Thank you for visiting the Web site of
G3RZV - Arthur
 |
| Under Construction! |
This page is located at <http://www.g3rzv.freeserve.co.uk/>
This page last updated: 2005-03-03
|
Thank you for visiting the Web site ofG3RZV - Arthur |
|
[Me] [Marconi] [Amateur Radio] [ISO8601] [Dark Skies] [G3PCA] [Astronomy] [Contact]
My parents moved from the Midlands to Bournemouth where I finished the last two years of schooling.
While there, I was introduced to radio when given a pamphlet with the title of "Things to make and do". It was instructions on making a one valve radio, with lots of wire, a few bits, a tuning capacitor, a single earphone from the school junk box, and a large 120 Volt battery. I vaguely remember a birds nest on a very short plank!.
It didn't appear to work when I first switched it on, I had tried it soon after getting home from school. I was forced to leave it and have my tea. Later, when I could get back to it, I switched on and found it working. The tuning capacitor did nothing.
I tried it when I got home from school the next day and it didn't work again. It took me 3 days to find out that it was fixed tuned to a local BBC transmission that only started to tramsmit at 6:00pm in the evening!
After leaving school, I served an apprenticeship with the Southern Electricity Board (SEB), where I learned to repair and calibrate electric meters.
I served in the RAF for 3 years as an Air Wireless Mech, and went back to the SEB at the end of service.
Later I went to Pye in Haverhill, Suffolk, where I worked on marine radio telephones. I then moved to Plessey, Ilford, working on UHF radios. While in Ilford, I became indoctrinated by the Ilford Amateur Radio Group and the legendary Fred Ruth, G2BRH, bless him!
After 5 years I moved to Plessey Controls in Poole, Dorset, where I commisioned traffic signal equipment, before joining the calibration department. I was at Plessey, Poole for 33 years, until I took early retirement at the end of 1998.
It is true! You find so many things to do that you always had an interest in , but never had the time for! Now I would be pushed to find the time to pop in to work for a tea break!
I now try to fit in Amateur Radio, Painting, reading Science Fiction (S/F), and fantasy fiction, most TV S/F, and a demanding vegetable garden, (with the help of 2 cats and 3 hens), and a computer which, after three years still has un-discovered features! I've now taken up an active interest in Astronomy, and bought my first Telescope!
I am also collecting information on recent activities at the Haven
Hotel, Sandbanks, Poole.
See 'The Marconi Inheritance', which
follows.
I am collecting information on Marconi and the Haven Hotel,
Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset, UK.
Can anyone help with anything?
There are several websites and a number of books covering much of Marconi's activities, and his associates. My interest is related to the 15 years that Marconi resided at the Hotel, conducting many of his history making experiments there.
In particular, I am interested in the many experimental artifacts and memorabilia that was left behind, and apparently put into store there.
In 1971 December, the Wessex Amateur Radio Group, (now known as the Bournemouth Radio Society), put on an event at the Haven Hotel to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Marconi's Atlantic transmissions.
The management of the Haven Hotel provided a room where a number of stations were manned for a 24 hours a day, one week long operation. The Hotel management also provided a quantity of artifacts and memorabilia, from a store in the cellars. These were left over from Marconi's stay there, and were used to 'decorate' the 'ops room'.
A number of photographs were taken during the week, some appearing in the local (Bournemouth) 'Daily Echo' of 1971 December 15 on Page 14.
On some of the photographs various artifacts and display pictures can be clearly seen. Clear evidence of their existence at that time.
The event was also mentioned on South Today, an early evening BBC TV news programme. (Within minutes of the TV transmission, dozens of stations were looking for us on the VHF and HF bands).
Without the excellent support of the Hotel management, such a succesful venture would not have been achieved.
In 1996, I was informed by a colleague that on a recent visit to the Haven Hotel he had found all evidence of Marconi's association with the hotel was now missing. His questions to the staff were met with blank stares. They appeared to be unaware of Marconi's connection with the Hotel.
At that time I had a letter published in the Bournemouth Daily Echo requesting information. There were no replies.
Since there is a current interest in Marconi coupled with the Science year, I had a letter published in the 2002 April edition of RadCom, asking for information as to the whereabouts of the the Marconi memorabilia etc. I got Two useful replies.
Chris Stephens, G3MGS sent me info and pictures which he had downloaded from www.marconicalling.com, he also made reference to the Marconi Archive at Chelmsford. He also pointed me at a book entitled 'Marconi's Atlantic Leap', by Gordon Bussey, who is the Marconi historian. I obtained the book from The RSGB Bookshop. My thanks, Chris.
I received more specific information of a local nature from Sten Malmquist, G4ZPU. He has lived local to the Haven Hotel, and reported that when the Poole Radio Society celebrated their 10th anniversary in 1986 November, they held it at the Haven Hotel. He also said that he had attended several other events run from the Hotel, and on NONE of these occasions had he noticed any of the memorabilia at all from Marconi's time down there. According to him, "There are only three items left to his memory.
The Hotel changed ownership around the beginning of the 1990s, and one day, G3ZPU witnessed several skips were taken away, containing things like broken China, and a broken up Mahogany chest which may have been the remains of a Radio Cabinet.
So, there is a mystery here. Did the Marconi collection get dumped? Have the artifacts and memorabilia been lost forever? Does someone else have valuable clues to offer? More to the point, have I got it all wrong? Your input will be appreciated.
