The Electronic Edition of

The Journal of the Oldham Amateur Radio Club

January 2005

The club officers and committee hope that all members and their families had a very happy Christmas and would like to wish everyone a happy healthy and prosperous new year.

This year the Oldham Amateur Radio Club Rally will be held on Sunday 23rd January 2005 at the Oldham Sports and Leisure Centre, Lord St. Oldham. Our Rally organiser Steve Crane G0KUY and his team have spent the past three months booking in traders and cajoling the ‘maybe and might do’ traders into making the right decision by booking some table space. This year could be a particularly difficult one as there appears to be a continued general downward spiral of interest in the hobby. This coupled with the rising costs of putting on a rally means that traders are becoming increasingly reluctant to commit themselves to attending.

At the risk of boring you all with the same message but once again the officers and committee appeal to all members to lend a hand on the day. Traders will be arriving at the Hall from 06:00 hours and as many members as possible will be required to help them transport their goods from their vehicles to their tables. Likewise similar assistance will be needed at the end of the Rally to move their unsold goods back to their vehicles and bid them bon voyage. Please remember that many of the traders will have long journeys to make and a further unloading task before their day is finished, so help from us will possibly lighten their workload, and hopefully encourage them to attend next years event. This is of particular importance this year.

Our colleagues from RADARS, the Rochdale and District Amateur Radio Society, will host the Bring ‘n’ Buy once again this year.

As usual it will be a hard days work for us, but as it’s our only fund raising event please try to help. Despite the inconvenience of the early start, late finish and the work there will be still be plenty of time to take full advantage of the rally and enjoy ourselves. This is the only occasion when some of the biggest and best traders involved with our hobby actually come to Oldham to display their wares.

During a recent holiday visit to the West Coast of America I visited the Queen Mary now permanently berthed in the harbour at Los Angeles. I found that there is an amateur radio station on board with the callsign W6RO. Whilst visiting the station I discovered another callsign you might like to listen out for KB2GSD. This belongs to Walter Kronkite the famous American TV host.

By Steve Crane G0KUY

Fourteen years ago my XYL drew my attention to a newspaper promotion for a "place in the sun". It offered a Friday-to-Monday, full board, hotel stopover in Spain and coach tour of holiday homes for sale. The cost was around £90 a head – refunded if you signed up to buy (which reminds me, we never did get our refunds in all the later excitement!) A three day, sunshine break for £90 – it was an offer even I could not refuse if she really wanted to try it: and she did.

Of course, I had not the slightest ambition to own a place in the sun, let alone any intention of going down that road. A cheap weekend break was my horizon and when the Manchester flight departure was switched, virtually on the tarmac to Gatwick, I was on the brink of calling it all off anyway. We persevered though, took the coach to Gatwick and flew off to Alicante, where we were to be collected and driven to the company hotel in Torrevieja. But somebody else had not read the script either. No friendly neighbourhood "rep" was there to greet us or explain why the driver had not turned up. About 45 minutes later a group of 4 of us hired a taxi for the half hour drive to the hotel, where it took another 15 minutes to explain the situation and persuade the equally non-plussed management to pay our taxi fare.

It was not the best start – but it did have a happy ending, because 48 hours later, having done the hitherto unthinkable and signed a contract along with a cheque for the deposit, we were sipping champagne from the complementary bottle that had been discretely left in our hotel room.

For the next 10 years, we and our family, enjoyed annual holidays and watched the little Spanish village of Los Alcazares, grow and develop into the busy seaside town that it is today, with a resident population that includes British, German and Scandinavian elements. Indeed when the Spanish holidaymakers arrive between mid June and the end of August, it becomes a heaving, thriving holiday resort to such an extent that it is hardly recognisable as the same place during the remainder of the year.

