In 1999 the original founder members of the SDRG retired and the Group was re-formed as SDRG2000. However it is still known by most as the 'South Dorset Repeater Group', as it is on these web pages. Although things have moved on since this page was originally posted it is retained in order to provide as complete a record as possible. Most of this material was taken from the old SDRG2000 web site before it closed. The South Yorkshire Repeater Group web site mentioned in the text below and elsewhere on this web site also now seems to be defunct.
Geoff, G0EVW, December 2001 - updated December 2004.
SOUTH DORSET REPEATER GROUP 2000
I was a Founder Member and Chairman of the original repeater group and have always been active on GB3SD. As a result I was often asked what was happening with the group. I thought it would be a good idea to post as much information as I could find in one place and collated this material in May 2001. I have not edited the original material in any way. Please note that there was no Newsletter or AGM in 1998 or 2000 - Geoff, G0EVW.
Latest information (as of May 2001)
Secretary's Update (as of May 2001)
Minutes of the first AGM of SDRG2000 - May 1999
Minutes for the Annual General Meeting of the South Dorset Repeater Group held at the Community Centre, Littlemoor on the 26th May 1999.
Those present: 2E1HEP, 2E1HEQ, 2E1HFY, 2E1FGE, G0EVW, G0FIT, G0JLA, G0RWL, G1HYX, G1NLU, G1TGM, G3CFV, G3EAT, G3EGV, G3OEW, G3RZG, G4DRS, G4WJZ, G4XSC, G7EIS, G7MIJ, G8IKP, G8ZVS, M0BQO, M0BQQ, M1ALT, M1BLE, M1CCJ.
GROUP REPORT
* Apologies read.
* As there was no Annual General Meeting last year there were no minutes to approve, copies of the 1997 AGM were made available to those interested.
* The original group SDRG is still responsible for the repeater site until the end of 1999 - therefore close contact between the two groups will be necessary. The lease needs to be renegotiated (possibly for the next 5 years) at which point the groups can change over.
* The new group constitution is based upon the RSGB model constitution. A motion of hands approved the new constitution.
* The replacement of the system was discussed. The use of a Tenamast was suggested. It was noted that we are limited to whatever is agreed in the planning permission and also by approval of the owner. The mast is the main priority due to safety concerns. The group is also looking for a new repeater although there is a problem sourcing the necessary filters at present.
* There is to be a meeting on Friday the 18th of June at the SD site to enable all those interested to see the current state of the system.
* From the previous minutes it was noted that at the 1997 Annual General Meeting of SDRG, the funds were at £1920.00. The new group SDRG 2000 has currently collected almost £400.00 in subscriptions and there is to be a substantial transfer of funds from SDRG to SDRG 2000 in the near future.
* Closedown procedures and the current repeater keeper (Geoff Watts G0EVW) are to remain unchanged until the group transfer; at which point the repeater shutdown operators need to be changed, as do the plans for the closedown procedure.
* In mid June there will be a meeting with the land agent, to agree on a figure for future rent, which will need to be comparative to the RPI. The lease is currently paid yearly, normally in December.
* As SDRG 2000 is newly formed there is no Secretary's or Treasurers report for the past year.
* The new committee needs to be elected and the following committee was agreed:
Chairman: John Grandshaw G8IKP Treasurer: Jon Illsley M0BQQ Secretary: Emma Illsley M1CCJ
These were all proposed by Dennis Larcombe G0JLA and seconded by Mike Carter G0NEV.
* Two new committee members were also required and Colin Beech M1BLE and David Perrett 2E1HEP were elected.
* An Auditor for the group will also be required at some point in the near future.
* Rod Wild 2E1FGE, the Chairman of Portland Amateur Radio Club, nominated Jon Illsley M0BQQ as a spokesman for their group, and said that he would like to continue the current support between the two groups.
* The groups web page is to be kept up to date with all future changes - these will also be read out on the repeater to keep all members notified about any changes.
* It was agreed that as the new group SDRG 2000 takes over, the old group SDRG would be wound up. It was also agreed that it was unnecessary to call an Extraordinary General Meeting, as the founder members agreed that they were happy to stand down and transfer any remaining funds at this point.
* It was noted that all funds offered over the last 12 months have been returned; and no subscriptions have been accepted since 1997.
* SDRG was thanked for all the hard work done in the past to keep the repeater going. All present at the meeting applauded the group for their continued work over the years.
* Congratulations were given to the novices who have recently passed their exams.
* Many thanks were given to Mike Carter G0NEV for his kind donation of a roll of heliax cable.
* The meeting was called to an end at 20.55 with many thanks to all who were able to attend.
