Issue 1 - E&OE Page 1 of 14 31st Dec 2012

SURREY RADIO CONTACT CLUB Founded in 1935

JANUARY 2013 – No: 844

CLUB NET 1.905 MHz Sunday 9:30am CLUB NET 145.35 MHz +/- 25kHz Friday 9.00pm

CLUB Internet WEB Site: http://www.g3src.org.uk

Hon. Sec. John Kennedy G3MCX 22 Croham Park Avenue

SOUTH CROYDON Surrey CR2 7HH

020-8688 3322

E-mail: secretary@g3src.org.uk

MONTHLY MEETINGS 1ST AND 3RD MONDAYS 7.30 FOR 7.45pm

Meetings at Trinity School, Shirley Park, Croydon C R9 7AT *******************************************************************************************

1st MEETING Monday 7 January: Alton Antenna Arrays 6m – 2m Amateur Band Antennas. Technical and Pract ical Demonstration.

with Mike G0JMI

2nd MEETING Monday 21 January: Informal Chat, Move-it-On, Fix-it. Led by John G8MNY

SRCC Committee 2012/13

Chairman & Club Meetings G4FDN Pat McGuinness 020 8643 0491 Vice-Chairman & Publicity G4WAY Roger Holyoake 020 8689 7089 Treasurer, Liaison & Equipment G4DDY Maurice Fagg 020 8669 1480 Secretary, Membership & Communications G3MCX John Kennedy 020 8688 3322 VHF Co-ordinator & Newsletter Editor G8IYS John Simkins 020 8657 0454 Committee Member - Web Master G4FYF Steve Jones 01689 846839 Committee Member G3ENG John Mathews 020 8652 6604 Committee Member G4FFY Ray Howells 01732 357474 Recycling G4DDY Maurice Fagg 020 8669 1480

Dear Members & Friends , Hello and welcome to the January 2013 Newsletter. I hope that all readers had a good Christmas and will enjoy a happy and prosperous New Year. This month sees another multi-effort production, but this time involving a slightly larger team than usual. We should have the normal contributions from the Hon Sec John G3MCX, the Chairman's Blog from Pat G4FDN, techy bits and a crossword from Steve G4FYF, plus an account of an HF NFD trip to the south west from Quin G3WRR. I, John G8IYS, am making a start on the editing bit and completion/distribution will be undertaken by Ray G4FFY. This is because I am away for Christmas and the copy deadlines fall in that period. There may be the regular activity report from John G3BFP, but as I write, it has yet to arrive.

For aficionados of the mundane, I can report the completion of works to rebuild the glazed parts of my conservatory. All I have to do now, assisted by my junior-op Gareth is to install dry-wall and under floor insulation (this requiring removal and replacement of plasterboard and skirting, plus a large quantity of floorboards), replace the central heating radiators and re-commission the lighting, not to mention decorating. When all of that is done, I will be able to empty one of garages of a number of books and cases which would be the envy of many libraries, and then............... So, no radio activity (i.e. on the air) by me as yet. At least the weather outside should be better when I finally rig the antennas... One of my projects is for a 6m/4m, 11 element, dual band yagi. I gathered the design and all the components a couple of years ago, but the boom was rather lightweight.

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Along with other domestic things I took delivery a few days ago of a new, robust, 5m long square section aluminium boom. My supplier is Aluminium Warehouse - which I recommend on quality, price and delivery. They do rectangular and square section, round, channel, angle, tee and plate to name not all. Standard lengths are 2.5 and 5m with bespoke cutting available. Just beware that unit prices are very good but carriage costs can get a bit daft for small quantities and long lengths. Find them on the web and make up your own mind. Right, now on with bits I have and then over to Ray G4FFY…. {Ray’s Note: It has been a pleasure to compete the Newsletter editing – can you see the joins?} THIS MONTH'S MEETINGS First Meeting, Monday 7 January: Alton Antenna Arrays: 6m – 2m Amateur Band Antennas. Technical and Practical Demonstration with Mike Parkin G0JMI

For our first meeting on Monday 7th January, we are very pleased to welcome Mike G0JMI of Alton Antenna Arrays in Alton. He will be giving a presentation on the building of an effective Yagi-Uda Beam Antenna. He will be covering the theory, the development, the modelling and testing of a Yagi Beam.

