One of the earliest members of the club, Arthur Morris, sadly died on 17th September 2024, aged 88.
Some members of the club will be attending his funeral at Melrose Crematorium at 1300 on Friday 4th October.
Our thoughts are with his family.
73’s Arthur
This year’s Galashiels Rally and Open Day will take place on Sunday 27th October 2024.
This is the last weekend of October so the morning of the clocks changing back an hour.
Venue as usual is the Volunteer Hall, St John Street, Galashiels TD1 3JX.
Traders booked so far (as of 10th September 2024):
RSGB (Books, Memberships etc)
GQRP Club
Alan Clegg (Valves etc)
Mirfield Electronics (Martin Stokes)
Canny Components
Mick Hunter (Batteries etc)
Tony Kruszelnicki (TK Electronics)
Perth Repeater Group
Peter Bates GM4BYF
Ken Elliott GM4NTX
Dave Bagshaw
Bob McClements GM4CID (Used radios, antennas, hand-built equipment)
Nick Trollope G4FAT (Expert-Audio – Radio leads, electronics, components, tools, used ham radio gear etc)
Andy Robson GM8YIK (SK sale for SBRG funds from GM8IIO and GM8BDX)
John 2M0YTN
Martin 2M0KAU
Bring & Buy Stall
Catering with hot and cold refreshments
Admission: £3.00 (up slightly on previous years due to increased hall rent costs etc).
Free entry for under 16s accompanied by an adult.
CASH ONLY at the door. Change will be given but we appreciate correct change for faster entry.
Some commercial traders may have card machines but most may only take cash.
Doors open at 08:00 for booked table traders to set up.
Early entry for disabled visitors and early Bring & Buy booking at 10:45.
General admission doors open at 11:00. (All times are GMT – remember to put your clocks back!)
Note that Practical Wireless magazine wrongly states the times in BST.
Location:
The Volunteer Hall
St John Street
Galashiels
Scottish Borders
TD1 3JX
(Google Plus Code 9C7VJ57R+WV )
(What3Words///practical.diner.voltage)
Access to Galashiels by road from A7, A72 or A68 (via A6091), by bus (bordersbuses.co.uk) or by train (scotrail.co.uk).
New email for traders queries including table bookings: rallytraders @ galaradioclub.co.uk
(The address rallytables was mistakenly given out but will also redirect automatically to rallytraders.)
General enquiries about the rally (not traders) to rallyqueries @ galaradioclub.co.uk
Email is preferred as website comments may not trigger a notification with us.
Be aware most tables are now booked/reserved so any more requests will be added to the reserve list in case of any cancellations. Otherwise you are welcome to enter items to the Bring & Buy stall on the day.
Again members of the club will be going up the hill to operate a portable station for the Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP contest on Sunday 9th June 2024. We will be using the callsign GM4YEQ/P.
The contest runs between 0900-1500 UTC (1000-1600 Local/BST). We’ll likely be on-site by 0915 (local) if not earlier for setting up.
We’ll be at the usual “Middle Swire” location between the Yarrow and Ettrick valleys 6 miles west of Selkirk.
All club members are welcome to come and visit and catch up for a few hours, assist with setting up or operating, or operate your own sets on HF away from urban QRM.
Or if not able to come to the site, please give us a shout on 2m simplex FM or SSB if you hear us (144.150-144.397MHz is the SSB range). Someone will likely be scanning simplex channels 145.200-575MHz through the day. The more contacts we get (even local ones) the more points we get multiplied by the number of locator squares. Calling CQ on 145.500 isn’t allowed so don’t just listen for us there (nor on the repeaters)! Individual members may be monitoring repeaters and calling channels though if you want to make contact with someone in the group.
Exchange will be signal report, serial number (if you’re not participating then give 001 for your first contact) and your Maidenhead grid reference (or approximate location if you don’t know it as it still counts as a contact just not a new grid square).
Visitors should bring their own food and drink if they’re staying all day. Bring suitable clothing in case it’s windy or wet and footwear suitable for a grass field (with sheep droppings!). Dogs under strict control.
Read more »Lost and Found: Found a pair of glasses with grey translucent frames left at the Canny Components stall. GDARS club has them, contact us by email if they’re yours.
NOTE (21/10/2023): Rally still on! Not badly affected by Storm Babet, just a little soggy and windswept. All weather and flood warnings finished on Saturday.
This year’s Galashiels Rally and Open Day will take place on Sunday 22nd October 2023. Venue is the Volunteer Hall, St John Street, Galashiels TD1 3JX.
Note that this is NOT the weekend of changing the clocks as previous years but is the weekend before to avoid the CQWW SSB contest weekend.
Doors open for general admission at front doors at 11:00 BST.
Disabled/accessible entry and early book-in of Bring and Buy items only at 10:45 BST at rear door.
(Table traders entry at rear door from 08:00.)
Admission will be £2.50 per person, with free entry for under 16s accompanied by an adult.
CASH ONLY at the door. Change will be given but we appreciate having correct change for faster entry.
A sticker will be provided for exit and re-entry.
Confirmed traders (as of 18th October):
Bob McClements GM4CID (Club Stall, Used equipment)
Alan Clegg (valves etc)
Mirfield Electronics
Canny Components
Mick Hunter (Batteries, Memory cards etc)
Tony Kruszelnicki from TK Electronics in Lincoln
Perth Repeater Group
Pete Bates GM4BYF
RSGB (Books, Memberships)
Ken Elliott GM4NTX
Dave Bagshaw
GQRP Club
Michael Wills
Gavin Chalmers GM0ALW
Fraser MM0HCD
DX Maps (Michael Whitehead)
John 2M0YTN
Paul GM0EDJ (Elderslie ARS, SK equipment)
Bring & Buy Stall (50p Book-in charge, 10% Commission up to £10 maximum)
Catering with hot and cold refreshments.
Any trader queries or traders not already booked but wanting to check table availability please email Jim Keddie GM7LUN (mail@gm7lun.co.uk).
Location:
The Volunteer Hall
St John Street
Galashiels
Scottish Borders
TD1 3JX
(Google Plus Code 9C7VJ57R+WV )
(What3Words///practical.diner.voltage)
Access to Galashiels by road from A7, A72 or A68 (via A6091), by bus (bordersbuses.co.uk) or by train (scotrail.co.uk).
Club members will be taking part in this year’s Railways On The Air event, with a station being set up at the usual place of Whitrope Heritage Centre near Hawick on the weekend of 23/24 September.
The callsign used will be GB0WRH (Waverley Route Heritage) operating on HF bands. Dave MM0HTL will be arriving around 9am on Saturday and setting up, and then along with other members will be operating through the day and evenings until late Sunday afternoon.
All club members and visitors are welcome to come along and see the stations (radio and railway) and help with operating or just come along to chat with us.
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).
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
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/
