waygood radio club

The mystery pictogram

2008-10-21T12:48:00.006+01:00

On November 13th, Waygood Radio Club will be taking part in the Connecting Principles event at Newcastle University, when the mystery pictogram will be revealed during the ‘Radio Knitting’ project.

The pictogram, created in Lego by James Johnson-Perkins, has been translated into Morse code and will be keyed from Cow Hill, Newcastle to the University where the Waygood Radio Club will have a radio station, QSL cards and a stack of felt tip pens and colouring pencils…

For a sneak preview of the Morse code click the link below (mp3 file 3MB)

http://www.vctm.co.uk/pictogram.mp3

and for further information about for Connecting Principles

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/connectingprinciple/

cardboard morse key

2008-10-14T19:44:00.001+01:00

cardboard morse key
Originally uploaded by sctv

From last week at the radioclub. Derrick has made a mockup working copy of a more code key.

antenne is up

2008-10-07T19:39:00.003+01:00

antenne is up
Originally uploaded by sctv

We are getting there with the installation. last tuesday on the roof of harkers. mulvihils in wet weather gear,fading light,antennae one. next the ground and antennae 2. picture of The VHF antennae but not connected.

Waygood's Radio Rally & AV Festival Reviewed in Mute Magazine

2008-08-26T17:55:00.004+01:00

Waygood's Radio Rally was visited by reviewers from Mute Magazine when they came up to visit AV Festival 08 in March. The article, Citizens Banned? by Josephine Berry Slater and Anthony Iles, appears in the latest edition of Mute and can be read online
here

You can also see more pictures from Waygood Radio Rally on the
AV Festival's flickr site

just the mulvihills in the shack

2008-07-07T15:15:00.001+01:00

just the mulvihills in the shack
Originally uploaded by sctv

Last Tuesday we set up the Radio Shack. This small wooden backyard shed was obtained through freecycle and fit perfectly in the space at the Harkers. Alistair, Paul, Michael and I put it up while Helen ordered the final bits for the installation(antenae) and supervised and made cups of tea. Helen was excused from heavy construction as we didn't fancy dropping something heavy on her sandalled feet.
It now has a full roof on it. Now to await the Antennae.

Fermata by Waygood Radio Club

2008-05-29T13:28:00.003+01:00

The Radio Club took part in Waygood Wood, a mobile woodland coming to the centre of Newcastle between 17th - 25 May 2008, which featured contemporary visual art and performance see http://www.waygood.org/wood/waygoodwood.html

Waygood Wood appeared in old Eldon Square on Sunday 18th May between 1pm-3pm as Waygood Radio Club have designed and installed special theramins amongst the trees, which will transform the electro-magnetic frequencies surrounding the trees into song.

KIT! Radio Club meting 15th April 2008

2008-04-17T17:42:00.000+01:00

Well, we did the unpacking of kit the other day!

1) Alinco DM-330MW PSU
2) Yaesu FT-857D set to 10 watts output for us M3 amateurs
3) Avair AV-201 SWR and Power meter
4) MJF-901B Antennae tuner (for HF)

That just leaves the interconnects and antennae to buy!
Glen and Graham from Tynemouth were here to supervise the unpacking, make a test transmission and discuss where the antennae should be positioned.

Paul and Michael Mulvihill also put up the wall for our shack. Me and Pete took photos.

Pondering the position of antennae for Waygood Radio Club

2008-04-17T15:27:00.000+01:00

Another small offshoot......

2008-04-02T20:02:00.000+01:00

Visit radiocraftlab and waygood radio club

Call Sign! M3FWZ

2008-02-24T16:34:00.000Z

So the exam was a great success, all but one of us got through (which is a pity though). I have now logged into ofcom and got my callsign M3WFZ (MIKE-THREE-WHISKY-FOXTROT-ZULU)
So thats me. What are yours?

Waygood's Amateur Radio Rally Event

2008-01-25T11:05:00.000Z

Waygood’s Amateur Radio Rally
29 February & 1 March 2008 10am-5pm
Grainger Market, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 SQG

We are currently planning a Radio Rally style event with members of local amateur radio groups have been invited along to Newcastle's Grainger Market to share their enthusiasm about amateur radio communication. Members our Amateur Radio Club for Artists will also be demonstrating the creative possibilities with radio. There will be practical demonstrations of morse code and other radio skills by members of Amateur Radio Groups, Waygood’s Amateur Radio Club for Artists and the GB4FUN radio bus
We hope that you can join us on Friday 29th and Saturday 1 March at the Grainger Market events space.

A picture of an Amateur Radio Rally on Tyneside c. Stuart Hill.

GB4FUN Mobile Radio Bus
The Radio Society of Great Britain’s mobile radio bus will join us to give hands on radio skills experience for all ages.

18.00-20.00 Thursday 28 February, Waygood High Bridge
10.00-16.00 29 February, Nun Street, Newcastle
10.00-16.00, Saturday 1 March, near Monument, Newcastle

Part of AV Festival 08: Broadcast.

