Historic Events

GB2DTS special event station has been run by the club for about 33 years; you can imagine this has produced many amusing incidents. I will try and recount some of them on this page .....

It was always customary for a number of club members to camp down in the marquee over-night. The main reason was for security, to keep an eye on the radio equipment. It was also an opportunity to work some DX without the general public being around. In order to keep the momentum going several gallons of Mick Toms homemade ale were consumed, and over the years some "entertainment" was provided for those that wanted a rest from playing radio.On one such occasion, before the days of video, one member brought along a cine projector and some adult films. Not having a screen he decided it would be a good idea to use the wall of the marquee. Well, it was not long before he discovered that there was a bigger audience OUTSIDE than inside!!!!! but even worse was to come, when the lights went up it was discovered that the film had not wound onto the take up spool and was in fact all over the ground ... of course we do not indulge in things like this these days!!!..

This is Alan Sammons G0EAG and Neil Illing G0RNU manning a typical Weathersat demonstration at the 1998 Dagenham Town Show at Central Park, Dagenham.

Then there was the chap that had a number of car batteries and radio stuff strapped to his back (this was before the days of micro-small hand helds). He fell over backwards, couldn't get up and rocked about like an upside-down tortoise!!! So I am told, he also caught fire ..fortunately there were no serious injuries.The objective of this exercise was to demonstrate mobile amateur television.

This is Andy M0DRN who came to the club a few years ago to attend a novice course. He passed, went on to do his RAE and passed in December 1998 - this was a very hard exam in my opinion. He was a member of the club committee and can be heard keeping SSB alive on 2 and 6 meters. Andy went on to pass 5wpm morse test and with the changes in the licence now is a full A class "oprative" (phrase borrowed from radio 2) Andy has since moved away from London and now lives on the kent coast

This comes courtesy of Nick Dowsett G8PUY.....

It was the 1980 Dagenham Town Show, and the Club was very well connected with the Show organisers. During the traditional Sunday morning drinks that the Club hosted for the organisers, I was told that they were looking for jockies for one of the afternoon's main arena events, a camel race. It was suggested that, given my slim, jockey-like build, I should offer my services. Never one to pass-up such interesting offers, I volunteered. The event involved four camels racing across the arena, the jockies sitting atop the single hump. Having selected my camel (they were all equally attractive, with sweet smelling breath), I climbed aboard and I lurched upwards as the camel got to stand. Now, when I volunteered, I had never been on a camel before, so I had no real idea how far off of the ground you end up being. Believe me, when you are up there, it's a long way down. Given that I didn't actually have any control over my trusty steed, I was very surprised that it actually stood there at the start-line waiting for the off. And then it really was off! The flag came down to signal the start and we flew away, with me desperately hanging on for grim life, as my saddle swung from side to side. Much to my surprise I was leading for about 90% of the distance, but then my steed decided that enough was enough and started to slow down, allowing me to be overtaken by another rider. So, I came in second, and was able to live to tell the tale. Unfortunately, we didn't have the good sense to kit me out with a portable rig so that I could use the suffix, Camel Mobile, on my call sign.