Cockenzie & Port Seton

Amateur Radio Club Elements

Cockenzie & Port Seton

Amateur Radio Club is

affiliated to the Radio

Society of Great Britain

and holds the call signs

MM0CPS and GM2T which

are used for our special

event and contest entries.

The Club was formed by

Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ in

1984 to help the local

amateurs get to know each

other.

Far from being just a local

club we have members

regularly attending from

the Borders, Dumfries,

Strathclyde, Fife and

Newcastle.

The Club meets on the first

Friday of every month

(Second Friday of January)

in the lounge of the

Thorntree Inn on the old

Cockenzie High Street from

7pm till late.

Editorial Here we are in December at the end of

another club year. Has it been a good year

yes I certainly think so and in next month’s

editorial I will do a recap on what has

happened over the 2011 year. For me, it has

been another busy year both on the radio

club and personal front to the extent I have

not played as much radio as I would have

liked to, plus I still have lots of outstanding

things I should have done so, maybe next

year, I will end up with a nice clean sheet,

some hopes knowing my luck…….

So what else has happened since our last

club night? There was a talk on “2011

Lighthouse Weekend Maritime Mobile” by

Geoff MM5AHO which as I write this is about

to happen but I am sure it will have been a

tremendous talk. There was another talk

planned on “Planning Permission” by Len

GM0ONX but Len had to cancel at short

notice as he had to be in Birmingham for

early the next morning. Don’t despair as Len

has agreed to do the talk in March as part of

our 2012 club events. The night was not

wasted as it was used as another Morse

Training night.

We have started a 6 week Monday night

Morse Training class which takes us quite

nicely to Christmas. If they have been well

supported I will book more sessions starting

in January next year.

On the teaching front 4 pupils in the

Intermediate class will have sat and

hopefully have passed their exam...

I will be starting an Advanced Course on the

3rd December aiming for the January 2012

exam.

I am sure you will join with me and wish

them all good luck.

To the future: Next Saturday a few of us are

going out for our Christmas Meal which I am

really looking forward too, it is an occasion

where we get a chance to go out along with

our partners and have a meal and a good

laugh. For me I am taking a sabbatical for the

rest of December and January to try and

recharge the batteries ready for the

“February Off” on the club events calendar.

John MM0JXI has been tirelessly been

working in the background on the club’s

website and has moved us to a new

provider. Please bear with John as he

gradually tweaks the site back to normality. I

am sure any suggestions on improvements

or any idea will be much appreciated by

John. (John, on behalf of us all, many thanks

for your dedicated work in the background

for making a very successful website and a

successful newsletter, believe me it is very

much appreciated)

Thanks to Brian M0RNR who did the initial

background work we have been running

with the Club Tables for the past year using

Club Log. It is easy to use and within a few

hours of you uploading your ADIF logfile you

can see exactly how well you are doing.

(Continued on page 2)

In this issue

Head for the Hills! P.2

CQWW SSB 2011 P.4

Rock mounted Lighthouses P.10

Xmas Night Out P.12

Intermediate Passes P.12

Test Your Knowledge P.13

Event Column P.14

Clublog Table P.14

V o l u m e 1 9

De ce mb e r 2 0 11

12

For those not already using Club Log it is a web site written by

another amateur (Michael Wells G7VJR). This is a far more

powerful tool than our old spreadsheet system. Go to the site

via the link on the club’s web page and see for yourself.

Thanks again Brian for pointing us in this direction.... Although

we have moved to this Bob GM4IKT is still interested in all the

good DX you have worked for his club tables DX write up.

My wish for 2012 is that some of the “old faces” will return to

the club and that everyone will support ALL our club events.

LET US ALL SUPPORT THE CLUB because if you don’t it will just

die and that is something I would hate to see happen.

Right that is about it again for another year so all that is left to

say to you all is to WISH YOU ALL AND YOUR FAMILIES A VERY

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY, HEALTHY AND

PROSPOROUS NEW YEAR. I should add I hope you get what

you want as well from Santa, assuming you posted your letter!

Bob GM4UYZ

PS: Remember January club night is the second Friday in

January, the 13th.

(Continued from page 1)

Head for the Hills!

Sunday 6th November, a good forecast and a ‘free’ weekend.

Time to head for the hills!

Saturday was spent in my intermediate class run by CPSARC,

thanks to Bob GM4UYZ for his tutelage; especially as he had

obviously enjoyed the club night the previous evening.

Knoydart is beautiful (when you can see it) and the west coast

had the best weather forecast.

