CQ WW WPX 2008

This weekend the clocks went forward to British Summertime and also saw a major 48 contest. The CQ WW WPX contest started very early Saturday morning and finished at midnight GMT on Sunday. Conditions appeared to be not as good as previous years but the bands up to 15 metres were quite active and there was plenty of exotic DX to be worked including the odd VK! Unfortunately weather conditions only allowed the beam to be wound up for the last few hours but we managed very well running 200w in sometimes very difficult conditions. The certificate for last years contest also arrived this weekend and is pictured above....third place in England 2007

Rally Observations

It was a long day! Another Blackpool rally over and done with for the year. This time it did seem to be poorly attended compared to previous years and there were plenty of empty tables which is a real shame. Our tables, however, were busy and the display and the Elecrafts certainly drew some attention. We managed to raise some money for funds but, again, this was well down to previous rallies. It was nice to see everyone again and our thanks to those people who came over and introduced themselves. Thanks also to the organisers of the rally who work very hard to put this rally on each year.

Coming Up...the Blackpool Rally

Sunday sees the big radio rally in the North West of England. Held at Norbreck Castle on Blackpool sea front, this is one of the biggest rallies of the year. Sands have several tables this year. Brian will be displaying his vintage collection of wartime radios and communication bits and pieces and Ian will have the Elecraft K3 and K2 on display for people to look at. We also have a selling table to raise funds for the group. If you are coming to the rally please come and have a chat with us and we look forward to meeting friends both old and new!

80M Data Contest

Last evening was the data leg of the March 80m club contest. Various members had a go and for some it was the first time that they had taken part. Conditions started off very well at 20.00gmt with the RTTY part of the band being especially busy. Oddly after the first half-hour conditions changed dramatically and signals faded out. Software used varied from HRD to WinTest, although WinTest seemed to win in terms of ease of use ( it would be nice to see this software incorporate PSK31 at sometime in the future ) All stations sending in their logs seemed to report similar conditions on the band.