Rhombic for 6m One thing I have fancied playing with for a long time is the Rhombic antenna. It has a very good directional gain and in principal is easy to construct. The problem is that on HF a Rhombic is extremely large. Even on 6m the antenna is pretty big! My idea for the … Read more
The antenna consists of: 1:1 Balun Lengths of copper brake pipe approximately 1m long pipe and secured into grooves in a length of wood. “Stingers” which can be moved to adjust the length and secured with grub screws. It is secured to the mast with a stainless steel clamp.
Years ago I bought a commercial but cheap HB9CV antenna for 6m. I think in terms of dB per gram of beam aluminium, these antennas are top-notch and great for /P. (I have had a lot of success with good DX with my 2m version.) However, rushing a first activation (contest) a few weeks after … Read more
Every year Verulam Amateur Radio Club holds an Antenna ‘Shootout’ Contest. The idea is to get as many club members as possible building their own antennas and then competing against others to see who’s antenna performs the best. Over the years we have had loads of really interesting submissions, from massive quads to tin-foil and … Read more
The VARC Lockdown Challenge was to make a 6m antenna from materials found at the home QTH. No sneaking off to local suppliers or mail ordering! A rummage through my garage found the following: Plastic rectangular-section conduit, two telescopic Band 1 TV antennas, SO239 socket, ‘U’ bolts and miscellaneous bits of wood. Unfortunately, no useful … Read more
I’m entering the Verulam Amateur Radio Club aerial contest 2020. I’ve built a Delta loop with bits stored at the back of the house. Items used are plastic electrical conduit and drain pipe, coax cable and wire. Wire length is approx 6 metres, the conduit is 2 metres long. The matching coax is approx 1 … Read more
Back In “radio science”, ‘Q’ stands for Quality factor. In a simple resonant or tuned circuit, (and indeed also in a single inductor or capacitor), Q is conveniently summarised as “the component’s reactance divided by the component’s resistance”. The higher the Q, the lower the loss in the component’s resistance. (In most tuned circuits it … Read more
Hello everyone, I am sure, like me, you have been following the news and government reports surrounding the coronavirus. While the risk to the general population is still perceived to be low, we need to consider the safety of our members, especially as some of us are likely to be in a high-risk category. Over … Read more
AB INITIO Back Puzzling facts As we approach the festive season of Christmas crackers, games and puzzles, it was thought once again that it would be appropriate to divert to something “Scientific” rather than strictly “Amateur Radio”. Everybody knows that the tides on the sea are due to the “pull of the moon”, but a … Read more
The Club’s ‘fox hunt’ is an annual event held on a club night. This year it was Peter (G0OIKs) turn to be the fox. The way the club organises this event is for the fox to find a spot within a few miles of St Albans where a station is set up. Every few minutes … Read more
At our July 2019 meeting, club member, Dr Roger Bleaney (M0RBK), gave an illustrated talk about the problems faced by the newly licensed, particularly, when having to operate from a small plot. He explained the benefits of using a simple dipole where there is sufficient space and the advantage of the newcomer using commercially made … Read more
Verulam Amateur Radio Club are saddened to report that Ralph Nash (G1BSZ) passed away peacefully on Friday. He was aged 96. Ralph had been a member of VARC for several decades and we are working with his family to create an obituary which will be published here when it is ready. We all have fond … Read more
Our VARC April meeting on Tuesday will have a short session on the 2019-20 Club Committee plus a talk/discussion/brainstorm on ‘Operating Away from Home’. Peter Baker (G4HSO) says ‘I have tried and failed at operating locations worldwide (including /mm from the mid Atlantic), spent hours preparing but little success, however the occasional MAGIC success keeps … Read more
The Shefford and District Amateur Radio Society will be holding the Spring Junk Sale at their usual venue (the hall next door to the chip shop) on the 4th of April. Parking in front of the building and on the street, also in front. Doors open at 19:30 and the sale will start at 20:00.
