The club has faced a number of challenges over the last year and, I feel, has risen admirably to these. Some solutions have been very inventive indeed.

Before lockdown we engaged in both HF and VHF field days. These achieved excellent results which were some of our best ever performances.

We have continued with our training program resulting in seven foundation licence successes. I am pleased to report that three of these candidates elected to remain with the club. Just before lockdown a decision was taken to incorporate training into the evenings of club meetings. Several of these sessions had been run before the decision to shut down meetings was taken. Lockdown could have resulted in things stalling but the program was continued through a mix of radio. online delivery and practical training sessions which have been delivered on the Crockenhill Village Hall Green. The radio delivery was, of course, available to all who cared to listen, the audience including members of RAYNET, several other clubs and even Alan Betts. Results have been impressive. The current program has three new club members pursuing foundation licences with great enthusiasm. It has also recorded a fantastic success in helping Kieran, M7KJS (now 2E0FVB), convert his licence status up to intermediate with a really first-class examination result.

Registration for the RSGB Beyond Exams (BE) initiative has also been made and accepted. BE is broadly inline with our current training ethos and should help us raise the clubs profile locally.

On the operations front, as a result of member interest, the club is now registered with the Parks On The Air programme (POTA). Somewhat similar to other programmes, POTA offers the opportunity to operate portable but with a rather less regimented and more straightforward approach. Some members have already made a trip out in pursuit of this challenge. As lockdown eases I very much hope that we can expand on this.

We have obtained permission from the Crockenhill Village Hall Management Committee to install further storage at the village hall. The exact position of this is yet to be determined. It is hoped that we can, perhaps, install a semi-permanent station into this which will help us to get on the air rather more easily once club nights resume.

It has been a year of some expenditure. Purchases have included an antenna matching unit, an antenna analyser, a station power supply, a desk microphone and a yet to be fitted IF tap for the FT897 transceiver. We have also upgraded our operating tent, gas fired heater, fridge and cooker for use on field days and other expeditions.

Several practical sessions have been enjoyed with presentations on Arduino and a tech bite on transmission lines. A magnetic loop antenna was also built which tuned at 10MHz.

Our VHF nets, extended to encompass those Wednesday evenings when we would normally have met at the hall, have been enjoyed by members. We have also engaged in some slow scan TV capture from the International Space Station.

Thanks largely to the efforts of Kieran, 2E0FVB, the club website has undergone a major upgrade. It now includes WSPR reports by Mike, G8AXA, and historical details by Bob M0RAW. I would encourage all members to submit content for publication in order that we may expand on this important resource.

In closing, I would like to thank all members for their support during what has become a very difficult year. We have much a better equipped and more active club which would not have been possible without your support.

Phil M0IMA, Chairman