Month: August 2026

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Next meeting Tuesday 1st September 2026 at 20:00 online

Link to be sent my email as usual and also posted in the Discord group.

Keep an eye on the Events calendar as the school is currently unable to confirm meeting dates more than a few weeks in advance so we may have to change some dates as we move to holding two meetings a month at the school during the summer months. The second meeting this month being a case in point due to the school’s half-term break

Incidentally, the Events calendar on our website https://www.m0xhs.uk/events/ has some links at the bottom that allow you to synchronise it with Outlook or Google or iCalendar so meetings will automatically appear in your normal calendar.  Meetings are usually easy to schedule manually as the online meeting is on the first Tuesday of the month and the meeting at the school is on the third Tuesday, but subject to change because of school holidays. Setting up synchronisation will make it much easier.

Hope to see you on Tuesday.

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Meeting report Tuesday 18th August 2026

A lively meeting with a reasonable turnout. Lots of discussion about Baofeng and other entry-level radios, and good radios for beginners.

Next meeting is online on 1st September and all going well we’ll be back at the school on 15th September.

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Next Meeting Tuesday 18th August 2026 at The Rutland Arms from 19:00

As the Met Office forecast is somewhat contradictory and sunset is now much earlier we’ll meet at The Rutland Arms on the riverside walk around 100m west of Hammersmith Bridge from around 7pm. That said, I checked out the Riverside Studios complex and it looks as if it could easily accommodate around eight people or more in the bar area but subject to there not being a busy event taking place, so if the Rutland is mobbed we might try that – keep an eye on Discord for up-to-the-minute information.

This doesn’t preclude another POTA evening on a weekend if the next promised/threatened heatwave materialises.

As usual check the Discord server for up to the minute info and chat. Email for an invitation link if you don’t have one.

Hope to see you Tuesday!

JJ

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Meeting report Tuesday 4th August 2026

Not a huge turnout but we welcomed a new visitor who’d come all the way from Wimbledon (good luck with your exam this Saturday Ollie). We made a few contacts on 2m including Godfrey and Dave at home which gave us a chance to compare rigs and aerials.

There was lots of discussion about aerial poles and how to support them, and Xian tried, but failed, to get a kite off the ground in the gusty breeze. The wind picked up as sunset approached but we needed to get down from the hill while it was still light – and even then we were attacked by midges as twilight fell.

Part way through a drone appeared and hung above us for about 20 minutes – could it have been police or parks tipped off that there were people on the hill doing strange things with radios?

There was general agreement that we should have a j-pole construction evening in September.

Weather permitting we’re going to do this again on the 18th but with a separate 2m station so we can spend more time on HF.

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Next Meeting Tuesday 4th August on Horsenden Hill

As the school isn’t available during the summer break we’re going to take the opportunity to activate Horsenden Hill in Perivale from about 7pm until around sunset depending on activity.  If you can’t come along, listen out for us on 2m.

We’ll almost certainly be on the top plateau near the obelisk.  During the day we’d suggest parking at the farm on the south side but that will close before sunset so the best place will probably be the north side car park, opposite the (now closed) Ballot Box pub.  Or by public transport, it’s about a mile from Perivale tube station or the 297 bus top.

Depending how many turn up we may adjourn to a pub at sunset.

For last minute updates check back here or on the Discord nearer the time.

As usual check the Discord server for up to the minute info and email if you don’t have a Discord link.

Google Maps link: https://www.google.com/maps/place//@51.5456869,-0.3259208,18z