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On this page you will find details of the radio nets run by the Vintage & Military Amateur Radio Society and by members under their personal arrangements. These nets are NOT exclusively for VMARS members. All licenced amateurs are most welcome to join in and all we ask is that you follow the purpose of the net, for example by using A.M., USB or LSB where specified. Scroll down the page for more information.

Special Nets

All Special Nets are 3615 Khz Amplitude Modulation 07:30 local UK time unless otherwise stated

The Society holds a number of controlled Special Nets which are designed to encourage the use of specific types of vintage and home brew equipment. These nets take place, usually but not exclusively on a Saturday, from 07:30 UK local time on 3615KHz and run for one hour, following which the frequency is handed over to the VMARS Net Controller for the regular Saturday A.M. net at 08:30.  

Details of forthcoming Special Nets are published in the monthly VMARS News Sheet and are reproduced here.
 

Saturday 7th January 2023: A.M. Airborne equipment - Wireless sets from Spitfires, B17 and Lancaster bombers, and even WS19's and WS62's operated from Auster AOP aircraft will appear on this net.

Saturday 4th February 2023: Marine gear – anything that may have been used in a nautical context.
 
Saturday 11th March 2023: ‘Engines’ – anything that uses an engine for power. Gennies, dynamotors, APUs.Saturday 29th

Saturday 29th April 2023: Military mobile sets. Anything that has been used in military vehicles, which includes motor, aviation or ship-borne equipment. This net will be run from a Landrover operating from a field 1000ft ASL in the Cotswolds.

Tuesday 6th June 2023: D-Day Commemoration net. This net will be run from a WW2 British Army lorry operating from a location in the British Gold Sector assault beaches in Normandy.

Saturday July 22nd 2023: Summer portable net - in the field if you can, at your QTH if you can't: any portable gear, civilian or military. Warm up your Codar AT5, Wireless Set No.19, home brew creation or any other piece of suitable equipment and enjoy a picnic breakfast while joining the net.

Normandy Landings Beach Zone Expedition June 2023

 

Copyright of photographs in the Normandy 2023 section James Burrough

Tony Barron, G3YYH, settting an earth rod for the Canadian Military Pattern lorry wireless equipment at Pegasus Bridge on 6th June 2023. 

Details of the assault and capture of Pegasus Bridge on the night of 5th/6th June 1944 can be seen by following this link.


After arriving in Normandy from England on Saturday 3rd June with the 1943 Canadian Military Pattern lorry - CMP and a support vehicle, the crew refresh themselves with a beer and prepare for the rigours of the coming week.  Left to right - James Burrough, M7JBZ - Tony Barron, G3YYH - Rich Bamber, M0XRB - Martin Smythe, M0MGA - Rik Proctor M7NTS
 
The station will be operating in Normandy for a few days at various locations which had significance in the 1944 Normandy landings. For direct contact with the CMP vehicle listen on 3615kHz A.M.  from around 06:00 BST and on 7070kHz USB from 12:00 BST from Sunday 4th June to Saturday 10th June. Some efforts will be made to link up on  51.700mHz F.M. but these will be dependant on 6m propagation. Schedules will be notified on this site and on the VMARS Members online Reflector as they become available, but will be subject to short notice and changes resulting from security arrangements for visiting dignitaries, along with other national representatives of the combatant countries.

 

A Spitfire taxis past local farmers harvesting wheat at B-2 Bazenville Advanced Landing Ground in 1944

The Normandy 2023 crew are staying in the Normandy village of Bazenville, just three miles from the invasion beaches, where on the 6th June 1944 the first Advanced Landing Ground began construction and was operational by 11th June.For more information follow this link.
A further interesting B-2 ALG site can be reached here

 

VMARS member Trevor Sanderson, PA3BOH, operating the classic British WW2 vehicle mounted station Wireless Set No.12 transmitter and R107 receiver. Trevor is controlling the daily morning 3615kHz A.M. net from the CMP parked adjacent to the Bazenville Advanced Landing Ground and working into the UK, France and Netherlands.