The west end of Loch Arkaig at the end of the public B8005

was the starting point. The outside temperature was only 2

centigrade so I was expecting a frosty night, although midges

were not going to be a problem! Arriving at 21:00 I had 8

hours of glorious sleep before the alarm went off at 05:00. My

quick breakfast was disturbed by two other cars arriving

(confirming such madness is not unique) and I left the car be-

fore 06:00. There was thick mist and a shallow cloud inversion

as I cycled in absolute darkness for the first 5km to the old

lodge at upper Glendessary. This was perhaps the most dan-

gerous part of the day, cycling up the rough track poorly illu-

minated by headtorch. Then onto the well trodden swamp

which forms the Inverie footpath; wet feet all day. By 07:10 I

could walk without the aid of the headtorch.

At the path (swamp) junction with the 310m contour

(NM912949) I was above the cloud inversion and headed

northwest up the eroded scar of a quad bike track made by

stalkers. The sun was now shining on the beautiful russet col-

oured upper slopes and I contoured into the steep gully, to

enjoy a light scramble and reach the Feadan gap between GM/

WS-034 and GM/WS-048. As now found on every Munro, a

good path leads to the summit (Sgurr Na Ciche, 1040m) where

there were superb views over Knoydart, the shapely ridge of

Ladhar Bheinn and out to Eigg and Rum.

In contrast to the breathtaking views, there were the remains

of a broken champagne bottle near the summit cairn. Maybe

a final Munro party, and perhaps the bottle was broken acci-

dentally during the celebrations. They hadn’t stopped to clear

up the few broken shards and now everyone had to look at

their mess!

I was keen to get the peak activated before the 09:30 RSGB

newsletter broadcast and from 09:07 to 09:13 had three con-

tacts on 2m, before my hastily erected 2 element YAGI blew

over; it was quite windy. After trying to transmit and receive

for a few minutes I realised the 2m antennae was trashed (the

only activation in 2008 was exclusively on 2m) and apologies I

couldn’t call on 2m again. So up with the 40m dipole, and after

calling for a few minutes I had one contact at 09:58, then

nothing.

The wind had chilled me over the previous hour and with the

prospect of the long day ahead, I vigorously packed and head-

ed back down to the col. From here an old stone wall and der-

elict iron fence snakes along the top of the ridge for miles.

Probably built after the Highland Clearances, I imagined the

time, effort and cost of building the wall, just to keep sheep.

But then labour was cheap in those days and the landowner

was making a statement. However, now the wall could help

when navigating in bad weather. Today, the sun was out and I

could choose my own route to the summit of GM/WS-048,

Garbh Choich Mor (1013m) and, arriving sweating, I found a

nook sheltered behind the wall and pitched the 40m dipole

again. There was fresh orange peel on the ground left by hill

walkers the day before; biodegradable, but rubbish neverthe-

less. After a slow start I was spotted on the SOTA website and

36 minutes later I had 21 QSOs and just after noon packed up

as some cloud rolled in spoiling the views over Loch Nevis. To

the east the views were clear with the North East buttress of

the mighty Ben Nevis in sturdy profile.

From here the ridge was a pleasure walking a line in the sky,

with the ruined wall alongside, although there was some easy

scrambling which might be a concern in bad weather. On GM/

WS-082, Sgurr nan Coireachan (953m) cloud enclosed the sum-

mit as I arrived.

There was a nice convenient iron fence post for the antenna

pole. The windspeed had fallen and the air temperature had

risen as I started calling at just after 13:30 with 25 contacts in

about half an hour, after being spotted. I wolfed down lunch

between packing and set off to my final peak of the day. Why

had I bothered to tell people I had a final summit in mind? It

certainly made me continue when the track down in the glen

below looked more attractive. An effective motivational tool!

The ridge is more undulating in this final section and I finally

reached GM/WS-160 (835m) at 15:30 I was startled by a cou-

ple who arrived on the summit just as I CQ’d. I waved and

smiled at the first people I had seen all day; if you don’t count

the boat motoring up Glen Nevis first thing! But they left the

top without stopping; no doubt keen to get back to their car

before nightfall, or maybe escape from the mad radio opera-

tor.

The sun was getting low in the sky, but the QSOs just kept

coming. In total I had 33 QSOs; my highest ever tally. Finally,

no response to my calls; time to get out of here. It was 16:11,

the sun was going down as I swiftly descended the southwest

ridge of Sgurr Cos na Breachd-laoidh, then after losing two

thirds of the total height, turned directly down towards upper

Glendessary. It was getting dark but I managed to reach the

bike shortly after 17:00 without artificial light.

