Autumn 2001 Newsletter

Transmission 2001

On the 16th and 17th of September, club members, Alex (M1EPR), Chris (M5IMI) and Lorna (2E1HKD), took part in an event to help raise money to go to the British Wireless for the Blind Fund. We had two visitors to the event that were not club members. The event took place at Mark Hall Barn, the clubhouse for the Harlow and District Amateur Radio Society, over two days. During the event the operators used two radios, the FT 1000 MP and the FT 736 R and an aerial array of a 6m, 5 element Tonna, a 2m, 15 element yagi and an HF 3 element triband beam. Thanks to all of those who sponsored the event. A Total of around �210 was raised and just under 40 contacts were made.

www.qsl.net/g6ut/g6ut/Transmission/transmission2001.htm

Sutton Windmill

Sutton Windmill is the tallest windmill in Britain, so as you can imagine, when members discovered that a trip to participate in the ‘Windmills On the Air’ event, they were pretty excited. On the 12th and 13th May 2001 member Terry (G0BXL), helped to organize our special callsign, GB0PUF, with some energetic members climbing to the top to attach the aerials and others operating the station. During the event we spoke to 11 other windmills, one in Belgium and the rest within the UK. All together 67 QSOs were made. The weather for the event was better than anyone could ask for. It was sunny for both days, possibly why the members decided to camp at the base and inside the windmill! www.qsl.net/g6ut/gb0puf/gb0puf.htm www.broadsmuseum.co.uk

HF Field Day 2001

Once again, HADARS participated in the HF Field day, this time on the 1st of September 2001.  200 contacts were made on HF whilst only about 30 were made on 2 meters. The pump-up mast was used, which gave operators an advantage, with the FT1000 MP rig. The club used their M5BUT callsign and entered in the restricted section. We should be hearing the results from our Contest Manager, Mike (G7OBS), soon. The support of members in help to set up and operate was greatly appreciated.
	To see photos and a report from the event check the website listed below http://www.qsl.net/g6ut/ and click on the link under Calendar of Events.

AFS Contest

This years AFS contest was entered by club members Dave (G3UEG) and Iain (G4YBN).Dave and Iain decided to enter under the SSB section of the contest with very little preparation. Although there was very short notice, HADARS managed to gain a position of 45, out of 74, with 2120 points.

With a limited antenna, Iain worked from home, and gained 720 points at a position of 127 out of 173. From Dave’s contest site, 1400 points were made, giving a position of 63 out of 173.

Entering under the club entry allows for 3 individuals, so if we had a third operator we could have done even better.
Dave is already planning next years AFS contest and says “I would like to set a target for next year of having 3 operators and a score of around 3500 to 4000, which would move our position up to about 20th. It is a good contest to get started with as it only lasts for 4 hours.”

After the event Dave said, “Working Scotland was fantastic!”. If any one wants to help then you can contact Dave (G3UEG), who is happy to organise the event for next year.  If several people want to enter then we can enter more than one team.

	Want to be an Amateur? Then come along to our club and enroll on the training sessions
What do you call someone who puts poison in a person's corn flakes?
A cereal killer...

Dayton Hamfest
Report - Part

I subscribe to the CQ Magazine as well as RadCom and for many years I have seen reports about the Dayton Hamfest. Last year I went with Chris G3SVL (who helped us with VHF Field day last year) - and this is the story of it. I've split it into two parts: this part I'll tell you a bit of general information about the show and how to get there etc. and next time I'll cover just what it's like at the biggest meeting of Radio Amateurs in the World.

For those who have never heard of Dayton it is a medium sized town in Ohio, USA. It's main claim to fame is Wright Patterson Air Force Base which is built on the site where the Wright Brothers made their historic flights all those years ago. But for our interest it began about 40 years ago when the Dayton Amateur Radio Society started a rally (or Hamfest in American). It has grown over the years and now has a staggering 500 inside exhibits and 2500+ pitches in the outside flea market (boot-fair to us). It is estimated that between 30,000 and 35,000 people visit the show over the two and a half days in May each year. Chris and I did not do the CQWW160 contest last year so without that expenditure it seemed a feasible proposition to fulfil a long standing ambition. Chris planned a business trip to coincide, I just went for the show.

