Thinking about a suitable antenna for use with a kite i decided to purchase UK antennas multi band end fed.

end-fed-antenna-with-mounting-bracket-80-40-20-17-15-12-10m

It seemed sensible to test the antenna matching before attaching it to a kite however the half wave for 80m was too long to put up at my QTH so i swapped it out for a half wave on 40m and attached it to the matching unit; using a mini VNA and MFJ 259B  i set about matching the radiator. The starting point indicated resonance at 6.6mhz so trimming the length i slowly brought it to resonance at 7.04mhz with vswr of 1: 1.2. To achieve this i had to attach a counterpoise of 3m, my only criticism being there was no attachment point for a counterpoise.
The screen shot shows the WSPR test at 200mw from my QTH on the 09/08/2020.
A  CW QSO into Kazakhstan at 50 watts was also achieved, it seems to work well.

Conclusion
Great antenna IP65 rating with good mounting clamp setup will report back when i test the full 80m half wave antenna supplied with the unit at field day.

John m0hfh

Alexanderson Alternator At Grimeton in Sweden will be making 2 test transmissions on 17.2 Khz, watch live on you tube.
https://alexander.n.se/alexanderson-day-2020/?lang=en

The Thornbury and South Gloucestershire Amateur Radio Club (TSGARC) has today taken the decision to postpone all future Wednesday evening meetings during the current Corona Virus outbreak.

This decision has been taken to safeguard the health of all members and to comply with the general ‘Delay’ tactic being employed currently. It is currently proposed that this course of action is taken for a period of three months however it will be reviewed regularly and shortened/extended as required.

The forthcoming Annual General Meeting will be postponed until a date in October. Yearly subscriptions will still be collected inline with the current constitution, however yearly subscriptions will only be considered overdue 1 month after weekly meetings re-commence. Should you wish to pay your subscription by bank transfer please email the Treasurer to this effect.

In the meantime…. The current Friday net at 8pm will also be added to with a Wednesday Zoom meeting commencing at 8pm local time. Details for the Zoom meeting will be sent to members by email. The Friday Net will start on 145.500MHz and typically move to 145.450MHz.

The committee wishes every member well at this time.

Paul M0ZMB

Co-opted Ordinary Member

Due to external influences we are unable to meet at the Chantry on the 6th May 2020.

The talk / Q&A from Andy Jenner (G7KNA) our RSGB representative will now be held on 13th May 2020.

On the 6th May we will probably be out and about, details to follow. 

The next couple of weeks we will not be meeting.

The TSGARC will next meet on the 8th of January 2020 at the Chantry.

Some dates have been added to the programme for 2020. 

If any members have any ideas for more things to do please let any of the committee know.

We have also had some suggestions for trips, some would be long days.

The places put forward so far as below:

• Aerospace Bristol
• Museum Of Internal Fire  
• Marconi Museum Porthcurno
• Jet Age Museum
• RAF Museum Cosford

TSAGRC will be running a event along side the 1st Sedbury & Tidenham
Scout Group on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th October.  

The special event call sign will be GB2SAT.  QRZ.com page. 

JOTA ID: 5GB71J         Maidenhead Locator: IO81QQ      Worked All Britain Square: ST59

We will be running HF, VHF stations along with other things to spark an interest in radio and electronics. The activities will be aligned so the Scouts can gain the
Communicator Badge.

Thornbury and South Gloucestershire Amateur Radio Club were once again allowed to operate for Railways on the Air at the Vale of Berkeley Railway on Saturday 21^st September 2019.

Railways on the Air (ROTA) usually takes place on the weekend closest to the 27^th September. This date celebrates the anniversary of the first steam powered passenger railway which took place on the 27^th September 1825. The first passenger train ran on a line in the North East of England from Darlington to Stockton.

A number of amateur radio stations operate from heritage railways throughout the country with the aim of contacting as many other stations as possible as well as any other radio amateurs who may be interested. TSGARC managed to contact 13 other railway sites from Helston in the south to Dufftown in the north.

We also managed to contact 2 other special event sations. One was celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the KLM airline and the other was celebrating the 101^st anniversary of the first Marconi wireless message from North Wales to Australia.

In total we managed 69 contacts in 10 countries including Italy and Slovenia. We were very pleased with the results of our day and would like to thank the members and trustees of the railway who put up with us for the day.

See Vale of Berkeley Railway Website for more information on the railway where the special event station was held.

Thanks also to Ron for the information.

The fox hunt on Wednesday evening turned into a damp affair and was attended by Mike g0jmd, Paul m0znb , Garry g7nvz and John m0hfh. Peter Barnes m0swn was the fox who had gone to ground in the Mundy Playing fields accompanied by Brittany M6LVB. First hound to see the fox was John m0hfh using body shielding and a hand held, second was Garry g7nvz and Paul m0znb bringing up the rear. We had a cream cup cakes as our prize and returned to rock street around 9.15, a fun evening.

Members of TSGARC at Vale Of Berkeley Railway. GB4VBR station up and running and abut 30 contacts made by 13:00 local time. These include both HF & VHF bands.