Est. 1938 G4HRS
H A R C N E W S
The Journal of
Horsham Amateur Radio Club
October 2015
Sponsored by:
1 Contents In this issue
3. Carry a bag! Junk Sale info, radiation and the reusable bag scheme
4. No good A run down of failed ideas
17. Charlie Whisky Peter reviews National Field Day
21. The Crowborough experience All about Aspidistra
24. New OS What to know about Microsoft’s new Windows
27. West Country David’s DX-pedition
28. Square eyes Up to the middle of England and across to the east!
29. Diary of events Full listings for the month
Cover picture: Moller ‘Skycar’
Published by Horsham Amateur Radio Club HARCNEWS is produced at home by G4JHI
2 Editorial
This month see’s the autumn junk sale and for those who may not be familiar here is a basic summary. At 7.30pm the doors will open and during the 30 minute set up one can view the items coming up for auction. At the door David G4FQR and myself will hand out numbered tickets. If you are selling items please note that the club junk should go to the right hand end of the tables and everything else will go along in the order in which it arrives towards the left.
When you buy something the finance department will need to know your ticket number and also when your items for sale come up. Light refreshments will be available during the peak time of the auction. Any items that are not sold should be taken away by whoever brought them. If possible it would be helpful if you are able to settle your account at the end of the evening.
Following reports of interference across Band II 88 – 108MHz I have made some progress on this. The QRN can in fact be heard on my hand held from 29MHz to 200MHz! Over a period I have changed some of my home computer network for reliability from WiFi to Ethernet. Basically speaking the increased use of cables rather than WiFi is the cause! The router sends out some noise although does reduce a bit if the cables are disconnected.
A few months ago I bought a 4 way network switch and this radiates somewhat and especially when the cable to a mini HiFi system is connected! The increase in QRN is quite dramatic! Fortunately it doesn’t affect the HF bands which are of most interest but I have noticed some similar noise across 2 metres. However it’s not too much of an issue since all of my aerials / antennas are outside away from most of the interference zone. So if you’re getting something similar this could be a starting point.
On October 5th new rules by the government will come into effect and large retailers in England will start charging customers 5p a bag. This practice is already in operation in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I actually got caught out on this several years on one of my trips to Denmark which introduced this practice in 2003! So for all those local radio amateurs that I meet in Sainsburys I can inform you that from that date those throw away bags will disappear they informed me.
At the time of writing they were selling the reusable bags for 10p but these will reduce to 5p when this all comes into effect. So I guess all the other retailers will be similar although we know that the minimum charge is 5p. However it should be pointed out that there are some exemptions just to confuse everything! If you do some Googling you’ll be able to get all the information you need. As time goes on could smaller retailers start the same thing? What would happen at the rallies?......
David G4JHI
Copy deadline for November edition 20th October
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3 September HARC Meeting
It didn’t work! by Mike Tooley, G8CKT/F8VON
Our speaker, Mike Tooley, presented ten engineering designs that went badly wrong. In one way or another, they could all be considered spectacular failures! Here is the story of just three of the ten projects that Mike described:
Domes and the Dymaxion
Born in 1895 and hailed as one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century, Richard Buckminster Fuller was a distinguished American philosopher, systems theorist, architect, and inventor. He coined the terms “Spaceship Earth” and “synergetics”, and he developed numerous inventions, the most famous of which was the geodesic dome.
At Harvard, Fuller had been a nonconforming student – holding the dubious honour of being kicked out not once but twice for bad behaviour. Later he suffered from depression. His early business failed and then took up heavy drinking, even contemplating suicide so that his family could claim the insurance money. After something of a mid-life epiphany he completely transformed his life, dedicating it to solving problems that confront humanity – notably transport and housing.
‘Bucky’ – as he liked to be called - is widely known for a large number of thought provoking quotations, including:
4 • To ask a politician to lead us is to ask the tail of a dog to lead the dog.
• The opposite of nature is impossible.
• A problem adequately stated is a problem solved theoretically and immediately, and therefore subsequently can be solved realistically.
• Nature is trying very hard to make us succeed, but nature does not depend on us. We are not the only experiment.
Fuller went on to develop many ideas, designs and inventions. His geodesic dome proved to be a highly efficient structure and he proposed that it should be used on a massive to enclose the entire Manhattan district of New York.
So, what could possibly have gone wrong with Bucky’s monster dome? Snow isn’t all that heavy but a cubic metre of it weighs about a tenth of a tonne. A hemispheric dome covering the entire Manhattan district of New York would have an area of approximately 57 square kilometres.
A foot of snow – about 30cm - over the entire surface area would produce a load of around 1.8 million metric tonnes - that’s roughly equivalent to a dozen large cruise ships or 4000 fully loaded jumbo jets.
