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UKAC results so far

May 21, 2013 in Contests by Alex

A few of us have dabbled in the UKAC series run by the RSGB this year. Andrew, G4VFL leads the pack both in terms of experience and points. But a few others have dipped their toes in what is a very relaxed evening series. So far the club is holding its own at 28th place out of a little over 90 entrants. the full tables are here and show how far we’ve come in a few short months. Most of the points come from portable operations with the Corney fell site looking like the most accessible and profitable in terms of points.

Hopefully as the weather gets better IO84 will get busier and the contest bug will bite as well as increasing local activity on the vhf bands outside of the contests

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GB2LBC – SOS Radio Week

January 19, 2013 in Club by Alex

A quick report from the first day of operation at GB2LBC, the Workington Lifeboat Station (one of the four Lifeboat Stations on the air in West Cumbria).

Operations today focussed largely on 40m and 17m with 40m proving a bit busy in the morning and evening due to a contest. Despite this some good contacts have been made with 40m largely open inter G and 17m giving some good paths to the west, especially to the west coast of the USA. DX highlights include Australia (3rd call in the log on 17m) , Venezuela and the western states including California.

Over all we worked just shy of 200 contacts at a relaxed pace and had a thouroughly enjoyable day.

Antennas in use were the inverted V doublet for the lower HF bands and a 5/8 wave vertical for 17m located on the beach. Radio eqipment was a Yaesu FT847 and an Elecraft K3 with the matching KPA500 amplifier. We seem to have the interaction problems beat as both stations were able to operate without any mutual interference.

Below you can see the wonderful crew room that the lifeboat station kindly let us use and some pics of the operators and a final one of the lifeboat itself:

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SOS Radio Week

January 16, 2013 in Club News by Alex

MX0WRC we OK all once again be taking part in the upcoming SOS Radio week. This year we’re keeping things the same as last year by setting up 3 stations along the coast of Cumbria.

GB1LBC – Silloth lifeboat station. Norman, G7MRL is leading this station.

GB2LBC – Workington lifeboat station. Peter, G8RZ is the main operator here, and without a doubt the most comfortable.

GB4LBC – St Bees lifeboat station. Alex, G7KSE is the point of contact there and very close to home and the beach cafe.

Finally the Furness and district club will be operating GB5LBC from Barrow in Furness.

Operating times vary between the stations but hopefully we will all make as many contacts and money for such a worthy cause. All we ask is that you give us a call and we look forward to working you.

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by Alex

UKAC results so far

May 21, 2013 in Contests by Alex

A few of us have dabbled in the UKAC series run by the RSGB this year. Andrew, G4VFL leads the pack both in terms of experience and points. But a few others have dipped their toes in what is a very relaxed evening series. So far the club is holding its own at 28th place out of a little over 90 entrants. the full tables are here and show how far we’ve come in a few short months. Most of the points come from portable operations with the Corney fell site looking like the most accessible and profitable in terms of points.

Hopefully as the weather gets better IO84 will get busier and the contest bug will bite as well as increasing local activity on the vhf bands outside of the contests

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by Alex

GB2LBC – SOS Radio Week

January 19, 2013 in Club by Alex

A quick report from the first day of operation at GB2LBC, the Workington Lifeboat Station (one of the four Lifeboat Stations on the air in West Cumbria).

Operations today focussed largely on 40m and 17m with 40m proving a bit busy in the morning and evening due to a contest. Despite this some good contacts have been made with 40m largely open inter G and 17m giving some good paths to the west, especially to the west coast of the USA. DX highlights include Australia (3rd call in the log on 17m) , Venezuela and the western states including California.

Over all we worked just shy of 200 contacts at a relaxed pace and had a thouroughly enjoyable day.

Antennas in use were the inverted V doublet for the lower HF bands and a 5/8 wave vertical for 17m located on the beach. Radio eqipment was a Yaesu FT847 and an Elecraft K3 with the matching KPA500 amplifier. We seem to have the interaction problems beat as both stations were able to operate without any mutual interference.

Below you can see the wonderful crew room that the lifeboat station kindly let us use and some pics of the operators and a final one of the lifeboat itself:

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by Alex

SOS Radio Week

January 16, 2013 in Club News by Alex

MX0WRC we OK all once again be taking part in the upcoming SOS Radio week. This year we’re keeping things the same as last year by setting up 3 stations along the coast of Cumbria.

GB1LBC – Silloth lifeboat station. Norman, G7MRL is leading this station.

GB2LBC – Workington lifeboat station. Peter, G8RZ is the main operator here, and without a doubt the most comfortable.

