CLUB WEB Site: http://www.btinternet.com/~ray.howells/srcc/srcchome.htm

Dear Members,

According to one of my diaries Summer Time" ended 25th October, I hope you all remembered to put your clocks back and have had that extra hour asleep. Now with the longer evenings you will have more time to do all those, jobs in the shack you have been putting off. And possibly do some constructing for the Contest in May!

This talk was given to us by John Tillick some years ago, but it certainly warrants a repeat showing and at the time it was suggested that John came along again to tell us of further developments. Last time he brought with him some recordings of the information that satellites can send back to earth, but this time he is hoping to receive live transmissions, though this will depend on our location, as there is a large block of flats due south. Although this is a service that many commercial and government agencies depend on, it is also possible for amateurs to receive the data themselves. Maybe it will spur on same members to follow this path. At his last talk John was able to show recordings of the "Hot Spot" of Chenoble, but I expect, and hope, he will not be able to demonstrate another such event. The previous talk was very interesting, was very well received and I expect this one to be likewise and 1 am sure we will get a good turnout of members.

Sales generally attract above average attendance and notwithstanding that some very prominent members were not present this was again the case. 1he slow way bidding started boded ill for the whole evening. However things speeded up and we managed to dispose of a large part of mainly donated gear and we ended up with a donation to the club funds of over £100. Our subscription covers the normal running expenses of the club, but it is the proceeds from two sales a year that stops the Hon. Treasurer asking for an increase in the subs. Some of the gear that was not sold will be available at the table we will have at the CATS bazaar on 22nd November and I understand that we will have some QQV0640's there. But I digress, our normal "accounting" team was not available, as Ray G4FFY had to attend to a business event in Sweden, and likewise Peter G3ZPB also had to go away on business. However, with pencil and paper rather than a computer, the accounts were accurately kept by your Chairman Gra ham G3RJW, assisted by ex-chairman Peter G4WPB, and I understand the income and the outgoings balanced. I was also aided by Maurice G4DDY and a vote of thanks by the club for all out valiant efforts. The committee has wondered how long we will hold these sales, but if we can maintain this level, we certainly will not stop.

This well known event will again take place on SUNDAY MORNING 22nd November at the hut HQ of the Purley 4th Scout Group hut, the car park, Lion Green Road, Coulsdon. Doors open 1000 to 1300. If you wish to have a table to sell (f5 and you get in at 0900) contact Andy Briers, G3KZT at 01737 557198. The SRCC will have a table with plenty of gear, but if you have any reasonable items for sale either contact Maurice G4DDY or bring them to Maurice at our table. We have been promised some QQV0640s, which is a very good VHF bottle for those of you who still use "Valves". There is generally an instant raffle at the door and refreshments are available. A good opportunity of stocking up with what you have been looking for and also it is an opportunity of meeting friends. For you who have not been before the carpark is free and you drive to the top right hand corner of the carpark.

It is with the deepest regret that I have to announce the death of Dolly, XYL of Roger G4WAY on the 12th October. Most of you will know that she had been very ill for some time and although she had fought her illness very bravely it at last took its toll. This is a devastating blow to Roger and our sympathies go to him and also to the whole family. The funeral will be on Thursday 29th October at 2 pm at the Croydon Crematorium. You may send flowers to the Crematorium or make a donation to your favourite charity.

There are several members who take advantage of the Morse practice, which is held on "B" meetings, and anyone is welcome to join in.

The two-meter antenna is now operational and we are planning to add a 70 cm one. All are invited to bring along gear to put on the air, and we are happy to arrange to have specific test equipment available, e.g. power meters, grid dip oscillators etc. However to arrange this it is necessary for you to inform a committee member well before the meeting so that this can be arranged.

I am happy to record that Alison, XYL of Kevin G6LTK gave birth to a daughter on 23rd October. I am happy to say all are doing well and our very best congratulations.

I had a nice letter from Harry...here somewhat condensed: -

We went to the Festival of the Sea at Portsmouth dockyard. We got there at 10.00 am and stayed until 7.00 pm and even then did not see all on offer. Highlights were visits to the Invincible, the support vessel Endurance and mine hunters Sandown and Bridport. Also in the dockyard were the Illustrious, Ark Royal and countless other naval ships. We went on the very large Russian tall ship named Mir, but after the Royal Navy ships it did lack a bit of spit and polish! The other highlight was an 18th century market complete with a spit roasting pig along with, as might be expected, roaming Press Gangs, alehouses and navy followers.

It really was an excellent day out and what made it special was the weather and whilst on the Invincible visiting the Hanger with it's many displays. I did of course visit the communication exhibit, which at the time had a Wren in attendance. She told me she was in the communication branch that she enjoyed once she had managed to master the Morse. I was more than pleased to discover that I am now able to send and receive CW at twice the R.N. Speed. I do admit however that they now only use it for Lamp, and a speed requirement of 8 W.P.M.

 During the day there were numerous Sea Barriers and Helicopters in evidence around the yard and surrounding sea areas together with many Royal Marine craft engaged in various dramatic activities.

We went to Arundel where they had their Festival. The many entertainers were first class and very varied and again the WX was very good. The most unusual entertainment was called a Heliosphere that was a white gas filled balloon from which a girl trapeze acrobat was suspended. This balloon was controlled by two men who, with guy ropes, toured it around the town at about roof height. This was quite a feat with the streets of Arundel being quite narrow. At odd times they would lower the balloon to almost ground level with the girl upside down grasping the hands of passersby, at other times it was allowed to rise and the girl walked up the sloping roofs of the buildings, but of course her weight was negligible. During one such maneuver there was a slight gust of wind and the balloon bumped into a TV aerial knocking it askew, but it didn't appear to damage the balloon.

