Meetings Archive

Date		Speaker	Details
Feb 2024		EGM	RSGB Bristol Group final meeting.
Jan 2024		AGM	Proposal to close the group due to a lack of secretary and hold an EGM.
Nov 2023		Clive Maby G4NAQ Going /P and Award Programmes	Clive gave an overview of his experiences of going /P and the equipment required. He then presented an overview of the award programmes which are getting very popular on the bands at present.
Oct 2023		Roger Dixon G4BVY “HF Propagation”	Rogers talk covered the fundamentals of HF propagation, explained some of the terms/numbers used, explored how to predict propagation, described means of real time monitoring of propagation and a look at the causes and effects of sudden disturbances.
Sep 2023		Paul Hawkins G4KHU The development of Point to Point Radio	Paul gave us a fascinating history of professional HF communications over many decades – his talk highlighted the development of long- wave and short-wave telecommunications, the radio stations of Marconi, Cable & Wireless and the GPO in the UK and abroad.
Jun 2023		Lynne Ingram is a Master Beekeeper from Somerset. Her talk was about Honey Bees and Communication	This was a very absorbing talk about the complex methods that honey bees use to communicate with each other. Imagine hives of 60,000 or more bees, each with several different roles, organising their work efficiently.
May 2023		Prof. Cathryn Mitchell, M0IBG and her colleague Dr Robert Watson gave a fascinating talk entitled The Rise and Fall of TOPCAT– a very British story in the age of small satellite.	TOPCAT are GPS-based satellite instruments developed by the University of Bath for the US-UK joint space weather science mission, CIRCE. The payloads were developed by a team led by Dr Robert Watson and Prof Cathryn Mitchell at the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering’s Invert – Centre for Imaging Science.
Apr 2023		Paul Roberts G0OER (Our Hon Secretary)	Learning (and improving) CW operation: the situation in the 2020s”.
Mar 2023		Don Field G3XTT (Editor of Practical Wireless)	Don continues to edit the only remaining independent Amateur Radio magazine in the UK. He provided us with a fascinating insight into the development and production of the monthly magazine which has been more than 90 years in production.
Feb 2023		Nick “The Vic” Wood, M0NTV	A modular approach to radio construction. Nick joined us via Zoom.
Jan 2023		AGM
Dec 2019 Dec 2022			Regular monthly meetings were put on hold during the Covid pandemic.
Nov 2019		Matt Besant G4RKY – Moto GP Communications	Matt works in what must be one of the most noisy, dangerous, high speed environments that involve radio communications anywhere in the world. He works for the company that organises MotoGP around the world and travels to all the events with the teams. He gave us a fascinating insight into how the radio comms has developed over the years in this highly competitive and regulated environment.
Oct 2019		Alison Soars G0ALI – The Lighter side of Amateur Radio	Some of the anecdotes, funny stories and heart warming tales from 40 years of operating.
Sep 2019		John Penny – “The first 60 years of Broadcasting”.	The story of broadcasting, with particular reference to the Bristol area, was illustrated with a large number of drawings, photographs, audio and video clips. A very informative and fascinating evening !
Aug 2019		Ken Mills M0KMI – “From 1964 to 2019 Energy Efficient Smart House”	Ken talked about the upgrade of his 1964 house from when he bought it in 1984 to the present day. A technical masterpiece with no expense spared
Jul 2019		No Meeting	Summer “Xmas” Meal
Jun 2019		Show & Tell	Colin G3YHV gave brief a History of Racal. Shaun G8VPG showed the very latest Icom IC-R8600 radio
May 2019		Shaun O’Sullivan G8VPG : QATAR OSCAR 100	Fascinating talk about the new geostationary satellite, formerly Es’hailsat2, but now called Qatar Oscar 100
Apr 2019		Brian Coleman G4NNS “From EME to radio astronomy …. from the backyard”	Brian gave a talk on the basics of microwave EME and how that led to an interest in Radio Astronomy. As Brian said, you don’t need a 3.7m dish to achieve EME at microwave frequencies; it can be achieved with a smaller antenna but with more power .
Mar 2019		Ben Witvliet (M0IJQ, PE5B) “Near Vertical Incidence Skywave: propagation, antennas and polarization”	Ben built on Cathryn’s Mitchell’s talks and introduce Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) propagation. NVIS provides the perfect Plan B when all telecommunication networks are down after a major disaster and in remote areas that never had any network to begin with. It is therefore of vital im-portance to humanitarian organisations. Ben works at Bath University and part-time at the Radiocommunications Agency Netherlands, traveling between both countries every other week. He has been an active amateur since 1974..
Feb 2019		Prof Chris Budd OBE G4NBG “Can Maths tell us where we are ?”	One of the biggest advances in modern technology has been the development of GPS systems which allow us to find our position to very high precision. GPS is just the latest advance in the science of navigation, which has had a profound effect on human civilisation. Part of this story involved the work of radio experts during the Second World War. This talk showed how mathematics has played a vital role in making navigation as accurate as it is today and the impact that this has had on us all. Indeed it is one of the few areas where Einstein’s general theory of relativity directly impacts on our lives
Jan 2019		AGM
Dec 2018		On the Air night	28.550Mhz USB 1930hr
Nov 2018		Show & Tell	Geoff Plucknett brought along the latest SDR Icom 7610 to demonstrate and discuss. Colin G3YHV brought along his shielded loop active aerial to plug in and see what we could hear..
