The Manager's Blog - Radio Society of Great Britain

Peter Kirby, G0TWW. RSGB General Manager

Hello, I’m Peter Kirby, G0TWW, the General Manager of the RSGB

Welcome to my blog

Each week I will inform you of life at the RSGB, what’s going on, what projects we are working on and generally keep you up to date with all the news and I guess some gossip.

As the blog evolves you will be able to post your comments and observations. I hope you will join me and enjoy the experience.

Clubs: evolution and change
Posted Thursday, 25 February 2010 at 11:01 by Peter Kirby, G0TWW

I start this week's blog with some good news. Following about two years of negotiation between Ofcom and the RSGB, Ofcom have announced their agreement to issue special short contest callsigns. These callsigns will consist of G or M, a regional locator if applicable, a chosen digit and a chosen suffix letter. We have asked for these calls because it levels the playing field for UK contesters when taking part in international contests. The callsigns will be restricted for use in a designated number of international contests and will be issued to Advanced licence holders only and those licence holders must be regular leading contest participants.

The scheme will be extended to club contest groups in 2011. Full details of the scheme can be found on the RSGB website at www.rsgb.org/news/article.php?id=0040

I am always surprised at the animosity that can be generated within amateur radio clubs. Minor disputes and disagreements can escalate into major disagreements and can threaten the very well being of the club. They normally start with that dreaded word "Change"; a clash between the older members and the younger members over the way things are done is the usual suspect for these disagreements. It is perfectly normal that members of a club who have been going to the club for lots of years to get comfortable with the routines and it is perfectly normal for newer members to want to put their views across and perhaps change things around. Recently I got slightly involved with a club which had been established in the late 1950s. During the whole of the club's existence it had only had one chairman. This chairman ruled the roost, it was his club and what he wanted usually happened. This was fine until newer members suggested that some changes might be made to bring the club into the 21st Century and to attract new and younger members. The coup happened at the club's AGM when the chairman and several members of the committee were voted off. This was democracy at work. However, the chairman took umbrage and refused to leave his post. He sought legal advice and sought the help of the RSGB. The RSGB have a strict policy of not getting involved in club disputes unless the good name of amateur radio is being brought into disrepute. On this occasion there was a danger of this happening because news of the coup made the local press. The outcome was that the chairman and a number of the older members went off and formed another club. Yes he is chairman of the new club and I guess what he says goes. So his ego has been massaged. But what a shame that a long established club should be broken up in such a manner. There are now two clubs vying for local membership and a lot of ill-feeling amongst the local radio amateur community. Would it have not been better to sit down and discuss the changes in a friendly and rational manner rather than to reach a stalemate of ill-feeling and mistrust. Most successful clubs rotate the committee and chairperson on a fairly regular basis; there has to be evolution and change otherwise things just wither on the vine. When this type of dispute erupts I always give myself a pinch and remind myself that amateur radio is just a hobby, something to be enjoyed to take us all away from the pressures of real life. Not something that we go to war over.

Looking out of the window the sun is shining and the temperature for the first time this year is in double figures. We had snow and ice on Monday, that was only two days ago. Everyone in the office this afternoon is smiling and I guess it's because the sun is shining and we are all looking forward to spring and hopefully a long hot summer. Talking of which, now it the time to think about 'Field Days' where you can get out in the fresh air and really enjoy amateur radio with your fellow club members. It is surprising how many clubs do not take part in 'Field Days'; it has always seemed to me to be the ideal opportunity to get the club working as a team and it is a good social occasion.

That's about it for this week. It's a bit clubby, but the local amateur radio club is the bedrock of our wonderful hobby so it is important that we ensure clubs do the right thing for themselves and for amateur radio.

SAD Syndrome
Posted Wednesday, 10 February 2010 at 15:18 by Peter Kirby, G0TWW

My blog is a little late; a blog expert told me that blogs were designed to be written on a sort of casual basis and not in a regular format so I’ve been a little lazy for a few days.

I hate this time of year, you wake up in the morning and it’s dark, you go to work in the dark and arrive home in the dark; it’s post-Christmas, the depth of winter and smiley faces are few and far between. I think I’ve been suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder—SAD—syndrome this past couple of weeks. I looked up the symptoms on the internet—always a dangerous thing to do—anyway the list of symptoms is as long as your arm and I believe I’m suffering from half of them! So I am putting down my lethargy, grumpiness and general malaise down to SAD!

