The Communicator Digital Edition: 2016

2016-10-15

Surrey Amateur Radio Club & Dundalk Amateur Radio Society

From: John Brodie VA7XB

Many of you will remember our visitor from Ireland, Tony Allen EI4DIB and his wife, Madeline, who visited SARC on Field Day a few years ago and again in 2016 at a summer get-together at the OTC. Heather and I reciprocated the visit in September when we were in Ireland. Tony and Madeline live in Drogheda (pronounced “Droh-duh – the “g” is silent), a lovely village of population 38,000 a few km north of Dublin.

The Certificate of Twinning

We took the train from Dublin along the coast and were met by Tony and Madeline at the station on a cloudy and cool, but rain-free, morning to begin our tour of this historic part of Ireland. Tony introduced us to a ham friend, Adrian O’Gorman EI2KJ. Like many villages in Ireland, the Catholic Church is the dominant architectural feature of the place but there is plenty else to interest the visitor including Old Mellifont Abbey, the Battle of the Boyne memorial and Newgrange. Newgrange is a Stone Age (Neolithic) monument in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, constructed about 5,200 years ago (3,200 B.C.) which makes it older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza.

It was Tony’s idea to “twin” SARC with the Dundalk Amateur Radio Society EI7DAR, a regional club serving County Louth and neighbouring counties. After our return to Surrey, the question was considered by SARC’s membership at the October 12th/2016 meeting where, after a brief discussion, a motion was made and carried (as follows):

“Moved that SARC VE7SAR formally twin with the Dundalk Amateur Radio Society EI7DAR located in County Louth, Ireland.”

Tony and Adrian

The Dundalk Club, founded in 1969 and based in Dundalk, Co.Louth, has about 30 members active on HF, VHF and UHF. Their website can be found at: www.ei7dar.com.

The society has its own clubhouse located on the Castletown Road in Dundalk, and from this location they hold monthly meetings and other amateur radio based activities, including contests, VHF/UHF Field Days, radio & antenna construction and emergency/public events communication.

DARS is affiliated with the Irish Radio Transmitters Society (IRTS) since 1969, which is the national society for radio amateurs in Ireland. Its purpose is to encourage radio experimentation, to provide services to amateurs and to represent their interests nationally and internationally. The IRTS is the member society for Ireland of the International Amateur Radio Union. DARS operates a 2 metre VHF repeater EI2CCR with TX on 145.675 Mhz, RX on 145.075 Mhz using a tone of 110.9 Hz operating from Clermont Cairn Mountain. They also host an Echolink internet gateway node 57007: EI2MOGL on 145.2125Mhz.

2016-06-01

SARC Photo Albums

Our photo albums can be found at:

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/116731869061969537370?source=pwa

2016-05-22

SARC 2016 Fox Hunt

A Dry Day and Good Times

On Saturday, May 21st, Crescent Park in South Surrey was the site of the 2016 SARC Foxhunt (also known as a ‘bunny’ hunt). Anton’s request of the weather Gods apparently had some effect as it was cloudy and cool, but stayed dry. In total 23 people took part.

Les Tocko VA7OM was on site early and set out five 2 and 80 metre foxes in areas of the park. Each fox transmits a CW identifier numbered from 1 to 5 so participants can distinguish between their signals. Two of our recent Basic course graduates participated and two more turned out to have a look. Les familiarized the rookies in attendance on the basics of transmitter location techniques and loaned his 2 and 80 metre gear to get them started. Other participant included several SARC members and members of other local clubs. On 80m the hunt is considerably more effective as participants do not have to cope with reflected signals and other complications of 2m propagation.

At 10am, after a short briefing by Anton James VE7SSD, the event organizer, the foxes began emitting their beacon in turn and the hunt was on. Each fox was attached to a flag. Once found, the competitors used an attached punch to mark their scoring sheet. The completed sheet was returned to the timekeeper and the elapsed time was recorded.

Five 2m and eight 80m hunters entered. The fastest (and arguably one of the most experienced) 80m participant was Jan Vozenilek VA7VJ who found all five foxes with an impressive time of only 39 minutes. In the 2m category the top score was attained by Steve VE7FM and Karen Draper who located 5 foxes in 85 minutes. Second was Kapila Jayawera VE7KGK with 4 foxes in 92 minutes and John Brodie VA7XB with 3 foxes in 126 minutes.

A team licenced only last week, Bradley and Lawrence located all five 80m foxes in 55 minutes and all five 2m foxes in 36 minutes. The 80m third place went to Henry Dahl VE7HRY with five foxes in 64 minutes.

An excellent barbecue lunch, prepared by Anton’s wife Brenda, was served to xx guests. This social time provided an opportunity for a great exchange of information. Presentation of the coveted crystal bunny [photo left] to the top score in the 80m group and the pink fur bunny to the 2m top score concluded the event.

More photos at URL: tinyurl.com/FoxHunt16

Thanks Anton for organizing another great, and fun SARC event!