In the meantime, we had moved on too, in the sense that we had both retired and were now able to spend months there, rather than weeks. Inevitably our thoughts turned to a more permanent arrangement and we began looking at properties more suited to year round living. Holiday homes are fine for holidays, but permanence, in our case anyway, required more than one bedroom and quieter day to day living! The looking around took several months and what we eventually wound up with was not entirely what I had had in mind. But the XYL kept turning down the places that I fancied and returning to this little three bed detached property a couple of miles out of town, on an as yet unadopted and still largely unfinished urbanisation of mainly Spanish, privately built places.

We drove down there and parked nearby, spying out the place a couple of times before eventually arranging a viewing through the local agent, Bill, who it turned out spoke some English. It seemed fine. There was a nice sized central lounge, with three bedrooms off, modest in size but then there were only the two of us. The bathroom was minuscule but we thought we could live with that until we were able to do something about making it a bit more roomy. The kitchen wasn’t oversized either, but off it at the front of the house, was what the vendors called the "winter lounge", small, but imaginably cosy, with a big fireplace in the corner.

Outside there was a garage and, the piece de resistance on a hot summer’s day in Spain, a swimming pool. Admittedly small but wouldn’t the grandchildren love it. And what a nice way to cool off on those long hot summer days we were going to have to get used to!

And so we went for it, placing our deposit and arranging completion for the end of October, which dovetailed nicely with the friends who had agreed to buy our holiday place.

We moved into the new place a week before our friends were due to arrive to complete their purchase – long enough to discover that everything the vendor had told us about the brand new, unused kitchen hob was not true. It could not have been otherwise – the hob was not connected to anything. There was no pipework and no gas bottle.

That autumn turned out to be the coldest and wettest in that part of Spain for years. It was as if climate change had started overnight – and we had to do some fast shopping for a wood burning stove to set into that open fireplace that had looked so reassuring earlier in the year! Meantime we looked for hot showers to ease the discomfort. That was when we found that the water pressure from a storage tank on the garage roof was little more than a trickle and struggled to fire up the small gas water heater that fed the shower from inside the garage!

More rapid shopping saw a sturdier water heater installed outside the bathroom and a larger storage tank installed higher up on the house roof. That was when we found out that, no, we really could NOT live with a bath so tight and tiny that you had to put your feet up the wall to be able to rise the soap suds from your upper body!

Christmas was coming though and the local Brits had arranged a Christmas Eve party outing to an English run restaurant. We put a brave face on things and soldiered on. It was a good night and we returned home in fine fettle despite the rain that had been unceasing for the past 10 days. That was when the lights went out and the power off – and it wasn’t just a temporary power cut this time. No matter how many times I tried to put the mains switch back on, it tripped out again……for the next 5 days!!

That was when we found that there was no membrane in the garage roof through which the wiring ran, high up near the ceiling, from the house to various switches and sockets. The rains had soaked through, dampened the higher reaches of the walls and tripped the mains "sniffer". My nearest Brit neighbour, Tony, said, "I’ve got a long extension cable if you’ve got another." I plugged mine into his, led one end into the house and wired the other directly into the mains supply box outside in the street. On reflection completely illegal, I’m sure, but it gave us a supply of sorts for the five days it took the garage waterline to recede and dry out sufficiently to beat the trip-out!

Christmas Eve, with candlelight and logs on the fire. Sounds better than it actually was, I assure you. You will have gathered that things could only get better.

Now we have two water storage tanks and a pumping system for the infrequent occasions when it is needed. The pressure- fired water heater benefits from that so that hot water is always available in both house and garage.

The garage roof has been cleared, sealed against the elements with pool liners, cemented and tiled over. The bathroom although still small, has been enlarged and modernised. And the gas hob has seen more use than it ever did since we had it piped and connected to a supply.

I’ve also installed my trusty 20 metre dipole on the house roof and added a rooftop "shack" – cum – storage room, from where on occasions, EA5/G0GTC has been known to call CQ-G4ORC on CW, 14 MHz, around club times on Thursday nights – but so far without having gained a response!

Yes, we had our trials and tribulations, and we still have much to do to bring our "place in the sun" up to dream-home standard. If any of you have similar ambitions, our tale should give you some idea of hazards to look out for and problems to expect along the way. A Place in the Sun isn’t always quite as rosy as it looks on TV! But for us anyway, it was all worthwhile – no regrets. The sun still shines most days of the year, Manchester is only two and a half hours away, and it don’t half keep you busy in retirement!

