If the picture turns out to be not too clear, the trophy is a small glass obelisk with Tom Roscoe’s "Clutching Hand" cartoon engraved thereon and the inscription, "Geoff Ashton M0AUG, Treasurer 1991 – 2005, Oldham Amateur Radio Club".

Many thanks Geoff

Just a brief note for any air band listeners.

If you are not aware of it, in 2006 there will be two amendments to frequencies relating to Manchester Airport.

From 6th January 2006
119.525MHz changes to 135.000MHz (APPROACH RADAR)

From 6th February 2006
133.400MHz changes to 119.525MHz (ACC MANCHESTER SUB SECTOR)

It is also reported that on the 6th January there will be considerable frequency changes UK wide in the UHF Air band (225-380Mhz) for airfields.

Happy Listening

By Ian Moth M0IJM

In October 2005 we took part in the annual Jamboree on the Air for the Scouts. This was the first time the we had been involved in this event for many years and it was good to be asked to take part once again.

It was early in 2005 when we received an email from Paul Riddle, the scout master from a scout group in Hathershaw, Oldham asking for our involvement in the event. Paul was aware of our previous involvement in JOTA as he had been a young scout when we put on the event at the Baden Powell Centre in Oldham and had befriended the late Tom Roscoe G1UVR who you may remember used to draw cartoons and caricatures of people and situations that caught his sharp eye during events such as these. At one JOTA event Tom drew a cartoon for Paul which he has kept on his notice board since then. He was kind enough to bring it along to this event as this cartoon was one that we had not seen before. Unfortunately it has faded somewhat over the intervening years and therefore the quality of this reproduction here is not top quality but it was the best that could be achieved. It is good to know that it was not only our club members who benefited from and enjoyed Tom’s unique talent.

For some time after Paul’s initial contact the arrangements were moving along quiet successfully. However just a short time before the event Paul’s church changed its vicar and he put a stop to it. Paul was disappointed but not undeterred and contacted the Greater Manchester Scout Headquarters. They were very enthusiastic about the event as it would tie in nicely with their already advanced plans to operate JOTI (Jamboree on the Internet) from their headquarters premises in Middleton. Our special event licence had to be altered but the callsign remained the same, GB2GMN (Greater Manchester North).

Middleton, however is not in the Oldham area and therefore we contacted the Rochdale and District Amateur Radio Society (RADARS) to see if they would be interested in setting up a station for the event. RADARS Chairman, John Cannel G7OAI expressed great interest and suggested that both clubs operate the event as a joint venture. This was agreed upon and all the arrangements were sorted out.

On the Friday evening prior to the event, members gathered at the Scouts HQ and set up the antenna farm that had been previously designed. This took a couple of hours and could have been difficult in the dark had it not been for good floodlights at the premises.

Then everyone gathered for the start of the event on 15^th October and completed the final setup and installation of the radios. We set up an HF and VHF/UHF station and Mike Capper M0MSC the only representative from RADARS set up a comprehensive data station and operated packet radio and other data modes.

Our 2 stations operators were kept busy throughout the first day along with auxiliary sections such as basic morse tuition. It was good to see that a large number of scouts had responded and attended the event. The second day was very different however. Only a very small number appeared on Sunday the 16^th and those who did attend showed more interest in the JOTI side of things rather than the radio side. But as they had to carry out certain tasks to qualify for their communications badges we were still required to make the contacts and do the demonstrations etc. etc.

The quiet period was enough for another emerging talent to appear. Tony Kennedy M3TTG was found passing time doodling on a scrap of paper. On closer examination the doodle turned out to be a full blown cartoon of the event. It would appear that we have another cartoonist in our midst. Tony’s drawing is a much more detailed affair than Tom’s and therefore takes much longer to produce but the end result is most pleasing and is a testament to his talent of which we hope to see more in the future.

At the same time club member Geoff Ashton M0AUG was holidaying on the Island of Cyprus. He contacted the local amateur radio club and was roped in to helping them out with their JOTA station - callsign 5B4PSG (Paphos Scouts Group). The photograph shows him operating what looks like a busy event over there.

Our station was dismantled towards the late afternoon when we could be sure that no more scouts would come.

The following members gave up their time and used their talents, knowledge and experience at this event.

Since this event Paul Riddle has enrolled as a club member and, at the time of writing, is nearing the end of the Foundation Training course.
Photographs were supplied by Geoff Oliver G0BJR, Mike Crossley M1CVL and John Taylor 5B4YU.

The Oldham Amateur Radio Club annual rally was to have been held at the Oldham Sports and Leisure Centre, Lord St, Oldham on January 21^st 2006. In the last few weeks of November 2005 I spent some time negotiating the price for the Hall which had been increased by almost 20% above last years price. After many phone calls I was successful in reducing the increase to just a marginal one and one that we would proceed with.

However during our meeting on the Thursday before Christmas and the last one for 2005 our Rally Organiser Steve Crane G0KUY met with myself, club secretary Mike Crossley M1CVL, and treasurer Peter Rushton G7PMZ and reported on his progress with the rally organisation.

At that time only 48 tables out of a possible 140 had been sold to traders. Only 12 traders had definitely confirmed their bookings. The vast majority of the remainder had stated that they would not be attending as they were no longer supporting rallies other than Donnington and Blackpool.

This information meant that we would not be able put enough traders in the hall to make a viable rally. This coupled with our earlier projections of falling visitor numbers that we and other rallies have experienced over the last few years, would mean that at best we would only achieve a "break even" financial situation and could, at worst result in a financial loss for our club.

