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Aurora over Owlswood
Hi All.
Robert G4TUK took this one and asked me to upload it to NARC. What a great picture! Congratulations Robert.
If anybody else has aurora pictures, either upload them to NARC yourself or send them to me and I will do it.
73 de Roger, G3LDI
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Aurora pictures from Steve G3EVA
Hi All.
Hopefully some of you managed to see the aurora. For me it was a bucket list thing. I did manage to see it without using a camera too and here at Swardeston I do have light polution from the main roads. I did manage a few A QSOs on 6m too, always nice to hear the buzz saw notes!
Steve drove out to Spixworth and found a very good site there. He took the pictures with the aid of a tripod on the roof of his car.
73 de Roger, G3LDI
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Wednesday 15th May - Social and Bright Sparks @ CNS School
Tonight we meet in the 6th form common room of CNS School for a social and informal evening - construction tools are available to use on request. There is also Bright Sparks for our young members...
As usual we meet from 1900-2130 in the CNS 6th form common room - Cold drinks and biscuits will be available to purchase and there is also a hot drink vending machine in the adjacent canteen room. Please do not enter the school until our hire from time 19.00 - thanks.
On May 29th at the Members Forum we will be asking all NARC members what they think of online and in-person talks and activities which the club has been doing and how they would like to see it going forwards ...
David G7URP
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GB2CW Morse Corner 10.05.24
GB2CW Morse Corner 19.04.24
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Morse Classes
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The beginner's class is still on Friday evenings, assuming people sign in. I don't like playing to fresh air so please do try to make your presence known.
Schurr 2
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“Regarded by many as simply the best paddle ever made, the Profi (Professional) II comes complete with tilt-open dust cover and connection cable. Large adjustment knobs for contact spacing and spring tension allow precision adjustment while preserving stability– a Profi II virtually never needs to be readjusted. Adjustments can be made by hand and there is no need to touch the locking screws. The contacts are convex, and gold plated. The hand-finished fingerpieces are shaped for maximum comfort while preserving precise control. The base, machined from a solid block of surgical-quality brass, is coated with a trade-secret polymer that resists wear, staining, and pitting over a lifetime of use.”
Weight: 52.9 oz.
Size: 5.5″x3.2″x2.3″
For further info regarding Schurr keys have a look at
http://www.mtechnologies.com/schurr/
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Paddles Paddles
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Paddles - Single lever, Twin lever, Iambic keying, Squeeze keying - YOUR choice of course, but once you think about buying a paddle make sure you TRY them first. You won't need too long to decide what is best for you, but once you have chosen, DON'T swap back and forth. The only way to conquer a paddle is - wait for it - YES YOU GOT IT, lots of PRACTICE. There were no dual lever paddles when I got my Vibroplex single lever, hence I am stuck with single lever paddles. However the thinking that dual lever and squeeze keying is faster is totally misplaced. There are even those who consider that you can attain faster speeds on a single lever. It really is down to the individual and the paddle of his choice.
Take a look at the difference between the two on this US take on the situation. It should help those who are confused and also give a demonstration of both types of paddles. He also describes a "Cootie". Please don't go there because the CW from a Cootie is not great at all. Stick with a paddle, one that YOU choose and one that YOU have to Practice on.
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https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=a5fe1f6bddd2655c&sxsrf=ADLYWIK4JjS6gts9qQ3Wv9snGEgWQCzk9A:1715320470518&q=Single+Paddle+Morse+key&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiU1cjasoKGAxVVRaQEHbVYBK4Q1QJ6BAgxEAE&biw=1920&bih=913&dpr=1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:5af34bab,vid:HWvcr7HM2zo,st:0
CW OPS
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The four sessions are very well attended by lots of amateurs from around the world. Great practice and good fun too. Try it some time. You don't have to be a member to participate.
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David M7BLX has been taking part in some of the sessions and is enjoying his new experience. This is a sure way of practising and increasing your speed.
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NARC NET 3543KHz plus or minus QRM 2000 local time
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Other Net Controllers and tutors will not join in but will leave the frequency to those that need the experience, tuition and practice. Speed will be maintained at 18wpm.
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If you require any practice, come and join in.
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This week it will be Malcolm G3PDH on the usual freq. Hope to hear you there!
Malcolm G3PDH
Phil G4LPP
Dick G3WRJ
Roger G3LDI
Jim G3YLA
Colin G4EYT
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That's it, open the cage, play the music.
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If you have any input, please email me.
73 de Roger, G3LDI GB2CW Coordinator. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. May the Morse be with you.
Author Roger Cooke
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NARC Contest News 138 Friday 10th May 2024
Welcome to week one hundred and thirty eight of NARC’s contest news.
Results:-
On VHF
The results of the 1.3GHz UKAC of 16th April were released on Sunday 7th May. NARC have moved up to 5th place in this series after a good result in this one. Our 4 entries managed 8th and 11th in the Open category and 45th and 50th in the Low power section. We are only just ahead of Drowned Rats in this series so please continue / start to enter this one! Link to results here
The results of the SHF UKAC of 23rd April were released on Wednesday 8th May. Our only SHF competitor, Graham, G3SGC entered this one managing a good 7th place out of 29 entries in the Restricted 2.3GHz section. This has pushed us into 6th out of 8 clubs in the General section for this band. Link to results here
The results of the 70MHz UKAC of 18th April were released on Wednesday 8th May. We remain in 4th place on this band after a fairly good result but coming 5th this time in the General clubs section. Congratulations to John G4PFZ who was our highest points scorer this time out of 5 NARC entries. Link to results here
We remain in 4th place overall, we've quite a big leap to gain 3rd place! - Link here
On HF
The results of the 80m CC DATA contest of 25th April were released on Monday 6th May. I received 4 not in logs in my adjudication report which seems to be an endemic problem in the DATA series. Our 17 good entries ensured another decisive win beating all clubs in both our Local clus section and the General clubs section by a considerable margin! We now lead second placed Bristol by more than 26,000 points and have so fae won every leg of this serioes. Let's hope we can make it a clean sweep. Link to results here
The results of the RSGB FT4 contest of 29th April were published this week. The only NARC member I spotted in the results was Roger, EI8KN who managed an excellent 4th place out of 37 in the non-uk section. Apologies if I missed any other members. Link to results here
If people are entering other contests of whose results I am obviously unaware please e-mail me to let me know the outcome and I'll mention it here.
