The Event!

James (M3JRP) finishing the club boards

Firstly - A note to Science Festival organisers:  Try not to hold another event such as this on the same day as a major sporting event, like the Wales v Ireland grandslam Rugby match! - This I think attributed to a dramatic drop in numbers - that and possibly the amazingly warm weather!

This years event was a bit more low-key anyway.  We had to be off early in order to get to Blackpool for a reasonable time!

Friday was setup day - we managed to get the aerials up - the weather was hot and humid - Certainly made for an interesting days work.  Given that we wanted to get the aerials up and off site within reasonable time - This was certainly the case!

With the aerials up, myself, Geoff and Eric set about sorting out the room - a layout was decided on, and we got shifting the tables around.  Adrian and Steve did a field test of the antenna system, and when they came into the room, the antenna was deemed to be working (Steve had worked Germany on it!)  With the room setup, we all headed home in order to start the process of packing the necessary kit for the following day.

(James and Steve find a few moments to discuss things so far!)

Saturday

It was a very warm morning, when I landed at 8am, Steve Bennet had landed (no pun intended) and Starchaser were getting themselves sorted.  In the room, the kit came out, and was getting set up. A mammoth effort swung into action, in order to get the room decorated.  Eric had already landed on site, and with James & Adrian arriving soon after, followed by Steve, then Geoff, the team was here, all ready to go, and that we did.

James and Eric started decorating the room - Geoff and myself set the kit up, the club PC was kicked into action, and it was at this point that I realised my speakers were on their way back to my QTH.  Luckily Steve had the speaker for his 706, and this was used to provide sound for the club PC.  Steve M0SJR arrived soon after, and as we'd already set up his RSGB display, he realised there was little for him to do, however, he made a few adjustments and got stuck in with the HF and VHF stations. 

The event was due to kick off at 10, and it was at about 8:45 am, that Adrian suggested a team breakfast would be a good idea - well, almost all the team, myself and Eric were left on site, however the problem was that the organisers wanted us to be in place at 9:45 for a final inspection! - frantic calls were made, and luckily the team arrived back on site for the inspection.

And so the event kicked off at 10am, and our first visitors arrived at 11:40 - and so for an hour and more we sat, just working stations, we didn't know when we were going to get our first visitors, and so we just got on with working stations. My first contact on VHF was to Peter, in Coventry - which considering the co-linear wasn't high up - and was probably being blocked by NEWI in that direction, it was some achievement (OK - so it may have help from the linear) - For most of the day, most of the contacts would be fairly local though!

Adrian working HF

HF had already kicked off, and was working into Europe, starting with Northern France - Conditions were fairly good that day, and so  quite a number of contacts were made in the UK and Europe.

As I said, our first visitors arrived on site at 11:40, as a member of their family was licenced, they knew about Amateur Radio, but not about the Foundation Licence, and so we spoke to them about it, and showed them round the stations.  From there on in it went quiet for a little while, a few people dropped in, but not many were really that interested.

So we mucked around a little :)

Picking up!

However, we were soon to be joined by some familiar faces, who deemed the rest of Scientriffic not all that exciting, ad kept paying us a visit! - Colin, and Jenna (who famously appeared in Radcom, before she got her licence!) and David dropped by, and had a go at Morse, but could we get any of them on the air ? - no!

Steve and Geoff oversee the Morse, with David McKenna, and Jenna Griffin (Now MW3JOU)

The day continued ever onwards, Lunch arrived, and the usual swapping took place - Tuna & Sweetcorn isn't something everyone likes! - We all briefly stopped to take time out to eat - So far, the day certainly wasn't a success, members were worried that things wouldn't pick up - the weather was exceptionally warm for March, and with the rugby grandslam due to start in a few hours,  the fear was we'd be sitting around for most of the day!.

This was and wasn't to be the case - We'd get a few people back, including Colin, Jenna and David.  Colin and Jenna have since taken their M3 at Frodsham, and are now MW3JNI, and MW3JOU respectively - Colin had been considering getting the M3 for some time, however, Jenna worked a German station during TDOTA, and it was then that she became bitten by the bug...They nipped back from time to time - In fact they were probably the most regular visitors we had - it also helped because the made our exhibit look busy!

Geoff on the 2M Station

However, in the afternoon things picked up, this was due to the 'Children's University' part of our exhibit - The Children's University is a good idea, in that in order to gain a t-shirt and certificate, entrants must go round the campus, visiting the exhibits, and participating in various activities - in our case, they had to send their name in Morse - once that was done, we stamped their 'passport' and they moved on to the next exhibit! - As they were given no list of who was participating, some detective work was necessary.  In the morning, we got a few visitors by, but the afternoon was quite busy, obviously word had got around! -  despite everything, Morse is still popular, even though its no longer a requirement for any part of the licence.

M0SJR

Steve M0SJR was also busy, he was talking about all aspects of the hobby, not only including how he rose from M3 to M0 within 18 months, but also discussing all things RSGB related, and also handing out details for the course in Frodsham - We spoke to a few people in the afternoon who were interested in the Frodsham course - Some have since come to Frodsham, and taken the M3, and passed ! - Despite the low numbers, Steve was kept busy, thanks to those interested members of the public.  Given the numbers though I couldn't help feeling that he'd come up here under false pretenses!

Geoff and Eric take a moment out for a photo!

I myself made as much effort to talk about the hobby to as many people as I could, a lot of people already knew a bit about it, but most of them had no idea of the re-structuring of the licence, or the Foundation licence itself.

Final.....

The stations continued to work all over the UK and Europe, Eric and Geoff had taken to the stations again - and from here on in, it was all pretty easy! - However, James and Eric did take a wander round the site, and noted that visitor numbers were down - and that some parts of the festival were almost empty! - Despite protests, we decided to keep going until about 4pm - as we had to head straight to Blackpool almost straight after, we had  decided from the off to pack up early - The station came down as fast as it went up, and by about 4:30, we were heading off site.

Of course, I stopped off at Steve's QTH with Steve to watch the grandslam victory, and then we headed to Blackpool!

We're a bit unsure about next year - Speaking to the organisers, they feel the same - We'll just have to keep an eye on things.

Steve M0SJR playing Morse

Thanks

I would like to thank the following people: Steve (MW1STE) Adrian (M1LCR) James (M3JRP - Thanks also for the work done on the club boards!) Eric (2W0WXM) and Geoff (GW6SBD) for all their help and assistance in getting GB2WSF up and running. Many thanks to Stephen Roberts (M0SJR) - DRRM for Cheshire and Merseyside, who stepped in as our DRRM when or RRM and DRRM couldn't make it due to other commitments. Many thanks to Kath Wilson (M1CNY) for letting Steve come over the border! Many thanks also to the club members who either worked the station, or turned up on site!