Club members will again be turning up to Whitrope Heritage Centre to activate the site for the annual Railways On The Air event.

As usual, the two Daves will be attending on Saturday and Dave MM0HTL staying in the caravan over to the Sunday, set up in the car park.

Callsign used will be GM0WRH (Waverley Route Heritage) operating on HF bands on both days. All club members and any visitors are welcome to come along and join in or just watch.

The Whitrope Heritage Centre is run by the Waverley Route Heritage Association who have restored a length of track and sidings on the old Waverley line (1849-1969) between Hawick and Carlisle. Further details here: https://wrha.org.uk/about/

Location:
Whitrope Heritage Centre, Whitrope, Hawick, Roxburghshire TD9 9TY
Location: 11 miles south of Hawick on B6399 (Hawick to Newcastleton road).

Locator and directions:

Maidenhead Locator: IO85PH 00co
55.294320, -2.748944 (55°17’39.6″N 2°44’56.2″W) 1034ft (315m) asl
NGR: NT 52540 00279
WAB Square: NT50
Google: 9C7V77V2+MC
W3W:///jousting.windmills.wire
https://wrha.org.uk/the-association/find-us/

https://rota.barac.org.uk/
https://wrha.org.uk/the-association/whitrope-heritage-centre/

Once again some of our members will be up the hill to compete in the Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP Contest.

We will use the callsign GM4YEQ/P and be operating from our usual spot on the Yarrow Swire/Witchie Knowe IO85MM.

The contest runs from 0900-1500UTC (1000-1600 BST).
Members and visitors are welcome to come along and join in or assist, or just see what we do. Bring your own food/drink and suitable footwear for a grassy field. The rough road is suitable for vehicles to drive up to the site but there are deep puddles. Keep dogs under control as there is usually livestock in the field.

We’ll mostly be tuning around or calling CQ on the SSB part of the band (144.150-144.397MHz) but will scan around the FM simplex part of the band for any local callers with handhelds (calling CQ on 145.500MHz in the contest is not allowed).

Exchange is signal report and serial number starting at 001 for the first contact, and 6-character Maidenhead Locator (or approximate location if not known).

Location: Yarrow Swire, off summit of C22 road between A708 (Yarrow) and B7009 (Ettrickbridge). Marked as Witchie Knowe on some maps.
Locator: IO85MM
Coordinates: 55.5215N , 2.9984W 360m (1180ft) ASL
NGR: NT370257 (WAB Square NT32) (NT 37058 25768)
Google Maps shortcut: 9C7VG2C2+JJJ
Closest Postcodes: TD7 5ND (Wester Kershope Farm on north side of the hill on the approach from Yarrow valley) or TD7 5JW (Area covering from our site southwards)
What3Words: /// juggles.police.chiefs (Switch to satellite view)

Directions:

From Yarrow Valley:

From Ettrick Valley

Sad to report that one of our earliest members and long-time friend to many, Norman Mitchinson GM0FTJ from Selkirk died peacefully on Monday 3rd March 2025 at the Western General in Edinburgh.

His funeral service will take place on Wednesday 19th March 2025 at 12:00 noon at Selkirk Parish Church.
Interment at 13:00 at Kirkhope Cemetery, Ettrickbridge, followed by gathering at the Glen Hotel in Selkirk. All friends are respectfully invited.

Rest in Peace and 73’s Norman

Again some of our club members will be taking part in the Railways On The Air event.

The station will be set up in the carpark of the Whitrope Heritage Centre near Hawick on Saturday 28th September and will be operating until the afternoon of Sunday 29th September. The two Daves GM0KCN and MM0HTL will be there on Saturday with Dave HTL staying the night in the caravan and operating on Sunday.

The callsign used will be GB0WRH (Waverley Route Heritage) operating on HF bands on both days. All club members and visitors are welcome to come along and see the radio station and have a go at operating or just come along to chat.

The Whitrope Heritage Centre is run by the Waverley Route Heritage Association who have restored a length of track and sidings on the old Waverley line (1849-1969) between Hawick and Carlisle. Further details here: https://wrha.org.uk/about/

Location:
Whitrope Heritage Centre, Whitrope, Hawick, Roxburghshire TD9 9TY
Location: 11 miles south of Hawick on B6399 (Hawick to Newcastleton road).

Locator and directions:

Maidenhead Locator: IO85PH 00co
55.294320, -2.748944 (55°17’39.6″N 2°44’56.2″W) 1034ft (315m) asl
NGR: NT 52540 00279
WAB Square: NT50
Google: 9C7V77V2+MC
W3W:///jousting.windmills.wire
https://wrha.org.uk/the-association/find-us/

https://rota.barac.org.uk/
https://wrha.org.uk/the-association/whitrope-heritage-centre/

We received the certificate from last year’s PW QRP contest in June 2022 where myself (Mike MM3NTX), George GM1OPO, Brian MM7OYD and Nigel GM7GRH helped to get a station on-air in the back of Brian’s van and win top station in Scotland (admittedly out of 2 entrants) and top (only!) station in the IO85 square.

Thanks to the guys for helping to get us an entry for 2022.