It was pleasure to take off my jacket, get the weight off my wet

feet and onto the bike. I briefly stopped to chat to the couple I

had seen on top of WS-160, apologising for spoiling their wil-

derness experience with radio traffic. I could clearly see they

thought me insane! From there I freewheeled back to the car

park in bright moonlight arriving just before 18:00. There was

more rubbish left beside the locked gate at the end of the pub-

lic road. I marvelled that the individuals, who had driven all

the way along the lochside, then thought it was reasonable to

leave their bags of rubbish at the gate of the estate. Did they

really believe that someone would tidy up after them, before a

fox ripped the bags open? No wonder estates discourage peo-

ple. While there is a legal right to roam, there is a moral re-

sponsibility not to litter.

So, a 12 hour day, 3 hours radioing, 83 QSOs (3 on 2m, 80 on

40m) an hour on the bike, 8 hours walking, at least 1700m of

ascent, 26 SOTA points, 18 points from first activations, a need

for new boots, fix my 2m antenna, dismay at the rubbish and

wonder at the beautiful views all day. Perfect!

Colwyn Jones MM6YCJ

Club Attire

The club has a design for

Club Tee-shirts, Polo-

shirts, Sweat-Shirts, Fleec-

es and Jackets and all of

these can be obtained

from the address below.

When making an order

please quote ‘Cockenzie &

Port Seton Amateur Radio

Club’ as this will ensure

that the Club Logo will be

placed on the required

ordered garments.

If you wish to add your call

-sign to the logo then

please ask at the time of

the order.

Cost will depend on gar-

ment and should cover the

garment and logo, call-sign

addition will be extra.

Order from:

PATRICIA BEWSEY DESIGNS,

UNIT 11,

FENTON BARNS RETAIL

VILLAGE,

FENTON BARNS,

NORTH BERWICK,

EAST LOTHIAN

EH39 5BW

Tel/Fax: 01620 850788

Mobile: 07970 920431

CQWW SSB Contest

48 hours Saturday/Sunday 29-30th OCTOBER

As we have in past years the club once again

took part in the above contest from our usual

venue of Barns Ness Lighthouse, Dunbar. We

are most grateful for the generosity of

Lafarge cement for their continued sponsor-

ship; again they allowed us access to all of

the out buildings at the lighthouse. Here we

made use of the outbuildings to set up the

stations, had a kitchen, a workshop and even

a toilet this year and also somewhere to bed

down. We also had access to the lighthouse

itself where we strung a sloping 80M dipole

and an Inverted “L” 160M aerial from.

The contest runs for 48 hours but it also

needs a day either side to build and disman-

tle the station. This year we decided once

again to enter the Multi-2 section which al-

lows two stations to run calling CQ for the

whole 48 hours.

Running up to the contest weekend there

had been numerous emails sent out to find

out who would be attending and for how

long. This was highly beneficial as it allowed a

plan to be devised for setting up and also

dismantling the station. It also allowed me to

put together for the first time a rough oper-

ating rota together so that everyone who

was attending got an equal share of oper-

ating and more important a rest.

Believe you me the rest times are as im-

portant as the operating time as even after a

3 hour stint it can leave you absolutely ex-

hausted.

Work started early on the Friday morning

arriving at 07:30 with a quite a team availa-

ble consisting of Cambell MM0DXC, John

MM0CCC, Steve MM0GZA, Bob GM4IKT,

Cephas MM6INS, Paul MM0VPR and Adrian

MM0GTU to erect all the aerials and lastly

myself GM4UYZ building the shack. With

having such a team it allowed all the equip-

ment and aerials to be installed with no

hitches at all, basically I put this down to

most of the team now being quite familiar

with the kit having now built and dismantled

it a few times. Brian M0RNR arrived late

afternoon followed by Robin MM0VTV and

later on Gary MM0FZV joined the team. On

the Saturday, Keith MM0KTC came along to

do a few hours operating and on Sunday Nial

MM6KLZ arrived late evening and took a stint

of operating making up the rest of the oper-

ating team.

Four stations were set-up which was band

orientated and consisted of three FT1000MP

and a FT1000 each with an Alpha Linear so

lots of consistency. Along with each station a

Bandpass filter was used, Band Decoder Box

(2 stations only), Voice recorders and an an-

tenna switch (two stations only). Each radio

was connected to the computer to allow rig

control. Antenna wise we had two stations

each dedicated to their own band and fitted

with a 40M YAGI and 20M YAGI respectively.

The other two stations were set up with two

antennas each, one station was able to oper-

ate on 80M using a Sloping Dipole from the

top of the lighthouse and 15M using a 15M

YAGI the other station was on 160M using an Inverted L wire

antenna and 10M using a 10M YAGI.

Software wise this year we used what has become our club

contest software; the Windows based software WIN-TEST. The

beauty about Win-test is that we can use an Ethernet network

and it catered very well indeed with “loss of a station” and

being able to recover it. This year our network was purely

wireless all connecting via a small router. I must admit it run

faultlessly. The major advantage is less cables floating around

that could be affected with RF.

