Monday the 15th of October 2012 saw a get-together on DA, aimed at the new M6 licence-holders, but welcome to all. Lots of people, and lots to talk about. Here’s a summary:
The mammoth attendance list for this evening was as follows:
- M0PSX – Pete in Leigh-on-Sea, in the chair
- M6LOS – John in Eastwood
- M6BZS – Ken in Eastwood
- G1KPS – Brian on Canvey
- 2E1GUA – James in Chelmsford
- 2E0TNC – Tom in Tiptree (loving qrz.com and eqsl.cc)
- G0UKP – Brian in Southend
- M6BZW – Fred in Maldon
- M6TTR – Santina in Chelmsford
- G1FOA/A (Very stratchy, and not a fan of hearing folk add an ‘s’ to the end of the 73 sign-off)
- 2E0GVX – Bill in Chelmsford (with a flat battery)
- M6BPK – James in Hockley (Happy Birthday for yesterday!)
- M6GEJ – Glynnis in Hockley (standing on one leg, for some reason)
- G0BDY – Gary in Brentwood (Being very edgy, apparently)
- M6GTV – Glen on Canvey
- M6KDP/M – Rob in Maldon (Only licensed for a few days and playing with Echolink)
- M6GZO – Angus in Rochford (Indoors on a handheld, and a bit weak)
- M6BPJ – Bruce in Chelmsford
- M6AAE – Andy mobile on the A2 in Kent, right at the tail-end of the net
- G8ORV – Frank in Southend (thanks for the kind words on how the net was run)
- G3WRO – Keith in Harlow (An old friend of newbie M6LOS)
The topics discussed tonight included:
- Using a repeater (wait for the “K” tones, and don’t)
- Suggestion to the newbies – Add your callsign to www.qrz.com, as almost every ham uses it. Other directory services are: qrzcq.com and hamcall.net
- Another site worth signing up to is www.eqsl.cc – get cards electronically to confirm who you’ve spoken to
- Help and advice to a newbie. Using a handheld at 5 watts from Rochford on a biccie tin wasn’t working too well. Suggestions include radials for the antenna, tin-foil under the biscuit tin, a Slim Jim (See link below) or a loft antenna, until a rooftop 2m antenna becomes a possibility
As a reminder, the GB3DA Danbury repeater is operated by the Essex Repeater Group – Donations are welcomed to keep the repeater running Reminder that it’s the Essex Repeater Group AGM this Thursday. Details here: Essex Repeater Group AGM.
A great net with lots of people with lots to say. We wrapped up at just gone 11:30pm. Thanks very much to everyone for taking part, and a very enjoyable night. Same time next week?
Got a comment? Please add it below:
Hi Pete
Tonights net was maybe the best we’ve had with so many new m6’s it is very encouraging to listen to the comments and help from established amateurs which is what this net was intended for
Well done mate for running it
Thanks
Tom 2E0TNC
Cheers Tom. Very enjoyable net tonight, and hopefully of use to the new M6 folk. Cheers for staying till the end Tom!
Pete,
Thanks very much indeed for hosting tonight’s most enjoyable newbie net. Once again, thanks to all who offered advice re antennas, lots of food for thought! Interestingly though, Danbury seemed to become fainter and fainter as the evening went on, I don’t know if that might be a function of local conditions. I was very nervous and I always seem to lose my train of thought on air, but hopefully I’ll get better with practice.
Thanks again!
Angus M6GZO
Hi Angus… you sounded fine to me (both in terms of a direct signal to Leigh, and in terms of confidence). Hope the group’s antenna suggestions helped. Same time next week? If you fancy a simplex contact, which should work better as we’re local, drop me an email via the Contact button above, and we’ll have a chat on simplex.
Welcome aboard!
Hi pete
Look up this websid Slim jim antenna http://www.hamuniverse.com
James 2e1gua
Hi Angus
Dont worry about being nervous it happens to us all i still freeze up sometimes and have a senior moment just keep the overs short and keep notes of what people say then you can comment on them when its your turn
welcome to the hobby
Tom
Hi Pete & all
Sorry couldn’t be on the net last night – we’ve managed to ‘escape’ for a few days to Oulton Broad near Lowestoft… May try some echolink into MB7IDA from the netbook… also hope to go on a day cruiser boat tomorrow, so will try some ‘river’ mobile – should be fun ! Hope to be on the net next week. Well done to all the new M6’s & all the old guys for encouraging the new people….
Jim
Hi Pete and others
As an addition to James post an easier link is
http://www.hamuniverse.com/2meter300ohmslimjim.html
This shows how to build a slim jim using 300 ohm cable, the only draw back is that the measurements are in old english Hi
Peter