I understand that the presentation content will include: Background; Back to Basics; Yagi-Uda Design; Designing a Yagi – 2 to 5-Element Beams; Commercially Made Beam; Yagi-Uda Original 3-Element Beam; Matching Techniques; Design Guidance; and Summary.

Mike has added that the presentation will take the format of "let's build a 2 element Yagi beam" and then keep adding elements to see what happens. The dBd formula is especially useful in working out what the gain of your beam is (dBd = 10 x Log (27000/(H x V beam widths))).

He will also use MMANA-GAL to help with the presentation, this is the antenna analysis software that is FREE and comes with the RGSB's Year Book on CD (Mike thinks you can download it off the Net too).

This will be a presentation not to be missed…..

Mike G0JMI and XYL – Photo courtesy of G4FVL

of CATS

Second Meeting, Monday 21 January: Informal Chat, Move-it-On, & Fix-it - led by John G8MNY

These second meetings are a great opportunity to catch up with everyone and get progress on that troublesome problem with the assembled gang….

LAST MONTH'S MEETINGS - Reports by Hon. Sec. John G3MCX

1st Meeting, Monday 3 rd December 2012. Digital Amateur TV by Justin Cockett, G8YTZ Roger, G4WAY our Vice Chairman opened the Meeting and welcomed Justin who had already impressed us by leaving his job in Bristol just before 5 pm and getting to us with time to spare. Roger then relayed a message from our Chairman, Pat G4FDN, who apologised for not being present as Cece had had an operation on her wrist during the day and was still recovering from the anaesthetic and could not be left alone. Pat passed on his thanks to all who had helped at the CATS Bazaar and reminded us that our next meeting on Wednesday 19th December would be our Christmas get together.

Justin set up a TX at the back of the room, running 2 milliwatts and a standard free to air satellite RX at the front on 23cm connected to a screen for demonstration purposes. He began by saying that his passion for Amateur TV began in the early 1980's using Analogue equipment on 70cm and he was able to make contacts into France and Germany. One of the main benefits of switching to Digital TV is that it needs a much smaller bandwidth than Analogue. Justin believes that it is possible to interest technically minded people both in and outside amateur radio of all ages in DATV.

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Justin treated us to a power point presentation with far more detail than can be included in this brief summary.

The DVB – T Digital spectrum on the screen has MPEG2 Encoding – Compression.

There are four main Digital TV standards:

DVB-S (Digital Video Broadcasting – Satellite) DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial) DVB-C (Digital Video Broadcasting – Cable) ATSC (USA Advanced TV Standards Committee) ASK Amplitude Shift Keying is very like CW. More likely used is FSK, BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying) or QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying)

DAB uses COFDM (Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation system which is designed for 8 MHz bandwidth.

Justin ran a live DATV demonstration of both DVB-S and DVB-T broadcast standards; he also showed us an on screen signal from Capital Radio on a Spectrum Analyser that can be purchased from Maplins for £16 and plugs into the computer. He hoped that he had given those attending a fascinating incite into the technologies that made DATV possible and also how easy it was to get going on TV and join the DATV community.

For those who do want to get going without the hassle of Homebrew, Justin does produce a complete 'plug n play' DATV exciter in a professional case that will operate out of the box without any user set-up.

DVBT receiver

Justin G8YTZ and Steve G4FYF engaged in deep technical discussion

Crisp test card from G8YTZ (with nether part of G4FYF in foreground)

While thanking Justin for a most interesting presentation, we also welcome him to the SRCC as a new Member and hope he will be able to come to some of our meetings when he is not working in Bristol. He also hopes to find a suitable site for a DATV Repeater and I am sure we will have opportunities to ask more questions. 2nd Meeting, Monday 19th December 2012. Pre Christmas get-together

Don't be fooled by the heading! As can be seen from the pictures there was a truck-load (literally) of gear for testing, all very neatly set up. Fifteen Members had a most enjoyable evening chatting and eating hot mince pies with either cream or brandy sauce. Thanks to Maurice, G4DDY for not only bringing mince pies but also a microwave oven to heat them. Courtesy of our Chairman, Pat, G4FDN we also had a choice of 'Christmas Spirit' to celebrate the occasion.

John G8MNY and Gareth G4XAT

Dennis G4DAC, Stuart G0LRX, Gareth G4XAT, Roger G4WAY and John G8MNY

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Testing high power Solid State Linear Amplifiers – note sack truck needed to shift PSU: 13.8v@70A!!

