International Marconi Day 2018 from Caister Lifeboat

Chris G0DWV on the mic. with Roger G3LDI looking on.

Norfolk Amateur Radio Club managed to contact 116 other radio amateurs in 23 different countries on Saturday 22nd April 2018 when we took part in the annual International Marconi Day (IMD) event to mark the inventor's birthday.

This was the ninth year we've taken part.

Using the call GB0CMS and a mixture of Morse code, telephony (speech) and data (FT8), contacts were made with other radio amateurs across the UK, Europe, and the USA.

Notable contacts were made with other IMD 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.

We ran the all-day special event station at Caister Lifeboat to commemorate the village's original Marconi Wireless Station, which was established at Caister in 1900. The station was in a house in the High Street known as Pretoria Villa and its original purpose was to communicate with ships in the North Sea and the Cross Sands lightship.

Conditions weren’t brilliant due to a major solar disturbance (effects of a coronal hole), but we were still able to cross the Atlantic on three occasions.

We were picked up in Pennsylvania, US via FT8 at -20dB on the reverse beacon network, but didn't make any transatlantic FT8 QSOs.

The equipment used was 100W maximum from an Icom IC-7400 (20m) and an Icom IC-7300 (80/40/30m). Antennas were a W5GI dipole on 40m and my design of a monoband end-fed half-wave (EFHW) vertical for 20m. The FT8 digital mode was used for the first time to show what can be worked with just 20-25W.

We also used a Flex Maestro to remotely link into Malcolm G3PDH's home station via the internet and worked back to ourselves using his special First Class Operators' Club call for April, G4FOC. The Maestro is very impressive!

Above all, it was great fun and a good social event

Caister Marconi radio station makes nearly 200 contacts

Right: Rodney G0CBO and Kim G4WUG contact another other 

radio amateur with Morse code from GB0CMS at 

Caister Lifeboat on International Marconi Day.

Members of the Norfolk Amateur Radio Club (NARC) managed to contact 193 other radio amateurs in 31 different countries on Saturday 22nd April 2017 when they took part in the annual International Marconi Day at the Caister Lifeboat Visitor Centre to mark the inventor's birthday.

Using the call GB0CMS and a mixture of Morse code, telephony (speech) and data (PSK), contacts were made with other radio amateurs across the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA.

Notable contacts were with other special Marconi stations in the UK, Italy, and Ireland.

NARC ran the all-day special event station at Caister Lifeboat to commemorate the village's original Marconi Wireless Station, which was established at Caister in 1900. The station was in a house in the High Street known as Pretoria Villa and its original purpose was to communicate with ships in the North Sea and the Cross Sands lightship.

On Saturday, the closest to Guglielmo Marconi's birthday, stations around the world are set up at sites with historical links to the inventor's work. These include Poldhu in England; Cape Cod Massachusetts; Glace Bay, Nova Scotia; Villa Griffone, Bologna, Italy and many others.

Visitors to the station including many other local radio amateurs and members of the public.

Steve G0KYA, who organised the event, said: “Conditions weren’t brilliant due to the effects of a solar coronal hole, but we started off by talking to Ian VK3MO, an amateur near Melbourne, Australia on SSB.

“We then went on to make contacts with other radio enthusiasts all over Europe and as far as North Carolina, USA using speech, PSK and Morse code.

“New this year was CW operation on 30m, which proved very effective with long runs into Europe using a new prototype end fed half wave antenna (EFHW). We also had the club IC-7300 running on 40m, which worked well but highlighted a few things we need to check, such as the overload light flashing when the other station was on 30m and we tried to work on 20m.”

“My thanks to everyone who helped on the day and to to Caister Lifeboat for letting us set up the station.”

The equipment used was 100W from an Icom IC-756 Pro3 (30/20m) and Icom IC-7300 (40m). Antennas were a W5GI dipole on 40m and G0KYA's monoband end-fed half-wave verticals for HF.

International Marconi Day, April 22 2017

Saturday 22nd April 2017 is International Marconi Day when stations around the world celebrate the birthday of Guglielmo Marconi.

It is also a good opportunity for you to gain a very nice certificate. All you have to do is work 15 award stations and send in a log extract - you don't need QSL cards.

I shall be helping to run GB0CMS again this year at Caister Lifeboat in Norfolk, UK.

There is short video that looks at the equipment the club used to make 165 contacts in 24 countries on Saturday 30 April 2011. And another for the 2012 event when we made more than 500 contacts.

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z41FLKaT7eY and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ZRW0q6SyI

To help UK stations work the requisite number of IMD stations I have prepared some HF propagation predictions. You can view these online.