Tom O’Reilly (G0NSY) (pictured left), the RSGB’s Regional Representative for Region 9 and Ron White (G6LTT), the District Representative for Hertfordshire and North and East London, attended the club’s monthly meeting in March. There was a wide ranging discussion with club members covering ideas for recruiting youngsters into the hobby and increasing attendance by club … Read more
Verulam Amateur Radio Club were proud to support Sandringham School in St Albans with their British Science Week (BSW) event on Tuesday the 12th March. Students built AM receiver kits and operated a radio station using the schools callsign of M0SCY. Here are some photos from the day. On the day, the school made several … Read more
2018 was another step up in Verulam Club contesting with some very good results. The three main entries were made in the RSGB Club Championships, The Autumn Series and also our annual entry CQ WW CW. I know personally, and also from others I talk to that this year has seen a distinct improvement in … Read more
Eight students at Sandringham School, together with two adult members of VARC passed their Intermediate level examination on the 11th November 2018. The two school girl students had previously passed their Foundation exams together just in time to take part in the School’s contact with Tim Peake aboard the ISS in January 2016. Verulam Amateur … Read more
Stan Ames (G4OAV) gave a talk at the July meeting on the role of Amateur Radio in WW2. Stan explained, nothing public was known of radio intercepts and the role of Bletchley Park until an article appeared in May 1976, in the ‘Time Out’ magazine. The first time radio hams had even been involved was … Read more
In June the Club held its annual ‘antenna shoot out’. Poor antennas are sometimes referred to as comparable with ‘wet string’. Peter (G4HSO) took the opportunity to try such an antenna in real life. Brine soaked length of strings acted as a vertical and counterpoise. Connection to the feeder coax was made via buckets of … Read more
Verulam Amateur Radio Club are saddened to hear that long-term member Jean Faithfull (G0DCU) passed away on June 15th 2018 at Addenbrookes Hospital. Although not active on the amateur bands in recent years, amateur radio was something Jean enjoyed very much and gave her many years of pleasure throughout her life. Verulam Amateur Radio Club … Read more
At the AGM in February 2018, Peter King G0OIK (pictured left), was presented with the Chairman’s award for outstanding service to the Club. The award is a mounted piece of slate from the Poldhu Wireless Station in Cornwall. Not only had Peter taken part in all aspects of the Club’s activities, he had been responsible … Read more
Four students from Sandringham School passed their Amateur Radio Foundation Exam on the 4th February. This brings the total of Sandringham students who have passed in the last six months to over 10 with more in the pipeline.
We are very proud to say that Verulam ARC has taken the first place position in General Section of this years 1.8 MHz AFS Club Calls Contest. Well done to all those who took part, a good time was had by all! Coming up we have three AFS contests in January in which we encourage … Read more
Youngsters on the Air is a yearly event arranged between IARU Region 1 and the RSGB. This is the fourth year it has been supported by the RSGB and it encourages young people to experience the excitement of amateur radio.
At the club meeting in September, Peter G0OIK (right) gave an illustrated talk on the equipment needed and the procedures followed for taking part in the CQ WW CW contest and how the club intends to go about taking part in this year’s event. The plan is to operate four stations from the club’s cabin … Read more
Contesting Pages Contest Home Page On Going Contests Cabin and Contest Diary CQ WW CW Contest The final results have been released for the 2017 Club Championship competitions. We have managed to hold on to our seventh position in the ‘General Club’ category. This is out of a total of 45 entrants in that category, … Read more
In August the club held a ‘Fox Hunt’. Seven teams gathered at the start point, displaying a wide range of designs of hand held antennas for use on the VHF (2 metre) Band. Each team was given a sealed envelope with details of the Fox’s location before setting off by car. The Fox made a … Read more
Contesting Pages Contesting Home On Going Contests Cabin and Contest Diary We are now in the planning stages for this years CQ WW CW contest. This is a 48 hour Morse contest which we run from our ‘cabin’ site. We will be running four stations for the whole of the 48 hour session, so there … Read more
At the club’s meeting in July 2017, club member Roger Bleaney (M0RBK) gave an illustrated talk entitled ‘My Love Affair with Impedance’. Roger explained the mathematics and electronics of Resistance, Reactance and Impedance and how to adjust your equipment for optimum performance. Several home-brew antenna matching units were displayed which demonstrated just what can be … Read more