Warrington Amateur Radio Club
Welcome
Warrington Amateur Radio Club is one of the country's premier clubs
for all aspects of Amateur Radio and Short Wave Listening. The club
meets every Tuesday evening at 8PM for lively discussions, presentations,
projects and demonstrations in all aspects of Amateur Radio. These
include HF, VHF, UHF and Satellite communications, contesting,
computer control, data modes, D-Star and digital voice as well as
historical radio and a wide range of related and other entertaining
topics.
In addition to our club callsigns, G0WRS and G6WRC, we
hold the contest callsign M5T and operate a number of special
event callsigns throughout the year, including GB0BAB, GB0LSM
and GB0SGI.
Please browse our web site to find out more about us, information about
membership or becoming a Radio Amateur. If you need to know more please
use the Contact page to get in touch.
NARSA Blackpool Rally on Sunday 15th April
50th Year!
The 50th Norbreck Amateur Radio, Electronics and Computing Exhibition
will be held at the Norbreck Castle Hotel Exhibition Centre on Queens
Promenade, North Shore, Blackpool, FY2 9AA. Doors will open at 11.00.
Admission will be £5 (under 14s free).
Warrington Amateur Radio Club will have a stand again this year and
we hope to see you there. For further information please visit the
NARSA website by clicking the logo above.
Recent Events Roundup
Summer 2011
The summer months have been host to a number of club events and it is
worth summarising them here.
The weather's downward trend continued from previous years
and the forecast for the 2011 Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP Contest
had not looked promising. After arriving on site, we had hoped that
the rain would hold off, at least until after the station was set up
but unfortunately it didn't.
However, persistence paid off and we finished as the top UK station,
second overall.
The GYCA put on its annual Open Day Fair and WARC opened up the club
room and its station to promote Amateur Radio.
Three stations were operated, HF Phone/CW, VHF Phone and HF Data.
A number of people called in to see what the club was about
including Warrington's new Mayor, Cllr Mike Biggin.
The second 2011 visit to Burtonwood Air Base was for their annual
Military Weekend.
Two HF stations and a 70MHz station were in operation, the latter
participating in the Practical Wireless 70MHz Contest.
More information and additional pictures are available.
Upcoming Events in November 2011
Foundation Course
Our November Foundation course is now fully subscribed but we will be
running more courses in the near future.
If you're interested in joining a future course, please keep an eye
on our website for updates and notices or use the Contact
page to get in touch.
Club Events in October 2011
54th Annual Jamboree On The Air
The 54th annual Scout's Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) event takes place
on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th October 2011, an event where Scouts
and Guides all over the world speak to each other by means of Amateur
Radio.
Warrington ARC will be participating in the 2011 JOTA event by
opening up its club station for Scouts to visit and participate
in the event.
There will be several stations operating, VHF for local Scout group
contacts, HF for distant UK and international contacts and possibly
a PSK31 station for data messages.
Detailed information about this year's JOTA event is available on the
Scouting Website
Here
To find out where we're located or for more information, please visit
the Contact page to get in touch.
Club Events in May 2011
Special Event Station GB0LSM
The S.P.A.B. Mills section (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings)
run the Mills Weekend Event every year on or around the second weekend in May.
We will be operating the Special Event Station, GB0LSM, over the
weekend of 14th and 15th May 2011. A special event QSL card is available and
you can search the on-line log and print your own QSL card from this
link.
Please look out for us and give us a call if you hear us.
Club Events in March 2011
Foundation Course
There are still two places remaining on our next foundation
course scheduled take place over the weekend of March 12th
and 13th. Strictly first come, first served.
For further details and to reserve a place on this course,
please contact Paul Carter on 01925 268096 as soon as possible.
National Science and Engineering Week
National Science and Engineering Week commences Friday 11th March. This year's theme is "Communication" and WARC will be starting the week off on Monday 14th holding all day sessions with Grappenhall (St Wilfreds) Primary school. A temporary radio station will be set up at the school which in turn will be in touch with the club station, where a small exhibition and events including morse and other demonstrations will be staged by club members.
End of Year Contest News Roundup
Club Members' 2010 Contest Activity
It has been a rewarding year for members and compared to 2009
the overall club scores are heading up. A good many members
took part in at least one contest, some for the first time and
helped the club to win a podium position again in the RSGB
80m Sprint Contest.
A roundup of the club's participation in contests during
the past year (2010) can be found on the Contesting section
of the website along with some members league tables and
detailed comparison spreadsheets for the CC and Sprints.
Just in time for Christmas!
New Club Radio Arrives
After a well supported drive to raise club funds for a new HF radio,
presentations were given by three club members in support of the three
radios chosen for consideration.
