The latest events ...

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


Islands On The Air: Vido activated for the first time.

Our member Oliver (SV8/DK7TX) operated from the Islands Corfu and Vido (aka Ptychia Island). Both islands are part of the IOTA EU-052 group. A search in the database of rsgbiota.org found no previous activation of Vido Island. Oliver made 400 contacts from the islands. Congratulations!


Oliver (SV8/DK7TX) on the air (Picture: Oliver, DK7TX).

We have reached the halfway point of our class.

On 7 June 2016, we were half way through our "Klasse E" course. This achievement was marked with fresh cheese pastry (thanks Andreas, they were really good!).

Currently, we are 8 active students and 4 teachers. The theory course is combined with an intensive 1:1 praxis course in the club station. Should you hear DN3DA on the air, please give us a call!

It is still possible to join the running course. More information here (in German).


Hanns-Georg (DJ7NY) giving theory lession (Picture: Daniel, DM3DA).

Honors for longtime memberships

At the district assembly R (Nordrhein) on 09 April 2016 in Heiligenhaus three members of the local club Düseldorf were honored for their long-standing membership in the DARC. Dieter (DL6EZ) was dignified for 40 years, Rüdiger (DL4EAI) for 50 years, and Thomas (DJ3QQ) for 60 years of membership. In front of the attending representatives of their local clubs all three received a certificate and a stick pin.


Dieter (DL6EZ), Thomas (DJ3QQ) and Rüdiger (DL4EIA) after the honor (Picture: Andreas, DC4AB)

Home-brew competition 2016

During the club evening in March we held our home-brew competition. We had nine participants with a great variation of home-brew equipment: ranging from a simple antenna matching unit and different test equipment to a stack of QRP transceivers.

The winning projects were a matching unit for endfed portable antennas from Daniel (DM3DA), a blinking heart from Johanna (SWL) and a QRP transceiver from Jakob (DL2TI).

Runner-up projects were: a barometer from Jürgen (DB1WT), a wooden VFO knob with USB plug from Andreas (DC4AB), a transistor and FET curve tracer from Agis (DL1CNY), an active AF filter from Dieter (DL2GK), a component tester from Holger (DL5KUT), and a counter for radioactive radiation from Hans-Georg (DL6WA).


QRP transceiver for the 40 meter band from Jakob (DL2TI) (Picture: Andreas, DC4AB)

Visiting the Flingern Incinerator

On 22 March 2016, we had a guided tour through the incineration plant in Flingern. We were shown the boiler house, the control room and the waste storage bunker. An extraordinary experience!


High visibility group (Picture: Fabian, DL1KID)

Improving the club shack

We did a lot to improve the club shack. We installed a 6×2 antenna switch, which greatly facilitates multi-2 operating. One station got a new computer. And finally the shack got cleaned. Thanks to Andreas (DC4AB), Manfred (DH9EO), Oliver (DK7TX), Fabian (DL1KID), Dieter (DL2GK), Holger (DL5KUT), Udo (DL5UI), Hans-Georg (DL6WA), Daniel (DM3DA) and Robert (SWL) for their efforts.


Spring-cleaning (Picture: Oliver, DK7TX)

Annual general meeting 2016

The annual general meeting, as required by the statute, could carried out within 30 minutes on January 21st 2016 (this year without the re-election of the board). We also discussed the technical details and the construction progress of the new distributed direction finding system for 70 cm FM.


Kale meal 2015

The traditional kale meal was a beautiful festival this year. There were not only many members and family members of R01 Düsseldorf, but also many visitors from other local clubs (eg G01 Aachen, R09 Neandertal, R12 Ratingen, R24 Haan) and guests without a club membership. For all there was not only plenty of food and drink, but also a surprise: the original R01 Christmas chocolate.


The Christ child had previously left to each of the participants a Christmas greeting, a bar original R01 Christmas chocolate. (Photo: Andreas, DC4AB)

After the meal at the get-together, the people were not just reminiscing, but also planning for next year: Fielddays, training courses, excursions and more. Besides, the contest participation was planned for the weekend …


Conversations in a relaxed atmosphere until late in the evening. (Photo: Andreas, DC4AB)

To all who were there: Thank you for coming! And to everyone else: You have missed something - but in 2016 you're welcome.


SSB field day 2007

The first weekend in September was a two-fold success – we operated on HF and on VHF. For the IARU Region 1 SSB HF Fieldday we got the fabulous trailer from DARC District Nordrhein. A Von-der-Ley mast cames with the trailer, and we used a long ladder as second mast. That mast could even a bit longer next time, by the way. With the ladder, we managed to get the antenna high up into the trees.


HF and VHF station on the fieldday ground. (Photo: Holger, DL5KUT)

In addition, Kai (DL3EAZ) installed a complete VHF station with two 7 element yagis, a mast and an Armstrong rotor. DL0DX/p was on the air from HF to 2 meters. And shortly before shutdown had Patrick the opportunity to operate as DN3DA/P on 144 MHz (kindly supported by Hans-Georg (DL6WA)). With the new callsign on the band, he raised a lot of interest.


The ladder as antenna mast. (Photo: Holger, DL5KUT)

The weather had some challanges with heavy rain at times. Luckily, it wasn't cold and we kept dry while setting up and taking down. The BBQ, cake and coffee was in good supply and so everyboy was having a great time.


Hans-Georg (DL6WA) and Patrick (SWL) as DN3DA/P at the VHF station. (Photo: Holger, DL5KUT)

Now we wait for the results. On HF, we claimed 161,179 points (501 QSOs, 89 entities). On VHF we got 110 contacts into the log with a total of 25,198 points (ODX was G8XVJ/P in the Peak District, IO93AD). In the team were Andreas (DC4AB), Johanna (SWL), Margot (SWL), Jürgen (DB1WT), Manfred (DH9EO), Kai (DL3EAZ), Holger (DL5KUT), Hans-Georg (DL6WA), Daniel (DM3DA), Patrick (SWL) and Peter (DE3POL). We also were happy to have a number of visitors. See you all on the next Fieldday!


Participating the King of Spain Contest SSB 2015

On June 27 and 28 we entered the King of Spain SSB Contest. The weekend before, we had managed to repair the rotor of the 20-meter-beam. In preparation for the contest both stations were synchronized and we had a full-blown Multi-2 station with two Win-Test computers at our hands. The station with the FT-920 had an added linear. The DX Cluster spots were received via Hamnet and the solar storm, which was active the days before, had settled. Perfect conditons for a nice contest. The team (DB1WT, DC4AB, DE3POL, DL1KID, DL2GK and DM3DA) was highly motivated and worked 24 hours. During most of the daytime hours, both stations were in operation. In the end we had 386 QSOs in the log and claimed 177862 points. It was great fun for all, and some were bitten by the contesting bug. It was not just fun, it was a great training exercise, too. We learned how to optimize the layout of the schedule, Spanish for contesters and much more. As always in contesting: every single QSO is good training. Next time, we could try to install a rotatable receiving loop to optimize the station for the low bands.


Fabian (DL1KID) enjoys contest operating. (Foto: Daniel, DM3DA)