John G3MCX 27th Dec 2012

The Chairman's Blog January 2013 by Pat G4FDN

I hope all members had a pleasant and relaxing Christmas. Unfortunately, I know that it wasn’t so for Steve G4FFY and XYL Sue who were both hit with the vomiting bug that has been going around. I missed the first meeting last month because

my wife Cece had an operation on her wrist that day to repair damaged ligaments in her wrist.

Pre-Christmas get together 17 th December : I did make the second meeting, where we had Christmas food (hot mince pies) and drink (single and triple distilled). {Editor: See group picture later in Newsletter} Unfortunately some members who had intended to come were struck down with cold and flu symptoms, Kim G6JXA being one.

As can be seen in the foreground of the group picture there were a few technical things going on as well as the social. John G8MNY had brought along an array of test gear for checking out the 600W 12V (75A) HF linear amplifiers he and Gareth G4XAT had recently purchased, and these can be more clearly seen in the pictures above.

Christmas Day Nets on Top Band: First on 1.905MHz LSB between 0930 we had a good presence from myself, G4DDY, G8MNY, M0BIN, G4FKK, G4XAT, G3MCX and G4FYF. From 1000, Martin G4FKK ran his usual AM net on 1.942MHz which I also called in on. Also heard were G7CRQ, G4FVL, M0BIN and G3YCR.

2013 Membership: If the logistics of preparation work out this will be sent out with this newsletter or shortly afterwards. IMPORTANT: This list is provided for personal use only of club members to facilitate contact between them and must not be copied or forwarded to anyone else.

Michael Somer’s faulty TV : Michael recently emailed me to say that he had discovered the cause his non-reception problem “I had a breakthrough with my TV today! I changed the aerial wall socket and now have as good a picture as John got so I am quite chuffed about that”.

Top Band FM on 1.900MHz: I have mentioned the low power activity on this mode and frequency before, and recently it has been getting more traction and is monitored on a daily basis by several amateurs when they are in their shacks.G4ECS, G7CRQ and G4FKK are often to be heard, and the latter (Martin) has recently constructed a home brew transceiver for this mode and band and initial transmission I heard from him sounded very good. Martin has kindly shared his circuit diagrams with us and these are reproduced later in the newsletter.

Very Cheap DDS (Discrete Digital Synthesis) Modules using the AD9850 from China : I have mentioned these before in my blog but Martin G4FKK recently brought to my attention that some were available on eBay at £3.26 each including shipping. I subsequently found another source that was selling them for around £2.80.

See: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110951612096?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Later on in the newsletter I have included some further technical details and circuit diagrams of these modules.

One of these modules forms the frequency control section of Martin G4FKK’s Top Band FM transceiver. Given the price of bespoke crystals, good variable capacitors and coils I would think this DDS module approach must be very cost effective for any frequency generation or control application. I’m hoping these modules will form the core of our next club construction project.

Next Meeting: That’s all from me this month. Hope to see you all on the 7th January for the Alton Antenna Arrays presentation.

Pat G4FDN 28th Dec 2012

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2nd Meeting 17 th December Group Picture

From L-R G4FYF, G8IYS, G3WRR, G3MCX, M0LEP, G3ENG, G4FDN, G0LRX, G4DDY, G4DAC, G8MNY,

Michael Somers, G4XAT and G3BFP (picture taken by G4WAY) A toast to all (Russian Vodka or Irish Whisky to taste)

How not to win HF NFD by Quin Collier G3WRR I first attended NFD in 1967 as a callow youth of 15, a couple of months before receiving my licence. In the ensuing 45 years, I have grown up into a callow adult, but haven’t missed a year (apart from 2001 when the event was cancelled due to the foot and mouth epidemic). Initially this was on Kenley Common with the old Purley Club – when the SRCC in the guise of G6LX/P and G3BFP/P were always at or near the top of the listings – and later with Addiscombe ARC G4ALE/P.

In 2012 it was time for a change, and so the first task was to put together a team. Having met John G8IYS at VHF NFD with North East Surrey Contest Group, I felt he was made of The Right Stuff, had the right personal characteristics and all that. John immediately displayed one key characteristic - lack of sensible judgement - because with almost no arm twisting he agreed to come along. John G4CZB – an old friend from Purley Club days and now resident in Northampton –agreed to join us as his local club had decided to give NFD a miss this year. The Restricted section was the obvious choice given the small team and limited amount of transport available for carrying hardware to site.

