Every August sees members of the Quantum Technology Club travel north to run the GB9WHP amateur radio special event station at the Ruskin Museum, Coniston. This is an opportunity for members of the club to have some time away in a beautiful part of the country and share our passion for amateur radio and technology with others.
GB9WHP – celebrating William Henry Preece
GB9WHP is established to celebrate the wireless communication experiments that were conducted across the lake, south of Coniston, in 1889. William Henry Preece succeeded in communicating wirelessly over water for a distance of 1 mile. He later went on to repeat the feat between Lavernock Point and Flat Holm Island on the Bristol Channel. Preece had pushed the distance to 4 miles, some five years before a certain young man called Marconi repeated it.
Sadly, Preece’s method of wireless communication was rather limited in distance. This was due to the fact that what actually happening was inductance. Current passing through one conductor was being be detected in a parallel conductor. No radio waves were involved.
The young Marconi’s method used electromagnetic radio waves and is the basis of almost all modern wireless communication today. Due to his position in the GPO, Preece saw the future in Marconi’s work and introduced Marconi to all the influential people he would need to get his idea off the ground. Preece was instrumental in the success of Marconi’s work and the history of wireless communication.
A weekend away for Quantum members
The members of the Quantum Technology Club use the event as a bit of a get-away. This year four members and their wives enjoyed the weekend away. As well as running the amateur radio special event station, members demonstrated their latest technical projects. This including the use of some low-cost Neo-pixel panels that may form part of the exhibition showcase for next year’s Liverpool MakeFest.
Sadly the weather forecast seemed to dictate that visitors to Coniston on Saturday would be few and far between. Footfall to our event was rather low as a result. However, we had some really interested folk come along who showed a lot of interest and that was encouraging. As it turned out, the weather was very favourably almost until the end of the day when a storm threatened. Despite that, the event is all about members getting away for the weekend and those that attended it certainly enjoyed the time.
And, of course, no trip to Coniston would be complete with out a visit to the Black Bull for a traditional Cumberland Sausage and Mash and a pint of Bluebird. Roll on GB9WHP 2024.