G8WY

I received an interesting e mail today from the Bolton Wireless Club...

Gents, we thought that you'd be interested to hear that thanks to the
persistence of Ian G0CTO and others, the old G8WY callsign is now back
on-air. :-)

It was first aired on Monday afternoon, on 160m (CW!), operated by Ian. We
then had a little Club net (on SSB), including Ian using G8WY and me
operating the G0BWC Club call.

We're hoping to have it on-air again for the Club net next Monday evening,
around 1968kHz on LSB - please join us if you can.

And if you have any "scrapbook" items from the B&DARS years, this would be a
good opportunity archive them digitally for posterity?

73 de Ross G6GVI

My reply...

Hi Ross and Bill

That is great news! It has been such a long time since Golf Eight Whisky
Yankee was heard on the bands, the callsign has a lot of history. I used it
a lot during contests and exhibition stations and I think Bill also used it
on HF with the KW2000A. A few weeks ago a photo appeared in the Bolton News
of myself, Bill and Neil G3ZPL in Bill's shack using the call to link with
our twin towns back in 1974.
I thought at the time about what had happened to the call and how it would
be great to have it back in Bolton. I think maybe you know the origin of the
callsign Ross from the old B&DARS days.
I remember when I was an SWL and George G3ZQS was secretary of the club, he
found out about the call from another amateur and set about making the call
active again. It took him a long time and like Ian, had to be very
persistent in getting hold of it.

You must get some QSL cards made Ross, I would love to have one on my wall.
I will listen on Monday evening!

 

 

Here is myself, Chris (G4AGJ) and Jack (G8HIK) back in about 1978 operating G8WY/P from Affetside.

Not any BaoFeng UV-5R Plus

I just bought one of these for my Christmas present... The amazing thing is that it is coming from M&S! Not any BaoFeng UV-5R Plus, but an M&S one! Fantastic!

Product Description

Features

* Dual-Band Display, Dual Freq. Display, Dual-Standby
* Output Power: 4 /1Watts
* 128 Channels 50 CTCSS and 104 DCS
* Built-in VOX Function
* 1750Hz Brust Tone
* FM Radio (65.0MHz-108.0MHz)
* LED Flashlight
* Large LCD Display
* Hight /Low RF Power Switchable
* 25KHz/12.5KHz Switchable
* Emergency Alert
* Low Battery Alert
* Battery Saver
* Time-out Timer
* Keypad Lock
* Monitor Channel
* Channel Step: 2.5/5/6.25/10/12.5/25KHz
* ROGER SET

General Specifications

·Frequency Range: 65-108MHz (FM Receive only); 136-174 MHz and 400-479.995 MHz(TX/RX)
·Channel No.: 128
·Frequency Stability: ±2.5ppm
·Antenna: High gain Dual-Band Antenna
·Antenna Impedance: 50 ohm
·Operating Voltage: DC 7.4V
·Mode of operation: Simple or semi-duplex
·Dimension (W x H x D): 100 x 52 x 32 mm
·Weight: 250g (including battery, antenna)

Transmitter Specifications

·Output power: 4W / 1W (Max 5W)
·Modulation Mode: 16kWbF3E / 11kWbF3E
·Maximum deviation: <5khz arrow="arrow" br="br" ide="ide" khz="khz">·Spurious Radiation: <7 br="br" microw="microw">·Adjacent Ch. power: <=-65dB(Wide) / <=-60dB(Narrow)
·Pre-emphasis characteristics: 6dB
·Current: <=1.6A(5W)
·CTCSS/DCS deviation: 0.5±0.1kHz(Wide) / 0.3±0.1kHz(Narrow)
·Intermediation sensitivity: 8-12mv
·Intermediation distortion: <10 br="br">
Package Including

· 1 x UV-5R (VHF136-174MHz / UHF 400-479.995MHz)
· 1 x 7.4V 1800mAh Li-ion Battery Pack
· 1 x Antenna 136-174/400-479.995Mhz
· 1 x Earphone Mic/Headset
· 1 x Belt Clip
· 1 x Hand Strap
· 1 x ENG / GER / FRA Manual
· 1 x adapter
· 1 x Desktop Charger (100V ~ 240V)

Morse Mars

Who thought Morse Code was dead and buried with all the digital technology?  Not so...NASA has included a message in Morse Code in the track of Curiosity the Mars rover, where as we speak, is leaving the message JPL permantly on the surface of Mars wherever it goes!

What a great idea!

It is fun to listen to Morse QSO's on the bands, this skill is not dead, but is an important way of communicating when all else fails. Last night I listened to the contest on 50Mhz and heard a few times when the QSO was difficult and reverted to sending the contest info in Morse...why not!
I still have my key, and I still know how to use it!
I am now waiting for a good Auroral opening, I have worked lots of stations before during Auroral activity using morse code, it sounds like a 'buzzsaw' during Auroral contacts.