Next, to find a site. No problem – provided you don’t mind driving 200 miles each way. This has the advantage of putting you further from Europe, and better positioned on the HF bands for

contacts with Germany, than sites closer to London. But more importantly, my ex sister in law Min - a hill farmer on southern Dartmoor - is very supportive (“you know the boundaries of the farm, decide where you want to go and we’ll move the animals if necessary”). Despite having an area of approaching 1000 acres, because it is a hill farm it is actually not that easy to find a flat bit large enough to put on a station (in particular the antennas). This year we decided to try a field which was available for the first time because it had been cleared of dense gorse since 2011.

This was down by the river (the West Webburn for any readers with hydrographical interests) and about 18 inches above the local water table: the hope was that good ground conductivity would improve our previous relatively poor performance on the LF bands (it didn’t). The downsides were that it was a tad damp, quite hummocky and littered with spiky bits from the cull of the gorse – but we did unexpectedly escape being fodder for the midges: perhaps they all drowned (see later).

Equipment was straightforward enough after putting equipment for NFD stations together for a number of years: this year we used an FTdx5000, N1MM logging software & K1EL Winkeyer, plus an assortment of ATUs and switchbox. The ATUs were largely unused because we were able to feed the main antenna on all bands via the auto ATU.

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After a bad experience a few years ago using an auto ATU with a balun on its output – it would only match on 20m - this time we followed advice and floated the ATU, putting the balun on the 50 ohm RF input and choking off the DC feed. This worked much better. A new set of antennas had to be made up to make the most of the more flexible 2012 antenna rules. These consisted of a 274ft inverted V doublet with pullable links (allowing it to be shortened to 66ft once 160m was finished) fed with open wire feeder, plus a 10m sloper. (Hint: keep cats well away when making up open wire feeder). Holding the antennas up needed a bit of attention too: a couple of my 20ft scaffold poles live at the farm (under cover in a barn), but following my parting from the AARC several items had to be purchased or made up (stakes, guy sets, mast coupler) and John CZB kindly stepped in with a couple of things I had overlooked (block & tackle, swinging base plate). As for mains power, this presented a problem…..my son and I have half shares in a 2.8 kVA petrol generator (Guy isn’t remotely interested in amateur radio - so he has made at least one good life choice - but he uses it when he takes his cadets out on Air Training Corps activities) and he too needed it that weekend. After several days of doing the old “after you Claude”, “no, after you Cecil” routine with each of us insisting that the other must take it, John CZB broke the deadlock by offering his 2kVA petrol generator, which worked flawlessly throughout. Fortunately Collier Junior and I had made up sufficient power cables that there were enough for both of us. Completing the logistics were catering kit and food (water being obtained from the spring on the farm), a single large tent for operating, cooking and passing spare time (operating position one end, cooking the other and people and pile of boxes and unused gear in between) and finally personal gear and sleeping tents.

So, off we set via the M3 and A303. I had agreed to pick up John IYS at 6 a.m. on the Friday. This offended his sense of common decency - apparently being awake, let alone up, at that hour is not considered genteel in Sanderstead – and I unfortunately compounded the gaffe by arriving 10 minutes late. After stopping for a burger for breakfast at a roadside cabin (for some reason always referred to in my family as the Unsavoury Burger Bar) we arrived at the farm late morning and John CZB joined us shortly later.

After tea, pasties (well, this was the West Country) and an exchange of gossip with Min, we examined the preferred site and decided it was

squishy but viable. The quad bike and trailer that we usually borrow to get the gear onto the site was unavailable this year (part of the saddle had been eaten by one of the horses – yes, really) so we had to do the job in the old “tote dat barge, lift dat bale” style by passing everything from the road over the fence and carrying it to its proper location. This was tiring but at least at that stage it wasn’t raining. We got the tents up, gear under cover and mast ready for erection by about 7pm before retiring with our host to a hostelry in Postbridge for food and beer (purely to restore our fluid balance, you understand – most important after all that physical work). Getting back to the tents in the last of the daylight via a ditch then across a sodden and undulating field proved interesting but was finally achieved. And so to bed (or more accurately, air mattress and sleeping bag).

