July 2026 – Strategic priorities update

| June 17, 2026

The RSGB at the 2026 National Hamfest

Practical activities at Hamfest 2025

As we are well into the planning process for the RSGB attendance at the 2026 National Hamfest, I find myself reflecting on changes we’ve made over the past few years and how that delivers against our strategy.

Traditionally, the National Hamfest was an opportunity for RSGB Committees and Honorary Officers (HO) to answer questions that members might have. The layout was such that each Committee/HO had their own booth, and we expected members to come and find us if they wanted to talk.

An RSGB village

Supporting our engagement, outreach and reimagination activities, we have moved in a direction of an “RSGB village”, showcasing practical activities and projects that we think will inspire and motivate members. We also use the National Hamfest as a shop window for RSGB membership benefits, promoting the excellent work we do and encouraging non-members to add their voice to ours. We haven’t removed the ability to answer members’ questions on specific topics as there will always be expertise on hand to cover most aspects of the Society’s work.

As a member of the RSGB’s planning team for Hamfest this year, we have tried, once again, to bring activities and demonstrations that we think will be of interest to both our members and non-members alike. We want to inspire individuals and clubs to roll their sleeves up and have a go:

Buildathon

There will be a walk-up buildathon on both days where individuals can construct a Kanga Morse Tutor kit. We have secured a maximum of 25 kits per day for the show which will be allocated based on availability.

Volunteers will be on hand to help would-be constructors so you shouldn’t be put off if you haven’t tried this kind of thing before. All tools and equipment will be provided and you get to keep the finished project once completed. Aimed at novice constructors and the younger generation; what’s not to like? Free tuition and a kit to take home!

Morse

The CW mode will be well represented with on-demand competency tests plus our RSGB CW Champion will be on hand to answer any related questions you may have.

Alex Johansson made his first appearance last year to showcase his MORSE video game which was also featured in May RadCom (page 22). Alex will be joining us again this year with his video game on display for attendees to try. He is also proposing a craft-style table where participants can build their own CW key out of clothes pegs and other materials which they can then use with the game.

Experimenters’ Corner

Experimenters’ Corner will demonstrate a range of projects that have featured in the column over the past months. We will have everything from: LoRa modules controlled by Arduino MCU boards; TX/RX pairs; meshtastic nodes; mixers; signal generators; and power meters. Vibe coding will be on demonstration too, so get ready to dive in at the deep end!

DARC and the QSL Bureau

Our colleagues from Der Deutsche Amateur-Radio-Club (DARC) will be there to answer any questions you may have on the new QSL service. It promises to be a real technological showcase including a video of the new sorting system and also details of the ADIF upload service we plan to introduce to members in the future. We have transitioned from a pigeon-hole-based manual sorting system to one that uses a large proportion of automation. Soon you will also be able to get your own QSL card design printed by the QSL service from an electronic logbook upload. An excellent direction of travel for a modern QSL service!

RSGB Propagation Studies Committee

Propagation experts will be available to answer questions and showcase their amazing set of online tools that can help you bag that DX you need. Why not visit them and see what amazing tools they offer?

RSGB construction competition winner

Our overall winner of this year’s construction competition will be there with the winning entry to inspire you and your club. We will be launching the 2027 Construction Competition earlier this year, so if you are inspired by last year’s construction competition winner or what you see in the Experimenters’ Corner display, you’ll have all the information you need to start planning your competition entry.

Membership and the RSGB app

We will have our usual large book stall and membership area; joining the RSGB will be easy, and we will be encouraging any non-members to do so on the day.  Our HQ team will be on hand to discuss all aspects of RSGB membership, and will demonstrate the RSGB mobile app, which is proving incredibly popular.

All in all, we have a host of activities planned for this year which continues to support our belief that practical activities are key to engagement and sit at the heart of our hobby for many radio enthusiasts. The Society’s activities at the National Hamfest will form just a small part of how the RSGB will deliver on its strategy to encourage growth in amateur radio through inspiration.

You’ll also be able to speak with members of the Board, including directors Bob Beebe, Mark Jones, John Moss, Will Richardson, Mark Savage, Graham Smith and Patrick Wood, along with Stephen Ramsden (Company Secretary) and Chris Wood (Treasurer).

I very much hope to see you there.

Mark Jones, G0MGX

Board Director

strategy@rsgb.org.uk

Category: RSGB Notices, RSGB Strategic Priorities