FOUNDATION COURSE TO START SOON

We have limited places available on our final Foundation Course for 2010.

The Club will be running a Foundation Licence Course starting on Friday August 6th at 18:30pm. It will then be held on alternating Friday evenings with an expected Examination date in late September 2010.


We have limited places available so early registration is advised. The Society meet at Hirwaun YMCA, Manchester Place, Hirwaun. For further details please contact the Club Secretary Dean on 01685 883706.

Congratulations !!

Congratulations to Steve -2W0KED(Ex-MW6KED), Mark - 2W0TMB(Ex-MW6KAC) and Dai - MW6KDA on their recent success in passing their relevant courses.Thanks to course tutors Paul - GW0JTY and Peter - GW0UHO for their continued hard work and dedication.The club has been in existence for only 16 months and it has already helped fifteen successful pass results with an overall pass rate of 92%.

It's IOTA Contest weekend

This weekend is the RSGB IOTA Contest.

The contest runs from noon UTC on Saturday to the same time on Sunday, and operation is in the 3.5, 7, 14, 21 and 28MHz bands.
Many clubs and individuals will be activating islands around the world, some of which are rarely heard on the air.
Don't forget that all radio amateurs on the British Isles are automatically operating from an island, so will be keenly sought by others overseas.
Full details are at www.iotacontest.com.

HAVE U HEARD THE WHISPER?

Several members have recently started using  WSPR (pronounced "whisper")and stands for "Weak Signal Propagation Reporter. Power levels of around 5 watts has seen members have their signals received as far away as Australia, Argentina, India and West Coast USA and similarly on the the receive side with stations from all around the globe being heard

It has been designed by Joe Taylor (K1JT) . WSPR signals convey a callsign, Maidenhead grid locator, and power level using a compressed data format.and is in USB format

Receiving stations with internet access may automatically upload reception reports to a central
database. If you would like to try WSPR it can be downloaded free of charge CLICK HERE for download page

Here is a typical screen shot of the software showing the signals received in the waterfall at the top and the decoded stations callsigns in the box below it An the below image shows a map of stations received and heard over a short period of time at my QTH. Click on images for larger  shots.

100% Exam Success!

Well done to the guys who gained passes in last nights examinations.

The club are pleased to announce that they maintained their very high pass rate of students taking both the Foundation and Intermediate Examinations. Congratulations to David Henderson from Tonypandy in gaining his Foundation Licence and also too Mark Woodington and Steve Kedward for progressing on to their Intermediate Callsign. Thanks also to the hardworking Tutors Peter-GWOUHO and Paul-GWOJTY and invigilators Bernard-GW4ZUJ and Baz-2W0PTT
 More photos can be viewed on the Aberdare & District Amateur Radio Club website at  www.radioclubs.net/aadars

Rhondda Dai receiving his pass certificate

Mark receiving his Intermediate Pass

Amendments to Club Meetings

These are the dates of the next few meetings. The major change is the meeting scheduled for Friday August 20th has now been brought forward a week to Friday August 13th because original meeting clashes with the "International Lighthouse Weekend"

Meetings are held fortnightly  between 6pm-9:30pm. New members are always welcome and refreshments are available. Prospective members who are considering joining the club get their first three visits free of charge then Membership becomes due

Current fees are £10 per year until July 31st and £5 after that date, Contributions are then £2 per meeting and we also have a voluntary bonus ball feature at £1 per week with cash prizes to be won. Under 16's No Charge.

Friday July 23rd - Club Meeting/Foundation/Intermediate Examinations

Friday August 6th - "GC3ASW New Club Callsign on Air Night"

Friday August 13th - Revision Night and Final Planning for Lighthouse Weekend

Friday August 27th - Shack Improvement and Foundation Revision Night

Generic Club Card - NEW!

After some alterations the order for the new generic club QSL card has now been placed. We have 1000 cards on order and they will be available at a cost of £2.50 per 50 or £4.50 per 100 to all club members. Below are both the front and back images. Please click on image for a Full size Preview. These cards are aimed at members who may not have the need to order 1000 cards of their own and this way they can adapt them with their own callsign by either placing their own callsign sticker on either front or back of the card or both for that matter.   

NEW FACE AT THE CLUB!

May I take this opportunity to welcome a new face to club, its been a long time im coming so please put your "Hands" together and welcome the new "Club Clock". Many thanks to Baz - 2W0PTT for his hard work. Please no jokes regarding this as we feel the timing is not right.