Saturday breakfast (the usual fried concoction) went slightly awry: in the absence of cooking oil (mea culpa), we were reduced to using melted spread. It tasted OK, but if there was a Cholesterol Cup for NFD we’d probably have won it. The 40ft mast was erected without difficulty and the antennas set up following a bit of untangling of wire from guys and assorted elevated pieces of string. The weather, which had up till then been dry if cold and overcast, deteriorated by early afternoon and it started raining - but by then we were able to take refuge in the tent for most of the time. While I struggled to get various bits of gear to cooperate, the two Johns worked on antenna matching. Unlike traditional parallel tuned ATUs which will match a very wide range of impedances, auto ATUs tend to be rather fussy about the resistance and reactance they will match into (usually corresponding to an SWR of about 5:1).

Having failed to take into account feeder lengths while modelling the antennas with EZNEC, a fair amount of “suck it and see” trimming of feeder length was required. I had intended to comment that within a couple of years we would end up with modular 6 inch lengths of open wire feeder – but while writing this it has occurred to me that the answer might be to make up a set of pluggable lengths of open wire feeder of lengths based on a binary sequence. That way we could, for example, by making up 5 sections of 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 feet and plugging the right combination together, provide any length of feeder between 3 and 93 feet in 3 foot increments (corresponding to about a tenth of a wavelength on 10m, which would be the fussiest band about feeder length). Needs more thinking about for sure, but looks promising.

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So with everything set up, it was time to think about band strategy. As with any multiband contest, deciding when to be on which band in NFD is important. Activity tends to follow a reasonably regular pattern, but it varies from year to year and is sensitive to the state of the sunspot cycle. The trick is to start off on the highest frequency band that will support a good points rate (which is not necessarily the same as good QSO rate because contacts on 160m & 10m are worth double points), and when that has slowed down move to the next highest frequency band, and so on. This usually means a progressive shift from 10m to 15m to 20m to 40m (which is a good “reservoir band” where you can make contacts at a good rate any time within the 24 hours) with perhaps some ducking and diving between. As daytime conditions gradually give way to night time ones, it’s advisable to keep an eye open for the start of activity on 80m and 160m as both these bands are fast and furious for a limited period (7 or 8 hours maximum) which you need to catch while it’s there as there is no second chance….there is very little to work there during Sunday daytime. 160m is the more critical of the two as the opening is an hour or two shorter than 80m, and you need to catch those double pointers! Thus, much of the night is spent chopping and changing between 160m & 80m with possible forays onto 40m and (sometimes) 20m. Once 160m & 80m have gone out (usually around first light) it’s back to 40m until the HF bands open (with 20m usually coming up first). After full daylight, it’s a question of making contacts where you can till the end, making regular checks on 15m & 10m (particularly 10m because sporadic E conditions come and go quickly – and not forgetting the chance for the double point contacts).

I kicked off at start time (1500 UTC) due to familiarity with the equipment (pretty much my home setup). Sadly the good start we had been hoping for – always a morale booster - didn’t happen. We only made 8 contacts in the first half hour. It took several minutes to decide that 10m was totally dead from where we were. Then having moved to 15m we had trouble with RF getting into the laptop necessitating 3 complete power down / power up sequences: on investigation we had (well, I had) neglected the requirement to keep feeders as far away as possible from the operating position, and had put up a short length of wire as an antenna for the monitor receiver (the B RX in the FTdx5000). Once this was taken down – bingo, no RF problems (no monitor RX either, but that’s not a

serious omission). Things picked up somewhat after that. 15m, and then 20m, held up until 2000. Then after 45 minutes on 40m, we moved to 80m where we remained until transferring to 160m at 2220 – rather later than usual. Thereafter we stayed on 160m & 80m (apart from a handful of contacts on 40m) until 0430. We then alternated between 40m & 20m until 0745 when 15m came to life. From then it was down to scratching around for contacts on 40m, 20m, 15m & 10m (involving 30 band changes to keep the rate up) until the close at 1500. We finally picked up 25 or so contacts on 10m, almost all between 0840 & 1100. This reflected entrants’ experience nationally: unusually the main 10m activity period was on the Sunday morning following a smaller opening just after the start - the reverse of normal NFD experience. And disappointingly the band was in much poorer shape than in the last 2 NFDs and in the preceding weeks.

