The East Kent Carrier A free quarterly magazine for Members and Friends of East Kent Amateur Radio Clubs

Issue 5, April 2014 Publisher, Producer, Editor & EKRS reporter: Erwin, G4LQI, erwin.g4lqi@gmail.com

Contents: Page: 1 Editorial 1

FM Repeaters 1 ATV Repeater 1 C-pole antenna 2 Hilderstone Am. Radio & Electronics Club 3 East Kent Radio Society 4 Dover Amateur Radio Club 6 Dover Construction Club 6 Dover Radio Rally 6 Thanet Radio & Electronics Club 7 70 MHz Activity 7 Advertisement 7

Editorial A thank-you for their contributions goes to, John G0OHO, Chris G4AYT and Dennis, F5VLP/G4SOT. Without them this E K Carrier would not have been published at all. As it is , getting enough information together for this issue has been quite a chore. Aged 88 and with defective hearing, which keeps me from gathering information off the air, I will not be able to handle that chore much longer. Therefore the next issue, due out in mid July, will be my last. Reviving the Carrier, which two or three decades ago Paul G3VHF (sk) and I did by physical ‘cut-and-paste’, running off 100 copies in the Icom office and distributing those by snail mail, gave me much satisfaction. The ability to include colour photographs and distributing by email without cost made it that much more interesting. Who is willing and able to continue the East Kent Carrier? I will help him/her where I can. G4LQI

Page 1

Repeaters in service Carrier Reporter: dave.qrz@g8puo.co.uk The Kent Repeater Group - www.krg.org.uk maintains the following FM repeaters: 145MHz: GB3KN Detling.

Output 145.700, Input 145.100MHz GB3KS Dover. Output 145.625, Input 145.025MHZ GB3KI, Herne Bay, FM and D-star

Output 145.6625, Input 145.1625MHz sponsored by Icom-UK 435MHz: GB3CK, Charing.

Output 433.000, Input 434.600MHz GB3EK, Margate.

Output 430.8875, Input 438.4875MHz GB3RE Detling.

Output 433.275, Input 434.875MHz GB3SK, Canterbury, now back in service Output 433.150, Input 434.750MHz

Amateur Television Repeater Kent Television Group Treasurer and E K Carrier reporter: Chris, G4AYT g4ayt@qsl.net

GB3KT, Output 1310MHz, input 1249MHz The repeater now is installed at the QTH of Dick, G4UPE near Lenham, Kent and is operational, albeit with a temporary loss of through audio. Current operating hours are daily ~2pm to 9pm. Activity night remains Wednesdays from 8pm. Check 144.750MHz

The C-pole a compact omnidirectional vertical

that does not need earth or radials. Erwin,G4LQI

In the East Kent Carrier of July ’13 M0ZPK’s off-centre-fed dipole was discussed. In it, off-centre feeding was used to provide a semi-constant feedpoint impedance not only on the band where the wire was a half wave long but also on its harmonics, i.e. higher frequencies. Brian V Cake KF2YN writing in QST 2004/4, has designed an omni-directional 14MHz vertical antenna, earth-independent and less than a quarter wave high, by folding a half-wave wire in such a manner that a 50 Ohm feedpoint exists at the bottom, i.e, off-centre. Google C-pole and select the DL2LTO and HB9MTN articles for construction details, measurements and scaling for other bands. There is local FM activity on 70.45MHZ, a handy frequency for antenna experiments. My Icom E90 handheld covered that frequency. I scaled the 14MHz design to70MHz and using materials on hand built the experimental model shown in fig 1. It resonated too low and the impedance was all over the place. The latter was due to the inadequacy of the mantle choke, (four 3” dia turns of RG58 left over from a 145MHz SlimJim) easily demonstrated by rubbing a hand up and down on the coax feeder. Adding four more turns fixed that problem. Cropping the wire as per KF2YN then brought the resonance into the 70MHz band. It now works as expected.

The original 14MHz C-pole

Page 2

To do the trimming, an antenna analyzer is useful as one can see the resistance and reactance changeing as one sweeps above and below the wanted band.

