Always keen to try something new, the Thames Amateur Radio Group has just returned from a five day camping and radio event in the village of Downham, near Billericay.
The event was organised by Norman M0FZW, and ran from Wednesday the 15th to Sunday the 19th of May 2013. A surprising amount members of Thames ARG are campers or caravanners, and the group had a lot of fun putting up tents, awnings and antennas. In total there were 5 caravans and 5 tents with 15 people camping and 11 day visitors.
The venue for the event was Crowsheath Fishery, which has some excellent lakes for fishing, and the perfect ground for camping. Its altitude and remoteness also helped a lot with conditions for radio, allowing the team, and visiting Essex hams, to rack up some decent HF and VHF contacts over the five day mini-break.
The culmination of the trip was a solid day of radio on Saturday the 18th of May, with the club’s callsign of GX0TRG being in use on 40m and 2m for much of the day, with an afternoon break to work the 2m SSB contest. The PSK31 and JT65 data modes were also worked.
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As well as a great place to work radio, it was a great place to socialise and chew the fat. From what we at Essex Ham hear, there were a few late nights, some great feasts, and the tea, wine and beer were flowing too, we understand.
Photo Gallery
Here’s a small selection of photos from the event. Click on a thumbnail for the full-size image:
For a larger collection of photos from the event, see the TARG Downham Field Trip Report.
Well done to the Thames ARG team for putting on such a great, and novel, event. We heard some rumours via this week’s Monday Night Net that another similar event may occur later in the Summer… plenty of time for us to pop out and get a tent!
Related Links
- Thames Amateur Radio Group Club Profile
- Amateur Radio Clubs in Essex
