Wednesday the 1st of October saw Essex Ham’s second event activating the callsign GB2EAA at Earls Colne Airfield, the home of the Essex Air Ambulance.
This is part of the amateur radio community’s support for International Air Ambulance Week 2014, where over 20 other special event stations have been operating to raise awareness of the air ambulance service and promoting the vital service that they offer.
You can read about our first event here: Essex Air Ambulance Event 28 Sept 2014
Day Two of GB2EAA
Once again, we were welcomed by the very friendly team at the Anglian Flight Centres, our hosts for the day. The Earls Colne Airfield is home to their busy flight school, with light aircraft arriving and departing all the time.
When the team arrived, there was no Air Ambulance in sight, but within half an our, Kim, in the control room at the airfield called us to let us know that it was about to set down on return from a mission. With some advanced warning, we were able to set up to get some shots of the crew touching down very close to our operating position.
Working GB2EAA
On the first day, we had two stations running – 40m HF and 2m FM, but with 2m FM so quiet, for the second day, we opted for a single HF station, which operated a few bands, but mostly on 40m.
Our hosts at the Flight Centre were great, and one of the team took the opportunity to send a guest message using GB2EAA. She made contact with a station in Wales, and as Kim had some Welsh heritage, chatted away like a natural. She surprised the Welsh station though her use of the phonetic alphabet, but as Kim works the Earls Colne airfield radio, good operating practice is second nature.
As the morning progressed, we were joined by Jenny from the Essex Air Ambulance charity fundraising team. She was hopeful that we might be able to catch a chat with the air ambulance crew after their mission debriefing, but after a short break, they were called out on their third mission of the day.
Obviously, being so close to a working airfield, we had taken steps to not only ensure that we wouldn’t be causing interference, but that if anything untoward occurred radio-wise, we’d stop operations. During a teabreak, the airfield radio room reported some interference just breaking the squelch on the main airfield channel. As we weren’t transmitting at the time, we knew the interference wasn’t caused by us – even though it was too much of a coincidence. With so many experienced radio operators on site, we worked closely with the airfield team to diagnose the problem – could it have been a parked aircraft with the PTT pressed in? Was the interference detectable on our scanner? The interference vanished as quickly as it arrived, and the source revealed itself. A refuelling tanker had been pumping aviation fuel into the airfield’s main tank. Once the pump stopped, so did the interference. Mystery solved, and we were back on air.
We saw the Air Ambulance touch down again, and after the mission debrief, the crew came over to find out what we were up to. After explaining about the International Air Ambulance radio event, we tuned in to some stations. As we all know, the best way to experience amateur radio, is to get hands-on, so paramedic Louise and doctor Matt exchanged guest messages with Dave G0IIQ from Grimsby. Captain Nicky, the pilot, with over 16 years military experience, watched on, to check our radio procedures were up to scratch.
Next, the biggest treat for us – to get up-close to the Air Ambulance. With hi-vis jackets on, the headed to the heliport ans were able to climb aboard for am explanation of the medical equipment on the helicopter, as well as the radio equipment.
It was so great to have a look around, chat to the crew and get a feeling for the complexities of what’s involved in getting the Air Ambulance to the scene, often in very challenging circumstances. Pete M0PSX has recorded a series of short interviews with the crew, which will be available here on the Essex Ham website shortly.
After our tour was complete, the crew completed their mission paperwork and briefing, and were ready for any further callouts. Fortunately, no-one else required their very specialist services.
We continued operating, working stations for a few more hours, before it was time to take down the antennas, switch off, and head back to our respective bases.
One more event
If you missed out – the team will be operating one further station in support of Essex Air Ambulance, on Saturday 4th October (10am to 5pm). All are welcome, and you can find details and a map at www.essexham.co.uk/eaa
Donate to Essex Air Ambulance
It costs around £440,000 a month to keep the Essex & Herts Air Ambulances flying, and your support is needed.
If you’re coming along to our amateur radio events, please make a donation, otherwise, you can donate online, by post, or by texting HELI25 to 70070 – See www.essexairambulance.uk.com
Essex Ham is an official supporter of Essex Air Ambulance. Supporter ID: 47279
Our Thanks
Thanks very much to the team at Anglian Flight Centres at Earls Colne Airfield for allowing us to set up our stations in support of the Essex Air Ambulance – Expect to see some of our team taking up some trial flights after being seriously bitten by the bug!
Event Photos
Thanks to Kristian 2E0SSX for supplying most of the photos from today’s event