Talking of sad, we recently reported the death of Norman Fitch, G3FPK. Norman died alone in late January. When I heard of the circumstances my mind immediately went back to the Tony Hancock tape when he said, "I have friends all around the world but none to hand." Norman had an abundance of radio friends and some he met regularly with, but it was a radio ham friend in France who became concerned when Norman failed to meet him on the bands for their regular sked. He notified the local police close to Norman’s home and they broke in and found the body. Norman had died in his sleep some days before.

Norman Fitch was the Society’s VHF/UHF columnist for over 20 years and he never missed sending in his copy on time. He was a well known radio amateur, but he was also an enigma because when we came to write an obituary, no one knew very much about him! Not even his friends locally who he met up for lunch with on a monthly basis. I am always saddened when I read of some one being found in such a way. It is not the first time that a radio amateur and member of the RSGB have been found in these circumstances. I always feel that the radio amateur community has been negligent, that is silly of course but we do have a duty to keep in touch with our old timers that live alone, to ensure their wellbeing be it by radio or by popping in if they live locally. So the next time you are at your radio club and old Bill or old John hasn’t turned up when he hasn’t missed a meeting for umpteen years please just don’t dismiss it. Take the time to find out if they are OK.

Last week I paid a visit to Norcomm who run the QSL Bureau on behalf of the RSGB. Norcomm is situated in Halifax and is run by Richard Constantine, G3UGF.

It is hard to believe but the Bureau sorts some 1.5 million QSL cards a year and is one of the busiest bureaus in the world. I am surprised at this figure because some years ago and long before electronic QSL became the vogue we carried out a survey of our membership which revealed that only about eight percent of our members regularly send QSL cards. Those that do are very enthusiastic and eagerly await delivery of their next batch from their QSL sub-managers, if that dispatch doesn’t arrive in a timely manner they sometimes get a little impatient, which I guess is only natural but what they sometimes forget is that although Richard and his small team are paid to provide the service, the QSL sub-managers are all volunteers and receive no remuneration for their efforts. So, sometimes a little patience is in order.

Richard is doing a sterling job in difficult circumstances. Over the last 18 months he has got the UK side of the operation running smoothly, but he has had difficulties with outgoing despatches to foreign bureaus. Finding the right carriers at a competitive price has been the main problem but as of November 2009 this issue has been resolved and despatches are now leaving Halifax on a regular basis. Again it’s a surprising number but Richard despatches to 186 QSL bureaus world wide!

As you are probably aware the RSGB has been seeking legal advice regarding non-compliant power line adaptors (PLAs) and their use in the home, which is causing interference to a lot of radio amateurs and short wave listeners. The advice we have received is wide ranging and goes from seeking a full judicial review to taking out private prosecutions against the government and the UK’s largest telecoms provider for nuisance and interference. All of these options would be costly. The estimated cost for a judicial review would be in the region of £250,000. The problem just does not end with PLAs currently on the market; new devices shortly to come on stream will cover 6 metres and the Microwave bands. The RSGB has already spent over £20,000 on legal advice to date so the need for the Spectrum Defence Fund is even more necessary than originally envisaged. So please keep those donations coming in. We are past the £10,000 mark now, so thank you. Those who are observant will realise that we have already spent more than that on our current fight.

In an earlier blog I mentioned that we were involved in organising the Annual General Meeting. Sadly we have been unable to square the circle with Bletchley Park for a number of reasons but mainly because the National Amateur Radio Centre will not be completed in time. We have, though, found a super alternative venue; the Swan Hotel in Bedford. The hotel is situated on the banks of the River Ouse in the centre of Bedford. Bedford is a bustling county town with a very busy Saturday market and excellent shopping. So if you are not doing anything on Saturday 17 April why not come along and bring your partner? You can enjoy AGM day and he or she can enjoy the delights of Bedford of which there are many. See you again soon.

EmComms and other matters
Posted Friday, 29 January 2010 at 10:29 by Peter Kirby, G0TWW

This week I have to start by eating a piece of humble pie, in my Leader for the February edition of RadCom I made reference to RAYNET and the recent bad weather and asked the question Are we really fully prepared logistically to assist in any emergency? I spoke of a recent incident in Bedfordshire when a community was without electricity for forty eight hours and that during that time communications was difficult. I also said in the article that there, were no RAYNET groups available to cover the incident. Well I got that wrong didn’t I?!

Before I wrote the article I did contact the local authority involved and asked if RAYNET was able to help. I was told that RAYNET was not used. I have subsequently found out that the local RAYNET group was used and they have officially been thanked on the local authority website. Yes, the same local authority that told me that there had been no RAYNET involvement! So to the groups involved, please accept my apologies for getting it wrong.

