4th Wednesdays of the month
Formal Nights for talks, demonstrations, lively discussions and activities: 7:30pm: Heeley Green Community Centre, 344 Gleadless Rd, Heeley, Sheffield S2 3AJ.
Other Wednesdays in a month
Check out our events and Member's Hub on Facebook, as we either go out for meals and socials, contesting evenings, or we do portable evenings.
At last, we have great delight in presenting you with our Arran IOTA DXpedition video for 2016. Sheffield & District Wireless Society, together with friends from the Worksop Amateur Radio Society, The Sheffield HF DX Group and the 93 Contest Group, made their second joint Dxpedition to the Isle of Arran in Scotland, EU123. Callsigns used were GM2AS outside contest hours and GM5TO during the contest. Our apologies for the low resolution of this film; this is owing to the length of the file and the size we were limited to upload. This film remains the intellectual copyright of Peter Day G3PHO. Enjoy!
Who would have thought that Steve M6SLO‘s video talk for Sheffield Wireless members on “Android Mobile Phone Apps for the Radio Amateur” a few months ago would have received 9000 hits on the Society’s YouTube channel…What better publicity for the S&DWS than this? Well done Steve..!!
We have a great calendar of events, training, contests, Field Days and DX-peditions; just take a look to the link on the left for our Events Calendar, and come and join in with the fun. Don’t dilly dally and tittle tattle with the rest, just have some fun, let your hair down and get with the best..!!
Sheffield Wireless is providing a 2E0 Intermediate Course starting from the 9th November 2016, once foundation training is completed in October.
This is a straightforward course using a range of learning materials, and will mainly be a learning dialogue between Krysytna 2E0KSH as tutor and you the student. Krystyna is not registered to train 2E0 but will follow a planned structure with appropriate materials provided. The practical will be completed with the support of either Mark M0TWG or if he is busy with work, another full license holder.
You will be expected to do your reading.To facilitate missing a session, an online learning center will be created on our website’s training pages to enable you to access materials. Training will take place on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays in the Rutland Hotel bar on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays starting 9th November.
We will aim for the exam in early 2017 for which an exam fee applies. Please note that training is provided to encourage you folks to take an active part in the society and the hobby.
If you are interested in doing the intermediate training, turn up to the Society meetings, and speak with Krystyna 2E0KSH or contact her via our Member’s Hub on Facebook
Some of you may know of this project fund but most will have never heard of it. The project fund was set up and is administered by Maurice Deighton, the owner of the Seal Shore Campsite on the Isle of Arran and good friend of SDWS. Without Maurice’s kindness and co-operation we would not enjoy the facility of being able to set up a full IOTA contest station each July on the Isle of Arran. At the end of July, we invade his campsite for a four day period, put up a variety on antennas on his beach and take over his private “Man Room” at the rear of his workshop! ALL OF THIS IS AT NO EXTRA COST over the standard camp site fees!
Maurice, a Yorkshireman, is a really nice bloke and is caring enough to feel concerned about the plight of children in West Africa. Some years ago he set up his schools trust and set about building a school in the Gambia and helping to renovate others. He spends many weeks each year there, over the winter season in Scotland when his campsite is closed.
Over the years that some of us have been going to Arran for the IOTA Contest (both in our former roles at SARC and these days at SDWS) we have tried to make a substantial donation to Maurice’s excellent fund, as a way of saying thank you for his help over the IOTA weekend and in some small way compensate him for the use of the warm radio room during out stay. Last year those of us on Arran had a “whip round” and, with the addition of a small sum from club funds, were able to give £150 to Maurice’s project fund.
This year we would like to increase the amount of our donation….maybe to £200. The Arran contest team will still dig into their pockets this coming weekend and we will top up the amount with something from club funds if possible. However we would like to extend, to all SDWS members, the opportunity of helping Maurice and, at the same time, foster good relations between him and SDWS.
