Hello again, I am writing this with a week to go for a very special meeting at TS Terra Nova when the RSGB will be conferring a Life Vice Presidency on Ron Glaisher G6LX - more about this in the next section.

Mary and I are looking forward to receiving our new car later this week which will make getting her about a lot easier. This Citroen Berlingo Multi-Space has been converted to transport a person in their wheelchair with access gained through the rear.

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We are hoping that the recent good weather will last so that we can give this new toy a good test!

This meeting next Monday will be starting earlier at 7.45pm to allow a very special presentation to take place to Ron Glaisher G6LX by the RSGB, followed by the Croydon Tramlink talk at 8pm.

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that the President of the Radio Society Great Britain, Hilary Clayton-Smith, G4JKS, will confer a Life Vice Presidency on Ron Glaisher, G6LX for services to the RSGB and to amateur radio over a 60 year period. This is the highest honour conferred by the RSGB and Hilary is anxious for there to be a good attendance for the presentation from our members, and from other local radio clubs. Also attending will be Fred Stewart, G0CSF - Zonal Council Member.

Please make every effort to be there for this special event which will start at 7.45pm

Following Ron's presentation we are fortunate in being able to persuade Jim Snowden, the Technical Manager ("The Engineer") of Tramtrack Croydon Ltd (TCL) to come to our club and give us a talk on the engineering aspects of Croydon's Tramlink.

Trams have already started running in Croydon in preparation for the start of public services in November. From the Unofficial WEB site (www.croydontramlink.co.uk) Croydon Town Centre tram tests this week are:

• Mon 11-30 to 2-30
• Tues 7-30 to 10-30
• Wed 1-00 to 4-00
• Thurs 8-00 to 11-00
• Fri 2-00 to 5-00

This site also states that an engineer from the local electricity authority advised that they have suddenly been instructed to replace all the lighting columns in central Croydon where there is a danger of them collapsing on to the overhead if hit by a car. Apparently this would result in short circuiting out the power in local premises, which is obviously not desirable. The engineer was marking out the proposed positions for the new lamp standards.
It seems that the new lighting columns will be much shorter so that they are in effect lower than the overhead and cannot therefore interfere with the Tramlink wiring. They will also be to a more traditional style thus perhaps helping the visual aspect of all the masts in the town centre. All this work has to be done before the opening date.

The SRCC WEB site under "Other Links" provides links to this site as well as the Official Site and the Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA).

The LRTA site states that testing/driver training around the Croydon town centre loop is in progress, trams reversing at the George Street crossover. The pattern of operation at the moment is for one car to be used for a number of circuits during a single 3- or 4-hour session on most days. The starting time varies from day to day so other road users and pedestrians will get used to the presence of the trams throughout the day as the frequency gradually increases. The Tramlink Information Office (Tel: 0181 760 5729) usually knows the starting time a day or two ahead.

The June and July 1999 issues of Ian Allan Publishing Modern Railways carried an article describing Progress on Croydon Tramlink interviewing key players in the making of the new system, including Jim Snowden.

This meeting is open to all of the family and is of interest to all of us that live in the Croydon area. This will be a very interesting evening and I am sure that you will have many questions for Jim.

There were 23 members and families that made this pleasant evening. The weather was kind to us for a change. Peter and Graham did sterling work sweating over hot barbecues and all enjoyed the evening. Wendy spent a lot of time and effort with the side dishes and none went away hungry. Many thanks Wendy and Peter and Bernie G8TB for this report.

VHF NFD has now come and gone. We were blessed with very good weather and had no serious equipment troubles, perhaps some inter-station background noise. I know that on 70cm we had an indicator problem with the rotator that pointed (!) to a dodgy cable up the mast so didn’t have time to fix it. However within an hour of the contest commencing it mysteriously corrected itself – didn’t need the search light after all!

At the time of going to press I have not received the 2m logs (these have needed some work by the software author to correct log file problems).

Gareth also took some pictures with a digital camera, which I print below – many thanks. Sorry if my naming of some of the backs of heads is wrong. Also thanks to Bernie G8TB for this report.

"Inside 23cm Station G8TB/P"

Thanks Bernie for this report, it was a shame I missed it BUT Mary and I were in Torquay on holiday enjoying the hot weather.

Several members have said that they would like to visit or re-visit Bletchley park. I see from the Sutton and Cheam Newsletter that they are endeavouring to get enough to make a coach worthwhile. I'm sure therefore that they would welcome your attendance and presumably the pick-up point will be in Sutton, the date is Sunday 3^rd Oct Please contact John Puttock on 0181-644 9945.

Since publishing the last Club Directory I have been advised of a new address for Denis Stanton G0OLX as: SEE PAPER COPY OF NEWSLETTER

I have been advised of a surprise party that was held last Saturday to celebrate Ted and Daphne's Golden Wedding anniversary. However it is not actually until the new-year (28^th Jan 2000) BUT since Ted and Daphne will be "down under" again their son had an early surprise celebration arranged.

Accordingly I wish you both our advance congratulations and enjoy your next trip down-under. We shall enjoy hearing all about it upon your return. Any pictures for next Newsletter?

Bernie G8TB wishes to thanks those of you who are still sending him stamps, particularly Bern G3FP and John G3BFP. Please keep it up.

I have been told to ensure that I inform you all that we recently celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary on July 6^th. A party was discussed but we all timed out and VHF NFD Field Day won for the weekend (!) Instead we had a week away in Cheltenham and Torquay taking advantage of 3days for 2 bargain breaks (DB&B). For the night of the 6^th we returned to the place of our first night all those years ago - The Posthouse in Hemel Hempstead. This was a stopover point on the way to our honeymoon in the Lake District.

It was good to see Ron G6LX recently at the clubroom and the VHFNFD site looking so much better.

May I wish Mike M1CKT all the best as I have been informed that he unwell at the moment. All the best for a speedy recovery.

In the last month I have added members E-Mail details for Pat Spenceley G8LZA and Harry Hart G8TWK. Pat is enjoying this new way of communicating and surfing the net as the last E-Mail to me shows:

That's the lot for this month but a final reminder for you to come early to next Monday's meeting for the conferring of a Life Vice Presidency on Ron G6LX by the President of the RSGB, Hilary Clayton-Smith G4JKS at 7.45pm. Followed by the Croydon Tramlink talk at 8pm with Jim Snowden, Technical Manager, or as he says "The Engineer".