Newer club members, perhaps those who have just passed the licence exams may not be aware that the club has a great deal of equipment that can be borrowed by members. For example, licensees may borrow our latest “Shack in a box” consisting of an FT-857 transceiver, a power supply unit and an antenna tuner. So, if you dont have your own equipment, there’s always the chance to borrow what you need whether for HF or VHF. Test equipment is available to borrow as well ranging from multimeters to network analysers and even a spectrum analyser. Contact Paul (G8WWI) for more information on the full range of equipment available to members.
Construction Competition
Dont forget that the club constuction competiton will be on March 3.
Entries must relate to some practical project completed in the last year. Anything to do with amateur radio or electronics or radio related computing/software. Contact Nicolas for more information and entry description forms. One possible entry is shown below. Anybody’s guess!
Club Night Talk: Frequency Modulation
Bryan Harber presented a review and hands-on demonstration of the nature and mechanics of Frequency Modulation. Beginning with a demonstration using a signal generator and oscilloscope he visually demonstrated how AM “works” and then explained why FM cant be demonstrated visually the same way. Instead a spectrum analyser was used to do this. Discussion on multiple sidebands, bandwith and “channels”, “capture” and other licence-relevant matters followed. Slides to follow.
Annual General Meeting
In preparation for the club AGM on March 10th , members are asked to provide Rob McTait with nominations for the M0JMC shield. This is awarded annually to a club member in recognition of their personal contribution to the club in the year.
An award is also made to a club member for the most interesting DX contact. So if you have a QSO you want to put forward for consideration please let Rob know.
January Competitions
Its been a busy start to the year with many club members taking part in the AFS Data and SSB competitions. Conditions were not brilliant but 7 members have taken part in the most recent SSB competition and the earlier datamodes competition was also supported. The results are awaited but increasing participation suggests a good start to the competition year.
Christmas meal at Cinnabar
There’s a social side to Amateur Radio too. This year, the SADARS Christmas dinner was held on December 17th at Cinnabar in the Old Town High Street Thanks to Tom Miller and others for organising and to Rob for the photos below.
NFD 2019
National Field day was busy this year. Report to follow. Some photos below courtersy of Denis M0RLO.
144MHZ contest at Graveley Fruit Farm IO91VW.
A number of club members took part in a 2metre contest over the weekend
The top of the mast i.e. the beam was at 490 ft above sea level.
We tried to hear or work G8W but could not which was sad, although a few stations in Kent and Sussex and France were worked. Some of the participants and the station are shown below.
AFS superleague results
Ron Pratt, our Contest manager reports that Stevenage and District ARS came 23d in the AFS Superleague for 2018. Thats up from 37th the previous year. The complete set of results can be seen at this link. Ron came 15th out of 380 entrants overall. Looking back over time we seem to be slowly improving.
| Year | Position |
| 2012 | 55 |
| 2013 | 52 |
| 2014 | 43 |
| 2015 | 36 |
| 2016 | 39 |
| 2017 | 37 |
| 2018 | 23 |
Training for an Amateur Radio Licence
SADARS has recommenced training candidates interested to take the Foundation and Intermediate Licence Exams.
Getting started: the Foundation licence
To begin transmitting on amateur radio you need to pass a simple multiple-choice test called the Foundation exam.
Contact us to apply for and take your Foundation exam, plus information about fees and training. The club has registered trainers and assessors.
Already an amateur?
Why not step up to a higher power licence?
Stevenage and District ARS trainers and assessors can help you with the next step: the Intermediate Licence. You will need to have passed the Foundation exam to take the Intermediate exam.
In due course we hope to offer Advanced Exam training.