Now 12 cruise ships stacked on top of the dome might sound a little drastic but, in fact, the load is mostly a uniformly distributed - a UDL - and so not quite as bad as it might at first seem. However, there’s another potentially more serious problem - would you want to be anywhere near the circumference of the dome when all that snow melts?
5 This would be a much more serious problem even if you could get the geodesic structure to support the load. In order to avoid flooding the rest of New York, massive underground drainage would be required. It seems that our technology guru didn’t even think about this!
Now for another of Buckminster Fuller’s projects that was fatally flawed; enter the Dymaxion. Fuller described the Dymaxion as “ ... a vehicle that could hop off the road at will, fly about, then, as deftly as a bird, settle back into a place in the traffic”.
The Dymaxion’s aerodynamic bodywork was designed for speed and fuel efficiency. It featured a lightweight hinged chassis, a rear mounted V8 engine and front wheel drive. With steering by the third, rear wheel, the Dymaxion could achieve a 90 degree steering lock and it could, as a result, turn in an exceptionally tight circuit circle, causing something of a sensation amongst crowds of onlookers.
6 Unfortunately the Dymaxion proved to be almost impossible to handle. Potential drivers had to be given specialist training and ‘Bucky’ himself noted severe limitations at high speed and in high wind. He declared openly that the Dymaxion would need considerable improvement before it could be made available to the general public.
In 1933, shortly after its public launch, Prototype One crashed somewhat ignominiously outside the public entrance to the Chicago World Fair. In fairness, the accident was not actually caused by the Dymaxion but by a car driven by the Chicago South Park Commissioner who, it seems, wanted to take a close look at Fuller’s prototype vehicle. Unfortunately, he came too close and the driver of the Dymaxion, travelling at 70 miles per hour, swerved to avoid the impact and, in so doing, he rolled the prototype at high speed.
Sadly the Dymaxion’s driver was killed and the two distinguished passengers - one an aviation pioneer and noted spy (if that’s not a contradiction in terms), the other no less than the French Air Minister - were both very seriously injured. Headlines in Chicago and New York read “Freak car rolls over – killing famous driver and injuring international passengers”.
This was a huge blow for Fuller but he remained undaunted by the unfortunate event, repaired Prototype One and went on to develop Prototype Two. Unfortunately this was also a disaster with ‘Bucky’ himself at the wheel crashing the vehicle with his only daughter, Allegra, a passenger.
Because of its chequered history and its appalling handling, and despite some initial interest from Walter Chrysler, the Dymaxion never went into production but perhaps this might have been a fortunate outcome and might have saved more than a few lives.
7 But, what of ‘Bucky’s’ vision of a car that could fly? There are plenty of reasons why we won’t see flying cars any time soon. With mass production the purchase price is likely to be well in excess of a quarter of a million pounds. Maintenance will not be cheap and the requirement for checks and regular servicing will need to be broadly in-line with those required for light aircraft.
EASA (or the CAA in its local guise) requires that a light aircraft should be given an A-check before every flight. A licensed pilot who is the owner or operator of the aeroplane may carry this out but then there’s a requirement for a check after every 50 flying hours. Further checks are required at 150 hours and an annual check is essential in order to maintain a certificate of airworthiness. These checks need to be carried out by appropriately qualified and certified persons and they don’t come cheap!
Insurance will be costly and could be in the region of 20 thousand pounds per annum. It’s also likely to be limited by age and require certified health checks. And, if you can actually afford to buy and run a flying car you need to be aware that collisions, accidents and breakdowns are quite likely to be fatal.
It only takes about 8 seconds to fall from 1,000 feet. If the propulsion system stops working, and without sufficient wing area to produce a lift you will simply fall out of the sky. With only 8 seconds before you hit the ground a parachute is unlikely to be able to deploy sufficiently. Of course, you could have an ejector seat but this would add further cost, size and weight to the vehicle.
Bad weather would make things really difficult – particularly the need to avoid obstacles, power lines, buildings and other things as you attempt the daily commute. And, even with modern flight systems and navigational aids you would still need to be able to fly visually, without instruments. Learning to fly the car would be just as costly and time consuming as it is for any small aircraft.
8 All of these factors stack up so, as far as I’m concerned it’s an open and shut case – we’re not going to see flying cars any time soon. BUT, despite all these problems, there’s an increasing number of companies pursuing the Holy Grail of a car that flies! One such company, Moller, has spent 75 million pounds and taken 40 years to develop its flying car, the Moller ‘Skycar’.