Oct 2018		Neil Underwood – G4LDR “Goonhilly to the Moon and back”	A really interesting talk from Neil about the recent use of the large dish at Goonhilly to experiment with moonbounce using a lery large aperture dish. During his talk he played recordings of various transmissions made and received via the moon’s surface,
Sep 2018		Prof. Cathryn Mitchell (M0IBG) “Further HF Propagation”	Cathryn gave us an update on her team’s work at Bath University on understanding the ionosphere and its effect on radio propagation.
Aug 2018		Show & Tell	A variety of short talks by our members
Jul 2018		No Meeting	Summer “Xmas” Meal
Jun 2018		Larry Bennett G4HLN “Portishead Radio”	Larry’s talk included a 20-minute video of the radio station made in the early 1960s, and the 90th Anniversary celebrations which will have 3 amateur radio stations manned by ex-GKA Radio Officers during July – GB0GKA, GB0GKB and GB0GKC
May 2018		“Microlight aircraft & flying for the disabled.”
Apr 2018		“Severn Area Rescue Association. (SARA)”
Mar 2018		Colin Chidgey G3YHV. “ RCA AR88 & National HRO receivers”	Colin gave an interesting talk and demonstration of two of the classic American made radio receivers of the World War 2 era.
Feb 2018		Chat and Video evening
Jan 2018		AGM
Dec 2017		On the Air night	28.550Mhz USB 1930hr
Nov 2017		Prof. Cathryn Mitchell (M0IBG) “HF Propagation”	Cathryn gave an interesting talk about the history of HF propagation starting with the early work of Marconi, leading through to the importance of HF during the second world war and then discussing the present day research in this area. Opportunities for radio amateurs to contribute to modern HF propagation experiments were discussed.
Oct 2017		Professor Chris Budd OBE G4NBG “THE CHALLENGE OF BIG DATA”	Amateur radio led the way in the communication revolution we see today. Information now plays a huge role in the modern world, with vast amounts of data literally at our finger tips. The Internet is leading to an ever-increasing amount of data, leading to the challenge of Big Data in which we have to deal with huge amounts of data of direct relevance to people lives. Without mathematics, we would be unable to store, transmit, interpret, process or understand any of this. The rise of Big Data is associated not only with major technological challenges, but also with significant ethical and privacy issues, and has major policy implications. In this talk Chris described the nature and problems associated with Big Data, some of the maths associated with understanding it and why it is relevant to Amateur radio.
Sep 2017		Nick Bennett 2E0FGQ & Mike Marsh G1IAR “TX FACTOR” AMATEUR RADIO TV PROGRAMME	A team of three radio amateurs, who are broadcast professionals, have travelled all over the country to film clubs, contests, rallies and to review the latest kit. Two of the team were with us to talk about the project and showed some video out-takes that cannot be broadcast. The programmes can be found at TX Factor
Aug 2017		Dave Boniface G3ZXX “MAGNETIC LOOPS”	The talk will start with some basic history and theory. Things will then take a practical direction, with a demonstration of how to build a simple mono-band loop, 1m diameter, and resonate it typically on 20 or 40m.
Jul 2017		No Meeting	Summer “Xmas” Meal
Jun 2017		Show & Tell	Colin G3YHV showed us his WSPR transmitter. WSPR stands for Weak Signal Propagation Reporter. It uses a series of audio tones with a spread of just 6.5Hz to send a limited set of data comprising callsign, locator and power output. Very little power is needed for worldwide communication. Next Shaun G8VPG showed a 5 pole interdigital filter for the 23cm band. This was made in brass and is the first project from his new mechanical workshop.
May 2017		Paul Hyde G4CSD “PRACTICAL RADIO ASTRONOMY FOR AMATEURS”	The whole idea of this months talk was to debunk the idea that you need something like Jodrell Bank, as our speaker said in his own words; “Most people think radio astronomy needs large parabolic dish antennas and complex electronic equipment, making it unsuitable for amateurs. However there are applications that require relatively modest amounts of hardware and are suitable for domestic environments. The talk described how amateur radio astronomy canprovide observations on solar activity, Jupiter emissions and meteor showers, whilst more ambitious systems can reveal the structure of the Milky Way or detect radio galaxies many millions of light years away.”
Apr 2017		Paul Gregory “THE WESTON, CLEVEDON & PORTISHEAD RAILWAY”	Many historic photos were used to explore some of the stations, the motley collection of locomotives and rolling stock and the main features of the line. The reasons for the closure in 1940 were considered and the talk concluded with a look at what can be seen today, and the work of the WC&P Railway Group”. A fascinating talk with a lot of local interest.
Mar 2017		Paul Heiney M0HWV “TALKING WIRES TO THE SKY”	Paul Heiney will be remembered by many as one of the reporters on the BBC Television programme “That’s Life” and worked with Esther Rantzen. He recently became a Radio Amateur and asked “Why it took Paul Heiney – writer, broadcaster, and now ocean sailor – 50 years from first picking up a soldering iron, to sit down and finally take his amateur radio exams. What took him so long? ”
Feb 2017		Terry Ransome “YURI GARGARIN & THE CHIEF DESIGNER”	A fascinating talk about the early days of the space race from a Russian perspective. Yuri Gagarin was the first human to orbit the Earth. Some will remember hearing of that momentous achievement on 12th April 1961 – over 50 years ago. But there is a lot more to the story….. Yuri came from a peasant background, but his determination to succeed shone through his childhood and youth. His flight into space came at the height of the ‘space race’ and the ‘cold war’. So much of his life story (including his tragic and mysterious death) and the background to his achievement were kept secret by the Soviet Union – until relatively recently. Behind the Soviet space programme was Sergei Korolev, known until his death only as ‘The Chief Designer’. His story is equally moving.
