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IMPORTANT: *WORKING AT THIS EVENT? – THERE IS NOW A BARRIER TO USE THE LIFEBOAT CAR PARK, AND SO TO GET IN ENTER 3233 AT THE BARRIER*
This Saturday 26th April 2025 NARC will once again be running a special event station with the callsign GB0CMS at Caister Lifeboat as part of the International Marconi Day celebrations.
On this day, the closest Saturday to Guglielmo Marconi’s birthday, stations around the world will be set up at sites with historical links to the inventor’s work. It’s the 60th anniversary of IMD this year.
Radio amateurs around the world will contact as many of these stations as possible to try and win an award. We therefore have to hand out GB0CMS to as many stations as possible on HF.
The station will run from approx. 9am to 5pm, with set up from 8am, and we are looking for operators for both the 80m/40m station and the 20m/17m/15m/10m station.
Both SSB and CW will be used, so you don’t have to be a CW operator.
What has Caister got to do with Marconi?
In 1896 the patent for wireless telegraphy was issued to Guglielmo Marconi and the following year the Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company came into being.
The first coastal station was built at Alum Bay, Isle of Wight and in 1900 the company name changed to Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. Ltd.
By the end of that year a chain of coastal stations had been built at strategic points on the coastline, one of these being at Caister on the east coast of the UK.
The Marconi station was established at Caister in 1900, in a house in the High Street known as Pretoria Villa. Its original purpose was to communicate with ships in the North Sea and from 1906 it was also able to communicate with the Cross Sand lightship – all via CW of course.
New technology made the Caister station out of date and it finally closed in 1929. The masts were taken down and a few years later the house became the village Police Station.
How do I get involved?
If you want to be an operator let Steve G0KYA (steve@infotechcomms.co.uk) know in advance or select a slot on the roster (click here to access the roster). Let him know if you want a one-hour SSB or CW slot and if you have a time preference (we have 16 slots in total). You can share a slot with someone else if you wish and they are willing – arrange it between you and let Steve know.
What time do I have to be there?
We will be setting up from about 8am with a view to getting the first station on the air by 9am. We will start to tear down at about 4.30-5pm. You can arrive whenever you want.
Do I have to operate?
No, there will be plenty of other things to do, including setting up the antennas, logging, making tea!
Is it a contest?
No, but hundreds of amateurs want to contact you so that they can claim their award, therefore “contest-style” operating (fast and slick) may be necessary at times to cope with the piles-ups. If things quieten down you can then have more of a rag chew!
I’ve never done this before – can I operate?
Sure, but if might be better if you team up with someone who has. That way you will get a feel for how to operate, perhaps computer logging for them for half of the slot and then operating for the remainder.
How well do we do?
We have been running GB0CMS since 2011. Generally, we manage to contact more than 200 other radio amateurs in more than 30 different countries. Notable contacts have included hams in the Caribbean, Australia, USA, Canada and across Europe.
Where is Caister Lifeboat?
At the end of Tan Lane, (off Beach Road) Caister. We are in the lifeboat shed nearest the sea, in the conference room at the front of the shed on the first floor. There is a pay and display car park. The postcode is NR30 5DJ or limited free parking actually at the lifeboat station. Please park on the grass not on the concrete as that has to be left for lifeboat personnel.
Is there anything else to do there?
We are next to the beach. There is a lifeboat museum and you can also view the current lifeboat. We are a 10/15-minute walk from Caister centre. A large group of us generally go to a local diner for lunch.
Where can I find out more?
See: http://www.qsl.net/gb0cms/
and https://gx4crc.com/imd/imd-award/
Video from 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z41FLKaT7eY
Video from 2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ZRW0q6SyI
Video from 2014 (G4TUK): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXYp0T4FH8k
Steve G0KYA, 31st March 2025