If you feel able to help please let us know. We can collect small donations at club meetings (please give your donation to any committee member, esp. Krystyna, Graham G3YJR or myself). Alternatively you could donate by post. G3PHO, SDWS Secretary, is OK in QRZ.com. Our Chairperson, Krystyna 2E0KSH, has offered to set up a Paypal account especially for this. As a first measure, please indicate your interest with comments to this post.
If successful this year, we could even consider SDWS sponsoring the project on an annual basis but that would only be done after full member consultation and approval. We are not talking large individual sums here …. you give what you can afford.
Although I know of no one who has done so, I’m certain individual SDWS members would find Maurice most accommodating when approached for permission to set up a camping holiday style portable radio station. Just tell him you are member of SDWS!
A few things regarding Foundation, Intermediate and Full Training. We welcome new members who join us and participate to take up continual learning, one of the huge benefits of free society membership.
The main news is that 2E0 Intermediate students aim to attempt for the exam at the end of July or beginning of August for those ready to do it. Those students taking part will need to ‘ramp up’ and increase their own background reading, and continue to lia…ise with and communicate with Trainer Mark M0TGW either before activities on the main society nights or in training sessions. Intermediates will continue with their sessions on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays in the bar with the practical’s sometime on a Saturday at end of May or early June, TBC. This will leave those students free to enjoy society meetings and events on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays.
Foundation Training by Krystyna 2E0KSH is now being provided on a drop in and roll over basis on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays in the bar at the Rutland Hotel using structured PowerPoints and discussion. Students can start to drop in on any session, picking and starting the course at any time in the year. There is currently one M6 student taking part. If you know anyone who wishes to get involved in the society to take part with the foundation then please extend an invitation for them to join in.
Andrew G0HSA is currently providing some 1-2-1 training to Krystyna, but any 2E0 in the society who wishes to do their full licence should come and have a chat with Andrew.
Huge thanks to other SDWS members who pitch in, especially Peter G3PHO with the occasional Morse, and the Dave’s M5DWI and G8EQD who support with practical’s and occasional presentations.
Please respect that all trainers are volunteers who have work, family and other life commitments, and who freely give up their time when they are able, and therefore offer a flexible and relaxed approach to ongoing, lifelong learning.
It has just been announced that our contest team has reached the top ten in the RSGB Affiliated Societies Super League. 104 clubs took part over the past twelve months, entering the AFS trophy contests on the 160m, 80/40m, 6m, 2m and 70cm bands. The results were entered into a nationwide league table. Our teams finished in 9th position, a fantastic performance. Because we entered all the contests we reached a high position and are rewarded by the certificate shown here.
When you look at the club names occupying the positions above us you realise just what company we are keeping, as all those clubs are top notch contest groups with most of the best contest operators in the country as members.
This just didn’t happen without a lot of hard work and sheer determination by our regular contesters, all of whom have invested in not only their time but finances in the shape of equipment and antennas as well as their ever developing operating skills. There is no doubt that contesting hones your operating skills and makes you improve your antennas and other equipment.
CONGRATULATIONS ALSO … to Krystyna 2E0KSH, our Society Chairperson, who has been awarded an RSGB Certificate for being the highest placed 2E0 station in the 432MHz AFS section of the Super League. This is indeed an excellent performance.
Now let’s see a similar effort by us all being rewarded with high final positions in this year’s UKAC series and in the RSGB 80m Club Contests series …. all it needs is YOUR regular efforts!
Full results are available at: 432MHz AFS Contest:
Join SDWS and enter amateur radio contests for us! The Society already has a very keen and capable core of contesters but we are always on the look out for more operators to take part in the many amateur radio contests we do each year. In most cases it doesn’t matter whether you live near our HQ or not as there are many contests you can do from the comfort of your own shack.