 



Tony Barron, G3YYH, concentrates on sending CW while Martin Smyth, M0MGA, pays close attention


Not WW2 equipment - but 1970's British Army vintage for operating SSB and FM nets during the Normandy 2023 expedition. Top is a Clansman VRC321 HF transceiver for SSB, A.M. and CW operation on any frequency from 1.5mHz to 30mHz. Underneath is the Clansman 353 FM transceiver working from 30mHz to 75.975mHz. Operating such equipment on air by non military  individuals requires an amateur radio licence issued by OFCOM, which limits operation to bands of frequencies specifically allocated for amateur use. 
 
This is the Wireless Set No.19 in the CMP, the most widely used vehicle mounted transceiver in the British & Commonwealth Armies of WW2 and beyond. Installed in Tanks, Reconnaisance vehicles, Jeeps and Lorries, along with any type of portable or fixed station imaginable, even in light air observation aircraft for communication with artillery and armour. The additional unit on top of the WS19 is an RF amplifier designed to boost the power of the transmitter.
 

The CMP with the Luftwaffe Würzburg Radar at Douvres
For more information click here for the Luftwaffe Douvres Radar Station link
 

For the June 2023 D-Day Expedition by VMARS members.

Special event callsigns have been issued for use from the following locations:

During the week between Saturday 3rd June and Saturday 10th June, VMARS members will be operating WW2 period radio equipment from the CMP lorry from at Normandy Invasion beaches and surrounding area. Listen out and contact them on the following frequencies and nets:-

3.615 Mc/s A.M. VMARS nets every morning at about 07:00 BST

3.615 Mc/s A.M. VMARS Saturday net 08:30 following the early morning 07:00 net

3.615 Mc/s LSB/USB nets Wednesday & Friday evenings at 20:00

3.680 Mc/s USB MATRON Net - Sunday afternoons

3.600 Mc/s possibly to link up with regular French A.M. nets

7.070 Mc/s USB daily at 12:00

51.7 Mc/s FM From Douvres Radar Museum.– These will be experimental communications links to test 6m summer propagation and low power signals between UK and Normandy are very possible. 
 


Rigging the Yagi antenna for 6m cross channel communications tests on 51.700 Mc/s. Note the essential tea & biscuit facility
Below:The Moxon 6m aerial used for the same tests.

 
 Martin Smyth, M0MGA operating from the CMP and busy working stations in the U.K., France and the Netherlands using military equipment operating Upper Side Band on 7.077 Mc/s


Early morning on Gold Beach 6th June 2023, the CMP is ready to unload and set up the TM79GOLD wireless station
Below:- Early morning on Gold Beach 6th June 1944, British troops  leading the beach assault




For information about Canadian Military Pattern lorries, extensively used by British forces, click on this link

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Military_Pattern_truck
 




Local map of the Gold Beach first assault wave plan for 6th June 1944. The Landing Beach Zone Expedition  team operate from the East Red Jig location on the Beach Road.

Follow this link for more information:-
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Beach
 


 


Flowers placed on Gold Beach in a moving tribute to those who landed here on 6th June 1944

 

 

News Years Day Net Recording

1st January 2022 08:00 - 09:45 GMT
 

 
Recorded in two parts by F4VSC in Central Brittany, North West France on a Perseus receiver
using a 100m horizontal delta loop aerial.


 

Click on the above pictures of Tony and Keith to listen to parts 1 & 2 of the recordings

VMARS Chairman Tony Barron, G3YYH, runs a short New Year's Day Greetings net using his newly restored Wireless Set 52 before Keith Yates, G3XGW, takes over for the regular Saturday morning AM Net using his Labgear LG300 transmitter.

The net began in very good conditions, initially with some continental and digital QRM before quietening down. By 09:00 GMT signals began to drop off and the recording was terminated at the end of the first round of overs.