Did you visit the Haven Hotel between the early 1980s and the mid 1990s? Did you take any photos which have something on them associated with Marconi? Don't forget, dates ARE important!
Let me know what you have. All input will be acknowkedged, and any pictures etc will be accredited to the source.
The date format used on this site conforms to ISO 8601 to which most countries are already signatories.
This method is unique in that it is non-ambiguous when compared to say, the old American and old British formats.
| USA | British | ISO 8601 |
| 04/10/02 | 10/04/02 | 2002-04-10 |
| mm/dd/yy | dd/mm/yy | yyyy-mm-dd |
The 'new' format is very simple to understand once you know that if the date starts with the Year as the first element, then it is always followed by the Month, and then the Day in that order:
This cannot be said with either the old British or US formats. Without reference to the country of origin, the only thing that you can have any certainty of, is the Year. Or have you? What is the year? Is it 1702, 1802, 1902, 2002? However, even if you do write the year with all four digits, you still have the MM/DD and DD/MM, (i.e. USA vs. UK) ambiguity.
With a Date like 2002-04-06, this will always be YYYY-MM-DD because no-one on the planet uses YYYY-DD-MM.
If you are filling in a log book, sending QSL cards, listing events and functions, recording/cataloguing historical dates, it does matter. Content for the Internet is provided from everywhere in the world, and can be accessed in nearly every country. [Example]
The usage of ISO 8601 on the web, has the backing of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the Web Standards Project, various standards from the IEEE, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), The Internet Society, Internic, IBM, many of the leading search engines, the financial sector, the United Nations (though UNECE, EDIFACT, OASIS and WTO), most Astronomers (both professional and amateur), NASA, and a whole range of other bodies.
The ARRL now specify only YYYY-MM-DD in their Cabrillo Log Book Format. Windows and all other major Operating Systems, and Programming Languages already have all the facilities to use this format built in.
My recommendation is to change now and get used to it.
Not Convinced? then CLICK HERE
Yes it does matter. It matters a great deal!
Along with its close relative - 'Light intrusion', it has one basic truth: It is unwanted and serves no practical benefit to anyone suffering from its effects.
As it is unnecessary, it is wasted energy. We are supposed to be conservation minded these days, so why are we wasting power that is responsible for the release of Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide, (the greenhouse gas), every year, from the power stations that generate it?
Besides the detrimental effects on the environment, there is also a considerable nuisance potential; like illuminated bedrooms, birds awake all night in trees near street lights, etc.
The most wasteful use of energy is flooding the sky with light at night, depriving us all, whether professional, amateur, or casual viewer alike, of the awesome experience of looking at a really dark sky. The sky is a natural resource of scientific importance.
Whether it is badly designed street lighting, unregulated home security, or high profile business display lighting that blinds the viewer, makes no difference. It is all avoidable by correct design or placement without reducing the effectiveness of the lighting.
It is becoming more serious each day. Unless effective controls of all outdoor lighting installations is empowered by law, the situation will continue to deterioriate.
At the very least, our scienific research into space and the universe will be seriously limited.
The opportunity to educate in astro sciences, many people who appreciate the wonders of the night sky. These people readily take their children along to star parties and view the heavens while listening to experienced astronomers. The enthusiasm of the young is a heart-warming experience. Being able to show them distant objects, invisible from their own gardens, but easily seen in a clear and dark sky, away from light pollution is a great privilege.
"The purpose of the campaign for dark skies, is not to achieve dark streets. It is to obtain dark skies. This can only come about if more efficient lighting is installed. Lighting that only shines downwards and not into the sky uses a lot less power to light the streets well. Ratepayers are paying for this wasted power, Would you like to be able to see the wonders of the night sky from your back garden, and not an orange glow even on a very clear night?"
On October 15th 2003, I received a phone call from my mother-in-law in Herne Bay, telling me that my very good friend Jim Hooper, G3PCA of the Ilford group, RSGB, had died suddenly some weeks past.
I lodged not a stones throw away from Jim, whom I used to listen to on Top Band before getting my own licence. We became friends when I joined the Ilford group presided over by Fred Ruth, G2BRH at his electrical shop in the Ilford High Road.
I learned my morse from Fred.
Jim died suddenly on 19th June 2003 at home.
The club meetings had been held at his house for well over 30 years, ever since Fred Ruth's Electrical shop was compulsorily purchased. After moving back to Bournemouth, Jim and I kept in regular contact one way or another, exchanging ideas, circuits and components, for all these years.
Looking back through PW Magazines, I noted a letter from him that was published in the July 2003 issue, (page 11), regarding Toroid data. It must be one of the last times he put pen to paper.
Technically astute, Jim would always be there, offering help, data or parts. As far as info was concerned, if Jim didn't know it, he knew where to find it.
There must be a great many who will be proud to say that Jim was their 'ELMER'.
He was currently developing 136 kHz power circuits, and I was looking forward to working him on that band.
One of the bright lights in my hobby has gone out. I'm sure that I share that loss with many others.
The Ilford group had a very good website which I was happy to provide a link to. Sadly, the loss of Jim and the meeting place has resulted in the website being suspended. The last time I tried to connect to the website, it was not available.
I have found references to the Ilford group RSGB, on QSL. It is worth a search if you wish to keep in touch.
To be Continued...
Well! It does say 'Under Construction' at the top!
quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator. quid quid latine dictum sit, altum sonator.
|
© Arthur 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Page Design by Ian Galpin, G1SMD |
|