At first sight the Moller M400 looks superb. It has an amazing design specification. With an operational ceiling of 36,000 feet and a maximum speed of 331 mph, the ‘Skycar’ has an intended range of a little over 800 miles coupled with a maximum flight duration of about a little under 6 hours. To lift its four passengers and fuel load, the M400 has eight ducted fan engines mounted in four nacelles. Moller’s reason for using two engines in each nacelle is that if one fails the other will be able to sustain flight.
9 Is this too good to be true? Will we ever see one in the street? The story of Moller is a good one to learn from. The only flight demonstrations have been hover tests performed in 2003 by a prototype that, for insurance reasons, was tethered to a crane.
The ongoing failure of the Moller company to actually fly an M400 led the national press to characterize the Moller Skycar as a ‘failure’. In fairness, the physics behind the Skycar design is not that bad but the real problem seems to be the management of the company and its inability to actually bring the product to market. All this suggests that the ‘Skycar’ will never actually get off the ground. But what happened and why did it go wrong?
In 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Moller for civil fraud in connection with the sale of unregistered stock, and also for making unsubstantiated claims about the performance of the Skycar. So as not to delay the initial public offering of the company’s stock, and without admitting any wrongdoing, Moller agreed to pay $50,000 to settle the matter.
Moller has had ongoing cash flow problems. In a desperate move in October 2006, Moller attempted to auction the only prototype of its earlier M200 on eBay. It failed to sell. The highest bid was $3 million dollars - about half a million dollars below the reserve price. In January 2013, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Moller International and a US-China business network. This joint venture had the ultimate goal of developing production for Moller ‘Skycars’ in the United States and in the People’s Republic of China. Sadly, this just isn’t likely to be going anywhere with China’s current financial problems.
In yet another bid to raise funds, Moller started a crowd funding campaign in November 2013. The aim was to be able to further develop the prototype so that it could fly without a tether and with a pilot on-board. This campaign requested donations with a promise of gifts and other items to donors, and a ride in the ‘Skycar’ as the top gift. sThe crowd funding campaign ended in January 2014 and raised less than $30,000 dollars, far short of its $950,000 goal. All this suggests that you won’t be seeing a ‘Skycar’ in the air any time soon.
Current Wars and Concrete homes!
Thomas Edison was a notable American inventor and businessman. Following his development of DC power networks Edison was dubbed ‘The Wizard of Menlo’. He was also a devious businessman. In the late 1880’s, George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison became bitter adversaries: Westinghouse advocated the use of alternating current (AC) whilst Edison wanted to promote direct current (DC).
10 Edison’s direct current generated and distributed at the same low voltage required by its customers. This required large, heavy and expensive power cables with generating stations located as close to homes, businesses and factories, as possible. Westinghouse, on the other hand, advocated the use of alternating current which could be stepped up for distribution and then stepped down to a voltage suitable for the consumer. His generating stations could be located well away from residential areas and other consumers.
The two competing systems, Westinghouse’s AC and Edison’s DC, were protected by patents and there was a great deal at stake but Edison had a few nasty tricks up his sleeve. He insisted that AC was unsafe whilst he claimed that his 110V DC was relatively harmless.
Edison must have known that his system was inferior but he continued to dismiss AC and used every trick to do so. He publicly electrocuted a number of domestic animals including a random selection of cats, dogs, cattle and horses, and even, years later, an elephant. Edison was a fighter but the ‘War of Current’ was won, as we all know, by AC, not DC.
First and foremost Edison was a businessman. He never missed an opportunity to make money but sadly not all of his schemes were sensible. In the late 1880’s Edison had spent ten years and millions of dollars perfecting a process for refining iron ore using magnets and massive rollers. This was a failure but instead of scrapping the plant he sought a new use for the crushing equipment in the manufacture of high-end cement. By 1906 this too had become a money pit but, instead of calling it a day our hero decided that he would create his own demand for cement by going into the construction business. No, this guy just wouldn’t give up!
In an after dinner speech in New York, Edison announced his latest brainchild: “concrete houses will revolutionize American life”. They would be fire-proof, insect proof, and easy to clean. The walls could be printed in attractive colours and would never need to be repainted. And, what’s more, the entire house could be cast as a single monolith of concrete in a process that would only take a few hours to complete. Best of all, the 12 hundred dollar houses would be cheap enough for “even the most humble slum dweller to afford”.
11 Edison’s early prototype houses were disastrous. Instead of the single moulds that he promised, the house required nickel-plated iron moulds comprising more than 2,000 parts and weighing nearly half a million pounds. In addition, would-be house builders had to purchase at least $175,000 dollars of equipment before they could attempt to pour a house – using, of course, the concrete that Edison would supply.