After my initial operating spell, John CZB took over and thereafter we took it in turns. John IYS’s CW, while well up to reading the callsigns of VHF beacons, isn’t yet up to NFD speed. However he was kept busy dealing with Contest Committee work on his laptop – and also did valuable service dealing with the little glitches that happen from time to time. Oddly enough, apart from the progress of the contest as described above, there is surprisingly little to say about the 24 hours of the contest itself: time passes like a kaleidoscope involving operating, sleeping, eating, dozing, drinking tea, feeding the generator, chatting to the others and so on, all with that odd sense of unreality that goes with being physically overtired. Unfortunately because of the weather (rain, or dull and overcast with the imminent threat of rain, for the whole 24 hours) it wasn’t possible to wander around, or just sit outside, and enjoy the beautiful countryside. But a few things do stand out: the stew for Saturday night supper (precooked and then frozen) failing to come up to temperature by itself because of the cold and needing 20 minutes of cautious unfreezing on a petrol stove: the tent getting progressively more and more clammy from condensation in our breath and from the cooking and heating equipment: shortening the main antenna and changing its orientation in the morning: coming back into the tent and finding the contents of the toolbox spread across the floor to dry as a result of having had a cup of coffee spilt into it.

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One escapade deserves a couple of sentences to itself. While taking a trip to the farm at first light for what our North American chums would euphemistically call a comfort break, I strayed from the path (remember I said it was squishy?) and fell into bog up to parts of the body which the Newsletter Editor will not allow me to name in a respectable publication such as this. Having extricated myself using the technique taught for escaping from quicksand, and dealt with my need for going to the farm in the first place, I was able to find a dry pair of trousers - but not socks and shoes – and, having lost half an hour, operated in bare feet for the next couple of hours until relieved. Lesson: BE CAREFUL – portable contests involve hazards that are all too easy to ignore!

Anyhow, the contest finally ended and we faced getting the gear packed away, down and off site. At this point – a godsend – Min’s brother Dick (my ex brother in law) turned up to visit and instead of being shown the station and politely fed petit fours and tea in china cups (as any visitor has a right to expect) knuckled down and helped us with dismantling. This was finally achieved with all parties a tad moist (particularly Dick’s 2 Chihuahua dogs, who were singularly unimpressed). We (seven in number by now – us three amateurs plus four members of the Medland clan) retired once again to the East Dart Hotel where we selflessly supported the local economy by having a meal and attempting to drink them dry. We finally left the farm the following morning around 9am, John CZB to Northampton, John IYS and I to the Croydon area where we arrived early afternoon. John’s family (particularly Owain who is too young to have seen this kind of thing before) were clearly concerned by the ordeal undergone by their paterfamilias, but he assured them (in a rather stoical kind of way, it seemed to me) that he had had a good time.

The aftermath involved several days of drying out tents, guys etc. Fortunately with only self and son in the house, it was possible to strew things about to dry in a manner that would not be permitted in a properly regulated household. It was only later that it became clear that I had made the power chokes up wrong. In winding the chokes in 2 halves on opposite sides of the toroid (to reduce stray capacitance) you are supposed to wind the halves in opposite directions so that the flux adds to give lots of nice inductance. I had failed to do this, so every turn on the second half cancelled out a turn’s worth of inductance on the first half. Fortunately we were running the auto

ATU off a car battery which ended up floating as well, so we got away with it. So how did we do? Results (after adjudication) were as follows: 160m 74 QSO’s 80m 118 QSO’s 40m 197 QSO’s 20m 210 QSO’s 15m 101 QSO’s 10 25 QSO’s TOTAL 725 QSO’s Overall, we found conditions poor. 94% of our contacts were with Europe (49% with UK or DL). Of the 48 non European contacts, the majority were with Asiatic Russia. There wasn’t much DX: 10 North Americans – fewer than usual but including a KL2 in Alaska, quite a rare one - (on 80m, 20m & 15m, but surprisingly none on 40m) and a single VK2 on 20m.

The resulting score of 2794 points gave us 10th position out of 17. Not at all bad for a first effort by a new team – and here I’ll take the opportunity to thank the two Johns….we all worked together really well, with not a single cross word – not that I had expected any. However two operators really aren’t enough and I have my eye on a third (who has been forewarned) for next year.

And what about next year? Well, I shall be going. And both my compatriots have said they are up for it – but we shall have to wait and see whether a year of sensible contemplation and sitting in a warm shack will persuade them otherwise – after all they still have plenty of time to find the amateur radio equivalent of a note from their mum letting them off football........

