SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX002
ARLX002 30th International Marconi Day Event Set for April 22
ZCZC AX02
QST de W1AW
Special Bulletin 2 ARLX002
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT April 5, 2017
To all radio amateurs
SB SPCL ARL ARLX002
ARLX002 30th International Marconi Day Event Set for April 22
Dozens of official "award stations" have registered to take part in
the 2017 International Marconi Day (IMD) event, this year being held
on April 22, 0000-2359 UTC (starting on April 21 in US time zones).
All contacts counting toward the Marconi Award must be made on HF
with registered stations, but other participating stations do not
need to be registered to claim awards. This year marks the 30th IMD,
held each year to mark the anniversary of wireless pioneer Guglielmo
Marconi's birth on April 25, 1874. IMD is observed each year on a
Saturday close to Marconi's birthday. Many special event stations -
some operating from Marconi-related sites - will be on the air.
Marconi Award certificates are available for both transmitting
stations and shortwave listeners (SWLs).
The event is not a contest but an opportunity for amateurs around
the world to make point-to-point contact with historic Marconi sites
using HF communication techniques descended from those used by
Marconi, and to earn an award certificate for working or hearing a
requisite number of Marconi stations.
There are two categories. Transmitting amateurs attempt to complete
contacts with 15 of the official award stations, while shortwave
listeners attempt to log two-way communications made by 15 of the
official award stations.
International Marconi Day special event station GB4IMD will be on
the air from Cornwall, helmed by members of the Cornish Amateur
Radio Club, which organizes the IMD event. Cornwall was home to some
of Marconi's early work. A list of participating stations is on the
Cornish Amateur Radio Club's website at,
http://gx4crc.com/imd-stations/ .
The Kerry Amateur Radio Group in Ireland will be taking part as an
IMD award station. EI6YXQ will be set up on the site of the former
Marconi Station at Ballybunion. The YXQ suffix commemorates the call
sign of the Marconi Station at Ballybunion.
In the US, special event station K2M will be on the air from
Binghamton, New York, the site of the remaining Marconi tower, where
the inventor demonstrated in 1913 that it was possible to
communicate via radio with a fast-moving train.
For the seventh year, radio amateurs in Norfolk, England, will be
active from Caister Lifeboat as part of the IMD celebration. The
Norfolk Amateur Radio Club (NARC) will be on the air from special
event station GB0CMS at the Caister Lifeboat Visitor Centre to
commemorate the village's original Marconi wireless station,
established in 1900. The station's original purpose was to
communicate with ships in the North Sea and the Cross Sands
lightship.
Other IMD sites with historical links to the inventor's work include
Cape Cod, Massachusetts (WA1WCC and KM1CC); Nantucket Island
(W1AA/MSC); Glace Bay, Nova Scotia (VE1IMD); Villa Griffone,
Bologna, Italy (IY4FGM), and many others.
A Facebook page is also available at,
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=gb4imd .
NNNN
/EX
