Caister calling... Radio hams enjoy International Marconi day
Chris Danby (callsign G0DWV) on the microphone, chats to another radio amateur during International Marconi Day while Roger Cooke callsign G3LDI) looks on. Picture: Steve Nichols - Credit: Archant
Radio hams have reached out to 20 countries from a special event at Caister Lifeboat to mark the anniversary of Marconi’s birthday.
The Norfolk Amateur Radio Club held the International Marconi Day event on Saturday and saw 116 other radio amateurs in 23 countries contacted.
Notable contacts were made with stations in Italy, Ireland, Weston-Super-Mare and Poldhu, Cornwall – home of the Marconi Centre from where the inventor made the first transatlantic transmission in 1901.
The radio club was based at Caister Lifeboat to commemorate the village’s original Marconi Wireless Station, which was set up in 1900. Its original purpose was to communicate with ships in the North Sea and the Cross Sands lightship.
Steve Nichols, who organised the event, said: “Conditions weren’t brilliant due to a major solar disturbance, but we were still able to cross the Atlantic on three occasions.
“We made contacts with other radio enthusiasts all over Europe and as far as Asiatic Russia using speech, Morse code and a new highly-efficient FT8 digital mode that Marconi could have only dreamed of.
“We never used more than 100 Watts power – about the same as an incandescent light bulb.
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“Our thanks go to Caister Lifeboat again for letting us set up the station.”