For example, if you live anywhere in the UK or in the near Continental countries such as France, Belgium and Holland you could enter the weekly UK Activity Contests on VHF and UHF. If you live within 35km of our “Virtual meeting Place” (IO93JM94 or National Grid Ref: SE 54810 02542) you can join us in the RSGB 80m Club Contests, which run from February to July inclusive.
There are many other contests we take part in such as HF and VHF Field Days, PW Low Power Contest, various RSGB Trophy Contests and Islands on the Air (IOTA). In all of them we acquit ourselves very well, especially in the UKACs and the 80m Club Contests.
To reward Society members for their efforts, we run our own internal league table in parallel with the RSGB’s, so, for example, if you are the highest scoring club member in the UKACs or a band leader, you’ll receive a handsome certificate at the end of the contest season. At the recent Society Awards Evening we presented some 30 certificates to Society members, so there is plenty of scope to earn the odd “sheepskin” !
“But I don‘t have enough power or good enough antennas”, we can hear you say… well that is something you should put out of your mind straight away! Surely you have at least one band you work regularly, possibly on VHF or UHF. Why not give that a go? We have members with very restricted antenna facilities who regular take part and help to lift the Society’s league position each week, even though they only score a few points , using simple antennas, themselves. There are QRP sections in most contests for those of you restricted to 10 watts or less. You have a wide choice of modes. Most contests involve SSB and/or CW but there are contests (eg the RSGB 80m CCs) that include RTTY and PSK63.
If you are a newcomer to contesting you will have several very experienced contesters in the Society to fall back on for advice and help.
We are especially looking for more contesters with 23cm and microwave bands facilities but offers from anyone for any bands and any modes (ssb, cw, data) will be welcome.
Details of our contest programme for this year can be downloaded at:
This document also has links to the RSG Contest website where you can find information on contest rules and links to the log upload system. There is also useful information regarding logging software.
So … Join a great group of contesters and make your contesting count!
Then click on “JOIN” at the top of that page and you’ll be referred to the Society committee for membership. It usually takes a very short time to become a full member. Once again you don’t have to live near Sheffield! You may live too far away from a club or your present club is not interested in group contesting. If so, you can enter for us, yet retaining all the other priviliges of your present club. Don’t feel you are letting your present club down …. you won’t be! Many of our members are also members of several clubs, all at the same time!
Once you are a member of SDWS you will be able to access our Society Facebook Hub, a vibrant and constantly changing page of posts, photos, discussions and chat about Society activities and amateur radio in general. If you have a radio problem you will very likely find the answer by posting on the Hub!
Join us for contesting and you’ll be working with a real club, not a nebulous cyber group formed just for the purpose of contests. We are a real club with a real constitution, affiliated to RSGB and holding regular monthly meetings at a Sheffield hotel.
For more info or help re SDWS Contesting, please email: SDWS(at)g3pho (dot) org (dot)uk
Every year certificates are awarded to members who have excelled in various contests and in service to the Society. A short video of the recent awards evening, held on January 6th 2016, can be found here:
On the same evening, Sheffield Wireless Society members were delighted to present a special award to Colin Wilson, CT7ACG (formerly G3VCQ) in appreciation of his contribution to the Nepal Emergency Net after the devastating earthquake that occurred there in early 2015.
Colin, who used to be a local club member when he lived in the area a few years ago, was one of the first members to welcome the redevelopment and rebirth of the Wireless Society back in late 2013, and has supported our Society as an international member ever since.
Among the numerous amateur radio stations that were involved in the emergency network aiding Nepal was SDWS member Colin Wilson (CT7ACG), who was very encouraging at the time to engage a small number of wireless society members with various ‘gopher’ and research ‘tasks’ in a supporting role to ensure he could provide an effective and very efficient network lead.
Colin’s station is currently located in São Bartolomeu de Messines, Algarve, Southern Portugal and together with an Israeli colleague Emir (4X6TT) they both played a very admirable and important role in the Nepal Emergency Net – recognized worldwide in various international forums.