There is a perception in some quarters that I am not a supporter of RAYNET. Nothing could be further from the truth. I recognise the important role that RAYNET groups play, but I do get frustrated, and I am not alone in this, with all the petty in-fighting between all the RAYNET factions. It’s well past the time that the differences of opinion that forced the split in the early nineties were healed and we had once again a single organisation running RAYNET providing a truly UK-wide coverage. This is the only way that RAYNET and Amateur Radio will get the national recognition it deserves.

It’s been another busy week at Abbey Court. This week the team have been concentrating on some events in the future. Not least a second exhibition to be held at the European Union Parliament building in Brussels. These exhibitions are organised by EUROCOM, which is a committee of IARU Region 1 and, as the title suggests, is made up of Societies based in member states. The first exhibition took place in 2007, it featured the threat of PLT to the Amateur Radio Service and it was a good vehicle to promote the work and role of Amateur Radio to MEPs and the equivalent to the EU civil service. This year the exhibition, which takes place in late April, will be themed on the support role that Amateur Radio plays in global emergencies, which is very apt right at this time with the Haiti earthquake still fresh in people’s minds. It will also feature the role that Amateur Radio plays in education and space. In this part of the exhibition we are being partnered by the European Space Agency (ESA). Getting 25 Societies to agree to the various proposals is very challenging but we are getting there. But I fear there will be many long conference calls with our European colleagues before the aim is achieved!

The AGM is very much on my mind as well. This again is an April event and we are hoping to hold it at Bletchley Park, but bits and pieces are not working out as planned so there may have to be a short notice change of venue. This is problematic because most hotels and venues are booked up by this time so it is fingers crossed that we can work out the issues surrounding Bletchley Park. Talking of which, I had better mention that progress continues apace with our new building, we have had two good weeks of weather and the footings etc are all in place. I haven’t yet been able to get the CCTV set up but it is coming, so as I have said in a previous blog, you will be able to watch the progress on the website.

Occasionally I am allowed out of the office! My trip this week was to visit Mike Devereux , G3SED, of Nevada Communications down in Portsmouth. Mike is a great supporter of Amateur Radio and the RSGB, a keen DXer and during our discussions Mike voiced his concerns over the deliberate jamming of DXpeditions. As he rightly pointed out fellow amateurs spend their own time and money mounting these expeditions to rare and quite often remote parts of the world and it is extremely frustrating when good openings are deliberately jammed. This is not necessarily a UK problem it is happening all over the world but, like my beef regarding Repeater abuse last week, this is another area where a few are spoiling it for many. Mike’s showroom is very impressive as is the other arm of his business Nevada Music which is opposite his radio showroom. This is a real Aladdin’s cave. It’s packed with every conceivable musical instrument. Mike was telling me that he has over 1,500 guitars in stock alone! If you are an amateur radio buff and music buff like me it’s well worth a visit.

Donations to the Spectrum Defence fund keep arriving and at the end of this week I expect that we will have passed our first significant target on the graph. I know I keep banging on about the fund. I make no apologies for that. You will hear a lot more over the coming months when our regional teams will be out and about at various rallies and events with the Bucket for your donations.

Talking of investments—well I was, sort of—I have spent some time this week talking to individual investment consultants to ascertain, the best policy to follow in, investing the Society’s modest reserves. The Board is very conscious that we have to invest the money wisely and ethically. I know our members take a great deal of interest in this. Needless to say all the consultants I have seen have different ideas how to proceed!

Finally my last adventure of the week has been a number of telephone calls to Buckingham Palace to try to arrange a suitable time and date for the Patron to officially open the new centre at Bletchley Park. We had hoped that the centre would be completed in time for HRH the Duke of Edinburgh to open the centre in the Spring unfortunately the planning delays has put paid to that so I am investigating with the Palace if there is a opportunity for a Royal visit in the autumn. See you next week.

Alice in Wonderland
Posted Thursday, 21 January 2010 at 16:23 by Peter Kirby, G0TWW

Well, we all survived our weekend in Daresbury! I didn’t realise that Daresbury was the birthplace of novelist Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Despite being on the edge of Warrington and the industrial area between the M6 and Merseyside, Daresbury is a very picturesque village with a very good pub!