GB4LBC – St Bees lifeboat station. Alex, G7KSE is the point of contact there and very close to home and the beach cafe.

Finally the Furness and district club will be operating GB5LBC from Barrow in Furness.

Operating times vary between the stations but hopefully we will all make as many contacts and money for such a worthy cause. All we ask is that you give us a call and we look forward to working you.

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RSGB Centenary Special Event Station

December 17, 2012 in RSGB info by Alex

rsgb-centenary-2013 It may have escaped you but the RSGB enters its centenary year next year and one way of marking this event is a special event station that will travel the country, hosted by clubs and societies around the country. Region 3 is the first area to be hosting this event and we will be supporting this special occasion by hosting Gx100RSGB on the 5th, 6th and 7th January from the Workington lifeboat station.

The RSGB has further information on its web site, including the award which will go with the event.

Widnes and Runcorn ARC have the honour of starting off this unique relay and Workington will be handed the ‘baton’ by Oldham ARS and we will pass it onto South Cheshire ARS on the 8th January. It is planned that the relay will continue on for the remainder of the year as it passes though the various regions with the calendar below ( taken from the RSGB). Further details of which clubs are on air can be found here. I hope we can work as many stations a possible over our allotted time and look forward to hearing you on the bands.

 

1st Jan – 28th Jan – NW England & Isle of Man

29th Jan – 25th Feb – North Scotland

26th Feb – 25th Mar – NE England

26th Mar – 22nd Apr – SW England

23rd Apr – 20th May – S & SE England & Channel Islands

21st May – 17th Jun – South Wales

19th Jun – 15th Jul – London & Thames Valley

16th Jul – 12th Aug – East of England & East Anglia

13th Aug – 9th Sep – North Wales

10th Sep – 7th Oct – East Midlands

8th Oct – 4th Nov – West Midlands

5th Nov – 2nd Dec – South Scotland

3rd Dec – 31st Dec – Northern Ireland

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A very welcome visitor

October 23, 2012 in Club News by Alex

Last nights meeting was slightly usual in as much as we had a very welcome visitor Paul, VE3HTF, who made the long trip from Ontario to Workington for the club meeting and chance to get in contact with the DXpedition from the club shack. A long way to travel Paul but next time it might be easier to use your rig!

Its not often we get to show off our shack at the museum and although its still in a semi completed state I’m sure that we’re in a better position than many other clubs.

Visitors are always welcome so if you’re passing on or near a club meeting then please pop in and say hello. I can’t promise a noisy contact with a DXpedition every time but we can certainly make you a cup of tea.

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Adam, 2E0RCE sk

October 19, 2012 in Club News by Alex

It is with real sadness that we report that Adam, 2E0RCE is a sk. Adam passed away quite unexpectedly and our thoughts are with his family.

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AGM reminder

October 4, 2012 in Club by Alex

Just a very quick reminder of the AGM on Monday 8th October at the Helena Thompson Museum, Park End Road, Workington

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Exam weekend success

October 2, 2012 in Training by Alex

The last weekend in September saw another series of tuition and exams at the club. We have managed to get a further 3 people through the Intermediate course and 1 through foundation. Thanks to everyone who helped out with the course, exams and marking. We’ll look forward to another set of new callsign’s.

For those who could make it to this session another will be organised but as yet the exact dates are not available. When they do become available the information will be put here and in the club calendar.

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HF Antenna back up

September 9, 2012 in Operating by Alex

After a long hiatus an HF antenna has been put back up as part of the shack refurbishment. We are very fortunate to have a shack in such a nice location and for it to be warm and secure. What we do struggle with is the fact that we are in a listed building.

The simple doublet that we have up replaces the now defunct antenna but is not universally adored by the museum. I think tolerated is as good as its going to get and more acceptable solution will need to be found if we are going to remain on good terms. We are very lucky that the only part of the building that isn’t listed is where the antenna crosses (over a flat roof).

Still we are now able to get back on the air from the shack so please keep an ear out for us as MX0WRC in the near future.

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Build night

September 4, 2012 in Homebrew by Alex

The first build night for a while took place at the last club meeting. we decided to go for the Radio Kits Digital SWR meter and it looks like we’ve made a good choice. 8 kits are currently being worked on by members and it’ll take a few nights to get the kit fully assembled. The lack of SMD’s made it much easier for those less experienced but the inclusion of 4 toroids will help to hone those skills.

IMAG0192

Hopefully we can get all the kits up and running within the next couple of meetings with the minimal amount of re-work. Some old hands are standing by to help with some of the tricky parts but its nice to see more novice hands getting there hands on the soldering iron.

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