HARC February 08 - Highfields Amateur Radio Club

H. A. R. C.The Newsletter of the Highfields Amateur Radio ClubFebruary 2008Chairman’s CornerFirstly I want to start by wishing everyone a belatedhappy 2008. The Club has gone through some very difficulttimes over the past year with the loss of the centreand having to change venues twice within 3 months.Since then things have settled down. I think we can allagree St.Philip Evans Church Hall seems to be a goodvenue all round for both facilities and parking. I wouldlike to thank the Church especially Father AnthonyHodges in advance for allowing us permission to accommodatethe radio and antennas when the time comes. Itlooks like we are going to be very busy during the summermonths. May I offer my congratulations to our newfoundation members who have recently passed theirexam. It’s great to see some new faces especially nowthere has been a gradual decline in membership overthe last 2 years. The club is fortunate to be in a strongposition financially even though additional funds are requiredto hire the hall. I am pleased to see that we cancontinue teaching the foundation course here, with theprospect of running an intermediate course in the verynear future. It’s great to see the special event calendarback on track even though we only participate in the importantones. Together with organising a proper radioshack things can continue to progress forward for thebenefit of all. Exciting times lay ahead.Thanks to everyone for your hard work.Steve WilliamsRSGB MovingAfter twenty five years at PottersBar, the RSGB is moving itsheadquarters to Bedford. ModernIT technology and business practice, meanthat Lambda House is no longer cost effectiveto run as an HQand due to the age ofthe building it is provingincreasingly costlyto maintain.The move which theSociety hopes to completeby March 2008will also involve a relocationof the museum,shack and library. Discussionsare takingplace with theBletchley Park Trust,the aim being to establisha heritage centrededicated to Amateur Radio and the RSGBat Bletchley Park.The Society is in the process of purchasinga modern office building located on the PrioryPark, Business Park on the eastern sideof Bedford. This will house the admin operation.It is envisaged that the Bletchley Park sitewill be the centre of the Society’s trainingactivities and will also be the home of theRSGB HQ station GB3RS which it is hopedwill be on the air daily.New Training CoursesWe can now begin training courses for the Intermediate Licence to supplement our Foundationtraining. The pricing structure for training and membership has been reviewed.Foundation (including the training course, RSGB examination and one years membership) £39Intermediate (for non-members including the training course and RSGB examination) £39Intermediate (for members including the training course and RSGB examination) £25HARC Websitewww.highfields-arc.co.uk

Farewell to Robert ThomasGW0WQVRobert has been with the HighfieldsAmateur Radio Club since the verybeginning. In 1981 Robert was at theHighfields Day Centre undertaking atelephony training course for Post OfficeTelephones. Syd Hudson, managerof the day centre and laterGW0NQQ approached Robert andthe other course members with theidea of forming an amateur radioclub. There was already a great interestand pool of skills in the field of electronic constructionamongst the day centre members so it seemed a naturalprogression. Hence the Highfields Amateur Radio Club wasborn.Robert has been an active member of the club since thatday serving on the committee in various posts and finishingthis year as vice chairman. He has run our Monday andWednesday evening nets for a number of years and has alwaysbeen at the club early to greet every member with hissigning-on book.Robert is moving out of the area to be closer to his family.We thank him for his years of dedication to the club andwish him many years of health and happiness in his newlife.Our HARC website is still growing thanks to our residentwebmaster Brian Perrett GW0GKX. Since the last newsletterthere has been many additional web pages written onsubjects such as Constructors Corner, Vehicle Installations,Component Calculators, Antenna Projects, and Batteries.Brian is just coming to the end of a complete rewrite tomake the website compatible with screen-reading webbrowsers used by the visually impaired.The website now has almost 400 pages and has had morethat 3000 visits in the last year from radio amateurs fromaround the world.New Committee for 2008NameSteve WilliamsRobin LasburySelwyn DaviesBrian PerrettAndrew JinksDavid MeadRaymondRookerRoleChairmanSecretaryTreasurerWebmasterProgram ManagerFoundation MorseOrdinary MemberSteve discussed the need for tutors andinvigilators to assist Rob Lannon with thecurrent foundation training courses andexams, and the plan for the club to beginintermediate courses / exams in the nearfuture.Selwyn, Brian, Dave and Ray all kindlyoffered their services in these additionalroles.Club Program8 th Feb 2008 Fish & Chip Night22 nd Feb 2008 Stage Lighting Demo7 th Mar 2008 Quiz Night4 th Apr 2008 Bring & Buy SaleEvents24 FEBRUARYSWANSEA ARSAMATEUR RADIO SHOWThe Aquadrome, Afan Lido. AberavonSeafront, Port Talbot SA12 6QWTalk In S22 (V44), Trade Stands, Bring& Buy, Special Interest Groups, Catering,Opening Time 10.30am.Contact Roger Williams, GW4HSH on01792 404422Please RememberAnnual Subscriptions are nowdue for 2008Selwyn will be pleased to renewyour subscription at the nextmeetingHARC Websitewww.highfields-arc.co.uk