With best wishes for a Merry Christmas from the CARA Committee.
Enjoy the festive period and have a healthy and happy 2014 with lots of QSOs and much DX! Continue reading “Seasonal Good Wishes!”
CARA Christmas Day Net
At the recent AGM it was suggested that we should reinstate the Christmas Day Net. So let’s gather on 145.400MHz FM at 10am on the 25th to exchange seasons greetings and may be to tell what we’ve found in our Xmas Stockings! As many of us will be busy with families, please try to keep the overs short, particularly if the net is large.
With best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from your committee.
CARA Christmas Lunch
Twenty three members and spouses/partners had a very jovial time at the Toby Carvery at Brockworth on Tuesday 17th December partaking of their special Christmas menu. We enjoyed good food, lively chat and much bonhomie. The place was very busy, probably full to capacity, so we had to wait a bit for food especially at the carvery itself. But this did not really mar an otherwise very successful and greatly appreciated event. Many thanks to Chairman Doug G4IGN for booking us in and to Treasurer Peter G3YJE for handling the finances so efficiently.
Here are a few photos (left click to enlarge and see full picture):
l-r Ron G3SZS, Ken G3LVP, Derek G3KII, Doug G4IGN
l-r Ken G3XSJ, David G4RFU
l-r Peter G3YJE, Barry M0HFY, Malcolm G0TMP
l-r Michael G6OTP, Michael G3TEV
The Ladies!
Photos and report by Derek G3NKS
Annual General Meeting 2013 – A Report
Twenty nine members, and two prospective members, attended the 37th CARA AGM held on 12th December 2013 at the Brizen Young People’s Centre. The Reports from the Chairman and Treasurer were approved, and the following were elected to form the 2014 Committee: Chairman: Doug G4IGN. Deputy Chairman: Giles G0NXA. Secretary: Derek G3NKS. Treasurer: Peter G3YJE. Ordinary Committee Members: Malcolm G0TMP, Ron G3SZS, Simon G4SGI and Tom M6TWR.
Accounts Examiner (non-committee): Tony G3SNN.
On the recommendation of the Committee, the annual subscription remains at £13. Membership Renewal Forms will be sent to members shortly.
The best part of the AGM is the awarding and presentation of trophies, awards and certificates.
The John Holt G3GWW Award goes to a club member who during the previous year or two has performed exceptional work for the club and its members. This year it went to Matt Wilkinson, 2E0MDJ, for his work in developing the club website up to the recent changes.
The Bernard King G3CEG Cup is awarded to a club member for his/her noteworthy and praiseworthy on-the-air activities. This year it went to Martin Church, G4ENZ, for his success on the G100RSGB Leaderboard.
This year special certificates were also presented to the winners of the three sections of the CARA G100RSGB Challenge: Phone, CW and Data.
The evening concluded with an excellent buffet provided by Victoria and Margaret, to whom go our grateful thanks.
Here’s a photo gallery…
A full report will appear in January’s CARA News.
November Meeting – Bring something ‘new’ from your shack
Members were invited to “Bring and Show Something New” from their shacks. Not necessarily brand new, but new to them. We had a wide range of different equipment and demonstrations, as well as a good natter.
It was a lively meeting with several new people dropping to have a look.
A great time was had by all.
G100RSGB from CARA – Final Report
Well, what a lot of fun we all had! Not only the operators of G100RSGB but also the many club members who worked the station, some on many bands and modes.
The CARA operation took place on 2nd, 3rd and 4th November 2013, with Martin G4ENZ hosting the station on the 2nd and 4th, and Stewart G0LGS, ably aided by Matt 2E0MDJ, on 3rd November. Over the three days we made a total of 1677 QSOs across the bands from 160m to 70cm. We worked 27 CARA members who made 141 QSOs in total. The leading CARA QSO maker was Don G3ZKN who accumulated 23 contacts, closely followed by Derek G3NKS with 20 and then Stewart G0LGS with 10. A full list of members who worked G100RSGB will appear in an early issue of CARA News.
Here is a summary of the results. A fuller report will appear in CARA News.
Sunday 3rd November:
G100RSGB made 423 QSOs that day, with 376 on HF mainly by Matt 2E0MDJ on 20m, 15m and 10m and with 87 on VHF and UHF mainly by Stewart G0LGS. A total of 51 DXCC entities (countries) were worked including CE, CO, ER, FO, KP4, PY, TG, TI, UA0, VP8 (Falklands), VU, XE, YB and ZF. An impressive list! 15m was the most productive band as far as DXCC entities are concerned with 31 worked.