This year before the contest as it was Cambell MM0DXC’s

birthday a couple of beers were had to wish him many happy

returns... he was allowed to a few more seeing it was his

birthday as he was roistered on for 10:00 the next morning

(enough time to recover!!!)

How were band conditions? Well it was nice to see all the

bands open with 10M now being back in the fray due to where

we are in the now rising sunspot cycle. 15M & 20M were the

definite workhorse bands and the lower bands 160M to 40M

all working about the same level. From the comments made

by the team 40M was the most difficult band to work on due

to the level of stations and trying to find the smallest of gap to

start CQ’ing. From the tables at the end of the end of this

showing how we ended and what we submitted gives you the

true picture.

Regarding DXCC countries worked, well certainly we had con-

tacts all round the globe from Hawaii, Australia and the Far

East, from Antarctica to Franz Josef Island. Below is exactly

what we ended with for each of the bands and you can see it

is quite impressive:

160M

Aland Is, Andorra, Asiatic Russia, Austria, Balearic Islands, Bela-

rus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Cape Verde Is, Ceuta & Melilla,

Corsica, Czech Rep, Denmark, Eire, England, Estonia, European

Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Isle of

Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxem-

bourg, Madeira, Market Reef, Moldova, Montenegro, Moroc-

co,

Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Scot-

land, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia,

Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates,

USA, Wales

80M

Aland Is, Andorra, Asiatic Russia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium,

Bosnia, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands, Ceuta & Melilla, Cor-

sica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Rep, Denmark, Eire, England, Esto-

nia,

European Russia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece,

(Continued on page 6)

The Club

The Club is run in a very

informal way, just a group

of like minded people

doing something they

enjoy!

This does not mean that

we don’t do anything, we

enter (and win!) contests,

train newcomers, hold

talks and video nights and

run a popular annual Junk

Sale. Our newsletter has

won the Practical Wireless

‘Spotlight’ competition on

several occasions.

The Club supports the

British Heart Foundation

in memory of a member

who died from heart dis-

ease by donating the

profits from some of the

events we hold, we have

raised over £14,795 since

1994.

Supported by BT Community

Champions

Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Jersey,

Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,

Madeira, Market Reef, Moldova, N Ireland,

Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto

Rico, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Scotland,

Serbia,

Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,

The Gambia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United

Arab Emirates, US Virgin Is, USA. Wales

40M

Aland Is, Albania, Andorra, Aruba, Asiatic Rus-

sia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bos-

nia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands,

Cape Verde Is, Ceuta & Melilla, Corsica, Croa-

tia, Curacao,

Cyprus, Czech Rep, Denmark, Eire, England,

Estonia, European Russia, Finland, France,

Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,

Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein,

Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Market Reef,

Martinique, Moldova, Morocco, N Ireland,

Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto

Rico, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Ara-

bia, Scotland, Serbia,

Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard, Sweden,

Switzerland, The Gambia, Tunisia, Turkey,

Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, US

Virgin Is, USA, Wales

20M

Aland Is, Alaska, Albania, Andorra, Antarctica,

Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Ascension Is, Asi-

atic Russia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Balear-

ic Islands, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bonaire,

Bosnia,

Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands, Cape

Verde Is, Cayman Is, Ceuta & Melilla, Chile,

China, Colombia, Corsica, Costa Rica, Crete,

Croatia, Cuba, Curacao, Cyprus, Czech Rep,

Denmark, Djibouti, Dodecanese Is, Dominican

Republic, Ecuador, Eire, El Salvador, England,

Estonia, European Russia, Finland, France,

French Guiana, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe,

Guam, Guatemala, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Hunga-

ry, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan,

Jersey, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia,

Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxem-

bourg, Macedonia, Madeira, Maldives Is, Mal-

ta, Mariana Is, Market Reef, Marquesas Island

(French Polynesia), Martinique, Mexico, Mol-

dova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat,

Morocco, N Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands,

New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pana-

ma, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico,

Qatar, Reunion Is, Romania, Saba & St Eustati-

us, San Marino, Sardinia, Saudi Arabia, Scot-

land, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South

Africa, Spain, St Kitts & Nevis, St Pierre & Mi-

quelon Is, Sudan, Surinam, Svalbard, Sweden,

Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, The Gambia,

Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turks & Caicos Is,

Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, US

Virgin Is, USA, Venezuela, West Malaysia

15M

Aland Is, Alaska, Albania, Andorra, Antigua &

Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Asiatic

Russia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Balearic

Islands, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bhutan,

Bonaire, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Ca-

nary Islands, Cape Verde Is, Cayman Is, Ceuta

(Continued from page 5)