12 The finished houses were extremely unattractive. Nobody, it appears, actually wanted to live in a house that was designed for slum dwellers. Edison had truly shot himself in the foot but, undaunted, Edison announced that he was making his invention freely available to anyone that wanted to help humanity (they would, of course, need plenty of concrete which Edison would only be too happy to supply). Building contractors didn’t show much interest in Edison’s generous offer so, undaunted, Edison announced a new product line, home furnishings. Yes, Edison could make anything out of concrete including beds, chairs, tables, cupboards, piano and even gramophones.
Unfortunately, the public at large were unconvinced of the suitability of concrete as a replacement for wood and metal and so the bubble burst rather quickly. Edison’s furniture became objects of derision. Not one to give up easily and amid a flurry of press releases Edison shipped a pair of concrete gramophones on a round trip to New Orleans and Chicago. The shipping crates were marked “Please drop and abuse this package”. They never made it back to the New York trade show in one piece!
Despite this monumental story of failure, Edison’s Portland Cement Company remained in business. In doing so it lost millions of dollars and went bankrupt twice. It finally closed a few years after Edison’s death in 1931. But, if you do go to Portland you will still see a few concrete homes – part of Edison’s legacy to the Nation.
13 Warm Up by Radio
At the University of Jena research had been undertaken to investigate the effect of electromagnetic radiation on internal organs. In the 1934 Short Wave Manual these results appeared under the heading “Human Beings as Antennas”.
One of the questions the paper wanted to answer was “whether cold or hot is produced inside the body by an overdose of high frequency waves”. Nobody seemed to have any idea of what an ‘overdose’ would do or what it would feel like. Another paper was entitled “How Short Waves are used to produce Artificial Fever in the Human Body” – which actually provides the answer as to whether the sensation would be ‘hot’ or ‘cold’.
14 The circuit diagram shows the Artificial Fever Apparatus. For the technical amongst you it was a simple push-pull high power oscillator operating at between 10 and 14MHz from a 3kV DC supply. The output of the apparatus – more than 500W - was applied to two large metal plates between which the unfortunate subject was placed. It was envisaged that this apparatus could be used for medical applications as well as domestic heating. No need to heat the room – just heat the occupants internally!
C. H. West of the US Public Health Service had subjected a variety of small animals to electromagnetic radiation. He commented: “Rabbits had been used in experiments and their temperature reached 41 degrees from the normal 38 degrees however after a few weeks severe burns were noticed”. West clearly had no idea where these burns had come from when he went on to say “it could hardly seem probable that burns would prevail where the body is not in contact with any metallic object”.
15 West also mentions that several research workers had volunteered to be “trial patients” and “where heat is concerned one could get equivalent results by sitting on a steam radiator”. All of this is highly worrying and shows just how dangerous an invention can be when scientists don’t have a full idea of what’s going on.
Mike, G8CKT/F8VON
16 NFD (CW) 2015 - HARC sees off all corners!
by Peter Hobbs, G3LET
Adrian, Alister and a few other HARC members first started thinking about this event back in 2014, seeing that the Club hadn’t participated in either of the HF NFD events for several years. First of all, which section would give us the best chance of a reasonable result? There was some concern when it became clear that the registrations for our ultimately chosen section – QRP – had just about doubled since 2014. In fact QRP had become almost the largest section, quite a shock.
Perusal of past results also revealed that Reading & DARC (G3ULT/P) had won their own Trophy for the QRP section of NFD every year for the past 5, so we were going to have to lay on something pretty special to stand any sort of chance of beating those guys. There was some discussion as to whether the event should be run as a training opportunity for HARC or to make some sort of serious attempt to do well. Due to another local rally the same weekend that would be likely to attract several of our club members, the latter strategy seemed the only effective option.
We had gone for the QRP section firstly because hitherto it had attracted the smallest number of competitors but also because HARC had pioneered QRP in the weekly 80mCC events over several years. We had put on a pretty good show on CW for a Club best known for its SSB expertise, thanks largely to Bryn G3SWC, Alister G3ZBU and Robin G3OGP, supported by several others. So there it was, in for a penny . . .
Thanks to the stalwart efforts of Mick G4EFO, a new site at Itchingfield was identified, as Robin G3OGP’s excellent Haven location would not be available for 2015. This was duly surveyed by a quorum from HARC and pronounced definitely fit for purpose. A rough layout for the station and aerials was decided upon at the same time. We would use a classic 264 ft centre fed doublet using our allowed 2 x 11m supports for the centre and one end and allowing the other end (on slightly higher ground) to taper down to ground level.
The Club’s recently acquired auto ATU would be used to cope with the inevitable mismatch on all bands except 160m! Tempus fugit as it does and June rapidly approached without an opportunity for a trial erection of the antenna or any of the planned fine tuning and testing, so the weekend of NFD came without much further progress.