Fig 1: The 70MHz C-pole overlooking Whitstable

I have heard it said that the Icom E90, if doctored to transmit on 70MHz, has poor harmonic suppression in that band. It may help to insert a pi-filter between rig and antenna. My pi-filter 50MHz ATU (E K Carrier 2) also works as such on 70 MHz.

Hilderstone Radio & Electronics Society affiliated with the RSGB

Website: www.g0hrs.org Contact: Chrissie Turner,

hilderstoneclub@gmail.com East Kent Carrier reporter: John, G7OHO

johnhislop@me.com As its name implies, the society not only caters to telecommunication but equally to other branches of electronics. The membership fee is £10 per annum. Meetings: 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month, 7pm, in the Crampton Tower Museum on the A255, very close to the Broadstairs Railway Station. See street map on the website. Check website for programmes and updates. There are two club nets: Sunday morning 09:00 on 28.845MHz SSB and Tuesday evening 19:00 on 145.575MHz FM John, G7OHO Reports:

Regional Club of the (RSGB Centenial) Year

For their multifaceted activities in 2013, (see all preceding E K Carriers – ed) the RSGB named Hilderstone as the Outstanding Club in its East Anglia and Kent region. The members worked hard: by volunteering at events, giving talks, helping with training and by generally supporting the club. 2014 promises to be an equally active year. The Club took part in the SOS Radio Week at the Ramsgate Lifeboat station with the call GB1RLI. We had many contacts and raised £365 for the RNLI.

M0CAG, G7OHO and G0VUT at GB1RLS

The club held its first Thinking Day on the Air with the 3rd Margate St John’s Brownies using the call GB1TBU. (also see Louise 2E0LYL’s column in E K Carrier 3, front page – ed). Eight eager Brownies had a fun morning.

Page 3

They learned how to send Morse code, either with a Morse key or with a flashing LED. They enjoyed hunting a cunning radio fox, which was transmiting intermittently, using a hand-held radio and aerial loop. They spoke confidently with other radio amateurs on the special event radio station set up at the Monkton Nature Reserve. Brown Owl Gill Goodwin was able to speak to Liz Jones, M0ACL, the TDOTA organizer. The club took part in the National Science & Engineering week at St Lawrence college in Ramsgate. The pupils constructed radios and learnt about radio communication, and amplitude modulation

Brownies learning Morsecode from John G3YCV

Steve G1WWR, Fred 2E1HOJ and Terry Alexander of the Ramsgate Vikings Model Boat Club demonstrated how a radio signal

and a crystal detector can control the motor and rudder of a boat. The club will participate in Mills on the Air on 10th & 11th May 2014 at the White Mill in Sandwich under callsign GB2WM That the club takes training seriously is convincingly demonstrated by the results of the recent courses: Fifteen exam candidates filled the Crampton Museum hall. All passed!

John G7OHO (left) and 15 happy new licencees

Nick Parker now is 2E0POS. Kaz Payne, XYL of Matt, M0LMK, now is M6WFY. Rob Clarke is M6EBL. Of the group of 11 Kent University students we to date have the following callsigns: Daniel=M6KNX, Matt=M6TEO Martin E=M6EBK, Martin F=M6OEM, Mike=M6GCZ. We’re looking forward to hear them on the air. An Intermediate course with five candidates is progressing well.

Alan Smith G3LHI gave a talk on the oil and gas rigs where he designed the PA and alarm systems. He worked on the first amplifiers for the Beatles; It took 1kW to overcome the screams of the fans!

East Kent Radio Society affilliated with the RSGB

Website: www.ekrs.co.uk Chairman & Webmaster: Karl, M1DFM & Secretary:Eileen, M3TTA Ph. 01227 710120 Email: admin@ekrs.co.uk Membership Secr. G7RBB Ph. 01227 458454 Email: perkins.alan@gmail.com . The annual membership fee is £10 single, £15 per couple. The East Kent Carrier Editor and EKRS reporter: Erwin, G4LQI. Email: erwin.g4lqi@gmail.com Meetings: 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month, 8pm, bank and school holidays excepted, at the Herne Mill, Mill Lane, Herne, Kent. Accessible by local busline 4 from Whitstable & Herne Bay, busline 6 from Canterbury & Sturry. Check ‘calendar’ on the website for programmes and updates. Club call and net: G0EKR, Wednesdays 7:30 pm 145.475MHz and, hosted by G3NIR, Tuesdays 9 am, 7.163MHz, LSB. Members and non-members are welcome to call in. Though this winter’s storms have largely spared the North Kent coast, they brought