You can find out more about IMD at: http://gx4crc.com/gb4imd/

International Marconi Day, April 20 2013

Saturday 20th April 2013 is International Marconi Day when stations around the world celebrate the birthday of Guglielmo Marconi.

It is also a good opportunity for you to gain a very nice certificate. All you have to do is work the requisite number of award stations and send in a log extract - you don't need QSL cards.

I am giving a talk to Kings Lynn Amateur Radio Club about the best way to win the award and you can download the presentation in PDF format (14Mb). It is aimed at UK operators.

I shall be helping to run GB0CMS again this year at Caister Lifeboat. There is short video that looks at the equipment the club used to make 165 contacts in 24 countries on Saturday 30 April 2011. And another for the 2012 event when we made more than 500 contacts.

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z41FLKaT7eY and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ZRW0q6SyI

You can also view my propagation predictions online.

You can find out more at: http://www.gb4imd.org.uk/

Video: GB0CMS, Caister Marconi Station

I have produced a short video of my club's activities for International Marconi Day (IMD).

The Norfolk Amateur Radio Club ran GB0CMS - Caister Marconi Station - on the Norfolk coast as part of the international event.

The video explains what IMD is, tells you the history of the Caister station and takes you on a tour of the Lifeboat Visitor Centre.

It also looks at the equipment the club used to make 165 contacts in 24 countries on Saturday 30 April 2011.

See http://www.youtube.com/user/norfolkamateurradio

Propagation predictions for International Marconi Day

Right: Peter (M0RYB) hard at work on the key at GB0CMS last year. International Marconi Day will be held on Saturday 30 April 2011 this year. I help to run GB0CMS at Caister Lifeboat in Norfolk and thought it would be a good idea to have some idea of propagation conditions to the other IMD stations around the world. I have therefore created some charts that show the reliability of paths to Italy, East Coast of USA, West Coast USA, Iceland, Newfoundland and Uruguay - the locations of the majority of the IMD stations. These should help you get your award. See http://www.infotechcomms.net/IMD/ For info, they were created using HamCap (a VOACAP-based program) using a smoothed sunspot number of 41 and based on 100W CW to a dipole at 35ft. Scale your results accordingly.

International Marconi Day, 25th April 2009

Saturday 25th April 2009 is International Marconi Day when stations around the world celebrate the birthday of Guglielmo Marconi. it is also a good opportunity for you to gain a very nice certificate. All you have to do is work the requisite number of award stations and send in a log extract - you don't need QSL cards. I gave a talk to my local club about the best way to win the award and you can download the presentation in PDF format (10Mb). It is aimed at UK operators. You can also view my propagation predictions online. You can find out more at: http://www.gb4imd.org.uk/ Pictured above are the operators at the Poldhu Amateur Radio Club who will be on this year as GB2GM.

Did Marconi really hear signals across the Atlantic in 1901?

As far as the history books and the general public are concerned, Marconi is the father of radio.But Marconi’s main claim to fame all rests on a simple premise — did he actually receive signals from Poldhu, Cornwall, UK at Signal Hill, Newfoundland on December 12, 1901? Unfortunately, some say the evidence is stacked against him and people have argued about the success or otherwise of his achievement for years. Read Steve's feature from the December 2007 issue of QST on the work of the GB3SSS experiment (3Mb PDF).

Propagation predictions for International Marconi Day

International Marconi Day (IMD) is a 24-hour amateur radio event held annually to celebrate the birth of Guglielmo Marconi on the 25th April 1874. The IMD event is not a contest: it is an opportunity for amateurs around the world to make point-to-point contact with historic Marconi sites using HF communications techniques similar to those used by Marconi, and to gain an attractive Award for achieving the requisite number of Marconi stations worked (see IMD Award ).

IMD is usually held on the Saturday closest to Marconi's birthday, when amateur radio stations are established and operated from original historic sites, or nearby. These stations are known as the 'Award Stations'. This year's event is on Saturday 25th April 2009.

I have calculated some propagation predictions from the UK to the various stations taking part to help you make contact and win your award.

Right: The Marconi Centre at Poldhu, Cornwall (or the "Macaroni Centre"as my kids call it!).

In search of Marconi – radio heritage in Cornwall

My wife called it a “geek’s weekend”. I can’t see the local tourist board adopting the title, but if you’ve ever been interested in technology and wondered how it developed, Cornwall is a great place to visit and find out.

Not only is this south-west corner of England the home of radio and satellite communications, but it’s also where the original world wide web was developed – back in the late 1800s.

Download the full feature in PDF format