160m Transatlantic Centenary QSO Party

0200 – 0800 UTC Sunday, 12 December, 2021

On 12 December 2021 we celebrated the centenary of the first message being received across the Atlantic Ocean by Amateur Radio.

In December 1921, the ARRL (the National Association for Amateur Radio® in the US) sent Paul F. Godley, who held the US callsign 2ZE, as their representative to listen for amateur signals from North America during the Second Transatlantic Tests. Godley setup his listening equipment in Ardrossan on the west coast of Scotland. He received the signals of over two dozen American stations, heralding the dawn of Transatlantic amateur radio communications.

At 0252 in the morning of 12 December in Scotland, (the evening of 11 December in the US), Godley received a personal message from the ARRL station 1BCG in Connecticut. “Nr 1 de 1BCG words 12, New York. Date December 11, 1921, to Paul Godley, Ardrossan, Scotland. Hearty Congratulations. (Signed) Burghard, Inman, Grinan, Armstrong, Amy, Cronkhite.”

Inside Paul Godley’s Ardrossan tent; Mr. Pearson of Marconi Ltd (seated), December 1921 – copyright Bruce Littlefield, used with their kind permission

QSO Party Details

The RSGB and ARRL each activated a special event station for six hours on 160-metres to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the success of the Second Transatlantic Tests.

The stations operated on CW only from 0200 until 0800 UTC.

A live video feed of the W1AW operation is available to view.

GMDX Group of Scotland have awarded a cup – a quaich (traditional Scottish drinking cup representing friendship) – to the first stations in North America and the UK to complete contacts with both GB2ZE and W1AW during the QSO Party. The cup winners are Bob Barden, MD0CCE from the Isle of Man, and Rick Niswander, K7GM. Rick was the first station in the log at both W1AW and GB2ZE.

Each participant recorded in the official W1AW and/or GB2ZE logs is eligible for a commemorative certificate, see the ARRL website to download yours.

GMDX Quaich from a 2014 event

Who got Across?

From East to West, the following are in the W1AW log as having made two-way QSOs (19 stations)…

G0MTN, G3OLB, G3OQT, G3PJT, G3SJJ, G3UJE, G4DJK, G4FAL, G4OBK, G4UFK, G6XX, GB2ZE, GB60ANT, GM0GAV, GM3WUX, GM4ZUK, GW3YDX, MD0CCE and MM0GPZ.

From West to East, the following are in the GB2ZE log as having made two-way QSOs (106 stations)…

AA2DT, AA9D, AB4SF, AB9CN, AF2F, AJ6T, K0TF, K1CPJ, K1DT, K1EP, K1PL, K1PX, K1ZE, K1ZZ, K3LR, K3NM, K3TC, K3VN, K5LJ, K5RT, K5UR, K7GM, K8ALM, K8FL, K9EA, K9RS, K9VKY, KA2C, KB2FCV, KB8VAO, KC2LSD, KE2R, KG5VK, KK1L, KL0S, KM1R, KP2M, KQ4AV, KQ9J, KX2A, N0PB, N0XW, N1CGP, N1RR, N2AXX, N2RJ, N4DB, N4MM, N4PL, N7UA, N8DX, N9RC, N9RV, NA9Q, NF8M, NJ0U, VA3AAO, VA3IR, VA3KSF, VE3DS, VE3GCO, VE3IC, VE3VSM, VE3XN, VE6WZ, VO1/VE3MZD, VO1CH, VO1HP, VO1NA, W0JX, W0UO, W1AW, W1ER, W1GD, W1GF, W1JR, W1OP, W1QI, W1QK, W1SJ, W1WBB, W2ILA, W2JBL, W2KA, W2NI, W2NTN, W2NWU, W2PA, W2RCA, W2RU, W3LPL, W4ATL, W4VHH, W5ZG, W8LX, W8WZ, WA2HZO, WA3AFN, WA8OLN, WA9AQN, WB1GCM, WB2GMY, WB9LUR, WK3A, WO1N and WX2S.


In 1921, 26 stations got across from West to East, but no two-way QSOs were made until 1923, see Transatlantic Tests 4.

GB2ZE

The operating team for GB2ZE were:

0200 Commemorative station at Ardrossan activated by the Kilmarnock and Loudoun Amateur Radio Club
0230 GM3YTS
0400 GM0GAV
0500 MM0ZBH
0600 MM0GPZ
0700 GM4ZUK

Photographs

We would love to have photographs of your celebrations of this centenary. If you are able to include vintage equipment or period dress, then so much the better. Please send any pictures, with your permission for the RSGB to publish, to ContestClub@rsgbcc.org.