Jan 2017		AGM
Dec 2016		On the Air night	28.550Mhz USB 1930hr
Nov 2016		Prof Andrew Nix. BEng, PhD (Bristol)	Andrew is Professor of Wireless Communication Systems at Bristol University and Head of the Department of electrical and electronic engineering. His talk will provide an update on the mmWave and Massive MIMO communications to explain how this has progressed from the theory into the product,
Oct 2016		Terry Ransome – Beagle to Mars via Kazakstan and Filton !	When all hope of ever hearing from Beagle 2 on Mars was officially abandoned Terry Ransome was one of the few that hoped “maybe not”. Terry met Prof Colin Pillinger in the Marconi Space offices in Filton in the mid 90s, and put together the first ideas for a verification and test programme to fly a UKbuilt lander to Mars. Colin’s dream eventually came to fruition, and eventually Terry took Beagle 2 to Baikonur for launch and was the last person on Earth to ‘touch’ the Probe before it headed off to Mars in 2003. Terry told of his delight at visiting the Baikonur Cosmodrome, some of the untold secrets of what actually happens in a launch campaign, and how Beagle2 was finally “found”.
Sep 2016		Chat Night	An opportunity for our members to discuss any subject of interest. On this occasion, as well as all the interesting subjects brought up by members, the newly appointed RSGB Chairman Steve G0FUW was able to give a short presentation of the results of the RSGB “Presidential Review”.
Aug 2016		Mark Stuart – “What IS going on with the weather in Bristol?” An amateur meteorologist’s view	Mark has been keeping weather records since 1977. He has seen the way the weather has changed locally over the last forty years and collected a lot of information about Bristol’s weather in over the last few hundred years. He gave a fascinating talk on his thoughts on the way the weather is changing.
Jul 2016		No Meeting	Summer “Xmas” Meal
Jun 2016		Chris Rennie M0ORO – “Talking Over a Light Beam”	Chris’s talk explored optical communications and amateur optical transmitter/receiver design and then described the results of a very wet evening’s attempt to link Painswick Beacon to Mayhill on the Hereford/Gloucestershire border. If you thought cm & mm waves at frequencies up to 100GHz were clever stuff try the amateur world at 470,000 GHz (470 THz).
May 2016		John Thomas G4DVV : X-Rays from “A Hands-on Perspective”	John gave a fascinating talk on his work on the development of X-based inspection systems in the late 1980s to mid 1990s.
Apr 2016		Roger Dixon G4BVY – “Matching” Radio Amateurs do it with real AND imaginary parts	Roger gave us an in-depth talk on how to properly match antennas and other electronic circuits. He explained how to achieve a good SWR by using Smith Charts in order to take account of the inductive and capacitive components.
Mar 2016		Phil Whitchurch G3SWH – Effective QSLing	The main purpose of Phil’s talk was to enable operators to make their QSLing both effective and efficient and to make getting that all-important QSO verification as simple as possible.
Feb 2016		Shaun O’Sullivan G8VPG – Recent Developments in Amateur Television	Shaun gave an interesting talk about Amateur TV’s move to digital modulation and how local repeaters support that move. He also showed how the reduced bandwidth now supports the use of ATV on all the VHF bands and how it is now used from the International Space Station.
Jan 2016		AGM
Dec 2015		On the Air night	28.550Mhz USB 1930hr
Nov 2015		Stuart Robinson GW7HPW – The $50 satellite	Using a steel tape rule for an aerial and two 40mm square circuit boards, powered by a 3.7v lithium battery, it was in orbit for over 18 months, and only recently turned off as the battery voltage indicated the end of its life. Stuart brought a full working model with him and demonstrated it operating. He also talked to us about LoRa , a wireless technology that has been developed to enable low data rate communications using very low power over Long Range. Fascinating !
Oct 2015		Chat Night
Sep 2015		Prof Andrew Nix: Bristol University — 5G and beyond – A Bristol Perspective	Professor Nix gave a glimpse of the future of mobile communications and internet technology covering new radio technologies such as Massive MIMO and mmWave communications. He spoke about the Internet of Things with practical examples drawn from the auto-motive and healthcare industries. He told how the University has built a test house in Bristol to evaluate “assisted living” technologies (radios, cameras, body worn sensors etc) and a smart city test-bed in collaboration with Bristol City Council
Aug 2015		Prof Cathryn Mitchell BSc PhD : Bath University	we had an absorbing talk last year on Cathryn’s studies involving solar ejections in the polar regions. She returned to update us on the likely impact of a modern solar storm on satellites, communi-cations, transportation and power and described the measures in place to mitigate the effects of such an event.
Jul 2015		No Meeting	Summer “Xmas” Meal
Jun 2015		Jeff Diplock GW3UZS – Developments in Software Defined Radio	Jeff described various kinds of SDR available and how things have changed over the last 10 years. His main interest is homebrew and he showed us some of his projects to demonstrate what can be done. Fascinating !
May 2015		Prof Cathryn Mitchell BSc PhD : Bath University	This talk will be run at the August meeting. A video was shown instead.
Apr 2015		Dave G3ZXX – The Future with DMR	Dave talked about Digital Mobile Radio, which he described as the latest and most exciting “Emerging Technology” already taking the amateur repeater scene by storm. He described how the digital signal was produced and how it is used in the growing number of repeaters being deployed around the UK.
Mar 2015		Steve Hartley G0FUW & Heather Parsons – An RSGB Evening	Communications Manager, Heather Parsons and Steve Hartley G0FUW now appointed to the RSGB Board of Directors , answered questions on the internal workings of the RSGB – and what it does for the member-ship. Heather told us of the RSGB’s experience into “social me-dia” and wider communication issues.