We are allowed to bring kit on to site the day before and so Mick, G4EFO, David G4FQR, Les G3VQO, Alister G3ZBU and Julian G1ODN duly turned up on the Friday with generator, tent, masts, indeed everything required for the station – except for GUY STAKES! Needless to say not a lot of progress could be made without these and so it was agreed that Mike would fabricate and bring them along at 2PM the following day.
Peter G3LET (down to do most of the operating) was still recovering marquees, trailers and other paraphernalia from his daughter’s wedding a few days before and hadn’t made the build-up day. He arrived at 2PM on Saturday, 2 hours before curtain up to find Mick’s trailer with genny and the tent and not a lot else! A walk around the site soon located the mast sections hiding in long grass, so why were they not up in the air?
The arrival of Mick, Alister and David shortly after, complete with the missing stakes, allowed station build to proceed apace but with all hands to the pump it was still not until around 5.30PM that everything was pronounced ready to roll. Alister had produced an innovative stub-fed centre section for the dipole that was intended to isolate it from the rest of the antenna and hopefully produce an improved VSWR and radiation pattern on this important band (points are doubled on 10 and 160m
17 in NFD).
Ultimately, 10m never opened to any great extent but we did end up with more 10m QSOs than anyone else in our QRP section, so thanks Alister! The trusty LG auto-ATU allowed this composite antenna to tune reasonably well on all bands and so we were off, albeit nearly a couple of hours late, but hey, we were in the QRP section which is limited to 12 hours operating, so no big deal. A tentative operating schedule showing “ON” and “OFF” times had been pre-prepared but of course this needed some amendment in the light of the delayed start.
A spread-sheet had also been contrived which showed how many operating minutes remained at any time during the event but of course the start and stop times of each operating period had to be entered manually, taking care to keep a full 60 minutes “OFF” time between sessions. The schedule had been based upon participation in a previous NFD and so propagation was likely (and proved) to be somewhat different in 2015, so operation was largely played by ear during the 24 hour event.
Our strategy was based upon continuous working during busy periods, especially those when either 10 or 160m was open, with 60 minute pauses when things were quiet. In order to qualify as an “OFF” period, breaks were required to be a minimum of 60 elapsed minutes. The idea was that breaks would be used to populate a band-map of needed stations in the logging program, to be worked during the next operating period.
As is always the case in a time-limited event, there is the temptation to ignore planned breaks while the QSO rate is good and this was no exception. The spreadsheet was showing the remaining operating time diminishing alarmingly! And so, especially when on 160m, planned “OFF” periods just didn’t happen, but as a result we seemed to be taking advantage of some good 160m conditions and a very low noise level, due to the remoteness of the operating site from any habitation.
This carried us through the night, with just a couple of “OFF” periods, until the time approached when 10m might be expected to open. We had missed any afternoon opening on the band due to our late start, but a few stations were starting to come through soon after sunrise. Not a lot of operating time left at this point! So after working a few, another break was taken in the expectation that the band would improve further into mid-morning.
Half-way through the “OFF” period it became clear that this was not going to happen and things went rapidly down-hill. We managed just a few more when we able to re-start, but that was that for the day! Only 20 QSOs on 10m - last year’s winner had made nearly 80! But we had nearly 90 on 160m, double last year’s best total. The main worry was our overall QSO number, which was well short of the usual winning total in previous years, with only an hour’s operating time left!
The last 7 or 8 hours saw us rationing our last precious minutes, just a few at a time, with an agonising 60 minutes between each session. M0RYB/P was sending a higher number than us during the evening, while G3ULT/P was well behind, however he didn’t seem to have been around for much of the night and we were sure he had a lot of time left to catch us up! The following figure shows how G4HRS/P, G3ULT/P and M0RYB/P rationed their time during the event. The vertical scale shows the score achieved at each 30 minute measurement point.
18 When all the logs were in for adjudication and visible on the RSGB website, we were still a few QSOs ahead of Reading G3ULT/P who had won using the same operators for 6 of the previous 9 years. Looking at their historical QSO/points ratio, we were pretty sure they had shaded it. Also, Reading were using a full-featured logging program which was capable of providing significantly more information to the operator than our SD although the latter is very capable and requires no mouse in use, a significant advantage in a tiring contest.
And so, all these points were discussed ad nauseum among the doughty tear-down party when they arrived at 4PM on Sunday. Peter G3LET was pretty near dead by this time and also had an airport errand to fulfil and so was not a great deal of help in station dismantling. Still the weather had been kind for the whole weekend – always a blessing. We also entered the Region 1 Field Day (coming top in our Section), which is organised by the German society DARC.
