Tag Archives: 10m

GB2SL Report

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This Years Team

Top Left Dave Wilkinson from YWT, Phil M0VEY, Kevin M0KVK, Andy G7LRR, Paul 2E0WPW Dave 2E0TKO, Andy M0TTL, Jason M0MGF, Ian M1DHJ, and not in the picture Marcin M0GLV

Well, what a great weekend’s event as always at spurn point lighthouse.
Big thank you to the Yorkshire wildlife trust @ spurn, Andrew Mason, Adam Stoyle, and the team, for making us all feel very welcome and helping us make this yearly event possible.
Was good to be back on Spurn point after not being able to get down for the last two years and talking to the team down there again was good to have a catch-up.
We tried our best to put on a good station and get the public involved in what we do.
We spoke and worked many other lighthouses and lightships around the globe, as we could also this year work a digimode called FT8.
Not sure about the numbers we worked on as I write this, but will post once done I do know it was in the three hundred range.
Apart from operating radio which is why we were there, it’s great to also relax at spurn point taking a nice walk around and taking in the wildlife, one of the highlights was Binks and Basil coming to pay us a visit and feeding them by hand, these are some of spurn points foxes which over the years the RLNI lifeboat crews have made friends with along with the teams that work with and for the YWT.

All in all a great event looking forward to going back next year.
I know there’s talk of BBQ next year as well that will beat my pot noodles this year hi hi.
Some pictures to highlight the event

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GB2SL International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend – ILLW 21st 22nd August 2021

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Once again, the Humber Fortress ARC club working alongside Yorkshire Wildlife Trust will be putting a live HF Radio Station on the amateur radio bands from Spurn Point Lighthouse. From 21st August and running until 1500 hr 22nd August. The club members are really looking forward to this event. With the move of the radio Club in 2019 and Covid restrictions in 2020, we missed out on our annual trip to the lighthouse.

There are two lighthouses situated close to each other at the southern end of the point. There have been lighthouses on Spurn since 1427 due to the dangerous currents and sandbanks that lie beneath the Humber’s surface.

There is little record of what Spurn’s earlier lighthouses looked like, but we know they have been built in pairs since 1674 and at least eight have been swept away in storms. They were built in twos (called high and low lights) to help sailors navigate in the Humber estuary. In 1852 the last, and still standing, low light was built. However, when the present lighthouse was built the low light was no longer needed as three additional lamps were placed in the body of the lighthouse instead. It has since been used as an explosive store and a water tower. Now it stands deserted.

Thomas Matthews designed the present lighthouse in 1893-5 when the previous one was discovered to be cracking. It stands on an artificial rock foundation that goes down 22 feet (7m) and took nearly two years to build.

Later the oil lamp was converted to electricity (1941) and gas (1957) on which ran until 1985 when it was last used.

First Lighthouse built: 1427
Current lighthouse built: 1893-5
Height: 128ft (39m)
Steps: 145
Made of: 300,000 Staffordshire bricks
Designed by: Thomas Matthews
Built by: Stratten’s of Edinburgh
Last day of use: 31st October 1985
Location: End of Spurn Point.

 

We will head down to the lighthouse on Saturday morning at 7 am. The trip starts with a ride in the YWT Unimog as the road has been breached over the years and the Unimog makes easy work of getting across the difficult terrain.

Once down at the lighthouse, the equipment will be unloaded from the Unimog, then we will start to set up the station.

 

One job is to climb the 145 steps to the top of the lighthouse, then lower a 300-meter rope over the side which we run out along the beach. Then we will put halyards along this rope to run 160m 80m 40m dipoles and verticals from.

Once we have set up the station we will be on the air! Please call in into the event if you hear us on the air using callsign GB2SL.

If you fancy a walk down to the lighthouse, please come along but remember to check tide times before travelling.

Please see the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust website for more info.

 

  

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GB0EY East Yorkshire

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With Covid, lock-down lifted the Club came up with an event to get going at short notice. Yorkshire day 1st August Celebrate all things Yorkshire when the UK’s largest county comes together to indulge in vast quantities of regional pride.

An NOV has gained GB0EY the call setup, with the table set and the event can begin, we were lucky that we have nice big bays on each station setup with screens in-between ideal for social distancing

Kevin M0KVK and Marcin M0GLV kicked off the Event.

kevin M0KVK in the seat

Kevin M0KVK in the 20m 15m 10m chair

Marcin M0GLV
Marcin M0GLV takes over later from Kevin.

Phil M0VEY showing all of us how to operate his Icom 7300 which he brought for the weekend on the 160m and 40m Station position.

Phil also doubles up as the catering manager for the Weekend with hotdogs and burgers being all the rage.

Band conditions were very favorable, enabling us to work station in Japan, USA day and night as well as Europe at the same time.

All in all our first event back after lockdown and Covid19 has gone very good, working lots of DX and with what looks like this year being very good for sunspots the bands are very good.

Places we worked over the weekend with 437 contacts been made.

Big thank you to all members that came along and supported the event.

Watch out for our next event GB2SL lighthouses on the air coming from Spurn point on 21st to 22nd August 2021. 

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Blackburn Beverley 24th – 31st March

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Blackburn Beverley the Anniversary of this unique aircraft located at Fort Paull using GB0BB callsign from our Club House within the grounds of Fort Paull.

The club will be activating the callsign GB0BB, from Fort Paull. The event is to celebrate the 11th anniversary of this, the last surviving aircraft of its type residing in the grounds of the Fort.

If anyone has any pictures relating to a Blackburn Beverley aircraft, then we would be pleased to receive a copy through this Email Address

Guest Operators from far and wide are as always welcome to our activations. If you wish to stop over, then for a small fee, over night camping is available. All monies raised are used in the renovation of Fort Paull. The Fort receives NO funding from any organisation.
There is a cafe on site, and plenty of toilet facilities, and for those visiting the club, a hot drink is usually in order.

A special QSL card is available for those that work the station.

 

The plane was originally built at British Aerospace in Brough and made its final flight into Paull Aerodrome just outside the village, it remained there for ten years before being moved to the Beverley Army Museum where it was a focal point for visitors for several years. When the museum closed a bid was made by the Fort to purchase the aircraft. The bid was subsequently successful and in 2004 the Beverley returned home to Paull and opened to the public after re-assembly in 2005.

The staff at Fort Paull are extremely proud of this acquisition and are determined to preserve not just the fabric of the aircraft but also its history. Inside the aircraft you will find information regarding the history of the Blackburn Beverley and this specific aircraft in particular, you can also look around its massive frame and see just how much the plane could carry.

No visit to the Fort is complete without looking at the Blackburn Beverley.

Lot of info about the history of the XB259 can be found HERE

QSL Info:

Bureu is free / Direct via the QSL manager (G1TDN) with a S.A.S.E (UK) or $2 to cover postage. Please note – IRCs are now no longer valid in the UK.

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