(Continued on page 7)

& Melilla, Chile, China, Corsica, Costa Rica, Crete, Croatia, Cy-

prus, Czech Rep, Denmark, Dodecanese Is, Dominican Repub-

lic, East Malaysia, Eire, El Salvador, England, Estonia, European

Russia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Greece,

Greenland, Guadeloupe, Guam, Hawaii, Honduras, Hungary,

India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,

Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Maria-

na Is, Market Reef, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro,

Montserrat, Morocco, N Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, New

Zealand, Niue, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico,

Qatar, Romania, Saba & St Eustatius, Saudi Arabia, Scotland,

Senegal, Serbia, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa,

Spain, St Kitts & Nevis, Sudan, Surinam, Svalbard, Sweden,

Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, The Gambia, Tunisia,

Turkey, Turks & Caicos Is, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uru-

guay, US Virgin Is, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam

10M

Alaska, Andorra, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Arme-

nia, Aruba, Asiatic Russia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bah-

rain, Balearic Islands, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bhutan,

Bonaire, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands, Cape

Verde Is, Ceuta & Melilla, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica,

Crete, Croatia, Cuba, Curacao, Cyprus, Czech Rep, Denmark,

Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Eire, England, Estonia, European

Russia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Greece,

Guernsey, Guinea, Guyana, Hawaii, Honduras, Hong Kong,

Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Ka-

zakhstan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagas-

car, Madeira, Maldives Is, Malta, Mariana Is, Martinique, Mex-

ico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique,

N Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland,

Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Scotland,

Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa,

South Cook Island, Spain, Sudan, Surinam, Sweden, Switzer-

land, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Gambia, Tuni-

sia, Turkey, Turks & Caicos Is, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates,

Uruguay, US Virgin Is, USA, Venezuela, Wales, West Malaysia

This year I used my works O2 dongle which gave us GPRS con-

nectivity. From this we connected to the internet and apart

from a couple of drop outs we remained connected to the

DXCC cluster all weekend. Did we have any problems over the

weekend? The answer is yes but glad to say but they were all

minor ones and were easily resolved. We did have strong

winds on the Saturday which resulted in the 40M tower being

lowered for safety and we didn’t want a rerun of the 2008

event where the tower collapsed and the 40M beam was dam-

aged beyond repair. Generally for the whole 48 hours consid-

ering what was erected, we had a few problems but all re-

solved very quickly so we mustn’t complain...

The list of operators for the weekend is as follows:

GM4UYZ MM0GZA MM0GTU MM0FZV M0RNR MM0CCC

MM0DXC MM0KTC GM4IKT MM0VPR MM0VTV MM6INS

MM6KLZ

List of visitors to see us….believe you me we appreciate the

visit as it gives a real moral boost.

Duncan MM0GZZ, young Robbie MM3RBC and his dad Billy

2M0OAN and I think that was about it so if you are reading

this and not mentioned I do apologise.

After the end of the contest we all retired believe it or not

having a cup of tea now that is unheard off. To be honest we

were all extremely tired and it was a nice way to unwind or I

thought so....

On the Monday all the equipment was dismantled and re-

turned to its rightful home ready for the next contest. Was it

enjoyable? Yes it was, lots of hard work, lots of operating and

most important lots of laughs what more can you ask for. The

consensus of opinion is that the right section the Multi-Two

section which only requires two stations is the right section

for us as it is easier to man when the operating team is small

plus as well it ensures people get adequate rest periods

which I see as being absolutely essential. The section offers

different tactics than running Multi-Multi which in itself

makes it a more interesting section.

Below shows how we ended after the contest and what was

eventually submitted. There will always be differences as the

log is checked for typos and any errors. Sometimes it works in

our favour and other times it does not....

How we ended with QSO’s Logged: 4822

As it turns out not many mistakes or I will rephrase it I didn’t

find many so the logging by everyone was excellent.

I have been keeping records, (surprise, surprise you may

think) on what we have done since we started doing the

CQWW Contest. The Final Score, QSO’s, Zones and Countries

are what the final adjudicated results were except for this

year (2011) where it is showing our submitted score.

From the table you can see how well we have achieved this

year so everyone needs to be congratulated for all the effort

that they put in.

Well done to everyone who took part it is a fantastic score....

and I think Multi-2 is here to stay.

