On this page you will find details of any forthcoming events listed in the club diary, and also for sale or wanted ads. If you are a club member and have something that you would like to advertise here, please contact the webmaster with full details. Please remember that this page is viewable by non members, and if you prefer not to have any personal details such as your phone number or e-mail address displayed here you should ask to just have your name and callsign included with your notice.

Members are advised that it is intended to hold the Annual AGM on Monday 8th February 2010. The meeting will take place at The Engine House, Ellenroad Mill at 19:15, (unless it is still extremely cold), in which case we will adjourn to the more comfortable surroundings of the Wishing Well, Elizabethan Way. If you know of members who do not have access to email please advise them of the meeting. Any Committee Members who do not wish to continue their positions should notify the Club Secretary (in writing) as soon as possible. Nominations for new Committee Members should also be made to Doreen as soon as possible. Details have been e-mailed to all members who are subscribed to the 'ercnews' mailing list, any members who aren't, but would like copies of the Balance Sheet, Minutes etc. should contact the webmaster and request them if required. A copy of the Minutes can be downloaded from this link:

The RSGB have announced that they have established a Spectrum Defence Fund to challenge Ofcom over its interpretation of the various Acts and Directives that cover PLA/PLT and the threat they pose to our hobby. The Ellenroad Radio Club support this action and have long supported the UKQRM Group's stance on this issue, and we would now encourage all members, radio amateurs, CBers and shortwave listeners to do the same as our hobby is under serious threat from this nasty form of pollution, which will see our hobby sacrificed in favour of the fast buck PLT/PLA merchants such as BT Vision if it is allowed to continue. Many people will say that this problem hasn't affected them yet and it's not their problem, but this is just the tip of a very large iceberg, and unless we try to nip it in the bud now we will see many more forms of QRM affecting our bands as the flood gates open to this cheap, illegal and poorly made crap, and sooner or later all of us will suffer with its effects. Any donations that members or visitors can make to the fund, however small, will all help, and every penny counts - this is a fight that we must win if our radios and one hundred years of great tradition are not to end up on the junk heap!

To visit the donation page just click on the logo above, and for more information about this subject click here:

On Sunday 1st of November 2009, the club was very pleased to receive a visit from the Mayor and Mayoress of Rochdale, Mr Keith Swift and Ms Susanne Etchells. Members were able to demonstrate the role that the club plays in helping to promote the museum during the monthly steaming days, and also how club members and Radio Amateurs regularly play an important role as 'Ambassadors' for our local area. For the benefit of those of you that weren't able to attend, you can see pictures below of the visit by clicking on the thumbnails below:

The visit received coverage in the local media, see our piece on the 'Rochdale Online' site: by clicking this link: For those that missed the article in the Rochdale Observer newspaper, click here to see a scan of it:

The club has received some welcome publicity in the Rochdale Observer, and it's sister 'free' paper the Rochdale Express in recent weeks, Clifford tells us that people (especially women) have been stopping him in the streets ever since his picture appeared there, and he is now hopeful of offers to appear in the next celebrity Big Brother series (well they're already scraping the bottom of the barrel, so why not?)!:-)

For the benefit of those of you that missed it, you can see a copy of it by clicking on this link: ERCs in the News:.

The club is very pleased to announce that it has been successful in its application to receive a 'Grassroots Grant' from the Community Foundation for Greater Manchester, and the money received will now allow us to purchase some badly needed new equipment, and also to help us grow and develop the club and its wider role in the local community and the museum. We are very grateful for the assistance we received with our application, and we look forward to reporting on how our plans are able to progress over the coming months as we make good use of it. More details about the Community Foundation can be obtained from their website.

The Museum was succesful in its bid to receive a substantial sum of money in the 'People's Millions' competition, which was held on the 'Granada Reports' programme on ITV1 on Wednesday 27th of November, and everyone at the club would like to send our congratulations to all our friends there for this fantastic achievement, which we all think was well and truly deserved. You can read the full story about it on the Ellenroad Steam Museum website at: People's Millions".

The club was very pleased to welcome our local Member of Parliament, Mr Paul Rowen M.P. to the clubroom on Monday the 6th of April. Paul was given an explanation of what the hobby is all about, and also a description of the potential interference threats to our hobby from the BPL / BT Home Plug systems that so many radio enthusiasts are now worried about. You can see a picture of his visit from the link below: Paul Rowen's Visit to Ellenroad. The Milnrow & Newhey section of the Rochdale Observer published on Wednesday 6th of May, also carried a piece about the visit too, which you can view here .

Tuesday the 8th of April proved to be an unusually nice day, and we were finally able to get the VHF/UHF and HF antennas mounted at the new clubhouse. Alan from A.S. Installs came along again and did the honours with installing the wall brackets and mast on the side of the Engine House, and we were all very pleased with the final results, and are looking forward to spraying some RF about in the coming weeks in preparation for the special event station on the 4th of May.

THE LATEST AMATEUR RADIO NEWS HEADLINES

Below are the latest Amateur Radio News Headlines, courtesy of the Southgate Amateur Radio Club.

LOCAL RADIO RALLIES IN 2010:

This is not a full list of Radio rallies in the UK, rather just a list of the ones which are within a reasonable distance from the club, and which members might be interested in attending.

ERC Members - Have you something you want to sell, or are you looking for a piece of equipment? If so place your wanted / for sale ads here. Contact the webmaster for details of how to advertise your needs on this page, or on the club mailing list.

Club member David, 2E0DHB currently has a Vectronics VC300DLP ATU for sale, offers around £50 ono. You can contact David for more information at:    atusale at ellenroadradioclub.org.uk   (replace the 'at' with @)