The Board and Regional Council meetings went well. For the first time in a number of years the Board had some fresh faces in the shape of three new members who had not served on the Board before. It’s always good to have some fresh opinion into the discussions and it was a good positive start to the year ahead. As you know each Board member has a Portfolio responsibility, and there were a couple of important changes to the Portfolio’s this time around. The two members of the Board who are nominated to serve by the Regional Council have in recent years shared a Portfolio that has gone under the title of Membership services. Their role has been to link the work of the regional teams with the Board. To be honest most of the feedback has found the Board discussing, at times some minor issues, when their role is to concentrate on more strategic events, and the title Membership services did not reflect what the true requirements of the Portfolio. So taking a lead from a course that I and other managers attended last year, on Membership and Membership retention the Board have agreed that, providing and maintaining improved services for our existing members is as important as recruiting new members and for the first time in its history the Society will have a Board member who sole responsibility will be this important area. This will be handled by Phillip Brooks, G4NZQ. The other new Portfolio is titled Regional and this will be covered by Jim Stevenson, G0EJQ, Jim will be the conduit between the regional teams around the country and the Board.

Following the Board we held a Regional Council meeting and it was pleasing to hear just how much activity is going on at club level. In some parts of the country the new Club of the Year competition has really taken off and of course each regional winner will now go into the National final and the chance to win a splendid trophy and a cheque for a thousand pounds.

The Presidential dinner was a nice occasion. The only problem was the compare for the evening which was yours truly! For those there I apologise for my rather old and dusty stories and jokes, someone has to do it and there is always a surprising lack of volunteers to take on the role. The evening was nearly spoilt by delays on the West Coast main line, the guest of honour Tim Ellam made it with about thirty minutes to spare! And Kath Wilson, M1CNY, the new first Lady, had an unfortunate accident last Friday when she tripped over a pile of RSGB books she was preparing for a rally and broke her wrist in three places. I know, I don’t write the script, but it is ironic and true that they were RSGB books! In some considerable degree of pain and discomfort Kath did manage to attend Dave’s big occasion and we were all delighted to see her. Although she did take some stick.

Haiti still dominates the News but at last the relief effort seems to be ramping up and aid is getting through. In last weeks blog I wrote that communications with the island was proving difficult and for the first few days it continued to be the case. The first amateur radio signal was heard on Wednesday 13 January on 14.300MHz from the Rev John Henault, HH6JH, he reported that he was safe, but had no phone or power and that he was operating on battery power and hoping to get his generator up and running later in the day. From this first contact other contacts were quickly established. In the February edition of RadCom, I had written in the Leader about our own difficulties in this country in communicating during the recent Big Freeze I voiced the opinion that it would be good if we could recruit and train enough RAYNET operators to be able to cover the whole of the UK. From this I have received a number of letters and Emails asking why we don’t have teams of Radio Amateurs whose role it was to fly out to these trouble spots and establish good communications links until the utilities and communication in the country affected get back up and running, in the same vein as the search and rescue teams. I now ask myself the same question?

It would certainly put Amateur Radio and the role we play in emergencies in the wider spotlight.

This week I have a beef! Why is it that normally sensible adults, take great delight in causing abuse on the bands and on Repeaters? This was a real problem in the mid-nineties but seemed to go away, apart from odd isolated incident. But now it appears to be back with a vengeance. In recent weeks I’ve received reports from several parts of the country of Repeater abuse. If you are reading this and as a pastime think its funny to spoil your fellow amateur’s enjoyment, by causing abuse, either on the bands or on your local repeater, GROW UP, it’s not funny and it is spoiling the image of the hobby. You worked hard and are privileged to hold a Amateur Radio licence why risk losing it and also losing the friendship and respect of your fellow amateurs. You know, nine times out of ten we know who you are!

And finally, I popped across to Bletchley Park this morning to see how things are going. It was a gloriously sunny morning and I was delighted to see that work was progressing well with the new centre. The demolition is complete and the groundwork to provide the foundations for the new building is underway.

And Finally 2 Please don’t forget your donation to the Spectrum Defence Fund, the donations keep coming in day by day, but this is important work in the protection of the hobby that the Society is undertaking and your financial help and support is imperative if we are to be successful. See you again next week.

GM's first blog
Posted Thursday, 14 January 2010 at 15:35 by Peter Kirby, G0TWW

A belated Happy New Year and welcome to the first of what I hope will be a weekly blog from the desk of the General Manager. One of the questions I’m often asked is what does the General Manager do and is it a full time job? Yes it is a full time job, I head a team of 18 full and part time administrator’s whose job it is, is to run the RSGB on a day to day basis.

The RSGB is a pretty complex organisation, its voluntary based so most of the work is done by volunteers, Radio Amateurs who want to put something back into the hobby that they take so much pleasure out of.