Page 4

down Ted G3ISD’s trap dipole due to a broken halyard. Ted being confined to a wheelchair, David G8URC, George G3NIR and Erwin G4LQI went to Sittingbourne to replace the halyard. That required lowering the tall aluminium mast, which also carried Ted’s VHF colinear. Fortified by a generous lunch prepared by Ted’s XYL Doris, the task was accomplished without problems but it took a muscular young neighbour to help walking the mast back up. Some of us are not as strong as they used to be! To test the repaired trap dipole G3NIR went on the air with it on 24MHz which happened to be open. The first QSO was with a VR2 in HongKong. It worked OK! Paul G3VJF (sk) had an elaborate station. Dismantling it and disposing of its equipment was done in stages. The transceivers having been removed by the family, the remaining amateur equipment and supplies were catalogued and labeled by G3NIR and G4LQI. Dennis F5VLP/G4SOT, a one-time EKRS chairman and operator of an amateur radio shop in Beltinge came over from France and with David G8URC luffed Paul’s tower and removed the various antennas from it and from the house and garden. EKRS members had an opportunity to buy what they wanted from the lot. The remainder was sold by Dennis at the BRATS rally where he had rented a stand for the purpose. The proceeds, totalling £580 were donated by Barbara, Paul’s XYL, to the Kent Air Ambulance.

The tower proper was removed by Ian G3ROO and Merv M0MIN who wanted it for the Dover Club. Back home in France, Dennis attended a rally at Castres near Toulouse. There he sold some of his own equipment.

F5VLP’s stand at Castres

Dennis writes: “When I arrived at 0800 there

were just a few volunteers and exhibitors

having breakfast in the cafe. They told me to

set up my stall wherever I liked so I picked a

spot right opposite the main entrance. The

rally opened at 0900 and there was a steady

stream of visitors throughout the morning. I

managed to talk in French to the majority of

people who came to my stall, and answer their

questions. I sold the bulk of my items,

including my IC-756 which I had owned for the

last 15 years. Things started winding down

around 1200 as all the French were ready for

their 2 hour lunch!” Do you think F5NFX’s

stand had anything to do with that?

F5NFX’s stand at Castres

Our Dutch friend Geert PA7ZAA, and his XYL Theresia spend two winter months each year in a self-catering bungalow park in Mas Palomas on Gran Canaria island. Geert there has a 10m mast supporting a doublet and a loop for the higher HF bands. When not there, these are stored by Geert’s local friend Modesto EC8AFM. Enticed by Geert, Esther G7EOE and Erwin G4LQI found that Thomson Holidays offer packages on their own airline flying out of Gatwick with accomodation in the same bungalow park. We booked for the last week of February. All went without a hitch. It so happened that Geert’s daughter Aukje with husband Gerard, a computer whiz, and teenage sons Sam PA4SAM and Ben, were staying there the same week.

Page 5

The neighbouring bungalow seen from our terrace

Five Hams from three countries, that calls for a hamfest! Theresia rose to the occasion and provided a beautiful lunch. Unfortunately Modesto had to leave before this picture was taken.

Sam, Geert, Gerard, Erwin and Esther in EA8

It was an experience worth repeating.

Dover Amateur Radio Club Affiliated with the RSGB

Website: www.darc.org.uk Email: secretary@darc.org.uk Special Events Manager: Peter G0KOK g0kok@btinternet.com Morse coaching: ian.g3roo@gmail.com E.K.Carrier Reporter: Vacant Meetings are held at the Old Park Community centre, Gordon Road, Whitfield, Dover, CT16 2ET every Wednesday, 18:45 – 22:00pm. DARC is registered as an examination centre. A dedicated radio room is available for use. See the website for meeting programmes. The DARC membership fee is £26 per annum. Our White Cliffs Net meets daily at 10:10am on 1.845MHz LSB. Net controller is Tony M0VYW.