Training Day One

2008-01-14T16:49:00.000Z

Last Saturday I made it to the training session for the foundation licence. I arrived later, as I had been teaching a new computer user how to use the mouse. Not easy. Especially the double clicking thing. The fact that she understood limited English was also not in my favour. However, It was a good experience, and wasn't to stressful. Back to the foundation licence for amateur ham radio operators. I came in at the description of call signs. We then went through the block components of a transmitter and receiver. Very useful for the exam.
The types of antennae and there operation was also covered and gave an understanding of why radio antenna's are vertical and many tv antennae horizontal (hint. it has something to do with the polarisation of the signal). Just to see if there is anyone out there, what type of antennae is this??? extra points for describing the components.

First meeting in 2008

2008-01-08T13:59:00.000Z

I hope you have all had a very lovely holiday and wish you all a happy radio new year!

The first meeting of 2008 takes place this evening at 6pm at Harkers. 548 -560 Shields Road. Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE6 2UT. See www.waygood.org for a map and how to find us.

The main discussion point for tonight is making sure all those who are intending to take the Radio Foundation License course on Saturday's 12th and 19th January 2008 are clear about any preparation needed and meeting times etc.

So look forward to seeing you all tonight.

Helen.

Third Radio Club Meeting

2007-12-07T18:09:00.000Z

Tuesday 4 December

We had a very productive Radio Club meeting, although there was a small number of us.

Glenn and Graham, explained that usually a Radio Rally was a place to exchange second hand equipment and often had one main trader there selling their equipment. We discussed how Waygood’s Radio Rally could be a place to exchange information and maybe tell the story of radio communication and that different local clubs could demonstrate different aspects of radio equipment.

For those of us who are keen to study for the foundation license Glenn and Graham offered to teach us for two Saturdays in January provisionally Saturday 12 January and 19 January, studying here at Harkers and taking the exam one evening at their Tynemouth Club.

Email me, Helen@waygood.org if you definitely want to train for the license. Or come along to the next meeting of Waygood’s Radio Club on Tuesday 8 January to find out more.

For those of you who want to keep involved but do not want to train for the license or are located in different parts of the country or the world, please keep in touch and communicate your ideas with us via this blog or by email.

We have already had suggestions of sending knitting patterns by morse code from a Finnish island from Colin and look forward to exploring many more exciting collaborations.

73 to you all!

Helen

The Second Radio Club evening was a great success.

2007-11-23T16:59:00.000Z

The Second Radio Club evening was a great success.

We tested and listened to radio signals in and around Harker's trying to find a suitable location for our radio shack. And got an insight into morse code transmission. We also learnt that some communicators are very competitive to make contact, and have little patience with morse code beginners!

Marko then gave a fascinating talk about the popularity of community radio station in Slovenia, with specialist interest groups for all aspects of the community. However suggested that we may be the first Amateur Radio Group for Artists.

He talked about setting up the first Radio Station in Antarctica I-TASC the protocol of talking on a community radio station in Northern Canada (just get on and talk!), creating the Makrolabs and hosting simultaneous visits by both the Italian military to set off weather balloons and Italian anarchists as programmers, as well as how to make contacts with the Russian Space programme (make friends with the Cosmonauts over ham radio whilst they are bored in space!).

We were reminded that one of the first radio transmissions was made on Newcastle's Town Moor and were excited by the idea of Amateur TV transmissions.

Thankyou to everyone who made the evening.
Photos can be seen here

The next meeting of Waygood Amateur Radio Club is 6pm – 8pm on Tuesday 4 December, where we will look the process of applying for Ham radio Licenses and taking expressions of interest to see how many of us want to study for our licences. New members are welcome.

Next Meeting Agenda:
1. Foundation Radio Licenses
2. Setting up the Radio Shack at Harkers
3. Visits to Regional Clubs & events
4. Membership of the club

New members are welcome. Join the radio club mailing list via the sign up box on our website www.waygood.org<

Waygood @ Harkers, 548 - 560 Shields Road, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 2UT. The nearest metro is Chillingham Road, exit via Depot Road towards Walkergate. For directions take a look here

If you want to know more about Waygood take a look at www.waygood.org

If you want to know more about AV Festival take a look at www.avfestival.co.uk

NEXT MEETING NOW THURSDAY 22 NOVEMBER 6-8.30 with Marko Peljhan

2007-11-15T16:43:00.000Z

CHANGE OF DATE FOR OUR NEXT MEETING to feature Marko Peljan

AV Festival 08’s featured artist Marko Peljhan will be making a site visit to the region and has agreed to come to the next Radio Club Meeting to talk to us about his radio related projects and his involvement in AV Festival 08.

Slovenian artist Marko works with telecommunications technology, contemporary architecture and sustainable energy. An artist of unparalleled ambition, Peljhan has worked with the Russian Space Programme, and plans to launch his own telecommunications satellite. After building the art-science laboratory, Makrolab, which has been installed in inhospitable and remote locations around the world, Peljhan is currently working on laboratories for the most challenging environments on earth - Antarctica and the Arctic circle. Peljhan was the featured artist at the world’s most prestigious electronic art festival, Ars Electronica, in 2007.

