Our monthly club members magazine, BARSCOM, contains news, reports, articles and much more! The following is a copy of the 'Chairman's Chat' column that introduces each edition.

May 2026:

May sees the end of our 50th year celebrations. With one more event to come which is the vintage radio weekend, that focuses on radios that were around in the early years of the club. The aim of the weekend will not only display the radios but hopefully get them on air. So not long to dig into the back of the cupboard or loft and get those radios and the equipment of the time, dusted off. April saw the first open question andanswer meeting, which went down very well. A number of subjects were raised and answered by those who have experience in those subjects. There was a great deal of discussion on aerials. I personally think it's one of the key functions of a radio club, to help and encourage new/less experienced members to understand the hobby and try new things. We will look into holding more of these meetings. Also, in April we had an excellent talkon Wethersfield Airfield History by Ross Stewart. A number of members were also able to share their memories of the airfield over the years. As April had a 5th Thursday, we had an extra net which was on GB3BZ. This was very well attended with Melvin G0EMK having to cool his pen down after all the check ins!

April 2026:

In March we had two excellent talks, "My Time As A Radio officer" by Dave G4AJY and Antenna Modelling Software and how to use it " Keith". Videos of these meetings are available to club members who have missed them. Email chairman@badars.co.uk if you wish to gain access to these videos along with past Barscoms etc. There has been a small change to the club program; the first meeting in April is Q&A evening for new and experienced amateurs alike. Any member can ask questions on amateur radio topics then others at the meeting can then share knowledge and experience. Don't be shy there is no such thing as a silly question, we all had to start with the basics. Within the club there is a great deal of experience on probably most subjects within the hobby. I personally think that is one of the key functions of a radio club to help members get to grips with the hobby. The second meeting this month is Wethersfield Airfield History. The first special event station of the year is only a month away, Sat/Sun 9/10 May 2026, which is Mills on the air at the QTH of G6LXK. All offers of help will be gratefully received. For the new members come along to see what a special event station is all about.

 

March 2026:

It was pleasing to see such a good turn out for the construction evening. The club had been donated a few kits. A mixture of radio and basic electronic kits. The aim of the evening was to give members an introduction/refresher to soldering. In some cases, an introduction to component identification. The evening went very well, it was good to see so many soldering irons in use. Due to the talk for the second meeting being cancelled due to ill health of the guest speaker, it was suggested to hold a second construction evening, to give people a chance of finishing their projects while still fresh in their minds. Which also went very well. I hope that those who had never held a soldering iron before will not be worried about picking one up again and have a go at building or repairing equipment in the future. My thanks to everyone, from the first-time constructors and those who sat with them to guide them.

February 2026:

2026 has started by welcoming new members to the club. The last meeting on renewable energy by Push Power was very well received and with a good attendance. Their focus was on solar farms, detailing the setup and running of the sites. We hope to arrange a site visit. The first meeting this month is a construction evening. The club has been donated a few construction kits. The aim of the evening is soldering practice and help with identifying components. So dust off those soldering irons etc. The second meeting is a talk on vintage broadcast radio.

January 2026:

Happy new year to you all. I hope you all had a good Christmas and new year. The first meeting of the year is a general natter night, maybe showing off what Santa brought you? January 22nd is a talk on renewable energy from Push Power. Geoff G1GNQ has been working hard on the club program for the coming year. Including another vintage radio weekend to finish off the club's 50th Year. The theme this time is pre 1980 radios and accessories, basically equipment that would have been in use in the early years of the club. So dust off those old radios etc and bring them along and hopefully get them on air! There are a few other ideas/projects for the coming year so watch this space...

December 2025:

We had a good mix of items for this year's surplus equipment sale. I hope you all managed to get your purchases in the shack without the XYL seeing! Last meeting was an excellent talk by G6LXK on restoring old radios and what it takes to get them working. Plus what it takes to bring them back to original appearance by finding the correct knob or trim. This month we only have one club meeting (the second falls on Christmas day) which is the Christmas social. There will be the

usual food and drink plus a fiendish quiz or two. Lastly for this month is the second of our basics workshops, which this month is SSB operating. On the 13th December at the QTH of G1GNQ. That's it for now. I will finish off by wishing all a happy Christmas and new year.

November 2025:

First of all, I would to like thank everyone who assisted with this year’s JOTA at Gosfield school. It was a successful event. We had 3 tents, CW, HF/ 2m/70cm/DMR/D- Star. All stations attracted a good interest from the scouts with some nice contacts. The weather was kind to us, we did start packing up early on Sunday due to the risk of rain. The last meeting was software for amateur radio with G4LBJ, G1GNQ and myself showing a few demos of some of the software out there to assist with amateur radio activities; we only scratched the surface. Richard, G4FJC was running the zoom meeting, this time he recorded the meeting to see how practical it was. The recording is on my NAS drive and will be available to view for club members in due course. This month we have our annual surplus equipment sale, come and get a bargain! That is followed by Howard G6LXK giving a demonstration of radio restoration.