A few photographs are attached (which will appear next month – G8IYS) to give readers some idea of the overall experience. 73, Quin Collier G3WRR Reading this again after several months have passed and stoicism has subsided: It was absolutely bloody on site. Operations were OK. The only things that made it for me were: the company in the soggy tent, the friendly natives, the food, the beer. Daftness prevails. I shall do it again. I learned much too about HF antennas and how to configure my ATU at the home QTH. Thanks Quin. John G8IYS.

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AD9850 DDS Modules (by Pat McGuinness G4FDN) It amazes me that one can buy these so cheaply - especially when the cost of the chip alone in the UK far exceeds the cost of the module board from china including shipping.

What can you use these modules for?

� Frequency/Phase–Agile Sine-Wave Synthesis � Clock Recovery and Locking Circuitry for Digital � Communications � Digitally Controlled ADC Encode Generator � Agile Local Oscillator Applications The modules have the following features:

� Signal Frequency output range: 0-40MHz � 4 Signal outputs: sine wave outputs and 2 square wave outputs � DAC SFDR > 50 dB @ 40 MHz AOUT � 32-Bit Frequency Tuning Word � Simplified Control Interface: Parallel Byte or Serial Loading Format � Phase Modulation Capability � +3.3 V or +5 V Single Supply Operation � Low Power: 380 mW @ 125 MHz (+5 V) � Low Power: 155 mW @ 110 MHz (+3.3 V) � Power-Down Function

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Module circuit diagrams Two diagrams are given as there can be slight differences depending on the source.

Basic information on DDS module programming

These modules need programmed digital control, typically via a PIC to provide user control and display interfaces. Here is a summary of the basic architecture:

The AD9850 contains a 40-bit register that is used to program the 32-bit frequency control word, the 5-bit phase modulation word and the power-down function. This register can be loaded in a parallel or serial mode.

In the parallel load mode, the register is loaded via an 8-bit bus; the full 40-bit word requires five iterations of the 8-bit word. The W_CLK and FQ_UD signals are used to address and load the registers.

The rising edge of FQ_UD loads the (up to) 40-bit control data word into the device and resets the address pointer to the first register. Subsequent W_CLK rising edges load the 8-bit data on words [7:0] and move the pointer to the next register. After five loads, W_CLK edges are ignored until either a reset or an FQ_UD rising edge resets the address pointer to the first register. In serial load mode, subsequent rising edges of W_CLK shift the 1-bit data on Lead 25 (D7) through the 40 bits of programming information. After 40 bits are shifted through, an FQ_UD pulse is required to update the output frequency (or phase)

Issue 1 - E&OE Page 11 of 14 31st Dec 2012

Both Andy Talbot G4JNT and Martin Charman G4FKK have produced PIC circuits for controlling these modules. G4JNT’s article is located here: http://www.g4jnt.com/AD9850-Controller.pdf

Martin G4FKK’s circuit is later in the newsletter. Anyone who would like to use Martin’s code should contact him directly.

The AD9850 data sheet is available from Analogue Devices: www.analog.com/static/imported-files/data_sheets/AD9850.pdf

Analog Devices also have several application notes available covering the AD9850. Future SRCC Meetings

Date Item

7 Jan Alton Antenna Arrays

21 Jan Informal Chat, Move-it-on

4 Feb Contesting Skills with Alun G4WGE

18 Feb Informal Chat, Move-it-on

4 Mar Spring Surplus Equipment Sale

18 Mar Informal Chat, Move-it-on

8 Apr Annual General Meeting

22 Apr Informal Chat, Move-it-on Local Club Meeting Dates:

Date Details

4 Jan

1 Feb

Crystal Palace R&EC Kick-off Club Construction Project AGM and Construction Project All Saints Church Parish Rooms, Beulah Hill from 7:30pm. Bob G3OOU 01737 552170 (Meet normally monthly on 1st Friday) http://www.g3oou.co.uk/

14 Jan

11 Feb

Coulsdon Amateur Transmitting Society New Year Dinner EGM. Club Future. Rule Changes. Social. Meetings normally held @ St. Swithun’s Church Hall, Grovelands Rd, Purley 8pm 2nd Monday each month. Contact Steve Beal G3WZK. Secretary@catsradio.org Tel: 01883 620730.