Feb 2015		Colin G3YHV – The History of Valves	Colin has examples of valves dating back to 1919. He brought along examples of how he has used these museum pieces, integrating them with modern technology and putting them to practical use on the amateur bands. There was also a fascinating video of how Mullard made an EF80.
Jan 2015		AGM
Dec 2014		On the Air night	28.550Mhz USB 1930hr
Nov 2014		Phil Whitchurch G3SWH “Turks and Caicos” Expedition	Phil activated a fairly rare IOTA, NA-003, which is strange considering it’s so close to the USA. He went with Georg, DK7LX who he’d met on earlier DX-peditions and long-standing friend Bill Vincent, who has been with him to Kenya, Montserrat and Swaziland. Phil was there from 1st- 9th Oct this year
Oct 2014		Prof Andrew Nix BEng PhD (Bristol): The Future of Wireless Technology 2020 and beyond	This was a fascinating talk by Andrew Nix who is Professor of Wireless Communica-tion Systems at Bristol University and head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. His research interests include radio wave propagation modelling, advanced Wi Fi sys-tems and 5G network and architectures. He was recently appointed Dean of the Faculty of Engineering.
Sep 2014		Geoff G4FKA, Alan G3XSV and others	In July, members of the RSGB Bristol Group went to Jersey for “Islands On The Air”. This was a presentation from two of the group on some of the trials and tribulations!
Aug 2014		Colin G3YHV – PIC programming the easy way! Heather Parsons	Colin, well known to the group, has been using “PICs” for a large number of projects over the years, including watering the greenhouse and confusing DF hunters. He showed us how easy(?!) they are to program. We also had a visit from Heather Parsons, the recently appointed RSGB Communications Officer, who lives in Bristol. She gave us a brief run down of her role and answered questions about her role and how we might help.
Jul 2014		Chat Night
Jun 2014		No Meeting	Summer “Xmas” Meal
May 2014		Professor Chris Budd G4NBG – history and modern practice of both code breaking and error correcting codes	A fascinating talk by Chris who is Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Institution of Great Britain and Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath. He is a passionate populariser of maths, being involved in projects with schools on various maths related topics. He is also Vice-President for the Institute for Mathematics and its Application (IMA)
Apr 2014		Video night – WW2 Radar	This video tells the story of the spies who lost the Battle of Britain. A new documentary about the astonishing story of the daring Zeppelin spy mission carried out just a few weeks before the start of WW2; what happened on board the airship on 3rd August 1939 was to decide the future Battle of Britain.
Mar 2014		Prof Cathryn Mitchell BSc PhD – “Solar Weather and its effects on modern life”	Cathryn described our modern understanding of space weather events including the many effects on GPS. The importance of space weather on different systems including HF was also reviewed. Examples were drawn from a trip to Antarctica and from observations taken in the European Arctic.
Feb 2014		Ian Greenshields G4FSU “5 Mhz”	Ian is the IARU technical consultant and also the RSGB HF manager. We now have access to around 70Khz of the band at 5Mhz. Ian will explain propagation on the band and highlight some of the unusual features, such as being able to communicate with military cadet stations. There is no IARU band plan and communicating with other countries can be fraught with traps of being outside our allocation.
Jan 2014		AGM
Dec 2013		On the Air night	28.550Mhz USB 1930hr
Nov 2013		Peter Cornall – “Spacecraft Engineering in the late 1960s”	Peter was project manager on the UK 4 satellite operation, when the “Space Race” was in its heyday and the Space Shuttle was still in the imagination of the designers.
Oct 2013		Pete Morys G4HQX – The Raspberry Pi and other microcontrollers.	Pete demonstrated, at a very introductory level, some uses in Amateur Radio for microcontrollers and small credit card sized computers such as the Raspberry Pi and the Arduino.
Sep 2013		H44KW – Phil Whitchurch G3SWH	The well travelled CW (and occasional SSB!) op , Phil G3SWH gives us a behind-the- scenes story of his and Jim G3RTE’s DX-pedition to the Solomon Islands in February 2013
Aug 2013		Steve Hartley G0FUW:Chairman of the RSGB Training and Education committee.	Steve, well known for his training activities – the future of Amateur Radio – will tell us how we arrived at the current exam system, what’s involved, the latest changes and plans for future developments, including something called “After advanced
Jul 2013		“Potted” Talks by Group members	Mike G3SJI “The World Global Village 2013” Amazon, Google and Starbucks : what do they all have in common? Dick G0XAY the RSGB deputy Regional Manager for our area will inform us of the current state of the RSGB.
Jun 2013		No Meeting	Summer “Xmas” Meal
May 2013		Chris Morcom G3VEH “The role of Ofcom during the London 2012 Olympics”	Chris was part of the team to sort out the huge mass of spectrum users during what must have been one of biggest and most complex events ever staged in the UK !
Apr 2013		Nick Gleed GW8YJM – Electron Microscopes: their history and forensic application”	Nick gave us a short history of the development of the electron microscope. From the optical microscope of the 1590s and transmission electron microscopes of the 1930s to the modern day scanning electron microscopes. Then looked at the forensic applications of the SEM in the investigation of crimes at the nanogram level. Including fascinating studies of cases with gun shot residue and a murder involving duck feathers!.