VMARS Net sample recording 6th January 2022

 
Martin, M0MGA waving the maritime Blue Ensign on the 1944 Normandy beach landing zone. Click on the picture to listen to a ten minute sample of a prenet, this one for users/builders of TRF receivers, and the following handover to the regular Saturday morning AM net controller. Hear the music of twenty or so vintage transmitters responding to the invitation to tune up on the frequency.

VMARS official controlled AM nets are held at 08:30 on each Saturday morning. The frequency is 3615KHz and the Society welcomes all Amplitude Modulation stations using vintage or modern equipment. Operators do not need to be members of VMARS to join in.

There is also an informal net of UK AM stations and occasional Continental stations which operates daily on 3615KHz, beginning at about 07:00, depending on the band being open for inter G contacts, and usually active until around 09:00.
 





 






 


 

VMARS Special Heavy Metal Net Recording Saturday 13th February 2021 07:30-08:30 GMT

Net Controller Martin Smyth, M0MGA

To listen to the net, click on the picture of Martin, M0MGA, above

The recording was of reception in NW France at the home QTH of F4VSC. Stations which were unreadable have been edited from the recording.

Special Borders Net Recording 12th December 2020

A special early one hour Saturday morning net, beginning at 07:30 GMT was arranged on 3615 KHz. in order to attract more Scottish VMARS members and other AM operators in Scotland, Ireland and in the English Northern borders region to Society radio nets.


Conditions were generally good, with the earlier part of the net enjoying long skip conditions providing excellent reception of stations 400- 600 miles (640 - 960 Km) distant.

 

Click on the Wireless Set No.52 receiver above to listen

This net was recorded in central Brittany, NW France between 07:20 and 08:30 GMT on a Perseus SDR receiver located at the QTH of Ian Underwood, F4VSC, The net is controlled by Andy Wright, G4OJY from his location in Tow Law in County Durham, about 452 miles (723Km) north  of the receiving station.

Distant stations joining the net were GM4OAQ, David, located at Forfar, about 17 miles north of Dundee and 580 miles (928Km) north of the receiving station, GM3VXI, Allan,  located on the Isle of Skye, but unfortunately not readable in Brittany at 656 miles (1050Km) distant, GD3YTE, Peter, in the Isle of Man and PA3BOH, Trevor, in the Hague.


 


 

VMARS & SRS Net Recording Saturday 11th April 2020

This Amplitude Modulation net using vintage equipment was arranged between the UK based Vintage & Military Amateur Radio Society and the Netherlands based Surplus Radio Society as a celebration of 25 years since the foundation of the SRS in 1995. Stations from Germany and from France also joined the net.  The recording was made by Trevor Sanderson PA3BOH, and was of signals received at the web-SDR owned by John Somerville MW0XHO and located at Conwy in North Wales, about 60KM WSW Liverpool.
 

       

VMARS & SRS Net Part 1                                                  VMARS & SRS Net Part 2    
Click on the pictures to listen

This two part recording has been faded out and edited to remove silent periods when audible signals were not being received and when significant local QRN at Conwy blocked reception, so it is not a complete recording of the net. Breaks in transmission are because the original Web-SDR recording file became full and a new file had to be opened to continue the recording. The files have been joined in edit where appropriate. The first six minutes recorded are of the pre-net.



 




VMARS Saturday morning prenet & net recording 6th October 2018



          

Prenet recording: Click on the AR-88 receiver
Features ON/M0MGA and ON/G3YYH operating portable from the WW1 battlefied site located at Polygon Wood in Belgium   


 

                                                       

VMARS Net Controllers Gallery

Below - Bronek Wedzicha, M0DAF, regular VMARS AM Net Controller located near York.