By Derek Nichols EA5/G0GTC

For many years now enough copies of Old Hams News have been printed to ensure that there is one for every member. Also members who did not collect their copy in person would have it posted out to them so that everyone could be kept up to date with events. This policy was agreed by our committee in order to keep in touch with members who, for one reason or another, do not attend our Thursday evening meetings, as a reminder that the Club was still active.

Due to the rising cost of producing Old Hams News along with the cost of posting and packing and not counting the time spent doing it, our present committee has decided that as almost all the money gathered from members subs goes toward achieving this, the present policy has to be amended even though we would still like all members to receive a copy.

For the past 6 years an edited edition of Old Hams News has been published on the Club’s web site (www.oarc.org.uk). As far as we can tell most members now have computer facilities and access to the internet, and it is through this medium that we now propose to distribute Old Hams News.

As usual 2 editions will be produced. One full edition which will be emailed to members as a pdf file, and a second version, occasionally heavily edited, of this will appear on the web site. If you do not have it, the pdf reader program, Adobe Acrobat, is available free via the internet or the RSGB callbook CD.

The large print run will be discontinued and only a specific number will be printed for members who do not have internet access. But of these only certain members will still receive their copy by post. This will save the club a lot of money which can be used for other projects and, for those who are concerned for the environment, will help save trees.

There are several advantages in doing this apart from cost saving. One is that all the photographs will be reproduced in full colour and have much better resolution. Another is that if you still want a paper copy it can easily be printed off on your own printer. You can also receive it much quicker than perhaps waiting for us to get round to posting it or for you to come and collect it. Sending the document as a pdf file ensures that you receive an exact facsimile of the original document even though you may not have the same Word Processing software used to produce it. It also reduces the file size and consequently reduces download time.

Therefore to make this work we would like the cooperation of all members. If you wish to receive Old Hams News please contact our Chairman Geoff Oliver G0BJR and supply him with a current email address. If you do not have internet access a paper copy will still be printed for you by special request but you will have to collect it. This edition will be the last you will receive in its present format and sadly if you do not make contact with the Chairman you may miss out on your copy.

So to make sure you receive your copy please email the Chairman on oldham.arc@zen.co.uk saying you would like to receive your copy and give him your current email address. If you do not have an email address then just mention it to him at a club meeting and you will be allocated a paper copy.

 On the 18^th October 2004 in Corvallis, Oregon in the good ole US of A, an Air Force search and rescue alert was trigged by Chris van Rossman's flatscreen Toshiba TV. The set has a built-in VCR, DVD and CD player plus an undocumented feature that has the authorities scratching their heads.

Some sort of electric glitch was causing Rossman's TV to transmit on the international distress frequency. The signal was picked up by a satellite and relayed to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Centre in Virginia.

Rossman was blissfully ignorant of this problem until airmen, deputies and police were knocking on the door of his apartment. The errant signal was traced to his TV set. Rossman was warned to keep the TV switched off or face a $10,000 fine for sending a false distress signal. A spokeswoman for Toshiba says they've never heard of this sort of problem before. but promised to give Rossman a new TV.

Submitted by Ian Moth M0IJM

Morse code seems to be the communication method that just won't die. The maritime industry stopped using the code years ago and radio hams are no longer required to pass a Morse test to obtain a UK licence.

But a dedicated band of amateurs - and a large number of people with disabilities - are helping keep the dot-dash system alive. Leicester-based radio ham David Ramsey told BBC News Online: "One country after another dropped the code, but on the amateur side it seems to be picking up again. "People who mainly use their voice (on radio) like the idea of picking it up... they know there is a lot of Morse going on and they wonder what it is all about. "It is curiosity that is bringing them back."

In a bizarre merger of technologies, there are even people sending Morse messages via the Internet.