Bob GM4UYZ

(Continued from page 7)

YEAR SECT CALLSIGN LOCATION No of EN-TRANTS

(Scotland) POSITION

FINAL SCORE

QSO's ZONES COUNTRIES

1997 M2 GM0NTL/P No results Available ??

1998 M2 MM0MMV/P BENTS No results Available ??

1999 M2 MM0CPS/P Barns Ness Log but no Entry?? ??

2000 MM GM2T Barns Ness 2 2 1400091 2158 87 312

2001 MM GM2T Barns Ness 1 2 4216844 4523 114 434

2002 M2 GM2T Barns Ness 1 1 948918 1366 87 331

2003 MM GM2T Barns Ness 2 2 1009821 1641 91 318

2004 M2 GM2T Barns Ness 1 1 1809750 2565 102 373

2005 M2 GM2T Barns Ness 1 1 2528326 3454 95 359

2006 MM GM2T Barns Ness 2 3 4443504 5606 114 510

2007 MM GM2T Barns Ness 2 1 4416448 5527 109 495

2008 MM GM2T Barns Ness 3 2 2183742 2832 116 422

2009 MM GM2T Barns Ness 2 2 2442830 3306 109 450

2010 M2 GM2T Barns Ness 2 1 3927208 3994 133 471

2011 M2 GM2T Barns Ness 6058528 4741 158 173

Thanks to the sterling

work by M0RNR, our club

has been added to the

excellent Clublog system

developed by Michael

Wells G7VJR.

www.clublog.org

The system allows mem-

bers to upload their logs in

ADIF format and have

them displayed in a table

with all the other club

members.

Clublog also has great fa-

cilities for tracking your

DXCC status etc so is well

worth taking the time to

register and get your log

uploaded.

To update your log with

the next set of contacts

(SSB, CW or Data) you can

simply upload your whole

log again and the system

will take care of the dupli-

cates. Alternatively you

can export the bits you

want from your own log

and just upload that.

The tables we’ll publish

here will be the club, fil-

tered by the current year,

so everyone starts a new

year at 0 contacts.

BAND QSO CQ DXC DUP POINTS AVG

--------------------------------------

160 492 10 57 15 522 1.06

80 491 15 62 6 700 1.43

40 443 19 74 8 560 1.26

20 1564 40 137 41 2902 1.86

15 1153 37 121 6 2526 2.19

10 601 37 122 2 1084 1.80

--------------------------------------

TOTAL 4744 158 573 78 8294 1.75

======================================

TOTAL SCORE : 6 062 914

After log checking

BAND QSO CQ DXC DUP POINTS AVG

--------------------------------------

160 492 11 56 15 520 1.06

80 491 15 62 6 700 1.43

40 442 19 74 9 559 1.26

20 1563 40 138 42 2902 1.86

15 1152 36 121 7 2523 2.19

10 601 37 122 2 1084 1.80

--------------------------------------

TOTAL 4741 158 573 81 8288 1.75

======================================

TOTAL SCORE : 6 058 528

Contest : CQ World Wide DX Contest

Callsign : GM2T

Mode : PHONE

Category : Multi Operator - Two Transmitter (M2)

Overlay : ---

Band(s) : All bands (AB)

Class : High Power (HP)

Zone/State/... : 14

Locator : IO85SX

Operating time : 47h15

International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, in August each year is now a very popular event, with (in 2011) 470 lighthouses being activated. In 2010, I had the idea to sail to some of those lighthouses that are not very accessible, and operating from the boat maritime mobile allow some to work those rare lighthouses.

As we sail on the West Coast of Scotland (by far the best scen-ery in my opinion), prime target lighthouses had to be Hyskeir, Skerryvore and Dubh Artach. These are all on rocks, though Hyskeir has perhaps an acre of grass. Hyskeir was our success for 2010, but 2011 Skerryvore was activated.

Built between 1838 and 1844, only during the summers (as the weather was too rough in winter), the light took over 58,000 cu ft of granite that was quarried on Mull, shipped in rough form to Hynish on Tiree where 80 stonemasons shaped the stones so that they fit perfectly when taken out to the reef. On the reef the workmen had stayed in a “barrack”, like a steel cylinder on stilts on the rock. Each of the stones, which were between 750kg and 2500kg each, was shaped, smoothed and made to interlock and fit the others, layer by layer to 97 courses, with the 9 internal rooms one above the other to house machinery and keepers.

Our trip to Skerryvore started at Dunstaffnage, near Oban, where we keep the boat in summer, and took us by Tober-mory, Coll, and Tiree. Sailing from Tiree, its an 11 mile trip to Skerryvore, and took us about 2 hours.

I had not been able to find a detailed chart of the rocks at Skerryvore, so we motored the last half mile slowly approach-ing the light, but avoiding the surrounding rocks. Anchoring as close as we dared, we started transmitting on 40m, and the log shows that G0WHA was first QSO at 1210. First GM was GM4EOU at 1214.

