The latest events ...

You can find some of the latest events around the club here.


Kale meal 2017

This year, 34 people followed the invitation to the traditional kale dinner during the local clubs evening on December 21, 2017. In addition to many members of R01, as well as their relatives and friends, there were also members from the neighboring local clubs, for example from R04 Hilden, R09 Neandertal, R12 Neuss, R22 Dusseldorf-Lohausen and R24 Haan. Although the planned extension of the restaurant this year was completed, but due to a missing acceptance of the fire department it was not yet possible to use it. That's how it got cozy. The very tasty kale with meatballs, mettwurst and slices of smoked pork chop tasted excellent again.


Despite the delicious meal, the conversation continued. (Picture: Andreas, DC4AB)

After the meal, the participants took the opportunity to exchange ideas with each other. Finally, the chairman was allowed to distribute a practical cloth bag with a homemade 'DARC R01' print for everyone as a small present.


SSB fieldday 2017 with DL0DX/p

Unlike the previous CW fieldday, adjacent to a feast day, on the first weekend of September 2017 plenty of fellow campaigners got together, who assisted in the construction and dismantling in Düsseldorf-Hubbelrath for the 24 hours IARU region 1 SSB fieldday under DL0DX/p, and also regularly alternate operating the radio. Stefan (DB1KL), Andreas (DC4AB), Manfred (DH9EO), Oliver (DK7TX), Agisilaos (DL1CNY), Dieter (DL2GK), Holger (DL5KUT), Hans-Georg (DL6WA), Marc (DM1MF), Daniel (DM3DA), Christoph (DO4TIF), Eric (DO6PA), Robert (DO7II) and Burkhard (DO8EW) were involved. By this we could work in pleasant three-hour shifts, each with one operator-man and one guard-man. The role of the guard-man was to be with the operator-man in the field (which is especially important at night), to handle the physical well-being of the operator-man and to make sure the generator is filled with enough fuel.

Because of the good experience, the leased, sound-insulated, very economical power generator with downstream inverter was used again. For the entire weekend, the barely audible generator consumed just less than 16 liters of gasoline. In addition to the shortwave station inside the ristrict R radio trailer, a caravan and the nocturnal lights were also connected to the generator. Fortunately, two antenna masts from formerly British military stock, which are already familiar to us, were not needed for their primary determination at this weekend and could be lent to us and between them we could comfortably span the shortwave dipole antenna.


Some of the participants in the party tent next to the radio trailer. (Picture: Andreas, DC4AB)

Successful participation of DA3X/p on SSB fieldday 2017

Even this year to the IARU Region 1 SSB fieldday 2017 the local club R01 was on air again with its contest station DA3X/p. This time the station was build up at the "Schäl Sitt" (Düsseldorfer dialect für 'suspicious side') in Neuss Uedesheim. Operators were Maximilian (DB1MC), Rudi (DL1EHR), Michael (DL5JS), Dieter (DL6EZ) and Mirko (DM1EM). The 570 submitted QSOs in the class "portable, multi operator, low power, non-assisted" were enough to reach the seventh place in Germany and the first place in the district Nordrhein.


Maximilian (DB1MC) and Mirko (DM1EM) at the radio desk. (Picture: Dieter, DL6EZ)

CW fieldday 2017

The CW fieldday weekend on June 03rd and 04th 2017 directly followed Whit Monday, a holiday. Presumably for this reason, initially only a few members were found who wanted to or could participate in construction, radio operation and dismantling of DL0DX/p. But then came Andreas (DC4AB), Manfred (DH9EO), Fabian (DL1KID), Dieter (DL2GK), Kai (DL3EAZ), Holger (DL5KUT), Hans-Georg (DL6WA), Marc (DM1MF), Daniel (DM3DA), Eric (DO6PA) and Robert (DO7II) together in Düsseldorf-Hubbelrath to participate in the CW competition. The result of this effort was with 652 established QSOs the eighteenth place among the German stations of the class "portable, multi operator, low power, non-assisted".


Technical discussion, in the background the radio-trailer. (Picture: Andreas, DC4AB)

A better placement reached the participants under DA3X/p. Rudi (DL1EHR), Michael (DL5JS) and Dieter (DL6EZ) achieved with 893 set QSOs the thirteenth place in the same class.


Visit to a testing laboratory at CETECOM

Usually there are no visits by outsiders at the Düsseldorf site, but the company CETECOM invited us to inspect their test lab in Düsseldorf in the afternoon of April 21, 2017. CETECOM is a globally operating company, which primarily offers testing services in the communications industry.

Because the members of R01 Düsseldorf did not cover all of the available participants, some members of the neighboring local clubs, R09 Neandertal, R12 Ratingen and R22 Düsseldorf-Lohausen, also had the opportunity to follow the invitation. Thus 15 persons met to listened to the extraordinarily interesting and lively performance of Peter (DL2EAM) and Volker. Practical examples were presented to the participants in the broad field of activity of the company and the test laboratory, in which products with integrated radio technologies are tested (and occasionally destroyed) before launching the market. Comprehensible to all, the intermittent interference emissions of an LCD TV were measured and a DVD player was tormented with voltage spikes from the power supply of more than 1000 volts and voltage strikes in the kilovolt range on the equipment housing. All these are tests that a device must pass before sale.