At the top of the organisation we have the National Council. This is made up of the Board of Directors plus the Regional Council. The National Council agrees the policy under which the Society is run. The Directors are elected nationally and come from all corners of the United Kingdom. The Regional Council members are elected on a regional basis. The Board is responsible for the business end of the RSGB although they are also heavily involved in aspects of Amateur Radio as well. The Regional Council and the Regional teams look after our members interests on the ground. A typical regional team consists of a Regional Manager and four or five deputies. You can find details of the regional organisation on this website.

All members of the Board and Regional Council are volunteers and the General Manager sits in the middle conducting the day to day business of the Society. This covers the business element, the Amateur Radio element, in fact pretty much everything that the Society is involved in. So it is a very interesting and rewarding job.

The idea of this blog is to give you an insight into the daily life of the Society and to keep you informed of what is going on in Amateur Radio on a week by week basis.

Since we returned from the Christmas break the staff here at Abbey Court have, like most other companies been battling against the snow most days we have all managed to get in but on one or two occasions we have had to close early to allow people to get home. Thankfully the worst of the weather is behind us, for the time being at least.

This coming weekend see’s the first big event of the year, the Presidential Installation Dinner, every two years the Society elects a new President and taking over the reigns for the next two years is Dave Wilson, M0OBW. Traditionally the first Board meeting of a new Presidential term of office and the dinner is held close to where he or she lives, so tomorrow I will be heading north with a small team to Daresbury, near Warrington for the Board meeting and the dinner. We are honoured on this occasion as the guest speaker is Tim Ellam, VE6SH, who is the President of the International Amateur Radio Union. Tim is the principle official in Amateur Radio world wide and is also a keen supporter and member of the RSGB. Also this weekend in the same location and following the Board meeting there will be a meeting of the Regional Council. It makes sense to hold the meetings on the same weekend and it saves money.

On two other fronts it has been a pretty exciting time. Work has at last started on the new National Amateur Radio Centre at Bletchley Park. The work started on the 11th January with the demolition of an old pavilion which currently sits on the site of the new centre. This coming Monday the 18th, the ground work begins. The new building is scheduled to complete in May, but this is of course weather dependant. The Bletchley Park project is very important to the Society and Amateur Radio. The Park attracts nearly ninety thousand visitors a year, and added to the visitor attractions will be the new centre. Plus we are joining together with the Bletchley Park Trust educational outreach programme so as at the same time that visitors can see what Amateur Radio is all about, they will at various times of the year be able to visit GB4FUN which will be based at Bletchley Park. Work on the design of the new centre is key to the success of the project, I don’t want to give too many secrets away just yet that’s for the future, but Amateur Radio will be displayed in a way that it has not been seen before, we might just at last shed the cloak of Hancock

The other very pleasing thing is the level of donations that are coming in to the recently launched Spectrum Defence Fund. The fund was launched just before Christmas and primarily the money will be used to defend the Amateur Radio Spectrum from interference and commercial threats. Several thousands of pounds have already been received but the target for the fund is in excess of a hundred thousand pounds so there is some way to go yet. The fund is ring fenced so it can’t be used for anything other than spectrum defence issues.

I guess we are all watching the News regarding the terrible events in Haiti. Forty eight hours after the earthquake and communications with the island have still to be properly re-established. Radio Amateurs around the world are listening to the international emergency frequencies and Arnie Coro, CO2KK, the IARU Region 2 Area C Emergency Coordinator, is coordinating a multi-national response by Radio Amateurs. At the present time there has been no, Amateur Radio transmissions received from Haiti, hopefully this situation will not last for long.

I’ve always thought how lucky we are in the British Isles, we are spared most extremes of weather and the effect that bad weather causes, we have the occasional earth tremor but no full scale quakes and hurricane force winds hit us very infrequently. When I served in the Royal Navy many years ago, I witnessed first hand on three occasions the effects of hurricanes hitting the Caribbean, the destruction of the infrastructure is hard to describe unless you have seen it first hand and the effect on the population, the loss of life and injuries takes an awful long time to recover from.

What’s coming up? On Monday of next week I make my first visit to Ofcom, this is not a formal visit, just a briefing on the new Ofcom Annual Plan for 2010/11. This type of briefing is always good value and it gives me the opportunity to meet Ofcom staff off line rather than in formal meetings. What is it they say? All the best deals are done over a pint! I will also be starting to prepare for the Society’s AGM, which this year is being held at Bletchley Park. Also on the plot is the preparation of the RSGB Annual Report.

It’s been a bit of a meander but I hope you enjoy reading this first blog. Time for a cup of tea!

See you again next week.