Somehow these guys were able to produce their own much more complex results nearly a month before RSGB! Nevertheless, better late than never – we have a result, with G4HRS/P winner of the QRP section of CW NFD by a significant margin! The Reading QRP Trophy will be presented to HARC at the RSGB Convention which takes place in Milton Keynes on 11 October. All members who participated in any way at all in this success, please join our group at the presentation and show the world that HARC is a Club to watch out for!
Post Script
The UBN report produced by DARC shows how we lost points for various reasons and also lists the following stations who reported G4HRS/P as “Not In Log” (NIL). It is clear that, despite diligent repeats and corrections (occupying much valuable time), quite a lot of the stations we worked STILL DID NOT GET OUR CALL RIGHT! In fact, G4HRS/P seems to be unusually prone to copying errors and it may be worth considering if any alternative call could be used by HARC in future events.
19 DARC UBN (extract)
5b) List of QSOs where your callsign was copied wrong by the other station (QSO removed in his log):
UTC Band/Mode QSO Callsign Copied you as... ------1850z: 40 C # 69 IK2SND - G4HRH/P 2056z: 80 C # 144 LA0CX - G4HRI/P 2128z: 160 C # 159 DL0C/P - G4SRS/P 2207z: 160 C # 185 DK0EP/P D G4SRS/P 0002z: 160 C # 227 DK0MN/P - G4HRA/P 0320z: 160 C # 301 G4IRN/P D G4HRH/P 0445z: 40 C # 313 G4IRN/P - G4HRH/P 1231z: 15 C # 368 S59DZA/P - G4HRI/P
These QSOs were not specifically listed in the RSGB UBN report so it appears as though we retained credit for them in the RSGB adjudication – so well done to Quin G3WRR and RSGB!
20 Greatest Aspidistra broadcasting black propaganda: ‘Germany calling Germany.’ Surely not?
by Julian Thompson G1ODN on 19th September 2015 As any Aspidistra visitor would have discovered, what was described as wartime’s biggest transmitter is no longer there. So why bother joining a prearranged visit as I did on 20th August. What could I discover about something that no longer exists, evidently named after a catchy tune with lyrics about an imaginary plant?
Entry signs of the site
What had been the technical challenge? Aspidistra’s success had relied on three parallel-coupled RCA transmitters, each 170 Kw (total 510 Kw). It needed adequate power to compete with incumbent German broadcasters. Heterodyne oscillation circuitry was cabled for remote operation, by the Air Ministry in Holborn. Uniquely, as soon as local German medium wave transmitters ceased broadcasting, instantaneous switching was made to substitute so-called ‘black’ broadcasting of propaganda to confuse the Nazi enemy.
Four fixed Medium Wave frequencies believed to have been used from January 1943, were 599 kHz; 658 kHz; 809 kHz and 1295 kHz. This was not at all easy, not only because of diminishing signal strength per kilometre, but also daily radio frequency interference effects from the ionosphere; and occasional ‘sporadic-d’. Additional short wave transmitters were used for different purposes.
Bunker entrance tunnel
21 Was it a success: did it make any difference? Aspidistra made Allied warfare more effective. Broadcasting false theme tune signals misdirected the defending Luftwaffe: sending them to defend the wrong German city. More generally, who exactly were listeners supposed to believe if broadcasters sounded identical? German civilian listeners didn’t know who they were really listening to, Nazi Germany or the Allies? Whenever German transmitters shut down to avoid offering themselves as beacons for Allied air raids: that switched the Aspidistra team into action.
Returning to counter-broadcast messages ‘not to’ listen only made matters worse, causing more confusion. Propagating ‘black’ propaganda included demoralizing narrative about forged bank notes (Cologne for example on 658 kHz according to the published brief). Also misleading official information that had a demoralizing effect when such information turned out to be false. False Nazi evacuation information made disaster recovery more difficult to manage in Germany, on the Air Raid channel (599 kHz).
There’s always a heroic war story Whilst maintaining one of the three guyed radio masts (110m/360ft tall), it was reported by the station manager that a black and white chequered flying bomb ‘V-1 rocket’ had shot past the mast in the northerly direction of the perimeter fence. So the rigger had quite a narrow escape during 1945!
Battle fought over the Airwaves During the war, London radio listeners were often interrupted by Lord Haw-Haw’s Nazi broadcasts which he famously started by announcing: ‘Germany Calling’ (twice). He was later found guilty of treason in 1946. So historically, war-time broadcasting was recognized as a very serious business.