In about two and a half hours, the employees reported on typical experiences with electronics suppliers and, most of all, about outstanding impressions of the past years. In the buidling coffee and cold drinks were ready, and in relaxed atmosphere some participants tested, how much radio reception their mobile phone still indicated in the HF-dense test room.

One of the participants summed up: "They both did very well, and I realized very quickly: They know what they are talking about. Anyone who did not take part in this tour missed something!" - A big thank to CETECOM for the hospitality and the granted insights.


Interested glances in the CETECOM test lab in Düsseldorf. (Picture: Andreas, DC4AB)

Home-brew competition 2017

On our local club evening in March 2017 our annual self-construction contest took place. There were 18 people, five of them had brought a self-made project. Each project was shown and presented for five minutes. Afterwards, there was time for the attendees to look at the projects more closely and to learn more details. Subsequently, all attendants were allowed to distribute winner points.

This year, Maximilian (DB1MC) landed on rank 1 with a battery with built-in electronics for charge control and unloading protection and a PLC communication board for the self-written evaluation software. Rank 2 reached Marc (DM1MF) with a capacitance measuring module for (unlabeled) SMD capacitors. On the third place came Johanna with an assembled kit-board pair with an amplitude-modulated LED transmitter and a receiver. These three places were awarded with a voucher each.

Other projects were a polyphonic melody circuit board with Atmel chip by Andreas (DC4AB) and a component collection for a frequency synthesizer of Vladimir (DL7PGA).

At the end, Andreas (DC4AB) presented a quantum-physical experiment with an air balloon, which warms up during entrainment and cools down noticeable by entropy when it re-contracts.


The winning project of DB1MC: Battery with built-in electronics,
communication board and measuring software. (Picture: Andreas, DC4AB)

Presentation by Klaus (DL5RFK) about "Voice radio with DMR"

On the local club evening on 16 February 2017, Klaus (DL5RFK) gave an interesting lecture on digital operating modes. The focus was slightly on DMR, compared in detail with C4FM and D-Star. He figuratively explained typical terms like 'Timeslot' and 'Talkgroup'. He also described the connecting networks behind the operating modes and reported on their emergence and the attempts to connect these networks. Finally, he showed the mobile and portable devices and the commercial and self-built repeaters and home entrances, which are currently available in the market for each operating mode. Klaus was supported by Klaus (DC6CM) and Jean (DG4IX) during his approximately 50-minute talk, which also brought along a few portabel devices and an user entrance to try out.


Right in the picture: Klaus (DL5RFK) during his speech at R01. (Picture: Andreas, DC4AB)

Annual general meeting 2017

On 19 January 2017 the annual general meeting 2017 of the local club R01 Düsseldorf took place. Peter (DL2EAM) kept the minutes. This year, the election of the board was on the agenda, the election committee was Manfred (DH9EO), he was supported by Franc (DC9PI). Andreas (DC4AB) was re-elected as local club chairman (OVV). Robert (SWL) was elected as local club vice chairman (stellv. OVV). Jochen (DG8EF) will continue managing the fund, the QSL placement is continued by Vladimir (DL7PGA). For the first time, an emergency officer was appointed with Fabian (DL1KID) for R01.

Looking back over the past year, the exceptional willingness to donate by the OV members as a solidarity community can be highlighted, which brought the equipment and the associated performance of our club station DL0DX to a new level. Compared to the previous year, a slight increase in membership of ten percent was observed.

Lastly, the OVV thanked for the support given last year and the confidence given to him, and he gave a small outlook on the forthcoming joint actions. The annual general meeting was successfully concluded after one hour.


Kale meal 2016

The traditional kale meal during the local club evening in December, this year 35 persons got together. Together with members of R01 also some members from the neighboring local clubs and family members came. Already one hour before the announced time the small room in our local club's restaurant filled - according to roumors an extension of the restaurant is planned for the coming year, so that there will be room for further guests. The very tasty green cabbage with meatballs, mettwurst and slices of smoked pork chop tasted magnificent again. Those who remained a few minutes after the meal to entertain themselves and exchange, again received a bar of the original R01 christmas chocolate for the conclusion of the year.


When the green cabbage was served, it became quiet in the room. (Picture: Andreas, DC4AB)

R01 was visiting the DLR

On the afternoon of the 30 November 2016, the local club R01 Düsseldorf visited the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne for approximately two and a half hours. After a brief welcome and a long walk across the grounds, we were able to learn many interesting details of the International Space Station (ISS), suspended above our heads as a model at a scale of 1:30 in the building of the DLR central administration. After that, we were taken to the :envihab, a medical research facility. There we were told about the effect of different environmental conditions on humans and possible counter-measures. Finally, we were able to visit the Microgravity User Support Center (MUSC). During the operation, we were able to look into the control center from which the European research facilities of the ISS are controlled. There was also a model in the original size of the Rosetta lander Philae, which landed in November 2014 on the comet 67P / Tschurjumow-Gerasimenko. Unfortunately, photography was prohibited on the entire site. Nevertheless, it was fun to see once in real, what you only see on TV.