Andrew, Bart and Steve at Kelham Island Museum

 

 

 

Collecting the 2m D-Star Repeater

Special Interest

New Microwave Beacon - GB3KEU

 

A new 6cm microwave beacon, GB3KEU, is up and running from the Sheffield Amateur Radio Club location at Meadowhead, Sheffield.

 

We "threw the big switch" at 11.15GMT Sunday 6 April.

The beacon is now on air. Please listen for it and give me a frequency check on the zero beat carrier.

Callsign: GB3KEU (In memory of Tim Leighfield, G3KEU, a keen 6cm op and now SK)
Frequency: Nominally 5760.925MHz
Antenna: Slotted wave guide. Omni.
Power out: 25W erp
Keying: FSK, nominally 400Hz shift.
Line up: G8ACE OCXO-> DB6NT 5.7 beacon module -> DB6NT PA (at reduced o/p)

We all owe a debt of gratitude to Peter, G3LRP (nr Wakefield) for his extremely generous donation of both DB67NT modules to this project. He's been waiting a very long time to hear this beacon! Many thanks also to the Telford club, G3ZME very kindly donated (via G3UKV) a beautifully made slotted waveguide antenna.

 

At present the beacon is mounted on a short mast, projecting just above the roof of the club shack.

Reports to: G3PHO

 

D-Star Repeater System - New for 2008 - GB7SF

 

Steve M1ERS and a team of Sheffield radio amateurs have set up a D-STAR repeater system here in Sheffield. This is one of the pioneer systems of this kind in the UK - another first for Sheffield.

Instructions explaining how to use the new repeater, details of the coverage areas, working frequencies and operating guidelines are available at the GB7SF website.

 

The D-STAR system is similar to a conventional repeater with IRLP/Echolink capabilities.

The difference is that D-STAR uses a digitally modulated signal to and from a user's radio whereas with IRLP/Echolink this is only digital within the computer system. D-STAR repeaters rebroadcast locally, in-band or cross-band or to far and away, depending on how you have configured your radio.

D-STAR also supports 1200 bps data on the digital voice channel, so you can send data from your D-STAR radio as well. Our 1.2 GHz high-speed data repeater will provide a 128kb TCP/IP data connection, bringing all your favourite internet applications such as email and web browsing to your rig and computer station.

 

Wherever you are, if you can access the repeater, you can also access the internet. Steve is installing a 2m, 70cms and 23cms D-Star repeater at his home QTH high in the north of the city, so we should get a good coverage within the Sheffield area and beyond.

 

VHF National Field Day 2005

On 2 and 3 July 2005, Sheffield ARC entered the VHF National Field Day from the University of Sheffield Site at Edgemount near High Bradfield, north of Sheffield at location IO93FK.

 

This was our first entry to VHF NFD for many years. Our results are given in the table below:

Band Callsign Section Adjudicated Score Position  
6m G4FAL/P Open 96,517 9/13  
2m G3RCM/P Restricted 36,322 12/19  
70cms G0HSA/P Low Power 10,732 5/11  
23cms M0GAV/P Low Power 3,818 3/7  
Overall   Mix &Match 1,568 5/11  

See our 2005 Field Day page for pictures of the event.

 

International Museums Weekend - 2003

Saturday 14 June 2003, saw Sheffield ARC establish a special event station at Sheffield Millennium Galleries and using the callsign GB2SMG, the club contacted 137 stations including 20 museums throughout the UK and overseas.

 

The pictures below shows details of the event:

View the GB2SMG logbook for 14 June 2003 - PDF format.

During the event in 2003 we contacted 20 other museum stations:

Click on the image to view full-sized.

 

International Museums Weekend - 2002

On Sunday 16 June 2002, Sheffield ARC established a special event station at Kelham Island Museum, using the callsign GB2KIM. The following article was published in the Sheffield Star, 18 June 2002:

Sheffield Star, 18 June 2002

Click on the image to view full-sized. Further pictures of the event appear under gallery.

During the event in 2002 we contacted 18 other museum stations:

International Museums Weekend, Contacts Award, 2002.

Click on the image to view full-sized.

 

Tony's walks with radio

Tony, G3RKL, has completed several major walks (strolls!) in recent years - complete with amateur radio equipment. These pictures are from a talk which he presented at the Sheffield Amateur Radio Club, in February 2003.

At John O'Groats having walked 650 of the 900 miles from Lands End, August 1995.

South of Dunedin, on route from Stirling Point to Picton, South Island, New Zealand, July 1997.

At Cape Reinga, the end of the 700 mile walk from Wellington, North Island, New Zealand, August 1998.

At Stirling Point, South Island, New Zealand, having walked the whole length of both islands from Cape Reinga, 1,300 miles, November 2001.

from Cape

A 'live' SSTV picture sent 'on the road' from a 450 mile walk across North Island, New Zealand, using the callsign ZL6WFE.

 

Several radio club members were able to communicate with Tony, using amateur radio from Sheffield, as he was walking in New Zealand.

 

web pages copyright Sheffield Amateur Radio Club, contact g4fal@riverauto.co.uk. last modified 25 May 2008.