4 March 2024 – VHF National Field Day challenges and fun
The presentation
Have you wondered what happens at a VHF National Field Day (VHF NFD)? Would you like to take part in one?
In this month’s webinar, we offer two different perspectives:
- Firstly, RSGB VHF Contest Committee member Richard, G4HGI will talk about how the RSGB VHFCC uses the VHF Survey and other tools to formulate the rules and calendar for all VHF Contests, with specific emphasis on VHF NFD.
- Secondly, we take a closer look at the VHF National Field Day through the eyes of Lothians Radio Society, GM3HAM and hear from its team about how they organise and operate these hilltop events in the Scottish borders. Andy, Brian, and John will discuss their experience of VHF NFD and their motivation to organise and compete in these events. They have made a short film capturing their 2023 VHF NFD weekend and they will use this, as well as a an old cine-film to show how this looked from a technical standpoint at much earlier club competition events in the 1970s
About the presenters
About Richard
Originally licensed as G8MME back in the 1970s, after taking the CW test at Anglesey Radio Nebo Station he became G4HGI. Richard’s interests in operating have always been weak signal VHF/UHF EME & Terrestrial propagation.
He was very active in VHF/UHF contesting for 40+ years, concentrating on low power operation.
For six years Richard was the VHF/UHF columnist in RadCom. He is a current member of the RSGB VHF Contest Committee and is also Chairman of Bolton Wireless Club.
About Lothians Radio Society
The Lothians Radio Society, GM3HAM was formed in 1947 covering the geographic area of Edinburgh and the East Coast of Scotland. The membership ranges from founding members to the newly licensed with typical meeting numbers growing and now attracting 30 or more attendees. The core of its activities are the twice-monthly meetings at a local hotel, where the club has an excellent series of lectures on amateur radio subjects by experts in their field. It also has outdoor activities, including portable contests from a site near Gatehouse of Fleet, working with other clubs and related charity activities plus regular social events. Many of its members are very active in SOTA and VHF/UHF/Microwave.
The GM3HAM presenters are all 2023 National Field Day competitors: Andy Sinclair, MM0FMF; Brian Flynn, GM8BJF; and John Taylor GM4JRT.
Find out more
Want to contact the RSGB VHF Contest Committee with a question or an idea? Email vhfcc.chair@rsgbcc.org
Interested in watching the full videos that were shown in part during this Tonight @8 talk? You can see them both on James Gentles’ YouTube channel. The first is VHF NFD 2023 (9 minutes) which was made by Lothians Radio Society. The second is VHF NFD 1966 with old cine film (20 minutes).
Want to contact the club? Head over to Lothians Radio Society.
Watch live
Tonight@8 webinars are livestreamed for free on our YouTube channel and special BATC channel, allowing you to watch the presentations and ask questions online. If you missed it, you can still see the presentation on YouTube.
Category: Tonight @ 8 - archive main list by year
