04/20/2016
Around-the-world Amateur Radio activity will mark the 29th annual International
Marconi Day (IMD[1]), a 24-hour event held annually to celebrate 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, and this
year it will be observed on Saturday, April 23, with many special event
stations on the air - some operating from Marconi-related sites that count as
points towards the Marconi Award. Certificates are available for both
transmitting stations and shortwave listeners (SWLs).
The event is not a contest; it is an opportunity for amateurs around the world
to make point-to-point contact with historic Marconi sites using HF
communication techniques similar to those used by Marconi, and to earn an award
certificate for working or hearing a requisite number of Marconi stations.
International Marconi Day special event station GB4IMD will operate from
Cornwall, helmed by members of the Cornish Amateur Radio Club, which organizes
the IMD event. International Marconi Day 2016 has been dedicated to Norman
Pascoe, G4USB (SK), one of the event's founders, who died in February. Cornwall
was home to some of Marconi's early work. GK3MPD will be on the air from the
inventor's Poldhu site.
The Kerry Amateur Radio Group[2] in Ireland will be among those taking part as
an Award Station in this year's International Marconi Day event. The station
will be set up on the site of the former Marconi Station at Ballybunnion by the
Expeditionary Radio Team of the radio club. Two HF stations are planned, and
special event call sign EI6YXQ will commemorate the original YXQ that the
Marconi Station at Ballybunnion used.
Radio amateurs in Norfolk, England, will once again be active from Caister
Lifeboat as part of the International Marconi Day celebrations. The Norfolk
Amateur Radio Club (NARC[3]) will be on the air from special event station
GB0CMS from 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. During last year's IMD, the radio amateurs contacted stations in 36
countries.
While it's not part of the official International Marconi Day activities, an
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS[4]) school contact in
England will take place on April 23, and the Marconi observance will prompt the
initial question to ISS crew member Tim Peake, KG5BVI. Twelve-year-old Benny
plans to ask, "Today is International Marconi Day; how do you think Marconi
would feel about this radio communication?"
Other IMD sites with historical links to the inventor's work include Cape Cod,
Massachusetts (WA1WCC); Glace Bay, Nova Scotia (VE1IMD); Villa Griffone,
Bologna, Italy (IY4FGM), Signal Hill, St Johns, Newfoundland (VO1AA), and many
others.
A Facebook page[5] is also available.
[1] http://gx4crc.com/imd
[2] http://kerryamateurradiogroup.com/
[3] http://www.norfolkamateurradio.org/
[4] http://www.ariss.org/
[5] https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=gb4imd
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