Mar 2013		Chris Bartram GW4DGU – 10GHz for the Terrified!	Chris has operated on the microwave bands since the 1970s. His 10GHz operations started with a klystron, and moved via a Gunn transceiver to narrow-band ssb/cw using a homedesigned waveguide mixer in the early 1980s, to working the world via the Moon (on CW) in the last decade. We heard him talk on the latter subject last year. At that meeting, he revealed that he was planning to return to making amateur radio equipment, something he did with some success during the 1980s with his Company, muTek Limited.
Feb 2013		Captain Roger Francis -Trinity House Deep Sea pilot	Captain Roger Francis M.N.I. has recently retired as a Trinity House Deep Sea Pilot. Roger served as a pilot for 21 years, during which time, with a trip averaging around eight days, he piloted 511 vessels totalling over 34 million deadweight tonnes. The largest ship piloted by Roger was about 420,000 tonnes and the smallest has to be a load of rigid inflatable boats plus Richard Branson, driving his Aquada car across the Dover Straits, to beat the record for crossing the Straits in a car!
Jan 2013		AGM
Dec 2012		On the Air night	28.550Mhz USB 1930hr
Nov 2012		Impromptu Talks	Unfortunately our original speaker Nick Gleed GW8YJM was required to give evidence in court and could not make the meeting. At short notice Robin G3TKF showed a video of a DXpedition to Midway Island, and Alan G3XSV gave a short version of his RSGB Convention talk on contesting.
Oct 2012		David Butler G4ASR – Making more miles on VHF	David has been the RSGB VHF Manager and Practical Wireless Antenna Workshop columnist as well as being a keen VHF Dxer from his home near Hereford. His talk is a DX operator’s audio-visual guide to propagation modes and how each is used to enable long distance contacts.
Aug 2012		Tom Boucher G3OLB – LF Band operation	Tom is well known for Dxing on the LF bands brought along some of his home brew items for the more unusual bands. He talked about his activities on Top Band, 136KHz and most recently 500KHz. He also gave his views on how to get on the new 472 and 477kHz allocation that comes into force on 1st Jan 2013.
Jul 2012		An evening of short talks and chat:	Mike G3SJI – gave a brief talk on 198Khz : is it the end of the “Light Programme” ? Keith G4EJH – gave an interesting talk about growing VERY large vegetables !
Jun 2012		No Meeting	Summer “Xmas” Meal
May 2012		Tony Bettley G4LDL – T32C Dxpedition—The REAL story !	Almost more interesting than the T32C planners had originally intended – this was the story of how, after a major blow to their plans, the T32C team overcame huge logistical prob-lems to achieve a superb end result.
Apr 2012		Tony Griggs G4KMB – A trip to Tristan de Cunha	An interesting travelogue from Tony on his recent voyage to the tiny South Atlantic Island on the SS St Helena.
Mar 2012		Canon Roger Davis G3IUZ – 60 Years In-and-Out of Amateur Radio	Roger was born and bred in Somerset; joined RSGB 1951; licensed 1953 as a schoolboy; joined RAF teaching V Bomber HF Tx/Rx at RAF Yatesbury; BBC TV engi-neer – then turned his collar round. Anglican parish priest for thirty years in east London, Beds and Herts. Retired to Wells and now spends most of his time building and running the miniature passenger hauling steam railway at the Bath & West Showground. Occasionally active on HF Bands SSB and PSK and 2m. A very varied and interesting talk.
Feb 2012		Chris Bartram GW4DGU – “Moon Bounce on microwaves”	Chris talked to us about his Moon Bounce activities. Chris has a lifetime‘s experience of RF circuit design gained largely while working as an in-dependent consultant. He has been involved with Antenna design especially compact antennas integrated into equipment; PA designs from mW to kW; Receiver design particularly high linearity and low noise front-end circuits (many of us remember those low noise pre-amps from Mutek !)
Jan 2012		AGM	As well as the normal proceedings of the AGM we had a rare treat this year. Roy G3FYX gave a fascinating talk about 47GHz. This was followed by Tom G3OLB presenting Roy with a certificate commemorating Roy’s decades of activity across the radio spectrum and giving Roy Life Membership of the Bristol RSGB Group.
Dec 2011			160m “On Air” Night
Nov 2011		G.Kimbell, G3TCT – Radio Aurora	Graham explained, with the aid of many recordings made over the years, just why signals sound like they do via an Aurora and what exactly causes them.
Oct 2011		N.Patrick-Gleed, G8YJM – Forensic Science & the mobile phone	Nick explained how the forensic examination of historical network information can deter-mine the location of a mobile handset—with surprising accuracy.
Sep 2011		“Mike” – the former historian at GCHQ	Mike is a civil and former military pilot of more than 40 years’ flying experience. His talk traced the uses of aircraft, wireless, and of wireless intelligence in WW1 through to the now better known intelligence and decryption technologies of WW2 through to the end of the Cold War.
Aug 2011		Ken G3XSJ and Colin G3YHV: Clandestine Radios	This month we delved back in time to WW2. The Model 3/11 or B2 was one of the most successful clandestine sets. Ken talked about his work in restoring vintage radios like this. Colin brought along his Paraset and showed it working !
Jul 2011		3 short talks by:	Dick Elford G0XAY— “Antarctica”—a recent holiday. Alan Hydes G3XSV— “Contest adjudication”—How do all those thousands of contacts get matched, checked and scored? Mike Batt G3SJI— “Money , Money , Money” (things you always wanted to know but were frightened to ask)
Jun 2011		The annual “Summer Christmas Party” at the Compass in Tormarton.