International Lighthouse Weekend - August 21st/22nd

The INTERNATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE/LIGHTSHIP WEEKEND will take place over the weekend 21st-22nd AUGUST 2010. The club will be activating Nash Point Lighthouse which is situated in the Vale Of Glamorgan.

We will be using the callsign GB4NPL and further details can be found on www.qrz.com. QSL Manager is 2W0XTP or MW0TTR

Nash Point Lighthouse was the last manned lighthouse in Wales. Since 1998 it has been automatically operated and is monitored by Trinity House's Control Centre at Harwich.

MC0TTR/P

Several Club members took advantage of the beautiful weather this morning and took the opportunity to set up a Portable Station for a few hours. Please click on images for larger versions.

Examination Centre

After a recent inspection by the RSGB I am pleased to announce that the premises we currently use at Hirwaun YMCA have been granted Examination Centre status. We fulfilled all the requirements necessary and examinations for all levels of the Amateur Radio Licence can now be taken at the venue. The Examination Centre number is  MG462/B. Our previous premises at 254 Squadron ATC also retains its licence and is MG462/A. 

Bunker Hunting

Slightly off topic but after a discussion regarding "The Battle Of Britain"the other evening we got a bid sidetracked and we eventually ended up discussing Royal Observer Corps Bunkers that were used in the  1950/60's.in anticipation of the "Cold War"
To cut a story a short we found out that were quite a few in the locality and we ended up visiting the location of one in Hirwaun and one in Mountain Ash. Pictured (left) is Paul - GW0JTY at the one we located high above Mountain Ash. The one in Hirwaun is located behind the old Mount Pleasant pub which is now being converted into a house.The picture below is how the Bunker looks inside with some of the original   
maps and desk intact.

International Lighthouse Weekend - August 21st/22nd

THE AYR AMATEUR RADIO GROUP, SCOTLAND, PRESENTS THE
11th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE/LIGHTSHIP WEEKEND
 0001 UTC 21st AUGUST TO 2359 UTC 22nd AUGUST 2010.

We have now received confirmation from Ofcom for the callsign for this activation.
We will use GB4NPL - Nash Point Lighthouse..Further information can be found by CLICK HERE

New Arrivals!

We have had two new arrivals recently  to add to the ever growing list of club equipment, Today an Auto ATU arrived, the LDG Z-11 Pro(photo left) which is primarily for use with the Yaesu FT-897.The spec is below.

Also recently arrived is a new club laser printer, a Samsung ML-1640.

Auto ATU Specification

0.1 to 125 watt power range (SSB and CW), 100W on 6M.
8000 3-D memories for instantaneous band changing.
Tuning time: 0.1 to 6 seconds full tune, 0.1 seconds memory tune.
Selectable user parameters: Auto/Semi, threshold, and more.
1.8 to 54.0 MHz coverage. Built-in frequency sensor.
Tunes 6 to 1000 ohm loads (16 to 150 on 6M), 6 to 4000 ohms with optional 4:1 Balun.
For Dipoles, Verticals, Vs, Beams or and Coax Fed Antenna.
Optional external Balun allows tuning of random length, long wire or ladder line fed antennas.

Next Meeting - Friday 30th April

The next meeting will take place on Friday 30th April from 6pm-9pm. New members are welcome. The night will be an "On-Air" night where the club callsign MW0TTR/MC0TTR will be used by club members.Please give us a shout if you hear us

INTERNATIONAL MARCONI DAY- APRIL 24TH

he club will be putting on a Special Event Station to celebrate Marconi Day on April 24th

The callsign we will be using is GB0GMD and we will be active over the weekend 23/24/25th April. Please look out for us. A special QSL card will be issued for a contact with this station

VHF Antenna goes up!!

With the club now at a new venue work has begun on erecting antennas and setting up the shack, Tonight was a busy one but we now have a Watson Dual Band 2M/70cm up at about 12m which should give us excellent coverage on VHF. Thanks to all members especially the guys who clambered up the scaffolding!!

One Wipers Video Vault

Post your favourite videos on this weeks topic "Beaker from the Muppets"

Next Meeting

The next meeting is on Friday 2nd April at 18:30hrs. New Members welcome.

Welcome to the Aberdare & District ARS Blog

Welcome to the Aberdare & District Amateur Radio Club Blog. I look forward to reading your contributions be it of a serious a funny nature all I ask is that no offensive language is used as this will probably be read by some of the younger people involved with the club.