International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, 2003

(From Dave, G1OCN)
"........ I had a great day on the Saturday but had to "work" on the Sunday so I also missed the hectic activity. The word pile-up was used on a couple of occasions though I recall.

The best time for me personally was from 1030 through to 1100 on the Sunday morning. As is the norm at Portland Bill Lighthouse now, the old Diaphone fog signal is sounded every Sunday morning for thirty minutes.

This is a sort of calling card, nostalgic even and for the students of the noble art of Pharology, an excellent opportunity to hear a real fog horn sounding.


Kerry M0WIK & Dave G1OCN set up the station,
while Owen 2E1OZY looks on……..

Anyway, back to the point: During this first thirty minutes of activity of the Sunday morning, I was very keen to have the fog signal heard over the radio.

This was achieved, and, during several QSOs during the 30 minutes, I would pause, but still have the PTT pressed when the fog horn sounded.

The most memorable comment I received was from the operators of the Saint Catherines Lighthouse on the Isle of Wight who said "That’s the best QRM over the radio I have ever heard". It’s the sort of comment that sticks in the mind and I hope as you read this that you can get a feel for the atmosphere those present, & myself, experienced on the day. It really is something else.

For those reading this whom may not be local to Portland, come and see us on a Sunday morning and experience it for yourself. Once heard, never forgotten !

And now an admission: When trying to get a wire aerial to work, make sure you put the wire in the correct antenna connection first. It really does help to get the auto ATU functioning correctly. Those present at the weekend will know what I mean. C’est la vie……..

And finally, thanks to everyone who made it a real cracking weekend.
The aims were achieved, and our visitors are much better informed as there were no RSGB leaflets left to put back in the box for next year."


The Banner makes another appearance……..

(From Kerry, M0WIK, & Owen 2E1OZY)
"Well, at the risk of repeating ourselves, Owen and I also had a good time at the Lighthouse event. After the (now customary!) minor setting up troubles, including (but not limited to) the wrong antenna socket woes already alluded to by Dave, we were up and running, and the rest of the weekend was a great success, with my first experience of significant pile-up activity on the Sunday!

Anyway, without further ado, here is a breakdown of the contacts we made:

Over the weekend we made over 200 contacts, including 21 other participating lighthouses. The countries contacted, ranked by number of QSOs, were as follows:

England 69 (8 Lighthouses)

Netherlands 2
Germany 52 (2 Lighthouses) Hungary 2
Belgium 11 Sweden 1 (1 Lighthouse)
Italy 10 (2 Lighthouses) Isle of Man 1 (1 Lighthouse)
Scotland 7 (4 Lighthouses) Guernsey 1
Poland 6 Ukraine 1
Wales 5 (3 Lighthouses) Hungary 1
Switzerland 5 Portugal 1
Russia 5 Finland 1
N. Ireland 4 Oman 1
Czech Republic / Slovakia 4 Israel 1
Croatia 4 Ukraine 1
Austria 4 Bulgaria 1
Slovenia 3 Denmark 1
Eire 2 Estonia 1
Yugoslavia 2 Norway 1
France 2

Most of these contacts were made on HF, predominantly 20m and 40m, with 100W to a simple wire dipole, mounted quite low down outside the Lighthouse Visitors Centre. Only a single HF station was in use for most of the event, with 2m VHF also available. For a few hours on the Sunday, a second HF station was set up in the Lighthouse day room, working medium power on the 15m band, but unlike the pile-ups on 20m and 40m very few QSOs were had.

So, all in all, considering that the stations were operating for less than 16 hours out of the possible 48 of the entire event, I think we can be pleased with the results!"