May 2011		G3ZXX Dave Boniface: GB3WX the first 50/28Mhz UK Crossband Repeater	Co-sited with GB3JB on 2m at Willoughby Hedge South Wiltshire – they are both “green repeaters” powered by wind and solar power. A fascinating talk about a project fraught with technical problems.
Apr 2011		G3YNH Dr Dave Knight: Meteor Detection using the Graves Radar	Dave explained how to use the rather powerful French over-the-horizon radar signal to go meteor “hunting”. It’s amazing how much you can tell from pings.
Mar 2011		Roger Western G3SXW – Ham Radio Olympics WRTC Russia 2010	This took place in Russia during July 2010, attended by some 300 HF contesters from all over the world. The 50 two-man teams operated field day style in a 24 hour contest, with the re-sults announced the following day. Roger will explain how it was run
Feb 2011		Tim Walford G3PCJ Tim G3PCJ, of Walford Electronics	Tim talked about his range of kits and explaining some of the latest designs at the low end of his range, which are aimed at builders just starting on radio construction projects, like the Yeo DC RX and the Radlet CW training TCVR.
Jan 2011		AGM
Dec 2010			10m “On Air” Night
Nov 2010		Matt Beasant, G4RKY	The air interface to cellular phones
Oct 2010		Phil Whitchurch, G3SWH	VK9X/G6AY – Christmas Island DXpedition
Sep 2010		Ian Greenshields, G4FSU	Millimeter waves. not only for communications
Aug 2010		Steve Hartley, G0FUW	“The Falkland Islands”
Jul 2010		Sarah Roberts PhD	The Radio Universe
Jun 2010		Andrew Burns	“Radio Astronomy” Chair of Wiltshire Astronomical Society & Co Founder of the Griffon Educational Observatory in Spain
May 2010		Chuck Hobson, G0MDK/WA6TIR	Electrons, Protons & the large Hadron Collider
Apr 2010		D.Boniface, G3ZXX	The first UK 6m Repeater
Mar 2010		Ian Foulkes	Espionage & Covert Communications
Feb 2010		Chris Stephens, G3MGS	Marconi
Jan 2010		AGM
Dec 2009			10m “On Air” Night
Nov 2009		Cdr. John Parris RNR	The Hiper Project
Oct 2009		Phil Whitchurch G3SWH	DXpedition to Mayotte
Sep 2009		Professor Alan Bramley (University of Bath), G4NDU	The Mechanics of Music and How to stay in Tune
Aug 2009			Operation Bodyguard, a talk by Ian Foulkes about the Allied deception plan leading to the invasion of Normandy in 1944
Dec 2003		Xmas Party
Nov 2003		Martyn Phillips, G3RFX	Quiz Night
Oct 2003		Alan Hydes, G3XSV	Bristol CG look back on GB5HQ
Sep 2003			Wine & Cheese Party
Aug 2003		Video Night	Bletchley Park & Enigma video (part 1)
Jul 2003		Ragchew Night
Jun 2003		Phil Whitchurch, G3SWH	DXpedition to Madagascar 2002
May 2003		Alan Hydes, G3XSV	Bristol CG on GB5HQ
Apr 2003		Mark Haynes, M0DXR	YOTA DXpedition to the Maldives
Mar 2003		Video Night	WRTC Finland 2002
Feb 2003		Ragchew Night	Demise of Longleat Rally
Dec 2002		Xmas Party
Nov 2002		Video Night	A52A Bhutan DXpedition
Oct 2002		Brian Scarisbrick, G4ACK	The Amateur Radio Observation Service
Sep 2002		Peter Dodd, G3LDO	Backyard Antennas
Aug 2002			Potted Lectures
Jul 2002		Martyn Phillps, G3RFX	Basic QSO’s in a foreign language (part 1)
Jun 2002			Wine & Cheese Party
May 2002		Hugh Pearson, G7KET	Lightening & the Radio Amateur
Apr 2002		Frank Field, G0CEN	Why match your antennas
Mar 2002		Steve Hartley, G0FUW	The new Foundation Licence
Feb 2002		Phil Whitchurch, G3SWH	DXpedition to Madagascar
Jan 2002		Video Night	ZL9CI DXpedition to Campbell Island
Dec 1998		Xmas Party
Nov 1998		Home Construction Competition
Oct 1998		AGM
Sep 1998		Roy Powers G8CKN	Practical Antennas
Aug 1998		Video Night	Featuring Longleat Rally as seen by the BBC
Jul 1998		Martyn Phillips, G3RFX	Quiz
Jun 1998		John Densem, G4KJV	The RSGB QSL Bureau
May 1998		Martyn Phillips, G3RFX (ZB2FX/8P9FX)	Gibraltar & Barbados
Apr 1998		Hugh Pearson, G7KET	Burglar Alarms and EMC
Mar 1998		Mr J.Wickins	The Norman Lockyer Observatory
Feb 1998		S.Price, G4BWE	Cost effective HF equipment
Jan 1998			VK0IR – Heard Island. Superb video of one of the coldest places on earth to visit & take 34 tons of radio gear
Dec 1997		Xmas Party