Radio hams with disabilities are another group utilising Morse code. Tapping out dots and dashes can sometimes be easier for people with physical or speech impediments. John Hammond, from the Radio Amateurs Invalid and Blind Association, said some radio users used Morse keys which are modified to suit their disabilities. "I remember a chap who couldn't speak and was totally paralysed, but he was able to use his Morse key with his tongue, which was marvellous. Another chap, known as Twinkle Toes, could use his big toe... I think that was the only part of his body that he could use."

George Longden, secretary of the Morse Code Preservation Society in the UK, said his dream would be for radio hams to be required to pass a Morse test. He said: "My prime wish will never be granted - the resumption of a CW (Morse) examination for all amateurs aspiring to a licence to operate on all HF bands between 1.8 and 30MHz."

Despite this, the society is attempting to teach Morse to new radio users. "We support an initiative which offers authenticated speed tests. It will provide for tests of varying speeds at rallies and conventions throughout the country and we are also endeavouring to encourage other countries to undertake similar services." Mr Longden said the airwaves remain clogged with Morse users.

"(Morse code) is still very much alive and it is difficult to find a clear spot on many of the popular bands during an international contest. If you don't believe me then listen on most weekends."

Story from BBC NEWS:

By Brady Haran
BBC iCan reporter
© BBC MMIV

Thanks to Trevor Hawkins M5AKA for this item. Ed.

IGNORANCE IS BLISS (Conclusion)

CHAPTER TEN - DESTROYER HMS FAME:

The war was now over and I joined the Destroyer HMS Fame which was based in Londonderry. I was employed as a Torpedoman, and being a chap whose interests was communications, ie, Morse etc. I was in a world of electricity, namely High Power as my first job was looking after the lighting, which worked on 120 volts. The other job was Low Power, eg bells and buzzers, gun circuits, batteries and chargers.

The other lads looked after the Whitehead Torpedo and the depth charges. I really enjoyed my job and my mate "Hooky " the LTO or Leading Torpedo Operator, a young Irish lad from Belfast, was good to work with and had great sense of humour. My workspace was in the Power room, with all the Branch Breakers that feed all the circuits in the ship. The panel had two earthed lamps glowing at half brightness. If one of them came on bright, you had a "short" somewhere. So you tried each breaker in turn, to see which circuit the fault was on, and follow it from there. There were times when I was standing in salt water sorting out a switch. Or standing on a rail over the boiler room to change a light bulb. All in all it was best job I ever had. It was a pity that I was too old to follow it in Civvy Street.

The crew was great. Whether it was because the war in Europe was over or not I don’t know but it certainly made for happy ship. We had two NZ lads join us for a spell, they were real Maories. They spoke like yanks and you couldn’t wish to meet a nicer kind of people.

I met up with an old workmate of mine (Townie) in a dock in Derry. He was "A Tin Fishman" on a small Sub. We spent plenty of time swinging the lamp (Telling Tales). If you have seen the Video "Das Boot" (The Boat) then you have a good insight into how living conditions were in Subs in those dark days.

Back to the Fame, and we had a special job to do. We had an air vessel delivered. This was two thirds the length of a Torpedo It was filled with Amatol and had a Pistol and primer on the end just like a Depth Charge. It couldn’t be dropped off the ship, as it was too big, so, it had to be fired out of the Torpedo tubes. It was a film job. I had volunteered, or so they told me, to be the layer. Cameramen were at the ready and the alarm sounded "Action Stations". As I was running along the deck I lost my hat. I then took up a position swinging the tubes to the port side. It was a demonstration and it was supposed to destroy a sub within half a mile.

Everyone was betting the thing wouldn’t go off, but it did. What a shake up, result, it was "Splice the Mainbrace" as a job well done. Incidentally it could have blown us out of the water, but it certainly broke some of the pots.

Londonderry or Derry as the locals call it I didn’t have too many runs ashore. The beer or porter as they called it was a bit too dark for me. But the Guinness was different to what you get at home - just like milk stout. We got on quite well with the locals. On the ship the comradeship couldn’t be better.