Keith, G8MKO, was first up to recommend the Elecraft K3
alongside its matching panadapter and gave a good presentation including
a demonstration of his own equipment. George, G3OGQ, had
carried out considerable research to pitch the new Yaesu FT-DX5000
against the other radios and backed it up with summarised specifications
and test results. Mike, G4VSS, presented the popular Icom
IC-7600 as the radio to choose noting its heritage from the excellent
IC-7800 and IC-7700 radios.
A Question and Answer session followed where the panel were quizzed on
the merits of the various options before a secret ballot was held to
decide which radio to buy. The FT-DX5000 won hands down with 28 votes,
the K3 was second with 8 votes and the IC-7600 was third with 3 votes.
The club's equipment manager Paul, G1DVA, chaired the evening
and was quickly on the phone to order the radio the very next day.
Braving winter weather, Paul and Mike collected the radio from Lam
Communications and were quick to install the radio and interface it
to the SteppIR and shack's logging computer.
The inaugural QSO was conducted by Mike and was videoed and uploaded to
YouTube. You can view it here: New Radio QSO
Club Events in October
53rd Annual Jamboree On The Air
The 53rd annual Scout's Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) event takes place
on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th October 2010, an event where Scouts
and Guides all over the world speak to each other by means of Amateur
Radio.
Warrington ARC will be participating in the 2010 JOTA event by
opening up its club station on Saturday from 9AM to 5PM and Sunday
from 9AM to 12PM for Scouts to visit and participate in the event.
There will be three stations operating, VHF for local Scout group
contacts, HF for distant UK and international contacts and a PSK31
station for data messages.
A Web Cam will be operating during the event and you can log on
and see the station live by clicking here.
To find out where we're located or for more information, please visit
the Contact page to get in touch.
Foundation Exam Successes
Five New Licencees
Our recent Amateur Radio Foundation Course in September led
to another five successful exam passes for its students.
Hazel (pictured left) received her pass certificate from Club
Secretary, Paul G7ODJ, and we hope to hear her new
call (M6HZL) and the other new licencees on air shortly.
If you're interested in gaining your foundation licence, the
next Foundation Course at Warrington ARC is scheduled to take
place on the weekend of 20th to 21st of November 2010.
For further details and to reserve a place on this course,
please contact Paul Carter on 01925 268096 before 1st November
as there are only a couple of vacancies remaining.
Club Events in September
GB0BAB Battle of Britain Commemoration
GB0BAB was again operated from RAF Burtonwood Heritage
Centre by club members to commemorate the 70th anniversary
of the Battle of Britain during World War II. The
conditions on the bands were considered poor but a good
mix of HF and VHF contacts were made totalling 78 and 71
respectively.
During the weekend, there were a number of attractions on
display including military vehicles and equiment.
Amateur Radio Training and Exams
Get Qualified at Warrington ARC
Since becoming an authorised examination centre, Warrington ARC
has been busy introducing new Radio Amateurs to the hobby with
their friendly and well presented courses leading candiates to
acquire foundation, intermediate and advanced Amateur Radio
licences.
Our September course is now fully booked and further courses will
be running in the near future.
The course will take students from scratch through the standard
syllabus and finish with a 'quiz' exam. For further details and
to reserve a place on a course, please contact Paul Carter
on 01925 268096.
Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP Contest: 13 June 2010
10 Club Members Operate G0WRS/P
After the fun that was had last year in this contest, club members were fired up and ready to go out and try to beat last year's score. With the experience gained from last year we utilised more operators to ensure the radio was always occupied and we had two loggers (electronic and paper) to try and improve our logging error rate over last year. We did well!
GB0LSM Lymm Slitting Mill: 8 - 9 May 2010
Special Event Station
The S.P.A.B. Mills section (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings)
run the Mills Weekend Event every year on or around the second weekend in May.
We will be operating the Special Event Station, GB0LSM, over the
weekend of 8th and 9th May 2010. A special event QSL card is available and
you can search the on-line log and print your own QSL card from this
link.
Please look out for us and give us a call if you hear us.
NARSA Rally: 11 April 2010
WARC Wins Again
The NARSA Blackpool Rally was a great success again
with visitor numbers higher than last year and an
excellent mix of club and vendor stands.
Still very much at the forefront of high-tech radio,
the 2010 Warrington Club Stand this year had
a focus on some excellent home construction projects
developed and built by members.
The displays, equipment and technical discussion
provided by club members drew much interest and
admiration and resulted in trophies for Best Club
Stand and Best Construction Award again.
Warrington Amateur Radio Club
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