Shearwater gas platform on the air during SOS Radio Week

The first Amateur Radio HF activation of Shearwater Gas Platform in the North Sea will take place during SOS Radio Week Jan 23-31.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) provides a 24-hour life saving service in the seas and waters around the coast of the British Isles and SOS Radio Week is the perfect opportunity for Radio Amateurs to lend their support to this charity.

The website http://www.sosradioweek.org.uk/ reports that Charlie Christie, GM1TGY hopes to be operational from the Shearwater Gas Platform in the North Sea during SOS Radio Week - the first HF operation from the platform as, being a modern rig, it does not have a radio room.

Charlie, a day shift Operations Team Leader, hopes to operate for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening from the 27th using a Kenwood TS-2000 and a 40m wire antenna for HF, a 6 element YAGI for 2m and 2 x 13 element beams for 70cm. It is possible that he may also be on the air for an hour during the day in his meal break.

Situated 200km east of Aberdeen in 90m of water Charlie promises to be a cracking station to work. He will either be operating under his own callsign, or may get a special event callsign ending 'SWR', the ident of his platform.

The operation is, of course, very weather dependent.

Register now and raise money for one of the country's most worthy charities, see
http://www.sosradioweek.org.uk/participants.html

SOS Radio Week
http://www.sosradioweek.org.uk/