We started our research in January. The Dayton Hamfest has an excellent website (www.hamvention.org) with information about where to stay, restaurants, the programme, the likely weather, how to get the most out of the show etc. etc. Now, the one thing everyone tells you is 'book a hotel early'. How right they were (A lot of people book for next years show as they leave after the current year). Chris started in January and a web search of all of the hotels on the Dayton site showed no vacancies for the week of the Hamfest! he searched some other sites and found a Holiday Inn about 10 miles away and 20 miles from the airport - and booked it straight away. We paid $74 (about �50) per room per night including breakfast.
There are cheaper motels around if you are happy with the basics.

Next came the flights. I booked mine in January and got a return flight via Cleveland (there are no direct flights from UK to Dayton) for less than �400. Chris was flying business class (and you don't want to know how much it cost!) We booked to go to the conference dinner and we ordered the tickets for the show in advance for collection at the show - they are only $16 (approx �10) for all three days if you buy them in advance.

On the Thursday morning in May I headed off to Gatwick for the first leg to Cleveland. It was a slightly unexpected route I never expected to fly over Manchester but the overhead monitor showed the planned route and current position throughout the journey. It was a very straightforward flight, until, at the very last minute - about 5 mins from touchdown there was a freak storm over the airport (like a mini tornado) so we were diverted to Cincinatti (about 30mins away). After a two hour delay we were given clearance to return to Cleveland. Of course by this time I had missed the connection to Dayton. With a bit of quick thinking I managed to bypass a long queue and get a transfer onto the next (and last) flight to Dayton. This short internal flight was on a small (27seat) commuter plane where the co-pilot was the stewardess and you could see into and through the cockpit. As I walked across the tarmac to the plane I noticed most of the other passengers were all wearing baseball caps with callsigns on them.

Meanwhile Chris had arrived in Dayton earlier in the day and hired a car for about $25 a day and had collected the tickets from the Hara Arena where the event takes place. He then came to the airport to find the flight had been cancelled and as usual in these situations nobody knew what was going on. Anyway he decided to go to the hotel to secure the beds and then returned to the airport to meet the next flight where we eventually met up. By 9:30pm (my body clock 2:30am) we were in the hotel bar with our tickets for the show which opened in less than 12 hours. Would it be worth it? I'll tell you next time.

de Dave G3UEG

To be continued...

Barn Renovation

As a grade II listed building dating back to the 17th century, Mark Hall Barn is an important part of Harlow’s heritage. A duty of care falls to the owners, Harlow Town Council, who funded important maintenance work during 2001.

The early part of the year saw scaffolding being erected and the roof tiles being completely removed. The supporting woodwork was renovated and the chimneystack re-pointed. The original tiles were then refitted and, once again, club members could safely enter and leave the Barn without fear of falling debris.

As autumn cast a golden vale over the remaining Mark Hall woods the contractors were again setting up scaffolding. This time the target was the timber cladding, which provides weather protection for the upper section of the Barn. This was unceremoniously ripped off revealing the original lathe and plaster wall panels. Chemical preservatives were applied and fresh timber used to return the Barn to its former dignity.

Crosssword

	Across: 1 Not Professional (7) 5 Timepiece (5) 8 Compete (7) 12 Sucking sound (7) 14 11th month (8) 16 Heavy Idiot (4, 5) 18 Beginner (6) 19 Screen TLA (3) 20 Type of aerial (4) 22 Orbital body (10) 27 Lepton (7) 28 American tap artist (5) 32 Surprise (5) 33 Opened by 23 down (9) 34 German physicist (3) 35 Generate a beat (10)
Down: 2 Pole (4) 3 Continent (6) 4 Slow down! (3) 6 Asphyxiate (5) 7 Number of times (9) 9 No Tan (anag) (5) 10 Man made mischief (3) 13 Good place for masts (4) 15 Wirelesses (6) 16 Loudness (8) 17 Doped Silicon and Germanium (13)	21 Match maker (3) 23 _ _ _ _ Burst (4) 24 007 had one to die for (7) 25 Electrical switch (10) 26 Old morse (3) 29 Electrical Harmony (3) 30 City & Guilds exam (3) 31 Fore runner of 25 down (5) 32 Harden (3) 33 Wavelength greater than 0.23m

Answers will be published in the next edition of HADARS Newsletter.