Thanks Harry for that, hope you don't mind my condensing it.

Thank goodness we have one member who experiments and builds equipment. Gareth has sent me several items so here goes: -

On the "good news" front I've finally got the Heads permission to run the Novice License scheme at Ravens Wood (my school) at a time that suits me so that should kick off in early November. M0BTS (a.k.a. G4XAT/A) should be QRV on 80, 10 and 70 to start with, 23cm ATV not being far behind I hope. Where does the time come from? Don't know. (Me neither STB).

I've sorted my junk sale purchases and those "funny" Heliax plugs are ordinary "N" types. Until they actually screwed on to a socket I'd never have believed it.

As a result of purchasing that AR17 tuning unit and through raiding my junk box capacitor supply, I now have two identical high voltage variable caps to build a differential Z match ATU, on my list of things to do. Might have to take Charles up on his offer of that rollercoaster though. The design is featured in September 1990 Radcom based itself on one from January 1987 Radcom.

Gareth recently built an EP2 kit (board from Hands Electronics, kit from JAB Electronic Components). My two boys Rueben and Joshua (Aged 5 and 8) helped with the soldering. The rig is a VFO controlled 80, SSB Rx, giving 7W PEP from a board only some 2 x 3 inches. After building and checking the initial "tune up" went well though some of the currents were a little high. 1 was amazed at what I heard on 80 with the rig un-cased lying on the bench so I "tail ended" same QSOs, I received complimentary reports and assumed all was well. "Better build the low pass filter to keep the spectrum clean" I thought. After building it I couldn't get much indication of RF on my power meter, almost to the point of suspecting my power meter! I answered a continental CQ and got a reasonable report from 250 miles away. All OK I thought, but where was the power going. In an attempt to find out I bypassed the output filter by holding a PL259 plug onto the two output pins on the PCB. Power back up co 5 watts. I al so felt a "pinprick" on my finger which thought was caused by the sharp edge of the case. I wondered if I had wired up a bifilar transformer correctly, so I phoned Bernard (font of all knowledge!!!) for his view. He suggested that although mis-wired baluns should not act as frequency doublers they might well (when mis-wired) be resonant at a certain frequency coinciding in my case with 7.4 MHz. On investigating (now into a dummy load) I found S 9+60 on 7.4 kHz and a mere S9 on 3.6 MHz. Better check the Balun!! In an attempt to check the wiring I first colour-coded the whole length of one of the Bifilar wires with an "indelible" purple felt pen. Even when wound up with its more traditionally coloured partner it was easy to see which wire was which. Careful studying of the circuit diagram followed and then a re-tune was in order. Much better, with more RF and lower (as per spec) current consumption. So what are the morals of this story? 1. Check your output with a wavemeter, GDO, or spectrum analyser or another receiver. 2. Odd happenings usually have a reason especially on "proven designs". 3. Turn the power down a bit - I had worked 250 miles on about 250 milliwatts.

And what about the "pin prick" I felt on my finger? Next day and for several days later I had a sore blister on the back of my finger. Why - an RF burn, even Qrp can cause them.

The rig has worked well since, best DX so far Switzerland, achieved by tail-ending a PA station who was bragging about running 400 watts. The difference in report? Not recorded but we both had easy QSOs!!

Gareth also gave me two articles on Fractual antennas, one from Roger and one via E-mail, running into some ten pages. The basis for these articles is that by building antennas with a block configuration it is possible to construct a resonator being much smaller than conventional antennas. If interested it is possible to download the whole article on: -

The final paragraph sums it up "in microwave communications service, both the fan and the fractal lend themselves to copper strip fabrication. Although about 40% larger in overall area, the fan offers more efficient and wider band performance -- as well as simpler fabrication and adjustment requirements. For all its geometric interest, the fractal dipole appears to be unnecessarily complex, lousy, and perhaps not yet well enough understood as an antenna structure to serve as a practical antenna for mast purposes".

Thanks Gareth, all such items always welcome.

WE WON. WE WON. WE WON. Soon after the war VHFNFD as we know it started and the SRCC gave the RSGB a cup for this event now known as the Surrey Cup. Although we have not won this back outright, at least we have won our section, the Mix and Match. There have been many changes in the rules, but sections were brought in to even out the differences between clubs with large facilities and those not so fortunate. It has always been said that we could not win from Woldingham but we have.... at least we won our section. As usual we lost points (approx. 12%) but in the various sections we came overall 4th on 4 meters, eighth on 2 meters, eighth on 70 cms and 5th on 23 cms.

Congratulations to all whom put in the time and effort to obtain this result. This information was taken from the Web site on the 12th and I will put in more details when we have the lists in Radcom.

To maintain the momentum of this win, a meeting of the VHF NFD group has been called for Monday 30^th November @ G3ZPB's QTH starting at 8pm. This meeting will review this year's excellent effort and start planning next year's. Can you please advise Peter of your intention to come so that refreshments can be suitably arranged (01737-551413). New blood is always welcomed.

Taken from their pamphlet..."Trade Copiers, Aylesbury, is one of the leading secondhand copier companies, we collect unwanted copiers nationwide, they may have been put into storage or your are in the process of replacing your existing copiers. "Trade Copiers" may be interested in purchasing all your unwanted copiers. All you have to do is phone us, and we will arrange collection FOC nationwide by our fleet of vehicles, and we will pay on collection. Ring 01296 658659 or FAX 01296 655955."

You never know, this might interest someone!!!

Glad to say that there are now only four subs outstanding, and the team of Maurice and Ray are doing a great job! Hope to see a bumper turnout for the Remote Imaging talk on Monday.

88 Es 73

Back To SRCC Newsletter Index