Bronek's recently built transmitter shown here being used on the Saturday net, has a line up of  12BY7A VFO, 5763 buffer, 5763 doubler/driver, 813 PA, modulated by a pair of 811A's. The audio front end employs a Datong Clipper followed by a MOSFET driver. The receiver in use when on air is either Racal RA17 or a Bendix RA-1B.



 

Below - Justin Woolgar, GW0FZY, regular VMARS Net Controller located near Swansea

Justin has a wide range of A.M. equipment ranging from an ex RAF Marconi T1509 transmitter to the home built Class E A.M. transmitter that he is seated in front of in the photograph. On top of that is an Optimod A.M. audio processing unit. Another of Justin's hobbies is getting jet engines working and running them in his garden.

View Justin's website by clicking on this link and be in for a surprise



 

Below - Keith Yates , G3XGW, regular VMARS AM Net Controller located near Evesham, Worcestershire

Keith usually operates the VMARS net with a Labgear LG300 transmitter and a National HRO receiver but he has been known to come up on a Heathkit DX100U transmitter with an RCA AR88 receiver.Keith is pictured here in front of his 1940's Marconi T1145/R1155 RAF aircraft station famously used on board Lancaster Bombers.

View Keith's interesting radio website here

Below - Stuart McKinnon, G0TBI , regular VMARS AM Net Controller located in Kinver, Staffordshire

Stuart's main station for use on the net is an RCA ET4336 Tx and an AR88 D receiver. However, he will frequently be heard using some of his other sets, such as his Marconi T1509, a DX100U or KW Vanguard transmitters from his large collection of vintage and miltary equipment.

Below - Paul Craven, M1PVC , regular VMARS AM Net Controller located near to the village of Hartfield in the Ashdown Forest, East Sussex.

Paul operates the VMARS net with a Heathkit DX100U or Labgear LG300 transmitter in combination with a National HRO 500 receiver. Among other restored vintage wireless equipment to be found in Paul's shack and frequently heard on air are a T1154 and Bendix TA12c aircraft transmitters


Below - Martin Sweeting, G3YJO, regular VMARS Net Controller located near Guildford in Surrey.

Martin is pictured here seated  in front of his fully restored Wireless Set No.53 transmitter next to  an R107 receiver. As well as being on the Saturday Net controller rota, Martin can be regularly heard on air using one of his collection of British WW2 wireless sets which includes WS No's.19, 52 and 62, as well as the WS 53.



Listen to Martins' BBC "Life Scientific" interview broadcast in August 2021

Below -  Bob Tucker,  G6AVI, regular VMARS Net Controller located near the town of Watton in Southwest Norfolk.
 

Bob  is pictured here using a Minimitter ‘tabletopper’ transmitter and his Collins 75A-4 receiver. He also has an interest in building his own equipment and his "Home Brew" 813 transmitter and modulator can also be seen, along with other vintage equipment from his fine collection.


 


Below - the shack of Tony Barron, G3YYH, located in the Cotswold Hills about 5 miles south east of Cheltenham.

Tony generally uses an HRO receiver from 1946 and a DX100U transmitter, with SDR on stand-by to resolve difficult signals. Tony also frequently operates from portable locations in the UK and France and frequently works from his Land Rover or the vintage WW2 Canadian Military Pattern lorry that he owns jointly with Martin, M0MGA.






Below - The shack of John Sommerville, MW0XHO regular VMARS Net Controller located in Conwy, North Wales.

John's extensive collection of equipment includes some heavy metal transmitters and receivers which include a Collins KWS-1 tx and 75A-4 rx "Gold Dust Twins" station, a Diplomatic Wireless Service Mk210 transmitter and his 1948 Marconi T1509 RAF ground transmitter pictured below. Receivers at John's QTH include an RCA AR88D and a Collins 390A.



 

Below - Jonathan Wymer, G8URE is a regular Net Controller operating from Chichester in West Sussex.

Seen here with his WW2 WS18, which he uses with a transverter to work on 3615 Khz, Jonathan can always be relied upon to turn up on net with some rare and sometimes exotic equipment combinations to entertain us on air.