Emma Illsley, Secretary SDRG 2000, 28th June 1999.
Taken from the SDRG2000 web site www.sdrg.co.uk this was the latest information I could find about the repeater status at the end of May 2001. There is however no indication as to when this material was updated, Geoff, G0EVW May 2001.
GB3SD is the 70CM repeater for South Dorset situated on the Ridgeway between Weymouth and Dorchester on the south coast of Dorset, England just east of the A354. It transmits on 433.350 MHz (RB14) and has been in continuous operation since 1976.
We have recently installed a completely new repeater onsite which seems to be working well, there have been the usual complaints that it is not as good as the old one but we were bound to get that as the original unit was so good. The new unit is a Pye F496 PMR repeater which was kindly modified by Alec G8GON who is the keeper of GB3EX (Exeter). The logic unit was built and supplied by Ernie Bailey G4LUE of the South Yorkshire Repeater Group. www.syrg.co.uk.
The repeater still has a few problems which we will iron out as soon as possible such as lack of sensitivity, this is mainly due to the temporary receive antenna which still has not been replaced after 18 months. I have a new colinear to replace it with but on inspection of the mast I decided that it is just not safe to climb so we will have to make do with whet we have until we can replace the mast in the new year.
I have two new colinear antennas on order from the repeater management commitee for the new mast and we have permission from the land owners to go ahead so we'll be doing the mast work when the weather warms up.
The site is also home to two packet nodes GB7SD (Wey2) and GB7SD-1 (Wey23). The existing repeater group retired at the end of 1999 and as soon as they have finalised plans all funds and responsibility will be transfered to SDRG2000. Thankfully we do not have the problems which many repeaters are struggling with, namely site owners beginning to charge them extortionate commercial fees, which has seen the demise of quite a few repeaters but radio hams are a determined breed and we are now seeing some of them rising from the ashes again at new and sometimes better locations. Good luck to all groups struggling in this area.
Jon Illsley, M0BQQ, Treasurer of SDRG 2000
This page is to keep everybody up to date with the other things that are going on in the club and changes that will need to be made for next year. Any updates on the new repeater and mast will be on the 'Latest news' page, whereas this page is for information on funds etc.
Firstly some good news, we have now received a letter regarding the new site rent, which has been set at an amount of £200.00 per annum for the next five years. This has been set at £4.00 per member, for 50 paying members.
Although this means that we can be reassured that the rent is still at an affordable rate, it does mean that we are only left with £1.00 per member to spend on other things. The membership currently stands at 53 members, and I do not expect this number to increase next year, as over 300 newsletters were sent out before the last AGM. This leaves only £65.00 after payment of the site rent (based on each member paying £5.00 membership), which will not even cover the electricity bill.
So unfortunately, there is also some bad news - the membership fee must be increased. The new amount has not been set, and I would like to keep it as low as possible. Therefore, we need to try and aim for further donations, and we also need some ideas on fund raising for the club; personally I would like to see more member involvement, and there is nothing to stop us from having a really good bring and buy sale at the next AGM, with some proceeds going to the club.
Most importantly, I would like to hear your ideas about fund raising activities. As I recently mentioned on GB3SD, many of you spend more time using the repeater and packet nodes, than you spend (for example) watching television - and yet you pay almost £100.00 each year on your television licence!! (and for those with Sky, think how much your pay every month for that!).
At long last, things are on the move - we will soon be getting the money transferred from the old group SDRG, and the repeater and mast are already arranged, with the repeater currently somewhere between here and Finland! So, in the not too distant future, we are going to need some names for a hole digging and mast erecting party - get in touch if I can add your name to the list.
I aim to see the new GB3SD up and running well before next years newsletter is out, so although things have been going slowly, and I have heard several complaints about the repeater over the last few weeks, we ARE actually getting something done, and your new repeater will be up and running very soon!!
Emma Illsley, Secretary SDRG 2000
SDRG 2000 Newsletter 1999
A SAD GOODBYE TO SDRG The existing repeater group - SDRG, who have been together since 1975 are retiring at the end of the year so it has been necessary to form a new group SDRG 2000, to keep SD on air.
VOICE REPEATER GB3SD is the 70 cm repeater for South Dorset, situated on the Ridgeway between Weymouth and Dorchester on the south coast of Dorset, just east of the A354. It is one of the best known and most used repeaters in the area, transmitting on 433.350 MHz (RB14) and has been in continuous operation since 1976. At present the lease for the site is due for renewal and the whole antenna and repeater need replacing.