Nov 1997		Home Construction Competition
Oct 1997		AGM & Construction Contest
Sep 1997		Brian Haines	Bristol Past & Present Archive Films
Aug 1997		Clive Maby, G4NAQ	A live demonstration with the “Net”
Jul 1997		Clive Maby, G4NAQ & Mike Norman	Remote Imaging
May 1997		Hilary Clayton Smith G4JKS	EMC Tentacles
Apr 1977		Peter Grainger	Aerials Ear & Eyes of the Radio Operator
Mar 1977		Willy Wiliams	The Enigma Cipher Machine
Feb 1997		Dave Collins, G4ZYF	The RLO Speaks, Dave Collins
Jan 1997		Peter Chadwick G3RZP	Facts & Fallacies in Amateur Radio
Dec 1996		Xmas Party
Nov 1996			Construction Contest
Oct 1996		AGM
Aug 1996		Peter Grainger	Electro-magnetic Radiation
Jun 1996		Mike Grierson, G3TSO	Mobile Antennas
May 1996		Jan Verduyn,G0BBL	Direct Conversion RX
Apr 1996		Clive Trotman, GW4YKL	“The Past Year as RSGB President”
Mar 1996		Phil Whitchurch, G3SWH	Role of the QSL Manager
Feb 1996		Paul Stevenson, G8YMM	Amateur Fast Scan TV
Jan 1996		John Walker,G0JQN	Incidents not Accidents
Dec 1995		Xmas Party
Nov 1995			Construction Contest
Oct 1995		AGM
Sep 1995		Julian Baldwin, G3UHK	Video “On Location”
Aug 1995		Steve Paine, G4TBD	EMC Emissions and Aircraft
Jul 1995			The Internet
Jun 1995		Mike Blake, G3OUK	Kiss it better”
Apr 1995			VHF Contesting
Mar 1995			Cellular Radio
Dec 1994		Xmas Party
Nov 1994			Construction Contest
Oct 1994		AGM
Aug 1994		Ross Clare, GW3NWS	Biasing Transistors
Dec 1994		Xmas Party
Nov 1994		Construction Evening
Oct 1994		AGM
Jul 1994		Mr Williams	RAF Bomber Ops
Jun 1994		Mike Grierson, G3TSO	Home Brew Transceivers
Apr 1994		Walford Electronics	Somerset Range of Kits
Mar 1994		John Meacham	Cosmic Horizon
Feb 1994		Larry Bennett, G4HLN	Portishead Radio
Dec 1993		Xmas Party
Nov 1993		Construction Evening
Oct 1993		AGM
Sep 1993			New Members Night + Wine & Cheese
Jun 1993			Bristol DXpedition Alderney
Apr 1993			Home Wine Making
Dec 1992		Xmas Party
Nov 1992		Construction Evening
Oct 1992		AGM
Sept 1992		Cyril Tippins & Dave Coxon G0GHM	First Aid with reference to Electric Shocks
Aug 1992			Video Evening
Jun 1992			1st Amateur Radio Operation from Uzbekistan (UI8)
May 1992		Phil Brouder, G3ZJH	RSGB Morse Testing System
Mar 1992		Phil Brouder, G3ZJH	Use of Bristol Contest Group’s Test Gear
Feb 1992		Ken Rook, G4XCB	“Let us form a Bristol Contest Group”
Jan 1992		Dave Farr, G4WUB	Tactics of Modern Air Warfare
Dec 1991		Xmas Party
Nov 1991			Construction Evening
Oct 1991		AGM
May 1991		Mobile Picnic
Dec 1990		Xmas Party
Nov 1990		Construction Evening
Oct 1990		AGM
Sep 1987			Linear Accelerators (Part 2)
Feb 1987		G5HD	RSGB EMC Committee
Jan 1987		AGM
Aug 1986		Lowe Electronics	HF Equipment
Jul 1986		G3LTP	RSGB Propogation Studies
May 1986			Mobile Picnic
Apr 1986			Visit to Bristol Weather Centre
Jan 1986		AGM
Dec 1985		Xmas Party
Nov 1985			Home Constructed Equipment
Oct 1985		G.Booth, G3HKA	Air Traffic Control
Sep 1985		G.Ross, G8MWR	Microwave Society
Jul 1985		R.Broadbent, G3AAJ	AMSAT UK
Jun 1985		G3LP	RSGB Regional Rep
May 1985		G8CMQ	1.3GHz TV
Apr 1985		Lowe Electronics
Mar 1985		Prof. Hillier
Nov 1978		G8FNR	Construction Techniques
Oct 1978			Tour of Bristol University
Sep 1978		H.Gratton, G6GN	Contacts through Satellites
Aug 1978			Home Constructed Equipment
Jul 1978		J.Humm, G5UM	4m & down
Jun 1978		D.Evans PHD. BSC. FIM, G3RPE	RSGB President
May 1978		Prof. Gosling	SSB at VHF
Apr 1978		G5XB	Intruder Watch
Mar 1978		Mr D.Nelson	Radio communications of power stations & transmission districts
Jan 1978		AGM & Sale of Equipment
Nov 1977		G.Mather, G3GKA	RSGB Regional Rep
Sep 1977		G3YRN, G8AGT & G8FNR	Brains Trust
Aug 1977			Home Constructed Equipment
Jul 1977		G8FNR, G8GLQ & G8KGH	Amateur TV
May 1977			Visit to HTV studios
Apr 1977		Mr I.Gover	Lasers in modern communication
Feb 1977		Mr H.Dawson	“Some aspects of noise”
Jan 1977		AGM & Sale of Equipment
Dec 1976			Potted Lectures
Nov 1976		Gordon Mather, G3GKA	“A new lad on 2m”
Oct 1976		G8BXJ & G8FNR	Digital & Linear IC’s
Sep 1976		Mr John Lovell	I.B.A.