Was it worth the visit? Apart from the huge sense of achievement from finding the place (absent from maps) I was surprised to see how historically, the site had been lavishly maintained at taxpayer’s expense. After the war, the Home Office/NPIA took over the site, initially for World Service broadcasting (BBC) on a range of frequencies between 809 kHz – 1295 kHz until 1978; and on fixed frequencies 648 kHz and 1296 kHz. Finally, broadcasting equipment was dismantled and taken away after station closure (1982). As any visitor will discover, a ‘cold war’ bunker had been constructed and the entire site is still used as a police training resource with admission by invitation only.
Footnote: the author is grateful for critical input from the HARC Secretary, Alister G3ZBU
The date is 1947 of the ‘new’ building!
22 Useful references
1. McCarthy, C. (2007) Report: Development of the BBC AM Transmitter network; Seehttp://www.mds975.co.uk/
2. Subterranea Britannica Pointing out Aspidistra’s inaugural transmission date on BBC World Service was 8 November 1942; but for ‘black’ propaganda, it was not until 30 January 1943; accessed via Internet September 2015; Seehttp://www.subbrit. org.uk/rsg/sites/c/crowborough
3. Rowen, R. (2003) Gray and Black propaganda against Nazi Germany; NY Military Affairs Symposium accessed via Internet September 2015; See http://bobrowen.com/nymas/radioproppaper.htm
4. Sussex Police (2012) Kingstanding Installation; accessed via Internet September 2015; Seehttps://grantmelton1.wordpress. com/2015/06/28/
5. Time chamber, index accessed via Internet September 2015; See http://thetimechamber.co.uk/beta/sites/military/civil- defence-project/rghq-6-1-aspidistra-crowborough
23 Windows 10
by David G4JHI
On 29th July Microsoft launched Windows 10 and here are some notes about the new OS (Operating System).
Many computer users of an earlier version of Windows will by now have seen the option to upgrade for free to Windows 10 but the question is should one do this now or wait? A good recommendation is to hold off until the first service pack is available, as this usually gets rid of the bugs that are only found out once software is fully released (sound familiar?)
The Windows start button will produce the ‘apps’ menu
Is it really free?
It’s free for non-enterprise users of Windows during the first year of release. In order to upgrade you must already have installed Windows 7 or 8.1. If your machine only has 8.0 then you must download and install the 4GB 8.1 Upgrade first, available from the apps store. The actual version of Windows 10 that you end up with depends on the previous version of Windows.
If you have a home version that you’ll get the same or a professional version if you’re on Windows 7 Pro for example. It is possible to perform a ‘clean’ install which is always preferable but to do this you have to first run the download and install then install again selecting a ‘clean install’. This would be done by making an ISO image and burning to a DVD or flash drive and may require some technical know how for those not familiar with this process.
24 Right click on the Windows start button will bring up this menu
What is new in Windows 10?
• Log in to your computer using face or iris recognition, this requires a 3D camera.
• The Start Screen can be re sized, and now shows your programs in a more organised way.
• The new “Edge” web browser is standards compliant – But Internet Explorer is still present in case you need to use plug-ins.
• Command prompt is now re sizable, and it also supports familiar keyboard shortcuts (CTRL+C, CTRL+V)
• “Metro” applications (like the weather tile on W8) can be run in a Window so they don’t block the taskbar. Programs downloaded from the Windows Store used to be full-screen only, they can now be re sized and act a little bit more like normal desktop programs.
• Cortana: Speech recognition built into the task-bar, control your computer with your voice.
The new “Edge” web browser
25 Windows File Explorer - Click on ‘View’ to get to the tick boxes which will then allow file extensions to be seen and hidden files
26 Broadcast Listener
by David Ansell 2E0NKC
Holiday report
The YL and I left Horsham at 0715 on September 13th and arrived at Gooseham about 10 miles north of Bude in Cornwall at 1352 with three stops and never exceeding 60mph. On the first day the Radio 4 shipping forecast on 198kHz advised us of a “low” of 983 millibars over “Lundy”. In other words right where we were. Monday was heavy rain all day and night with a strong wind. After this the wx improved and we escaped the rain of tropical storm “Henri”. It was not possible to erect any kind of antenna due to adjacent cottages.
So the Sony ICF-SW 35 was used with internal ferrite rod for listening on Medium and Longwave. Main local radio was BBC Devon on 801kHz MF from near Barnstaple with 2Kw. The antenna there is a Marconi ‘T’. I have passed by that site on previous trips. Also BBC R. Devon is on 990kHz Exeter and 1458kHz Torbay. On FM Devon is on 103.4MHz North Hessary Tor and 94.8MHz Huntshaw Cross plus some other local relays. BBC R. Cornwall is on 657kHz Bodmin and 630kHz Redruth. On FM Cornwall is on 95.2MHz Caradon Hill and 103.9MHz Redruth.
