GM4RIV

Improve Your Listening Skills

Listen carefully! Join us Thursday, September 8, 2022 at 1900 UTC for a chat with Thomas Witherspoon all about linking the worlds of amateur QRP DXing and general coverage shortwave listening. Tom is the primary contributor to the fascinating websites The SWLing Post and QRPer.com and also serves as the curator of the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive and Radio Spectrum Archive. A grand QRP DXer, Tom often participates in the “Parks On The Air (POTA)” and “Summits On The Air (SOTA)” group activities. Listen to Tom’s unique perspective on these topics and learn some new operating tips, as well! Your listening habits will find a whole new spin!

Modes of Modulation

This talk is aimed at newcomers to amateur radio as well as those that want to explore further. Very often only the basics modes are mentioned in courses, especially for those not attending club meetings and doing exams online at home. The talk starts with some initial thoughts/comments and then looks at common modes such as CW and voice before progressing onto the more common data modes and images. There is an indication of what equipment is required and possible software but it is left to the individual to then seek further knowledge from either other amateurs or the Internet.

Astrodynamics without the mathematics – how to fly spacecraft

We send a lot of stuff into Earth orbit, and (more interesting) to other planets, moons and other objects in the solar system (and even beyond). As radio amateurs we know how to communicate with these probes – but how do we get them there, and how do we put them where we want them? This talk will attempt to explain, without recourse to detailed mathematics – though lots of physics concepts will be used, along with lots of diagrams and a few demonstrations.

The ADIF Processor – A tool for enriching your log files and visualizing contacts in Google Earth

The ADIF Processor is an online tool I originally developed to help me record additional, useful information in my log files. It metamorphosed into a way of viewing QSOs in Google Earth.  Let’s create a log file together and see how QSOs come alive, as well as discovering some of those amazing antennas out there on the way. If anyone has some interesting contacts they’d like to see on the day please email me your ADIF files beforehand: mark@wickensonline.co.uk

Paul Godley: Self-Made Man

In December of 1921, the American Radio Relay League conducted a set of tests to see if the “commercially useless” shortwaves and limited power allowed radio amateurs could reach across the Atlantic ocean.  For these tests, the ARRL decided to send one of their own members to England to copy any American amateur signals that could be received.  That amateur was my grandfather, Paul Godley.  My presentation covers early radio development, Paul Godley’s dogged pursuit of a career in wireless communications, why he was chosen for this task, and some of what the test results taught the radio world.

The Mystery of HF Numbers Stations

Through the Cold War to the present day, strange disembodied voices have popped up across the radio spectrum reciting long strings of numbers. No country admits any knowledge of them. But they are not nuclear readiness codes or the voices of those lost in the Bermuda Triangle, as some suggest! Hear a mysterious story of radio, ciphers and spies, and of how you too can take part.

See this post for details

The Story of EZNEC – from Beginning to End

Wigtownshire ARC invites all radio amateurs to a Zoom talk by the developer of EZNEC, Roy Lewallen W7EL.
EZNEC is probably the world’s most popular antenna modelling software, widely used in ARRL publications, and on his retirement the developer Roy Lewallen is making it free to all amateurs. As well as talking about the software itself, Roy will be telling a personal story about operating a one-man business in the ‘shark tank’ of corporate America.
Date: Thursday 3rd February
Time: 20:00 UK time (UTC)
Please email events@gm4riv.org to receive the Zoom link (about 24h in advance).

Electronic Assembly Skills

A comprehensive look at the art of soldering, equipment construction and repair tips. Learn how to assemble projects for maximum reliability and to military specifications. Review a collection of handy essential tools needed for most daily work in a professional setting. A short video will follow.

A short Christmas meeting on the DG3DG 2m repeater
Click here for details