Over the weekend of the 25th and 26th of October 2014, the Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club (TAARC) and the Purfleet Heritage Centre teamed up to show how communications have changed over the years from Morse to computer generated data. One of the early uses of Morse was when the Titanic sank in 1912. However today we have moved into the digital world.
The Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club members provided three stations, one transmitting CW (Morse) a second transmitting data produced by a computer and a third which was an audio transmitter/receiver.
For this event the club obtained a special call sign GB2PHC ( Purfleet Heritage Centre). This special call meant people visiting could have a go at one of the modes probably talking to someone in another country. The picture shows TAARC member Stella G0EKP showing a young visitor how to send Morse.
One of the challenges the radio operators had to overcome was that the building which was built in the region of 1760 has walls which are over 5 feet thick in places. There are no windows so how would they connect the transmitters to the antennas which were outside. The building was originally used to store gunpowder hence the thick walls.
The day produced a flow of visitors many taking an interest in the stations and experimenting themselves. The Purfleet Heritage Centre is open on a Sunday and Thursday – see www.purfleet-heritage.com for latest information
Anyone wishing to find out more about the Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club should go to the club’s web site www.taarc.co.uk
Thanks to the team at TAARC for submitting this article to Essex Ham for publication. If you’d like your club event promoted, please mail us your news story.