By 1308, there were 65 in the log, but we wanted to go ashore for a look. So we inflated the rubber dinghy and rowed to the rock. The seals were everywhere, and while as curious as cows, they kept their distance. Just as well, they have some teeth!

Skerryvore must be one of the most majestic of the Stevenson lighthouses. Its half as tall again as Bell Rock. But the weather here can be ferocious. The justification for building it shows that: Between 1790 and 1844 over 30 ships foundered here. During construction, wave heights of 60ft were recorded, and when manned by keepers, they reported waves going right over the 151ft tower.

Activating Rock Mounted Lighthouses.

The light has a 1,000,000 candlepower light whch is a 250W metal halide bulb. It has a nominal range of 26 miles. In fog a horm sounds at 60 second intervals. While until 1994 it was a manned lighthouse, now its fully automatic, and monitored from The Northern Lighthouse Board’s HQ in Edinburgh, like most of Scotland’s lights.

Putting another 91 entries in the log, we operated until 1530 then decided that it was time to head back to Tiree, which we reached in time to go ashore and see the land station that Alan Stevenson built from where the lighthouse was built.

Our trip back was just east of the line of the reef that lurks at various depths all the way back to Tiree. The reef is a favour-ite fishing place for many of Tiree’s fishermen, so its no won-der that they oppose the plan of a Spanish Power company to build 200 offshore wind turbines along the reef.

Hynish comprises almost a village of keepers cottages, and other service buildings, which in early days housed the build-ers, then the keepers, and now holiday makers. A small muse-um has been established in one building and this is recom-mended viewing if you’re on Tiree. The light can bee seen from beside the lookout tower built to signal the keepers at sea before the advent of radio.

During the week at sea, we stopped at 5 lighthouses, and worked a total of 685 stations in about 50 countries. We used

100W maximum (engine running), but sometimes only 20W (on batteries). Antenna used is the backstay of the mast, which is about 9m long.

While at Skerryvore we had many reports of deep QSB. It was no wonder. There was a slight swell which was causing the boat to rock from side to side about 20 degrees. So the mast (and antenna of course) was waggling about through 40 de-grees. What takeoff angle was that then?

But a real advantage of operating at sea is the very good groundplane effect. You’ll note how many Dxpeditions plant a vertical as close as they can to the beach. Even better though is to have the vertical above the sea. I’ve found that I can work anything I can hear, and compete easily with stations using ten times the power in many pileups.

So now that Hyskeir and Skerryvore have been “conquered”, our next objective is Dubh Artach, and other Stevenson Light-house between Mull and Colonsay Islands.

One aspect of activating such lighthouses as these is the reli-ance of good weather conditions. It would be nice to plan to be at a certain light for the lighthouse weeken exactly, and be on air for a long time there. But old man weather dictates what we’ll do, so sometimes we must be brief, sometimes these lights are not safely accessible at all. But we’ll be back next year, hopefully from Dubh Artach.

Hope to get you in the log too!

Geoff MM5AHO

The latest pupils who passed their Intermediate exam to-day, they are Left to RIGHT... Cephas Ralph MM6INS, Colwyn Jones MM6YCJ, Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ In-structor, Bob Purves GM4IKT Assistant Invigilator, Thomas Lincoln MM6THL and Nail Stewart MM6KLZ

Christmas Night Out

I have already booked the DRAGON WAY at Port Seton for

Saturday 10th December @ 20:00 and already quite a few

have decided to come along for what is usually a good night

out.

This year I took the decision to book a CHINESE MEAL and the

reason for this is that I have a busy couple of months coming

up where I know that I will be working away from home so

time to find something else for me is very limited....

For any new club members the night is designed so that you

and your partner, XYL or whatever has a night out...no chil-

dren and a chance to meet other club members and their

partners. We as a club take part in events where we are away

or doing our radio thing so this is an event where everyone

can join in and also get to know each other.

For the moment I am working on a cost of £25 per head, alt-

hough this might not be final it gives a rough guide. Last year

it covered a meal of your choice and 1 drink.

LAST CHANCE....

If you wish to go you need to tell me tonight (December Club

Night – 2nd December) with how many there will be in your

party plus I require the Full Amount for each person going. (I

have to confirm numbers with the restaurant tomorrow Sat-

urday 3rd December)

I personally want to enjoy the evening and I do not want to be

going round everyone chasing for money so your help here

would be much appreciated.

Thanks.....

