures

https://www.facebook.com/cpsarc/posts/10152422864676813?comment_id=10152422877276813&offset=0&total_comments=1

What a surprise it was and I am still speechless and you know that isn't me...Just managed to keep the tears in .To say I am

shocked is an understatement and I still can't stop thinking about what you all done. Not sure how it was managed without me

knowing but you are all a sneaky lot.....

The club is not just about me it is about everyone as we all play a part in making it what it is today so a huge thanks from me for

that.

I really thank you all from the "bottom of my heart" for what you all did. You know me I find it difficult to put the right words togeth-

er to really express how I feel but I am sure you all know.

Thanks

Bob GM4UYZ

17

1. The ratio between the input signal that can just be heard on a receiver and the signal level at which it overloads is known as the receiver's

a. dynamic range

b. overload margin

c. receive threshold

d. noise factor.

2. In a double conversion superheterodyne receiver the func-tion of the first mixer is to

a. demodulate CW or SSB signals

b. convert radio frequency signals into intermediate frequency signals

c. convert intermediate frequency signals into audio frequency signals

d. produce a signal that is separated from the wanted frequency by the intermediate frequency.

3. A receiver with an RF front-end dynamic range of 100dB has a preamplifier added with gain of 20dB and a dynamic range of 110dB. The dynamic range of the combined receiving system is

a. increased to 110dB

b. increased to 120dB

c. remain at 100dB

d. decreased to 80dB

4. The image frequency in a superhet radio receiver is that fre-quency which

a. will also mix with the local oscillator signal to produce a result-ant on the intermediate frequency

b. differs from the wanted signal by an amount equal to the intermediate frequency and can be either above or below the wanted frequency

c. is on the opposite side (of the wanted frequency) to the inter-mediate frequency and of equal frequency separation

d. is twice the difference between the wanted frequency and the intermediate frequency.

5. A purpose of AGC is to

a. ensure that the RF stage of the receiver is not damaged by excessive input

b. ensure that the AF stage of the receiver is not damaged by excessive output

c. enable the receiver to compensate for varying signals

d. enable the receiver to maintain a constant S meter reading.

6. The RIT control on a radio transceiver

a. tunes the receiver independently of the transmitter

b. tunes the transmitter independently of the receiver

c. is only used during Morse code reception

d. is only used when transmitting FM

7. A waveguide may be chosen instead of coaxial cable when the

a. frequency is so high that the losses in coaxial cable are far higher than those in a waveguide

b. wavelength is such that it is significantly greater than the di-ameter of the coaxial cable

c. standing wave ratio is too high for coaxial cables

d. frequency is sufficiently low that a waveguide connection will be far more efficient in handling the power.

8. The feed impedance of a half-wave dipole is approximately 75Ώ. A folded dipole for the same frequency will have a feed imped-ance of approximately

a. 37Ώ

b. 75Ώ

c. 150Ώ

d. 300Ώ

9. The capacitor in the trap of a trapped dipole antenna has become disconnected. What effect, if any, will this have?

a. Difficulty will be experience in achieving a match on the lower of the two designed frequencies.

b. Difficulty will be experienced in achieving a match on the high-er of the two designed frequencies.

c. Difficulty will be experienced in achieving a match on both of the designed frequencies.

d. No effect will be readily apparent.

10. The sum of the forward and reverse signal voltages on a feeder, divided by their difference, is known as the

a. standing wave ratio

b. maximum working voltage

c. vector sum

d. return loss.

General correspondence,

training and contest

entries

Bob Glasgow

7 Castle Terrace

Port Seton

East Lothian

EH32 0EE

Phone: 01875 811723

E-mail:

gm4uyz@cpsarc.com

HF Contests

Cambell Stevenson

mm0dxc@aol.com

VHF Contests

John MacLean

mm0ccc@cpsarc.com

Club Tables

Bob Purves

gm4ikt@cpsarc.com

Contest Reports

Robin Farrer

mm0vtv@cpsarc.com

Newsletter, website,

event calendar

John Innes

newsletter@cpsarc.com

9 January 2015 Club Night (2nd Friday in January)

31 January 2015 Newsletter Deadline

6 February 2015 Club Night

28 February 2015 Newsletter Deadline

6 March 2015 Club Night

28 March 2015 Newsletter Deadline

3 April 2015 Club Night

11 April 2015 GMDX Convention

18 April 2015 International Amateur Radio Day

1 May 2015 Club Night

8 May 2015 1st 144MHz DF Night

Answers from January 2015 newsletter “Test Your Knowledge”.

1A, 2B, 3D, 4C, 5C, 6A, 7A, 8D, 9B, 10A

Table extracted 5 January 2015

This is the final table for 2014 and I’m delight-

ed to announce that Gordon MM0GPZ is the

overall winner for 2014 with honourable men-

tions for M0RNR, MA0DXH and MM0GZZ

The table now resets for 2015 and everyone

starts at 0 again. Please join in by uploading

your log to Clublog and joining the CPSARC

league.

Rank Callsign 160 80 60 40 30 20 17 15 12 10 6 DXCC Slots Range

1 MM0GPZ 26 48 0 26 10 99 54 99 40 126 35 218 563 9 yrs

2 GM2T 49 71 0 91 0 127 0 125 0 124 36 158 623 15 yrs

3 M0RNR 0 0 0 6 1 24 19 33 9 124 4 154 220 15 yrs

4 MA0DXH 0 2 0 68 0 98 17 81 1 41 0 146 308 5 yrs

5 MM0GZZ 0 6 0 50 42 74 80 38 1 71 24 135 386 5 yrs

6 MM2N 26 35 0 7 0 50 0 71 1 93 0 111 283 2 yrs

7 GM4IKT 0 0 0 0 0 35 11 50 0 59 0 108 155 10 yrs

8 MM0INS 0 8 0 61 0 56 41 80 0 13 10 107 269 2 yrs

9 2M0BEC 0 5 0 33 0 67 19 41 17 51 0 105 233 8 yrs

10 MM0XXW 0 0 0 44 32 59 38 50 44 61 2 90 330 8 yrs

11 GM2Y 0 9 0 40 0 47 0 57 0 28 0 79 181 4 yrs

12 MM0XAB 0 0 0 1 0 9 2 31 8 50 1 74 102 1 yrs

13 GB2LBN 0 0 0 23 0 45 0 29 0 0 0 63 97 19 yrs

14 GM4UYZ 0 6 0 4 0 35 1 35 0 26 0 61 107 34 yrs

15 GB2MOF 0 0 0 12 0 49 0 18 0 0 0 58 79 13 yrs

16 MM5AHO 0 14 0 44 0 21 0 1 1 7 0 47 88 19 yrs

17 MM0DXH 0 1 0 26 0 17 4 6 1 8 0 44 63 11 yrs

18 MM0WXT 0 0 0 7 0 19 4 21 0 6 0 35 57 0 yrs

19 2M0TXK 0 0 0 2 0 13 0 0 1 1 0 16 17 0 yrs

20 MM0CPS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 9 12 12 16 yrs