Both stations are of course on DAB. It is interesting to note there are some relays of BBC R 4 Longwave on Medium-wave in Devon and Cornwall. These are 756kHz Redruth 2Kw and Plymouth 774kHz 1Kw. An interesting station on MF is Spirit FM on 549kHz from Carrickroe Co. Donegal with a good daytime signal. I await a QSL card?! Night time Medium-wave turned up Greek Public Radio on 1512kHz. On same frequency Jeddah, Saudi Arabia heard with Holy Quaran programme in Arabic.
One evening at 2100UTC Voice of America Sao Tome Central Africa on 1530kHz was an amazing signal with VOA news is English followed by ‘Africa Beat’ music show at 2105UTC. Near our QTH was a sign which said ‘GCHQ’! Down a narrow road was a huge site of satellite dishes and large “golf balls”. It had 3 perimeter fences and warnings of arrest and notices about the “official secrets act”. It is right on the coast. The dishes and “golf balls” are visible for miles around, so no secret about its existence! Back to the DX heard.
All India Radio Rajkot heard with Indian music and Urdu closing at 1930UTC. AIR Rajkot has been reported previously in ‘Broadcast Listener’ and is a regular catch in Europe. Why not try this one yourself once it is dark up to close at 1930UTC. It starts again at 0115UTC. At one point it blotted out Talk Sport, Nottingham transmitter co-channel! The AIR transmission is intended for Pakistan! Listen for Indian music and signing.
Email reports to [email protected] or by snail mail to Super Power Transmitter, Radio Colony, Jamnagar Road, Rajkot 360006 Gujarat, India. New DX heard was Egyptian Radio General Programme in Arabic on 819kHz from transmitter site Batra. Signal was fair on a clear frequency. Reminder – At 0200UTC on October 25th the HF Short-wave B-15 broadcast season begins. Some broadcasters will change to lower frequencies to reflect c hanging propagation conditions. BST in UK also ends.
27 TV Addict
by David G4JHI
A new local TV channel started earlier in the year and unless you are reading this in The Midlands you may not be familiar with it as yet. Big Centre TV produces local programming in this region and to some extent in a way replaces the old ‘ATV’ which was the regional ITV service for The Midlands. It came to the editor’s notice due to a couple of programmes that are being screened from the past. No doubt many viewers will remember Crossroads and the best part of this was the theme tune!
They are showing actual full episodes right from the beginning. Of course the other rather ‘infamous’ programme on here is Tiswas. This was sent out on Saturday mornings for two or three hours first shown only on ATV in 1974 but as the years went on was rolled out across all the ITV regions with Tyne Tees taking the last series in 1981.
Matthew Butler who wore a rabbit outfit and sung ‘Bright Eyes’ had a personal collection of the programme on VHS tapes and Big Centre TV has ‘borrowed them’ and basically shows one episode each week from one airing with the best bits. If you want to give this channel a try and happen to live in The Midlands it is available on Freeview channel 8. For everyone else a live stream and on demand shows are available on the website. www.bigcentre.tv
There are many other local TV channels across the UK available now with some more to come on air. At present London Live and services from Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Newcastle and Nottingham are available on satellite. For these services a Sky box with active viewing card is required but a subscription is not necessary.
Unless you live in the area for the service concerned none of the above will appear on the EPG and have to be tuned in manually. London Live airs some good old classic films on Sunday evenings at 7pm (with repeats).
TX Factor episode 9 is now available Featuring ham radio Essex-style! Visiting the south east to report on the work of Chelmsford ARS, Essex Repeater Group and Essex Ham. www.txfilms.co.uk/txfactor/index.shtml
28 Diary
Oct 1st, Club Night: Junk Sale - Viewing from 19:30
Oct 4th, British Vintage Wireless Society Auto Jumble - The Angel leisure Centre, Tonbridge 10:00
Oct 8th, Committee Meeting - QTH G3ZBU
Oct 9 - 11th, RSGB Convention - Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre http://rsgb.org/main/about-us/rsgb-convention
Oct 14th, 80m Club Sprint CW 20:00 - 21:00 QRG 3.520-3.560MHz
Oct 15th, Social Evening: The Black Horse Oak - Nuthurst http://theblackhorseinn.com
Oct 17 - 18th, Scouts Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) Oct 18th, 50MHz AFS Super League 10:00 - 14:00
Oct 29th, 80m Club Sprint SSB 20:00 - 21:00 QRG 3.600-3.650 & 3.700-3.775MHz
Nov 5th, Club Night: HARC-CARC Challenge
Nov 8th, West London Radio and Electronics Fair
For details on the above contests use this link and follow to the appropriate section http://rsgb.org/main/radio-sport
All above times are BST
Committee/Club Meetings and Socials start at 20:00
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