Aug 1976			Home Constructed Equipment
Jul 1976		H.L.Gibson, G8CGA	Test Equipment
Jun 1976			Interface Quartz devices
May 1976		Prof. A.F.C.Rogers, Bristol University	Energy Conservation
Apr 1976		Pat Hawker, G3VA	Aerial Topics – television & others
Mar 1976		E.Gaukrodger, G6GU & K.Harvey, G5KT	6QW Commemoration
Feb 1976		A.Uppington, G2BAR	Slow Scan Television
Jan 1976		AGM & Sale of Equipment
Dec 1975			Potted Lectures
Nov 1975		Capt. J Cooper, G3DPS	General Secretary Royal Signals
Oct 1975			Film Show
Sep 1975		Prof. Sanders, University of Bristol	Communications through the ages
Aug 1975			Home Constructed Equipment
Jul 1975		Commander J.Blake	SS Great Britain
Jun 1975			Potted Lectures
May 1975		Prof. W Gosling, University of Bath	SSB on VHF
Apr 1975		Major Roy Jarvis, G2BPC	East Africa
Mar 1975		Tom Boucher, G3OLB	PCM Techniques
Feb 1975		Dr. D.A.Tong, G8ENN	RF Speech Clipping
Jan 1975		AGM & Sale of Equipment
Dec 1974		C.Marshall, G3YRN	VHF VFO’s
Nov 1974		G3XOD & G3ULJ	Auction of Equipment
Oct 1974			Potted Lectures
Sep 1974			Home Constructed Equipment
Aug 1974		Business Meeting
Jul 1974		W.Alford, G2DX	The first 30 years, 1912-1942
Jun 1974			Potted Lectures
May 1974		GB3PI	Pye Telecommunications
Apr 1974		G.Stone, G3FZL	VHF
Mar 1974		Dr G.Winbolt	World Ware II airborne radar equipment
Feb 1974		H.Leonard, G4UZ	Regional Rep.
Jan 1974		AGM & Sale of Equipment
Dec 1973			Potted Lectures
Nov 1973		G6CJ	Aerial Farm
Oct 1973			73 & all that
Sep 1973		C.Marshall, G3YRN	Transistors
Aug 1973		E.Gaukrodger, G6GU & K.Harvey, G5KT	Those were the days
Jul 1973			Home Constructed Equipment
Jun 1973		M.Allenden, G3LTZ	Swindon Projects
May 1973			Brains Trust
Apr 1973		R.Horsman, G3XOD	Guest What?
Mar 1973		G.Mather, G3GKA	SSB Transceiver
Feb 1973		G3WDP, G8ADP & G8CVS	3cms
Jan 1973		AGM & Sale of Equipment
Dec 1972		G8BIY, G3XOD, G3WIF	Potted Lectures
Nov 1972		G3XOD	Printed Circuits
Oct 1972		G3YRN, G8BXJ, G3VBH	Potted Lectures
Sep 1972			Business Meeting
Aug 1972		E.Gaukrodger, G6GU & K.Harvey, G5KT	Vintage Equipment
Jul 1972			Home Constructed Equipment
Jun 1972		M.Allenden, G3LTZ Swindon A.R.C.	160/2m Project
May 1972		E.Halliday, G3JMY	IC’s for the amateur
Apr 1972		Ron Ham FRAS, BRS15744	“Cause & Effect”
Mar 1972		Mr D.Finlay	General Manager RSGB
Feb 1972		Rev. P.Sollom, G3BGL	Weather Pictures from Satellites
Jan 1972		AGM
Dec 1971		E.Halliday, G3JMY	Aerials
Nov 1971		G.K.Otway, G8AGT & D.Philpott (Tektronix) Ltd)	Oscilloscopes
Oct 1971			Film Show
Sep 1971		G3JMY, G3VBH, G8BIY	Potted Lectures
Aug 1971		G.Marshall, G3YRN	2m Mobile RX
Jul 1971			Home Constructed Equipment
Jun 1971		G.Booth, G3HKA	Air Traffic Control
May 1971		Sir Evan Nepean, G5YN	World Wide reminiscences
Apr 1971		F.H.Chambers, G2FYT	DX Working
Mar 1971		Mr J.B.Hawley	Radio Bristol
Feb 1971		G2WS	Recent VHF Developments
Jan 1971		Len Newnham, G6NZ	The RSGB
Dec 1970		AGM
Nov 1970		G.Twist, G3LWH	SSB Linear
Oct 1970			Film Show
Sep 1970		A.O.Milne, G2MI	Bermuda
Aug 1970			Brains Trust
Jul 1970			Home Constructed Equipment
Jun 1970		C.Parker, G3VBH	“The 1 + 1 160m TX”
May 1970		E.Gaukrodger, G6GU & K.Harvey, G5KT	Those were the days
Apr 1970		G.K.Otway, G8AGT	RTTY
Mar 1970		E.Halliday	“What’s what with the weather satellites
Feb 1970		Richard Ainsworth	Computer Data Programming
Jan 1970		G8AGT	PAL Colour TV
Dec 1969		AGM
Nov 1969		G.M.Stone, G3FZL	Receiver & Transmitter measurement techniques
Oct 1969		A.O.Milne, G2MI	Impressions of a visit to the USA
Sep 1969			TVI & its prevention
Aug 1969			Home Constructed Equipment
Jul 1969		J.Swinnerton, G2YS National President RSGB	The RSGB & the Radio Amateur
Jun 1969		G3WSH
May 1969		Mr J.Wallace, GPO	The GPO & the Radio Amateur
Apr 1969		E.Halliday, G3JMY	Principles of SSB
Mar 1969		J.Carpenter, G8JQ	Working Portable on the Continent
Feb 1969		E.Gaukrodger, G6GU & K.Harvey, G5KT	Those were the days
Jan 1969		D.V.Newport, G3CHW	Measuring Equipment