Date Details

17 Jan

Sutton & Cheam RS 2012 Olympic Special Event station with Bob M0MCV, Dave G4BUO At Vice Presidents Lounge, Sutton United Football Club, Gander Green Lane, Sutton – 8pm. Sec: John G0BWV 020-8644 9945 www.scrs.org.uk

15 Jan

Bromley & District ARS Annual General Meeting Meetings 7.30 for 8.00 pm @ Victory Social Club, Kechill Gardens, Hayes, Bromley, Kent. Contact: Andy Brooker G4WGZ 01689 878089

14 Jan

Wimbledon & District ARS Reports on Members' Activities over the Holidays Normal meetings are usually on the 2nd and final Friday of each month at Martin Way Methodist Church, Merton Park (corner of Buckleigh Avenue), SW19 9JZ. Meetings commence at 8pm.

Local Rally Dates:

Date Details

20th Jan 7th Dover Radio Rally Whitfield Village Hall, Sandwich Road, Whitfield, Dover, CT16 3LY. Open 10:00 Admission £2 Parking, Boot Fair, Refreshments. Bring and Buy. Talk in on GB3KS Contact: Ian, G3ROO, 01304 821588 or Ian.g3roo@gmail.com www.doverradiorally.com/index.html

3rd Feb 28th Canvey Radio & Electronics Rally The Paddocks Community Centre, Long Road, Canvey Island, SS8 0JA. Open 10:30 Parking, Catering, Disabled Facilities, Trade Stands, Major Amateur Radio and Electronic component exhibitors Selling New and S/Hand equipment. Freshly made refreshments. Free car parking with space outside main doors for disabled visitors Contact: Vic Rogers G6BHE Tel 01702 308562 NVR@blueyonder.co.uk www.southessex-ars.co.uk/

Issue 1 - E&OE Page 12 of 14 31st Dec 2012

A low power Top Band FM transceiver by Martin Charm an G4FKK

Note by pat G4FDN: Martin has kindly made these circuit diagrams available and they are literally ‘hot off the presses’ and because of that, this contribution isn’t intended to be the whole story but more advance details of a project in progress. Anyone interested in reproducing Martin’s design, or understanding any particular aspect of the circuit should contact Martin directly.

Receiver Section

Issue 1 - E&OE Page 13 of 14 31st Dec 2012

NB: these circuit diagrams are copyright of G4FKK, so please give due acknowledgement if used and shouldn’t be reproduced elsewhere without Martin’s permission. As mentioned earlier in the newsletter PIC code is available from Martin. Club History “The club’s 75th Anniversary History document edited by Prim G4CCY has now been professionally printed and bound, kindly arranged by Ray G4FFY. It gives a fascinating insight to many aspects of the club since its inception. A copy is available for each member who wants one and will be available for collection in person at the next few meetings. Members who would like a copy mailed to them should advise the Hon. Secretary. The exact procedure has to be worked out but will probably involve a small charge or provision of a SAE with suitable postage affixed. At the time of writing the cost/postage hasn’t been worked out.” Band Reports from John G3BFP 23.11.12 1224 24MHz CW 100 Watts OF31 599 599 Finland 23.11.12 1243 28MHz CW 100 Watts KL1A/W2 599 599 Alaska 23.11.12 1544 21MHz CW 100 Watts EA9UG 599 559 Ceuta 26.12.12 1600 21MHz CW 100 Watts VE5AAQ 599 569 Ottawa 29.12.12 1441 24MHz CW 100 Watts AB3CX 599 569 New York Centre 29.12.12 1520 24MHz CW 100 Watts W5ZR 599 579 Louisiana

Your chance for a belated Christmas present Attached to this newsletter is a radio-related, cryptic crossword that didn’t quite make it into the December newsletter! A prize of a crisp £10 note is up for grabs for the first complete, correct entry. Bring your completed solutions with name/callsign added along to the natter-night meeting on Monday

21st January. Lucky winner will be drawn from the hat. Open to SRCC members only; the Chairman’s decision is final. Good luck! 73, Steve, G4FYF Thazzit Thank you to all contributors and Editors / Distributors of other Clubs' Newsletters and in closing we wish you all a great 2013 with plenty of DX…… 73 de John G8IYS and Ray G4FFY

Issue 1 Page 14 of 14 31st Dec 2012

For further information, talk to Mike G0JMI on: Tel: 01420 84755 Email: email2aaa@btinternet.com Or visit our Website at: http://aaa001.webeden.co.uk/

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