To accommodate this we have agreed to change the date of the meeting to Thursday 22 November 2007, here at Harker’s. I hope that you can all still make it, as this is a wonderful opportunity to meet Marko and here him talk about his radio projects

Thursday 22 November
6-7pm Waygood Radio Club Meeting with Radio reception testing
7-7.30pm refreshments
7.30-8.30 Marko Peljhan Talk + Question & Answer session

The talk is open to anyone, so please feel free to invite anyone who may be interested. Please ask them to RSVP to Liping@waygood.org, stating that they are coming to Marko’s talk.

I would be grateful if you could RSVP to the same address confirming if you are coming to the Radio Club meeting (and we assume that will be staying for Marko’s talk too).

With all best wishes

Helen

ROUND UP OF 1ST MEETING DATE CHANGE OF NEXT MEETING TO THURS 22 NOV TO INCORPORATE VISIT BY MARKO PELJHAN

2007-11-15T16:01:00.000Z

What a great start to Waygood’s amateur radio club!
Thanks to everyone who came along.

Proceedings began with everyone introducing themselves. This revealed a big range of interests in all types of radio production.

I spoke briefly about the variety of people who had expressed interest in the club and the wide range of locations they are based in. This inevitably means that not everyone can attend the club meetings at Harkers. A way for everyone to communicate regularly will be via this blog here on Waygood’s website.

I outlined how I had stumbled upon Amateur radio at the Peterlee Town Fair in 2006 and how this had led to developing a project as part of the AV Festival 2008: Broadcast. This will include the setting up of an arts based amateur radio club at Waygood and the coordination of a Radio Rally at Newcastle upon Tyne’s Grainger Market during AV Festival 08.

Michelle Hirchhorn, from AV Festival described the remit of the festival, which takes place 28 February to 8 March 2008 and potential links between Waygood’s Radio Club and commissioned artist, Marko Peljhan, It was agreed that Marko would make a presentation about his work to club at a future meeting. (More news on this below)

The star of the evening was Glen Thompson of Tynemouth amateur radio club, Glen gave a brilliant presentation on the background to amateur radio and several examples of how it is used including an ICOM news feature on the very competitive international contesting competitions. We also saw an informative video from the Radio Society of Great Britain on 'How to become a Radio Amateur' and the exciting pastime of setting up stations on remote islands (IOTA). As Michelle said after the meeting this was pitched perfectly for a first meeting of the club. It gave us all a good idea of the creative possibilities. Ginny Reed commented, that it would be good to experiment with the technology of shortwave radio as soon as possible in order to discover what it’s possibilities are. Michael Mulvihill agreed with this and suggested that at the next meeting of the club a radio and aerial are set up to play around with receiving shortwave signals at Harkers.

Glen described the Foundation License training necessary for individuals who want to use amateur radio. This can happen over a couple of weekends and evenings, and usually takes about 10 -15 hours depending on the knowledge of the individual. A multiple-choice test needs to be passed to receive your foundation license. It was agreed that in general people were interested in doing this as soon as possible, but that we would all consider this for our next meeting.

Andy Sheridan filmed the meeting for Waygood’s archive. He focused on Glen’s presentation. This will be edited in the near future and will be available for you to view.

Much enthusiastic chat took place with a few glasses of wine after the meeting and the last visitors to Waygood @ Harker’s were waved off at around 10pm.

First meeting next Tuesday 6th November 6-8pm

2007-11-02T10:16:00.000Z

The 31st of October has arrived and a grand total of 73 of you have expressed an interest in Waygood's Radio Club - Brilliant!

The 1st meeting of the club will take place next Tuesday at 6pm until 8pm at Waygood @ Harkers, 548 - 560 Shields Road, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 2UT.For directions take a look at http://www.waygood.org/contact/map.html

The Agenda for the meeting is:

Welcome & Introductions

Why Amateur Radio at Waygood – Helen Smith

The AV Festival –Michelle Hirschhorn Consultant Producer, AV Festival 08

Foundation Radio License training – Glen Thompson

The club – how to go forward – Everyone.

Light refreshments will be provided, (only because it’s the 1st meeting!)

See you on Tuesday

Helen

If you want to know more about Waygood take a look at www.waygood.org

If you want to know more about AV Festival take a look at www.avfestival.co.uk

Here is a picture of Harker's for those of you who have not been here before.

Two-way radio communication

2007-10-19T17:41:00.000+01:00

Artists, writers, performers, sound artists and musicians who are interested in producing work for a new arts amateur radio club are invited to contact Waygood Gallery & Studios for further information.

This new venture at Waygood is part of AV Festival, 28 Feb - 8 March 2008.

The club will meet at Waygood@Harkers in Byker, Newcastle until we return to High Bridge in 2009.

Please send your contact details to helen@waygood.org by 31st October 2007.