Celebrating 1921 at Ardrossan in 2021

Commemorative station at Ardrossan

Kilmarnock and Loudoun Amateur Radio Club operated a commemorative amateur radio station adjacent to the site of the 1921 receiving station at Ardrossan.

The Ardrossan station was on the air between 1200UTC Saturday 11 December 2021 and 1200UTC Sunday 12 December 2021 on HF (short wave) amateur radio bands using CW (Morse Code) and Telephony (Voice) including the whole of the 160m CW QSO Party, to exchange signals between the UK and the USA.

The station callsign GS2ZE was used for the 24 hour operation except for the first 30 minutes of the 160m CW QSO Party, when it activated the RSGB callsign GB2ZE. See Commemorative Transatlantic QSL Card for QSL instructions for GB2ZE and GS2ZE. Further information about the commemorative station can be found on the Kilmarnock and Loudoun Amateur Radio Club website.

The callsign GM2ZE was also be operational on several bands from the station of Jason GM7VSB, which is near to the site of the 1921 receiving station.

History of Radio Exhibition

North Ayrshire Council will be mounting an Exhibition on the History of Radio at their Heritage Centre in Saltcoats. This will include historic radio equipment and story boards covering a brief History and Development of Shortwave Radio and applications, from James Clerk Maxwell & Hertz et al up to the present day and including Paul Godley’s historic reception, at Ardrossan, of the first confirmed personal message using shortwave signals from across the Atlantic in Dec 1921. Contact details and directions for the Heritage Centre can be found here.

GB1002ZE Special Event Station

During December 2021, accompanying the exhibition at Saltcoats, local amateurs activated an amateur radio station, using the special callsign GB1002ZE, to commemorate the centenary of the successful reception of American radio amateurs by Paul Godley (US callsign 2ZE) in December 1921 from a field nearby at Ardrossan.