Events

*** Please note this meeting is at Shiplake Memorial Hall, NOT the scout hut ***
 
We welcome John Jacobs for a talk entitled "Travels with High Frequency".
 
John originally studied Pharmacy but dropped out of the course to travel and see the world! After 2 ½ years ‘on the road’ John returned to England and followed his hobby of electronics by mending televisions for Rediffusion, the TV rental company. He then went back to college and gained an HTec in Electronic Engineering.
 
Always attracted to extreme environments, John made instrumentation equipment that flew in the Space Shuttle on the Spacelab 1 project and oceanographic equipment that went to ocean depths.
 
After some time in satellite telemetry John was invited to join a team in Mali, West Africa installing an HF radio network across 10 West African countries for the World Health Organisation. This led to a career change and 20 years working with HF radios, first with the Australian manufacturer Codan and then as a freelance consultant.
 
He is a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, is recognised as a Subject Matter Expert in HF radio and has written a technical handbook on the subject as well as his travelogue/memoir ‘Travels with High Frequency’.

Informal drinks at the Park House on Reading University campus

We welcome Liam W Bussey for a talk on a fundamentally new technology for radio reception based on "Rydberg atoms".

Since the dawn of radio, radio receiving systems have generally followed the same pattern. Some form of antenna, a receiver coupled to an aerial with aerial sizes largely corresponding to wavelength (with notable exceptions such as the amazing ferrite rod antennas used in long and medium wave radios).

Now there is a new technology on the block, almost beyond belief, based on "Rydberg atoms". Rydberg atoms are alkali metal atoms (i.e. Sodium, Potassium and friends, here typically Rubidium is used, next in sequence after Potassium). They have electrons unusually distant from the nucleus and are named after the Swedish physicist Johannes Robert Rydberg.
 
These special atoms have opened up entirely new fields of study for electric field and magnetic field sensing ("Rydberg sensing"). From an RF perspective, theoretically, reception is possible from terahertz down to VLF with very small "receivers".
 
By shining lasers through a vapour cell of Rydberg atoms and observing the transmitted light different ways, it is possible to sense RF. There's a bit more to it than that, though.

We are excited to have Liam along who has practical experience building real receivers with this ground breaking technology to tell us all about it.

More soon.

A warm RADARC welcome to Dr. Nina Baker via zoom.
 
You have probably heard of NASA’s ‘Hidden Figures’ women, but what about those of the UK? Dr Nina Baker will bring to life some engineering stories with which members may not be so familiar – those of some pioneering women engineers and scientists working in the UK in the Cold War and Space Race era of the twentieth century.
 
Dr Nina Baker has had a varied career, having become a merchant navy deck officer on leaving school and taken an engineering design degree in her 30s, from the University of Warwick. She then gained a PhD in concrete durability from the University of Liverpool. She has lived with her family in Glasgow since 1989, working variously as a materials lecturer in further education and as a research administrator and, until 2017, as an elected city councillor. Now retired from all that, her interest in promoting STEM careers for girls has led her to become an independent researcher, mainly specialising in the history of women in engineering.

We welcome back Karl Brazier for an in person update on Yaesu SDR including the new FTX-1
 
Thank you Karl!

Donated pre-loved "stuff" is sold in support of the club so it's a great opportunity for a clear out.

Venue: 2nd Woodley Scout Group, Vauxhall Park, Vauxhall Dr, Woodley, Reading RG5 4EA https://what3words.com/bowls.blame.lace

Start time: 8pm

The auction will start at 8pm sharp so it's best to arrive early (eg. 7:30pm) to have a look at the wares and get your raffle ticket (see below).

Please bring along any unwanted broadly tech based items in order to support the club. Also bring your cash along to buy -er- lots of useful stuff!

If you've not been before....here's how it works.
If you wish to take part in the auction, you need your "number". Get this BEFORE the auction starts (in the form of a raffle ticket) from the accounting crew (David M0DHO, Barry M0SQZ). If you win an item, please shout out your number so they can record what you have bought.

Please note:
* If you successfully bid on something, you'll need to wait until the end (10pm) to settle up.

* If you bring junk along and it doesn't sell then please be prepared to take it home with you.

* Any on-commission items need to be marked clearly with the name of the beneficiary.

* Particularly David M0DHO on the books has a tough job making sure that everything squares up. Please listen to directions from David and Barry. Communications here are key to making this work.

Finally,

* Even if you don't wish to buy, the evening is always entertaining.

* Prices tend to be extremely affordable!

* If we have time to run refreshments then we will do so but please bring your own mug. At the very least we'll get the biscuit box out.

* Marvel at how Denis G4KWT manages the PA. The perfect example of some that works so well you simply don't notice it.

* THANKYOU to all volunteers and indeed everyone as the junk sales are vital in supporting the club!

If I have missed anything then please let me know.

No zoom session this time.

73

John
G4RDC

To all you creative people out there. It's time to think about impressing the membership with your skills and ingenuity!

As usual, entrants will give a short (5 minutes or so) presentation on their entry.

There are two cups to be won, as voted by the whole membership in attendance. Software, hardware, old technology, new technology: all is valid and gets its chance on account of cleverness, quality of construction, complexity or simple brilliance - they all count toward the popular vote for the winner and runner up cups, to be presented on the night.