1946 - New Year came and went, and on the 21^st of Jan to the day I celebrated four years of naval life.

I left the ship to go to Ebrington Barracks an Army place, not many bodies around and my thoughts were on demobilisation. The 29^th was our Wedding Anniversary and the memory of that place and the song played every morning over the Tannoy speakers "Chanson de Matin" (Song of the Morning) is still in my memory. Then on to Victoria Barracks for my demob suit and catch the train to Stranraer and the Ferry. The Ferry arrived home the day after our Anniversary.

I had a promise of a different job from my boss, but it was quite a while before I was accepted. As it was a closed shop job as a Textile Technician or should I say a loom overlooker, tackler. There was a saying, "Britons bread hangs on Lancashire’s thread". It was to give us a boost to keep us going in the dark days but thankfully I came home, many didn’t.

One thing I forgot to mention was that, between leaving the "Defiance" and joining "Fame" I went on a course in a college in Eastbourne. It was a C.C.M course, Confidential Cipher Machines or Coding. We had to learn how they worked. I didn’t know it at the time but it was about the "Enigma" coding machine. We took one from Jerry and even today it causes some controversy, as the "Yanks" made a film claiming they took it from a "U Boat". Seeing that film brought back the memory of it. The last time I saw the machine was 3 years ago on a trip with the R.N.A. to a Wartime Bunker in Liverpool. Watch out for the film - it’s called U571.

All they told us it was a confidential coding machine but ignorance is bliss.

FINIS

By George Stead G0GSQ

Well done George and many thanks.
Also thanks to Bertie Whitcher G7JUL for his help in editing this piece. Ed.

The following items are in the club diary during the next 3 months. However they are subject to alteration, cancellation or even extra ones added without prior written notice. Keep an ear on the Chairman’s announcements, (if he makes any) and an eye on the web site for the most up to date information.

Sunday 23^rd January 2005 – Oldham Radio Club Rally
Help from all members will be appreciated

Thursday 10^th February 2005 – Talk "The History of Royton"
By Frances Stott, local historian and author.

Thursday 31^st March 2005 – Presentation of the Fred Lees Memorial Trophy
Don’t forget to submit your nominations – to Mike Crossley M1CVL please.

OLD HAMS NEWS 2

The editor would like to thank all contributors to this edition of Old Hams News. The next edition is due to be issued in April 2005. Any contributions for this edition should be forwarded to the editor, Geoff Oliver G0BJR on or before Thursday 17^th March 2005 to ensure inclusion.

Articles will be accepted on many formats, by email to "oldham.arc@zen.co.uk", by word of mouth, hand or type written notes, or as a .txt file on a CD ROM or 3½-inch floppy disc. Photographs, drawings, circuit diagrams and other graphics to enhance your article will also be most welcome.

In order to keep the cost of producing Old Hams News as low as possible, photographs in the hard copy version will be reproduced in black and white only. The Internet edition will show the photographs in colour. Occasionally, photographs excluded from the paper edition due to technical and/or space limitations could be added to the Internet version.

If you submit an article for inclusion in Old Hams News and you do not wish it to be included in the Internet edition you must state your wishes at the time of submission. Otherwise the editor reserves the right to include/exclude your article as he sees fit.

For reference the officers and committee members are listed below and will be happy to help with any enquiries you may have.

Chairman – Geoff Oliver G0BJR
G0BJR@thersgb.net

Secretary – Mike Crossley M1CVL         Treasurer – Geoff Ashton M0AUG
          M1CVL@thersgb.net                                                M0AUG@thersgb.net

Craig Taylor G7MCT         Chris Cunliffe G7OOD
Stuart Wilson G7MFK         Jeff Hollowood G7LMI
Sue Burgess G0RKE

N.B. Old Hams News is the official journal of the Oldham Amateur Radio Club. It is distributed free of charge to all fully paid up members of the club. Articles appearing herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor, the Officers and Committee, or the membership of Oldham Amateur Radio Club. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of articles included, the editor is not responsible for any inaccuracy that may occur.