All hams involved in assistance to earthquake victims in Nepal are unanimous in highlighting the dedication and efforts of stations CT7ACG and 4X6TT, particularly in maintaining such important radio network active, providing communication assistance to the affected nation.
This is not the first time that Colin is documented for his dedication to amateur radio, with thanks to his special call CR5CW, well known for contests performance.
Thank you Colin and many congratulations for your commitment and effort at this very critical time. We are very proud to have you as a long standing member of the Sheffield & District Wireless Society, and very warmly humbled by your staunch efforts to support the unfortunate peoples of Nepal; you are a true credit to Amateur Radio, calmly, and without reservation, putting others first. Well done!
Colin is seen pictured here being presented his award by Society Chair, Krystyna 2E0KSH.
SSB FIELD DAY REPORT:
It was a great weekend with excellent weather (though cold overnight!), a great social atmosphere as well as a serious attitude to the contest. Band conditions were very poor indeed and the hourly contact rate was very slow and only exceeded 50 an hour at the end of the contest.
I hadn’t much hope of a good result until I checked our scores against other groups who have already sent in logs and I’m very pleased to see we haven’t done badly at all! So far we are second in the list of stations entering the Restricted section, with G3WOR/P just above us. They are usually in the top two or three each year so if our log proves to be a good one this year we might stand a chance! The photos above and below shows the SSB FD summary score and the hourly contact rates. In other contests such as IOTA, these are usually double the rate.
This weekend, as usual for SSB FD, we entered the Restricted Section which, under the rules, limited us to 100 watts o/p from an FTDX950 transceiver to a single wire antenna, a 132ft doublet inverted V doublet. Unfortunately we had severe noise problems on 20 and 15m and only found the cause after the contest was over.
Operating in the Restricted Section means stations don’t usually have enough ERP to run pile ups and make loads of contacts. It was interesting to listen to G3TBK/P, in the Open Section, working a pileup of USA stations on 20m. Dave and his team were using 400 watts to a beam antenna. We could barely hear the ones calling him! A good Open Section entry would show well over 1000 QSOs for the 24 hour contest but Restricted Section logs are usually half or less than that.
I doubled checked our log for mistakes this morning and was pleased to find only 5 over the 439 entries had obvious callsign errors. I cannot check the received serial numbers for errors so there may be a few incorrect ones there. However, I believe our overall error rate will be very low. Well done to all the operators!
Many thanks to all who helped and to those who came up to visit us or contact us over the air, on HF or on 144MHz.
A special thanks to Mike G0NEY and John G4LKD, of the 93 Contest Group, who once again joined forces with us to put on a G5TO/P station for the 144MHz Trophy Contest which ran in parallel to HF SSB Field Day. Co-operation like this is very nice indeed. A report on that contest will appear in due course.
at the club names occupying the positions above us you realise just what company we are keeping, as all those clubs are top notch contest groups with most of the best contest operators in the country as members.
heir ever developing operating skills. There is no doubt that contesting hones your operating skills and makes you improve your antennas and other equipment.
within 35km of our “Virtual meeting Place” (IO93JM94 or National Grid Ref: SE 54810 02542) you can join us in the RSGB 80m Club Contests, which run from February to July inclusive.
‘t have enough power or good enough antennas”, we can hear you say… well that is something you should put out of your mind straight away! Surely you have at least one band you work regularly, possibly on VHF or UHF. Why not give that a go? We have members with very restricted antenna facilities who regular take part and help to lift the Society’s league position each week, even though they only score a few points , using simple antennas, themselves. There are QRP sections in most contests for those of you restricted to 10 watts or less. You have a wide choice of modes. Most contests involve SSB and/or CW but there are contests (eg the RSGB 80m CCs) that include RTTY and PSK63.
ning all the other priviliges of your present club. Don’t feel you are letting your present club down …. you won’t be! Many of our members are also members of several clubs, all at the same time!
