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www.southgatearc.org
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IMD at Sandford Mill Radio MuseumInternational Marconi Day (IMD) is the first Sandford Mill open day of the year and its main purpose is to celebrate Marconi's birthday. The Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society has the great privilege of setting up their station GX0MWT in the famous Writtle Hut, used for some of the first wireless broadcasts in the early 1920's. Each year Dr Geoff Bowles (Keeper of the Museum) tries to have something new to attract visitors and this year was no exception. Last year he started to redecorate the interior of the Writtle Hut and with the aid of volunteers the interior of one of the rooms was cleaned up and the walls painted in the original colours using authentic materials. It has now been completely transformed and there are two painted topical backdrops which can be viewed through the rear windows. With velvet drapes the room looks just like a 1920's sitting room. Joe Ryan and Jimmie Leadbitter from the former Marconi Marine Company, were manning the ship's radio room exhibition, meeting former radio officers and their families, and explaining maritime communication to visitors.
There were two new 'hands on' demonstrations this year. One was a demonstration of automatic Morse transmission and reception, with the help of Colin Page G0TRM which created quite a lot of interest, particularly with the younger visitors. The other was a re-vamped and expanded demonstration of the modulation process used in medium and short wave broadcasting. Members of CARS operated two stations, coming on the air at midnight and carrying through 'till closing time. Although propagation conditions were not ideal, both stations managed in excess of 250 contacts each. An example of the way the ionosphere can vary by the minute was demonstrated dramatically when Geoff, G3EDM made SSB contacts with Australia and New Zealand. Due to the erratic propagation conditions this opening only lasted for about 15 minutes and then went dead for the rest of the day. This sort of thing adds fascination to amateur radio but it can also be a source of frustration! Steve, G4ZUL also made contact with Cape Cod (Newfoundland), where Marconi received the first Trans-Atlantic radio signals over a century ago.
Although it is unusual to find the cutting edge of technology displayed in a museum, the demonstration of a live display from the latest weather satellite EUMESTAT 8 by Harry Heap, G5HF, President of CARS, proved very popular with both young and old, keeping him busy all day. The data is sent back to earth via the HOTBIRD satellite and is viewable on low cost equipment. Over the course of the day, six hours worth of weather movement could be seen on the laptop screen, together with land, sea and cloud-top temperatures and other weather data. A storm over northern Australia was depicted where the cloud top was at minus 63 degrees Celsius with a severe thunderstorm. In marked contrast the weather at Sandford Mill was absolutely ideal and with 580 visitors it was probably the most successful IMD on record. The museum will be open again on Sunday afternoons during August and for Science Discovery Day all day on Sunday 24th September. The Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society meets on the first Tuesday of each month at the Marconi Social Club (MASC), Beehive Lane, Great Baddow, CM2 9RX. The doors open at 7:15pm and visitors are most welcome. Car parking is free and a bar is available for refreshments. For a map see: http://tinyurl.com/dwsud For further information contact the secretary Martyn Medcalf G1EFL
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