PACKET NODES The site is also home to two packet nodes, WEY2 (GB7SD) and WEY23(GB7SD-1) which form a part of the SWAX 25 Packet Radio Network in the south west, providing user access and network linking. The packet nodes arrived 10 years after the voice repeater in 1986.
CHANGES TO THE REPEATER Thankfully we do not have the problems which many repeaters are struggling with namely site owners beginning to charge them extortionate commercial fees. However, several changes do need to be made. The repeater itself is still the original unit which is getting very old, we are hoping to replace the entire system in the near future. As yet it has not been confirmed whether the new 12.5KHz spacing will be made compulsory, but if it is then we will have to modify or replace the existing system to comply.
CHAIRMAN'S RAMBLINGS Just some brief notes to tell you what is happening to SD and hopefully now, dispel all the myths that SD is closing. You are probably aware that we did not have an AGM last year, this was mainly due to me, and the start of my new business in February last year. I was also having difficulty in finding new committee members as one person cannot run a repeater group. There was little point in holding an AGM and collecting subscriptions only to have wound up the group this year. This (I am delighted to say), is not going to happen – a big thanks to Jon and Emma Illsley, M0BQQ and M1CCJ who did not want to see the demise of SD. Jon will be the Treasurer and Emma the Secretary, we will also need two more committee members who will be announced at a later date. Had these two people not expressed an interest, the group would have finished and the site cleared.
This would have been a shame as the site has an excellent take off and is relatively inexpensive. You may have recently heard about the increase in charges by BBC/NTL, with many amateur repeaters now having to pay commercial rates. These rates are in the region of tens of thousands of pounds, meaning that the majority of amateur repeaters will have to relocate to inferior sites or at worst, close. This is one reason why SD must survive. Our repeater was one of the first 70 cm repeaters licensed and today is in my opinion one of the most successful. The securing of renewal of the lease in the millennium will make it one of the best in the country and the envy of many other repeater groups.
NEW COMMITTEE FOR 1999
John, G8IKP - Chairman and Repeater Keeper
Jon, M0BQQ - Treasurer
Emma, M1CCJ - Secretary
AGM SDRG and SDRG 2000 will be holding an ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING on 26th of May 1999 at Littlemoor Community Centre, Weymouth at 1930hrs. This is the same venue as in previous years and is located just off the main Littlemoor Road near the supermarket.
BRING AND BUY SALE The hall will be open from 1900hrs to accommodate the BRING AND BUY SALE. All are welcome to bring along any unwanted radio or computer equipment. Tables will be available free of charge to SDRG 2000 members.
TALK IN for the AGM and BRING AND BUY will be provided on GB3SD and S22.
SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions will be collected at the AGM or can be sent to the group's Treasurer Jon Illsley M0BQQ.
Please include your callsign, name, address and let us know which unit/s your subscription is for.
The subscription for 1999 is £5 per unit, that is £5 for the voice repeater GB3SD and £5 for the packet nodes WEY2 and WEY23.
If you are sending a cheque, please make it payable to SDRG 2000.
Jon Illsley, M0BQQ Treasurer of SDRG 2000
SDRG 2000 MEMBERSHIP LIST (1999)
2E0AMW, 2E0EOO, 2E1EBH, 2E1FGE, 2E1FWP, 2E1HEL, 2E1HEQ, 2E1HFY, PORTLAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB (PARC), G0EVW, G0FIT, G0GFL, G0JLA, G0KYH, G0NEV, G0NRQ, G0RWL, G1HYX, G1TGM, G1ULZ, G1WIK, G2DGB, G2HAO, G3CFV, G3DLG, G3EAT, G3EGV, G3GAO, G3MRZ, G3OEW, G3OWE, G3RZG, G3TFM, G4MZY, G4RQI, G4UIX, G4WJZ, G4XSC, G6FBR, G6MXL, G7AIC, G7EIS, G7JCI, G7JEZ, G7WBA, G8IKP, G8ZVS, M0BQO, M0BQQ, M1ALT, M1BLE, M1CCJ, G7TCS.
WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO PARC (Portland Amateur Radio Club)
AND MR. PLATER, G4MZY.
THANKS
Over the years many individuals have contributed
to the success of our group, far to many to name here. The Archive of activities
available to read on this site provide some idea of the effort needed to
commission and maintain an Amateur Radio Repeater Station. The Group has
seen success and occasionally failure in it's endeavours but it is important
to remember that everyone involved has been a volunteer. The full support
of current users is needed to maintain what we have and to continue to provide
a facilty in the future.
The present SD's can be found in use daily on 2m, 70cms and 23cms serving
the local Amateur Radio Community, thanks to you all, Geoff,
G0EVW
(This page was updated in December 2004 but please remember this is archive material)