 

Below - Ian Underwood, F4VSC , occasional VMARS Net Controller located near the town of Rostrenen in central Brittany, North West France.

Ian, who also holds the UK licence M0YMK, operates a 1950's Labgear LG300 or a Heathkit DX100U for net control. Other transmitters regularly used by Ian on VMARS nets are Bendix TA12c, Wireless Set No.52, Wireless Set No.19, Larkspur C11/R210. Receivers include National HRO 5T, RCA CR-91




Below - Martin Smyth, M0MGA, regular VMARS Net Controller located in Whitehill near Bordon in East Hampshire.

Martin uses a Heathkit DX100U transmitter and an RCA AR88 receiver for his turns as Net Controller. At other times he can also frequently be heard using his very distinctive Wireless Set No 12 transmitter and regularly operates portable in UK and France with Tony, G3YYH.



 

Below - Martin Owen, G4JSX, regular VMARS Net Controller located near Rugby in Warwickshire.

Martin has a fine collection of Naval equipmemt dating from the 1940's into the 1970's, which can be regularly heard on air on the weekday SSB nets as well as on the weekly Saturday Morning AM net.


SSB nets
The society also runs SSB nets. A USB net takes place each Wednesday at 20:00hrs local time on 3615KHz +/-QRM to provide an opportunity for those who wish to use their unmodified military sets which operate in USB only. There is an LSB net on Friday evenings to encourage members to keep in touch on-air. This takes place at 19.30 and uses LSB on 3615KHz +/- QRM.

Special on-air events
From time to time, the Society runs special events, generally on the 40m, 60m and 80m bands, which specialise in use of vintage equipment or to commemorate some historic event with "wireless" connections. These are advertised to members in the News Sheet, and also on the Society’s website.

The VMARS call-sign is M0VMW

The SRS Nets
The Dutch Surplus Radio Society run AM and SSB nets for vintage enthusiasts, full details are on their website here .

Other AM Activity Frequencies
AM activity is increasingly found on a number of other bands, in particular: 5317KHz, 7143KHz, 14286KHz, 21425KHz and 29000 - 29150KHz. There are several local AM nets in the UK on topband.

FM Frequencies
For mobiles working into VMARS events, 2m calling in on 145.500MHz (S20) is usual, before QSY to a working frequency. At event locations where military equipment is in use, suggested FM "Centres of Activity" on VHF are 51.700Mhz, 70.425MHz (70.450MHz calling).

VMARS NETS & RECOMMENDED FREQUENCIES

All times are UK local

3615 KHz AM

Saturday AM net 08:30 – 10:30

3615 KHz USB

 

Wednesday USB net for military equipment 20:00 – 21:00

3615 KHz LSB

Friday LSB net 19:30 – 20:30

3615 KHz AM 

Regular informal net from around 07:30 - 08:30 and throughout the day

3563 KHz CW 
+/- QRM

Calling Frequency for CW. Scheduled operating times are 10:00 hrs and 19:00 hrs Daily. This is an informal net established to encourage greater use of CW by VMARS members, but non-members are welcome to join in. 

5317 KHz
AM   

Regular AM QSO’s, usually late afternoon. (Advanced licence required. 6Khz max bandwidth)

7143 KHz
AM   

VMARS AM operating frequency

51.700 MHz FM

VMARS FM operating frequency, also used at rallies and events

70.425 MHz FM

VMARS FM operating frequency, also used at rallies and events


VMARS Net Controller Rota for 2023/24 3615Khz

Amplitude Modulation every Saturday at 08:30 UK time

Hear and work 20+ stations using vintage equipment

last amended 14th January 2023

Click here to download a printable rota January 2023 - March 2024

VMARS Members at play during summers with some of their prized vintage equipment

VMARS is affiliated to the Radio Society of Great Britain
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