The "Break Even" situation does not make the rally worth the effort of us all turning out and working hard for over 12 hours, even ignoring all the preparatory work preceding the day, and the financial loss situation is not something I could contemplate.

Therefore your officers regretfully decided that there was no alternative and our 2006 rally would have to be cancelled.

Unfortunately this late decision has made it impossible for us to notify the magazines of the cancellation as their January editions were already in print so to widely announce the cancellation will be difficult. Our web site is already carrying the announcement and we will inform the RSGB so that it can be reported on GB2RS. Our regional RSGB representatives are also aware of the situation and they will pass the information around all the clubs they are responsible for. But if you are playing radio at any time please tell your contacts about the cancellation so that no-one turns up at the hall expecting a rally.

We are extremely sorry that this decision has had to be taken, but I'm sure that you are not surprised as your committee has anticipated that this would happen sooner or later, and their expectations have been fully conveyed to you all for the past few years. We now have the task of contacting all the confirmed traders and returning their deposits with our thanks for their continued support and our apologies.

By Geoff Oliver G0BJR
Chairman

Towards the end of 2005 our Secretary Mike Crossley M1CVL received an email message from OARC, the Ottumwa Amateur Radio Club in Iowa USA, saying that they were interested in contacting other radio clubs around the world which sported the initials OARC. They had done a Google search on these letters and up we popped. The email message was duly despatched.

After some initial suspicion Mike sent a cautious reply. Nothing happened for a while, then suddenly another message appeared expressing delight that we had been in touch and a message swapping session began.

To cut the story short it was eventually decided to attempt a contact via the GB4PZ internet repeater on our final meeting night of 2005. There was a snag however. The Ottumwa Club requested the contact be made using Echolink. This was where we found a large hole in our knowledge. We knew how to operate GB4PZ in IRLP mode but none of us had attempted a contact using Echolink. It was then that we discovered that GB4PZ only uses Echolink at limited times and by prior request. However, undaunted by this Mike, in true bulldog spirit, decided to, ‘have a go’.

This is where the spirit of Amateur Radio shone through. Our attempts to contact Ottumwa were heard by Wayne WA5LUY in Arkansas. Being a technical wizard, he somehow converted our IRLP transmissions into Echolink and connected us via his station to Ottumwa. A delighted Dale KI0HV, Ottumwa Club Secretary/Treasurer came on and had a good chat with Mike and several other club members. This was a good end to the year for us.

Since then we have received the following email from Dale.

This is Dale/KI0HV, FB on the 'get together'.  It was a pleasure to meet you, Malcolm and Phil, as well as the 'listeners' at your meeting.  I reviewed your website and read your latest newsletter.  You have a great club.  I'm the Secretary/Treasurer for the club this coming year.

I'm going to send an e-mail thanking WA5LUY/Wayne in Arkansas for helping to facilitate our "First" contact, may I suggest you do the same?  He was a great help and stayed with us here for a few minutes explaining how the 'link' was made.  We are new to Voice-Over-I-P systems and were not aware of the IRLP system.  Wayne also informed us that the Manchester repeater is only on "Echolink" on weekends.  If I've got this info wrong let me know.  I'm sure we'll get it sorted out!!

We will respond in similar fashion and let’s hope this is the first of many such contacts not only with Ottumwa but also with other OARCs as a result of this.

In the October 2005 edition of Old Hams News it was announced that Chris Mackay had passed the Advanced RAE. Now Chris has his callsign which is M0TVL

Philip Ellis joined our club after meeting us at the Royton Hall Dig special event station. He has successfully passed the Foundation RAE and has the callsign M3LQA.

The following events are in our diary for the next few months.

Sat/Sun 18^th/19^th Feb - Special Event Station for Thinking Day on the Air
Location – the ATC
(provisional – still awaiting confirmation from the Guides Organisers)

Thurs 30^th March - Presentation of the Fred Lees Memorial Trophy & Quiz
Location – the ATC
Please submit your nominations for the award for the member who you think has given outstanding service to our club through the past year
Your nominations should go to the present holder of the Trophy, Steve Crane G0KUY
Don’t forget that due to a rule change made 2 years ago that previous holders of the award are eligible to receive the trophy again if you believe they deserve it.

Thurs 27^th April – Talk "The Magic of X-Rays"
By Geoff Oliver G0BJR

We may well be entering some contests as well during this period.
These will be published, when known, but if you are interested in taking part in any contests please have a chat with Chris Cunliffe G7OOD who is organising them.

These events are subject to change, cancellation and augmentation. To keep abreast of any changes, listen out for the Chairman’s announcements, and check your email inbox.

For those of you who do not already know, club member Geoff Ashton M0AUG, our former Treasurer has fallen and broken his left leg in two places. At the time of writing Geoff’s leg is encased in plaster of paris from his toes to his hip after enduring a week in the Royal Oldham Hospital where he had an operation to join his bones together again. He is expected to be in plaster of some sort for 3 months after his accident.

We wish him all the best during his recovery.

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 2006. Any contributions for this edition should be forwarded to the editor, Geoff Oliver G0BJR on or before Thursday 16^th March 2006 to ensure inclusion.

Articles will be accepted on many formats, by email to "news@oarc.org.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.

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
chairman@oarc.org.uk

Secretary – Mike Crossley M1CVL Treasurer – Peter Rushton G7PMZ
secretary@oarc.org.uk                                 treasurer@oarc.org.uk

Craig Taylor G7MCT    Chris Cunliffe G7OOD
Stuart Wilson G7MFK     Jeff Hollowood G7LMI
Sue Burgess G0RKE     Keith Graham M0KGM

Written, edited and produced by Geoff Oliver G0BJR

© Oldham Amateur Radio Club 2006