Contests:-
On VHF
The 432MHz Trophy contest took place on Saturday 5th May on the back of the 432 and up contest which ran all weekend. There was a lot of associated Continental activity with an IARU regional contest. It looks like Stewart, G4AFF and myself wre the only two entries for NARC. Best DX here was DF0YY at 748Km and for Stewart DA0FF at 666Km. Link to claimed scores here
The 144MHz UKAC ran on Tuesday 7th May. Our entry numbers were down on usual with only 6 stations entering which is a shame. Stewart, G4AFF managed the highest number of contacts with 106. Conditions were fairly good and some reasonable DX was worked. DP9X was best DX for Stewart, Graham, G3SGC and myself at 713Km, 674Km and 680Km respectively. Link to claimed scores here
The 50MHz UKAC ran on Thursday 9th May.Conditions were pretty dire with no noticeable enhancement in any direction. I am aware of 9 of us who will enter logs. Activity was, however, reasonable and some good numbers of contacts were made. Best DX for many of us was David, GI4SNA in IO64 square. Link to claimed scores here
On HF
I've had no reports of anyone entering any of the HF contest this week. There were no significant RSGB HF contests.
I've had no reports of anyone working any other HF contests last weekend. Please let me know if you were and I'll put a summary in next week's news.
Upcoming contests in the next 2 weeks (all times in UTC):-
On VHF / UHF / SHF
Before each of the 2m and 70cm UKACs there is an FM leg starting 1 hour before for 55 minutes. I hear almost no activity in this from here but others may have more luck! Rules etc on RSGBCC site.
* Sun 12th May 0900-1200 70MHz CW contest (VHF CW Championship) - Rules here
* Tue 14th May 1900-2130 432MHz UKAC
* Thu 16th May 1900-2130 70MHz UKAC
* Sat 18th May 1400 for 24h. 144MHz May Contest. Preparations are well underway for a big entry by the NARC VHF team using our contest call G2N, please look out for us / support us with points or come and visit on site to consider helping out or even operating. This is part of the RSGB VHF Championship. (N1MM+ log to use is VHF RSGB M1) - Link to rules here
* Sun 19th May 1100-1500 1st 144MHz Backpackers contest. - Link to rules here
* Tue 21st May 1900-2130 1.3GHz UKAC
Also of interest for some on the vhf / uhf bands are the EU FT8 activity tests - see the following link for more information. These are on the first (144 MHz), second (432MHz) and third (1.3GHz) Wednesdays of each month. 1700-2000 Hrs EU FT8 series website
On HF
* Sat 11th May 0000-2359 FISTS Saturday Sprint CW - Rules here
* Sat 11th May 1200 for 24h VOLTA WW RTTY contest (Italian based) - Rules here
* Mon 13th May 1900-2030 80m CC SSB
* Sat 18th May 0600-2100 UN DX Contest CW and SSB (Kazakhstan based but worldwide) - Link to rules here
* Sat 18th May 1200 for 24h His Majesty King of Spain CW contest - Link to rules here
* Sat 18th May 1600-2000 Feld Hell Sprint, 10m band - Link to rules here
* Sat 18th May 2100 for 5h Baltic Contest CW and SSB, 80m band - Rules link here
* Sun 19th May 0000-2359 FISTS Sunday Sprint, CW - Rules link here
* Sun May 19th 2300 for 2h Run for the Bacon QRP Contest - Rules link here
* Mon 20th May 1900-2030 RSGB FT4 Contest - Rules here
* Wed 22nd May 1900-2030 80m CC DATA
See Link to WA7BNM for other contests not mentioned above. Several QSO parties in the USA etc.
Wednesdays throughout the year, CW ops 1 hour mini tests 13:00, 19:00, Thurs 03:00 and 07:00, exchange Name and G if not a member or CWOPS number if you are a member.
See CWOPS website for more details.
Also on Fridays 2000 to 2100 and Mondays 0000 to 0100 each week CWops runs the K1USN slow speed CW contests. Any speed up to 20wpm is acceptable. For rules see :- CW OPs SST page these contests are open to anyone.
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All RSGB contest rules and further details plus log submission at RSGB contest site
Look to WA7BNM’s contest calendar for other contests and links to rules etc at WA7BNM weekly contest calendar
A link to John 2E0TWQ’s site’s Narc contest history page - 2E0TWQ's NARC contest results page
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Contesting can be great fun but I know there's a reluctance to step into unknown waters. It's a great way of improving many aspects of our hobby including one's own performance and the quality of your station. If you have any interest whatsover please call in to the contest net on Friday evening at 9pm on 145.250MHz FM or speak to any of the regular contesters on 450. Or indeed email me!
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Submissions or comments for this news to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
73 until next week,
Phil G4LPP
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Monday May 13: Tonight@8 - Design your own PCB!
The RSGBs Tonight@8 webinar this month features and interactive presention from Mike Willis, G0MJW on how to design a PCB using the free KiCAD software. Free for everyone to watch.
For full details on how to watch see rsgb.org/webinars
Hosted by David G7URP and Tammy M0TC for the RSGB