Intermediate Passes

1. If an antenna is not correctly designed for the frequency

on which it is used, it will

a. not work effectively

b. have a low SWR

c. radiate with vertical polarisation

d. radiate more than the permitted power

2. It is noticed, during a car journey, that the VHF radio

signals get weaker when in a valley. The reason for this is

a. the hill is causing a radio shadow

b. radio waves are lighter than air and will tend to rise

c. the ground is usually wetter in valleys and absorbs the

waves

d. less of the ionosphere can be seen from a valley

3. The ionosphere is the

a. region close to a high power transmitting antenna

b. layers of conductive gases just above the ground

c. layers of conductive gases above 70Km in height

d. region that reflects VHF and UHF waves back down

4. A domestic radio receiver could suffer significant inter-

ference from

a. An electric kettle

b. A radio transmitter

c. A table lamp

d. A CD player

5. The area from the furthest point of the Ground Wave to

the point where the radio signal first returns to earth is sometimes called the

a. Reflected zone

b. Dead zone

c. Ground zone

d. Hop zone

6. At VHF high atmospheric pressure can often cause

a. Blackout of all signals

b. Poor signals in the direction of the high pressure system

c. Increased range signals

d. Restricted range signals

7. What is the wavelength of a 30MHz signal (Take the

velocity of radio waves as 3x10^8m/s (300,000,000 me-tres per second))

a. 1 metres

b. 10 metres

c. 100 metres

d. 1000 metres

8. New electronic equipment should meet

a. UTC standards

b. SWR standards

c. EMC standards

d. ATU standards

9. In a typical IF amplifier the coupling between the stages

is normally by means of

a. Tuned transformers

b. Coupling capacitors

c. Direct biasing

d. RF matching

10. An HF receiver to receive 2MHz has an IF of 465KHz.How

many choices of local oscillator frequencies are there?

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

Test Your Knowledge

Contacts

General correspondence,

training and contest en-

tries

Bob Glasgow

7 Castle Terrace

Port Seton

East Lothian

EH32 0EE

Phone: 01875 811723

E-mail:

gm4uyz@cpsarc.com

HF Contests

Cambell Stevenson

mm0dxc@aol.com

VHF Contests

John MacLean

mm0ccc@cpsarc.com

Club Tables

Bob Purves

gm4ikt@cpsarc.com

Contest Reports

Robin Farrer

mm0vtv@cpsarc.com

Newsletter, website,

event calendar

John Innes

newsletter@cpsarc.com

2 December 2011 Club Night

3 December 2011 Advanced License Course starts (fees to be paid by 3 November)

5 December 2011 Advanced License Exam (for self studiers)

10 December 2011 Club Christmas Night Out

6 January 2012 Newsletter Deadline

13 January 2012 Club Night

27 January 2012 Newsletter Deadline

31 January 2012 Advanced License exam

3 February 2012 Club Night

11 February 2012 Foundation License Course (fees to be paid by 18 January)

17 February 2012 Radio Test Night

18 February 2012 Foundation License Course (pt2)

24 February 2012 Newsletter Deadline

2 March 2012 Club Night

3 March 2012 Intermediate License Course begins

(fees to be paid by 4 December)

7 April 2012 Intermediate License Exam

Events Column Answers from December 2011 newsletter “Test Your Knowledge”.

1a, 2a, 3c, 4b, 5b, 6c, 7b, 8c, 9a, 10b

Rank Callsign 160 80 60 40 30 20 17 15 12 10 6 4 2 70 DXCCs Slots

1 GM4IKT 0 0 0 7 0 133 19 104 0 93 0 0 0 0 179 356

3 MM0DXH 9 38 0 63 0 97 6 67 1 67 0 0 1 0 143 349

4 MM0KTC 0 1 0 23 0 93 43 36 4 16 2 0 0 0 127 218

5 MM0XXW 0 1 0 38 39 66 22 80 26 40 2 0 0 0 102 314

6 MM5AHO 0 18 5 30 4 33 1 1 0 18 25 0 0 0 72 135

7 M0RNR+2 0 9 0 41 0 53 0 19 0 2 0 0 0 0 72 124

9 GM4UYZ 0 4 0 2 0 34 0 22 0 31 0 0 0 0 51 93

12 MM0WZB 0 1 0 12 0 27 7 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 35 52

2 GM2T 55 71 0 90 0 146 0 127 0 123 0 0 0 0 166 612

8 GB2MOF 0 0 0 13 0 52 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 52 65

10 MM0CPS 0 3 0 26 0 19 0 5 0 1 17 7 11 5 50 94

11 GB2LBN 0 0 0 15 0 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 42 55

Here are the ClubLog tables up to December,

we really need more members to be upload-

ing their logs to ClubLog to make more use of

this great facility. We have been uploading

the logs from our contest and special event

stations but the activity from individual logs

(and comments sent to Bob GM4IKT) always

make interesting reading.

CLUBLOG TABLES