Brian Cuff G4SAU sk

The DARC was saddened by the recent death of its long-time member and former secretary. The Editor thanks Pete, G0VHL for his service as E K Carrier Reporter for Dover throughout 2013. Because of his frequent absence overseas Pete felt he no longer was close enough to the activities in the Club to report on them. Having failed to find a new Reporter, your Editor has visited the DARC website and phone-interviewed Ian, G3ROO and Peter G0KOK to obtain the following information: The Diary on the website is up-to-date. Many interesting subjects for the April and May Club evenings!

There have been no Specal Events this past winter but several are planned for the next several months: For Sunday, 26th April, International Marconi.Day, we had planned to activate GB2SFL from the hut by the South Foreland Lighthouse but the powers that be have unexpectedly denied us the use of the hut listed as the QTH for the licence. Our participation is now in doubt. On 12th July the Dover Western Heights Preservation Society will commemorate the centenial of the GreatWar. We intend to participate by activating GB1DWH from the Redoubt fortification. On 26th July we will have a stand on the waterfront at the Dover Regatta from where we can operate under our Club call G3YMD. Training Manager Tony M0VYW is not well but training is continuing; the Intermediate course started in February is progressing well and is leading to the exam on 7th May. The antenna mast at the Old Park Community Centre is damaged. When Ian G3ROO learned that the mast in the garden of Paul G3VJF (sk) was available for the taking, he thought it to be a suitable replacement for DARC’s defective one. Arriving in Beltinge, it was found to be not tall enough for the intended purpose. Ian and Merv M0MIN removed the mast anyway, to the relief of Paul’s widow Barbara. Ian now is looking for a trailer to mount the mast on for use at field events.

Page 6

Separate from DARC, Ian, G3ROO runs the

Dover Construction Club It meets weekly at Ian’s home in Whitfield. Six people can be accommodated. Four are currently participating, each working on his own project. If you would like to join and use the club’s extensive tools, stock of materials and components (and Ian’s know-how – ed)

contact ian.g3roo@gmail.com Ian himself has finished his linear amp which now is in service. His current project is the restoration of a WS62 WW-II HF transceiver.

The WS62, as used by UK forced 1944 – 1966

Peter M0PKH is restoring a linear amplifier.

The Dover Radio Rally This annual event is a cooperative activity between its founder, Ian, G3ROO and the Dover Amateur Radio Club. Originally sited at

Ian’s QTH, it now is held at the nearby Whitfield Village Hall. The 2013 rally was ruined by inclement winter weather but this year the sun shone and the event was a great success. The stalls were spread over two halls with overflow outdoors. There was a big crowd. The RSGB book stand, manned by DRM Keith Bird G4JED did good business. There also was a bring & buy counter

Thanet Radio and Electronics

Club Website: www.m0tfc.org and Twitter /m0tfc Email: contact@m0tfc.org E.K.Carrier Reporter: Patrick, M0ZPK pkirkden@yahoo.com Meetings are held every 2nd and 4th Sunday 7 to 9 pm at Southwood Stadium, Price’s Ave, Ramsgate CT11 0AN, where we have a meeting room and a grass field large enough for the biggest antennas. There is a bar and kitchen for special occasions. We hold regular construction days.The membership fee is $10

At the time of this writing Patrick’s son Connor is gravely ill in hospital, leaving Patrick unable to send his usual TREC report. We wish Connor a speedy recovery and look forward to Patrick’s report in E K Carrier 6. Here is a copy of the NASA QSL card of the TREC contact with the JUNO space probe. See E K Carrier 3 for details.

Page 7

70MHz activity Casual listening one afternoon on 70.450Mhz FM with a hand-held at G4LQI’s QTH in Tankerton yielded six nearby stations, incl: Phil G4CZU Whitstable Kam G0XXK Blean Nigel G0IFS Chestfield Frank G1HQQ Shoeburyness Essex

Advertisement