KLARC decided to camp at Hunstanton to activate it for Lighthouses on the Air weekend. A great deal of planning and preparation had been put into place, and all the relevant paperwork completed, and thus we found ourselves pitching up at Hunstanton, on a windy cliff top, ready to go. Ted (G40ZG) was snapping away!
The Set Up!
The set up was simple. Brian the camper and his awning were base camp for HF, bacon and tea. Ben was consigned to the trailer with 2m and 70cms, Marshall was in his van with the Morse key, and the Clansmen were outside because they are tough and hard and interesting to look at.
The aerials all went up very nicely, including the DX Commander.
Tyler took careful observations of what was happening at his first big radio event.
As usual in these cases, team work made the dream work!
Until there we were, all set up in the evening cloud, ready for a weekend of radio ahead. Cheerfully, we hit the chip shop, and then stayed up until midnight to get the first QSO’s of the event. (And Ted took some arty atmospheric photos whilst Jack, Ben and Mike discussed the merits of girl bands)
Saturday morning
The morning dawned bright and fair, and we were all soon at our naturally assigned stations. Mike’s organisational skills and folder had come in useful over night, and we were raring to go!
Ben was safely installed in the trailer, working hard.
Becky was promoting radio to interested youngsters, who were fascinated by the idea of talking to someone without the use of the internet, especially when the importance of Bob-in-the-Falklands had been explained to them.
Training carried on for Tyler under the watchful eye of Kev.
Dave used all of the documentation available to work out where he was talking to. (Next year we’re having a map!)
George talked to a lot of people about the Clansmen and what we were doing in general.
Kev and Marshall even had a go at DATV, showing the versatility of the hobby.
KLARC goes Maritime Mobile
The next part of the weekend was (we think) a KLARC first, as we sent two intrepid explorers off into the wilds of Hunstanton for a trip on the Wash Monster, with the intention of them radioing in (with permission from the Captain) for our first /MM contact. (and some random arty shots from Ted)
Although it was a little noisy on the boat, contact was made, and Robin and Ted had a most excellent adventure.
The rest of the weekend…
… went past in a bit of a blur. Many contacts were made, much laughter was had, large amounts of bacon and sausage baps were consumed, even more tea and coffee and biscuits, and several people had some personal firsts.
Even Sarah got onto the radio, with a Lake Constance lightship contact.
Of course, events like this are also a social meet as well, for discussing (or worshipping) all kinds of things.
Marshall, Ti and Olly organised the best routes through France, looking for as many vineyards as possible.
Kev did some more training, showing Dave how to work digital.
Ian made sure everyone was behaving themselves.
Tyler did his first international contact. Although he doesn’t sit his foundation exam until later, he was able to use the club event call sign under supervision from Kev, and this really boosted his confidence.
Some people, however, found radio a lot more complicated.
At the end…
We were fortunate as well that, in honour of us being there, (obviously) we had a flypast from this beautiful old lady.
So we took everything down, put it all away, and convoyed back. A lovely weekend was had by all, and over the weekend we made a lot of contacts, had 28 members, 7 of which camped, (and Kev may as well have because he stayed so late!), ate 3 packs of sausages and 108 rashers of bacon, as well as our own body weights in Penguins and Wagon Wheels, raised some money for Scotty’s Little Soldiers, and had a jolly good time!