A total of 61 QSOs were had with CARA members on various bands and modes, including AM!
Saturday 2nd, Monday 4th November:
G100RSGB made a total of 1255 QSOs over the two days, with operators Derek G3NKS, Ian G3TDT, Martin G4ENZ and Iain M0PCB. Of these QSOs, 264 were on SSB, 893 on CW, 91 on PSK31, 1 on PSK63, 1 on RTTY and 5 on JT65. The DXCC entity count came to 61, including 5T, ER, HZ, JA, KP2, KP4, PY, UA0, VK, VP8 (Falklands), XE, ZL, and ZS. The most number of entities worked on a single band was 36 on 40m.
A total of 80 QSOs were made with CARA members.
Many thanks go to Martin G4ENZ and Stewart G0LGS for hosting the callsign. Special thanks to Penny (XYL of Martin) for sustaining the operators at G4ENZ with coffee, tea, cake and biscuits. Many thanks also to all the club members who sought out G100RSGB across the bands and made QSOs. It really was a superb club effort all round.
Our grateful thanks go to all the hundred of operators around the world who called us and helped to make the G100RSGB operation from CARA such a great success.
G100RSGB – Third day report
For the third day of G100RSGB from CARA, the operation returned to the QTH of G4ENZ, with operators Martin G4ENZ, Iain M0PCB, Ian G3TDT and Derek G3NKS. Another 578 QSOs were added to the log on all bands from 160m to 6m using SSB, CW, PSK and JT65. For the operators it was another very enjoyable and rewarding day.
A final report will be issued shortly summarizing the three-day CARA operation. In the meantime, here are some more photos.
G100RSGB – Second day report
The second day’s G100RSGB operation by CARA on Sunday 3rd November took place from the QTH of Stewart G0LGS and Matt 2E0MDJ.
On VHF/UHF (6m, 4m, 2m, 70cm, 23cm) – 87 QSOs.
On HF – 336 QSOs mainly on 20m, 15m and 10m SSB but with a few PSK-31 on 80m.
Best DX:
HF – FO4BM on 10m SSB at 1831.
VHF – 2W0JYN near Wrexham on 2m FM.
Radios:
Yaesu FT-847 for 6m, 2m SSB.
Icom TMD-700 for 2m and 70cm FM.
Kenwood TR-531 for 23cm FM.
Yaesu FT950 for 80m, 20m, 15m, 10m.
Antennas:
2m 8 Ele Yagi, 70cm 14 Ele Yagi @ 8m AGL.
Diamond VX7000 @ 11m for V/UHF FM.
3 Ele Jaybeam Mini-max for 20m, 15m, 10m.
G5RV for 80m and 40m.
G100RSGB – First day report
The first day of the G100RSGB operation by CARA on Saturday 2nd November resulted in a grand total of 677 QSOs in spite of some bands being crowded with various contest for much of the time. All of the allowable bands between 160m and 10m were used, using four modes: CW, PSK31, RTTY and SSB with CW producing most contacts.
Some 51 DXCC entities (countries) were worked across the 9 bands, the best DX being VK and VP8 (Falkland Is). A good number of club members made contact; some on several, and a few on many, bands.
The operators were Martin G4ENZ, Ian G3TDT, Iain M0PCB and Derek G3NKS. The station consisted of a K3 transceiver plus P3 spectrum-scope, a KPA500 amplifier and a KAT-500 auto atu feeding either an R8 vertical or a doublet for the LF bands.
Many thanks to Martin G4ENZ for hosting the operation and to his XYL Penny for sustaining the operators with tea, cake and biscuits!
G100RSGB Operating Schedule
G100RSGB from G4ENZ.
Operating schedule:
Saturday 2nd November: CW 0700-1300, Data 1300-1400, SSB 1400-1600, CW 1600-2100, Data 2100-2200, SSB 2200-2300, CW 2300-2400
Monday 4th November: Data 0500-0700, CW 0700-1000, SSB 1000-1400, Data 1400-1500, CW 1600-20:00, SSB 2000-2100, CW/Data 2100-2400
These are the primary modes, band conditions and activity may cause some variation.
Operators: Derek G3NKS (CW), Ian G3TDT (SSB), Martin G4ENZ (all modes), Iain M0PCB (CW).