October 2025:

We have now been at the new venue for a month. The first meeting was a discussion on ideas for future meetings, Geoff went away with a good list of possible meeting ideas to follow up. There was also a brief demo on remote operating and I had my portable HF station on air. The second meeting was an introduction to digital modes. Len gave a very good presentation on the various types and how to get going on these modes. With the aid of Geoff's and my hf stations a few modes demonstrated. October sees the last special event of the year, which is JOTA over the 17-19th of October. This year we are back at Gosfield school. We will be setting up on Friday afternoon. With a similar setup to last year, a VHF/UHF tent, HF tent and the CW tent.

September 2025:

The club had a display and morse code setup (manned by G4FJC and G8LHD) at the Stisteed village fair. We managed a 2m/70cm and a portable HF station plus two stations working their home stations remotely. I was working the on site HF station. While calling a station in Scotland I was pipped to the post by one of the others working remotely, thanks Len! The weather was kind to us. We did have a few visitors including Vince G8YPK who was there with his military vehicle. Thanks to everyone who came along to support the club display. There was a real buzz about the last meeting at the church hall, or was that just the talk on bees and their communications given by Steve G8YVR. A very interesting and entertaining talk. He even had some of his honey for sale. It's very nice! The club has changed its venue to the Stisted village hall. This has also meant changing the meeting night to Thursdays. At the last club meeting it was decided to move the club nets to Thursdays as well, to keep the calendar simple. Thursdays are club meetings or club nets. Plans are underway to take part in churches on the air, on Saturday 13th September at Stisted church. We will be looking for volunteers for that day, any of you are able to help please let the committee know. That's it for now. See you at the next meeting. Remember the new venue and new night.

August 2025:

I will start by thanking everyone who was able to attend or send their votes in for the EGM. The club will be moving to the Stisted village hall in September. The second meeting in July was to be the annual BBQ. Geoff did book the good weather but the order was lost. With the possibility of rain that day, the decision was made to postpone the BBQ. So we quickly arranged a show and tell at the church hall. My thanks to those who brought items to show. With one most unusual item from Mike G8DJO! You'll have to ask him! Also in July was the club visit to RAF Neatishead. On the morning of the visit the members arrived at the QTH of G1GNQ to sort how many car loads and who will drive. We all managed to get into two cars and set off. All was well until we were not far from Norwich, where the A140 was closed. Then came the interesting(?) route around the back lanes. But the adventurers from BADARS made it. It was worth the trip. If any of you are ever up there it will be worth a visit. The main event for August is the Summer camp which this year is at the QTH of G1GNQ. On the Saturday of the summer camp will be the postponed BBQ. I'll look forward to see you all during the summer camp/BBQ.

July 2025:

I take it you have been all running QRP as in the heat wave it was too hot to run the linears! Both meetings (Aerial clinic, and operating evening) in June were hosted by G1GNQ at his QTH. Both meetings were a success with Geoff managing to book good weather for the events. The aerial clinic had a good range of aerials to checked/repaired from HF to UHF. It was good to see a variety of bands and modes being used at the operating evening. Thanks to G1GNQ and everyone else who made it along to the meetings This month we have the EGM to finalise the decision on the club venue move. The second meeting is the annual club BBQ, which will follow the usual format, bring your own food to be cooked on the supplied BBQ's. If Geoff is up to his usual standard of booking good weather, it should be the usual good evening with good food and company.

June 2025:

The club’s 50th year is under way. The GB5VED special event station went very well with a good number of contacts. The helpers at the Stisted village hall looked after us very well. We had two stations set up, one on HF, one on 2m/70cm. We also had a working vintage receiver tuned to a 1940's broadcast. The following weekend was the club’s 50th anniversary party. We were lucky enough to have 2 attendees of the first meeting there in person, Jim G0DCR and Peter Nicholls, plus another first meeting attendee and founder member who called in via zoom from Canada, Nick Shepard G8ADZ. My thanks go to everyone who helped with the party. A good time was had by all. We have had the first of the club visits planned for this year, which was to Bletchley Park. Two car loads of club members headed off at 8:30 on Saturday 31st May. Members visited a number of the attractions at Bletchley, one of which was GB3RS. A very well- equipped station. The next meeting is the aerial clinic, remember this is at the QTH of G1GNQ not the church hall.

May 2025:

Welcome of the start of the 50th anniversary year of the Braintree and District Amateur Radio Society. The society was started by Dave Penny G3PEN, Nick Shepherd G8ADZ and Roy White BRS34436. With the first meeting on 19th May 1975. Other less notable events of that year: Australia regains the Ashes cricket trophy; Microsoft was founded; Sony Introduces Betamax Videocassette Recorder; European Space Agency established; First Live Radio Broadcast of House of Commons; Great Barrier Reef Marine Park established; Apollo-Soyuz Space Mission first International Space docking;  Viking Mars Missions launch; Bob Geldof debuts with Boomtown Rats; Discovery of HMS Britannic wreck by Jacque Cousteau. May starts off with a special event station GB5VED (VE Day) at the Stisted village hall on the 10th May. 17th May sees the club's birthday party at the Stisted village hall from 19:30. We also have a trip to the national radio centre, Bletchley Park. All in addition to our club meetings, the rig clinic and the AGM. A busy month and an enjoyable month ahead.