Rare IOTA Activation

The MSØINT team are embarking on a DXpedition as part of this event to try to activate the remote North Atlantic island group of the Flannans, 20 miles northwest of the Outer Hebrides.

Icom UK have loaned 2 IC-7000 HF/50MHz/VHF/UHF mobile transceivers to the team for use at the station.

Activated in 1989, 1995, 1999 and 2002, the mysterious Flannan Isles 20 miles north west of the Outer Hebrides are a much needed and hard to reach IOTA. As one of the rarest prefixes in Europe (EU-118), MSØINT has only been “claimed” by 31.9% of participants in IOTA so the team will have their work cut out!

The MSØINT DXpedition team, consisting of SMØMDG Bjørn Mohr (Sweden), EA3NT Christian Cabre (Spain), EA2TA George Moreno (Spain), EA1DR Oscar Luis Fernandez (Spain), F4BKV Vincent Colombo (France) and leader MMØNDX Col McGowan (Scotland) will try to be on the air from Friday the 18th of June until Monday the 21st of June.
There will be two 24 hour stations operating on all bands from 160-10 meter (both SSB and CW). They will be situated on the highest point of the island Eilean Mòr, some 88 metres (290 ft) above sea level.

Col McGowan explains the journey that the team will have to take to reach the remote islands off Britain’s north coast, “Firstly we’ll fly from Edinburgh to Stornoway and then we’ll cross the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides by car. From the west coast of the Isle of Lewis we’ve got to jump in a fast sea RIB and head 20 miles out into the Atlantic to finally reach the Flannan Isles.”

When asked why they were undertaking such an ambitious Dxpedition, Col commented, “We are all very keen enthusiasts of the RSGB/Icom UK sponsored "Islands On The Air" (IOTA) program, which promotes ham radio expeditions to any island. The Flannans are a group of islands which haven't been on air for nearly 10 years and due to the lack of on air activity from there, the island group is now becoming one of the world's most needed islands to make contact with. We have high hopes of putting Flannans on the air.”

So why did the team approach Icom for use of some IC-7000 HF/50MHz/VHF/UHF mobile transceivers ?
Col explained, “Due to the fact that the Flannan isles are very hard to land on (and only while having excellent weather/sea conditions) the team has focused on having the lightest gear they could get whilst still securing the standards of quality in order to achieve the highest possible number of radio contacts around the world.

Col added, “We must emphasize we need near perfect weather conditions and good seas. This is why we chose the month of June - it's generally and historically calmer seas that time of year. If we fail to have good weather, the team may decide to go to another island, possibly even St Kilda Archipelago - although all actions will be undertaken following advice from our RIB skipper.”

Island Name: Eilean Mor
Coordinates: 58° 17.0' N, 007° 35.0' W
GRID: IO68EH I
OTA: EU-118 I
OSA: OL-01
SCOTIA: DI-25
WAB: NA74
WLOTA: LH-0023
ARLHS: SCO-084

Flannan Islands DX-Pedition

Guglielmo Marconi - The Nobel Prize in Physics 1909

Guglielmo Marconi was born at Bologna, Italy, on April 25, 1874, the second son of Giuseppe Marconi, an Italian country gentleman, and Annie Jameson, daughter of Andrew Jameson of Daphne Castle in the County Wexford, Ireland. He was educated privately at Bologna, Florence and Leghorn. Even as a boy he took a keen interest in physical and electrical science and studied the works of Maxwell, Hertz, Righi, Lodge and others. In 1895 he began laboratory experiments at his father's country estate at Pontecchio where he succeeded in sending wireless signals over a distance of one and a half miles.

In 1896 Marconi took his apparatus to England where he was introduced to Mr. (later Sir) William Preece, Engineer-in-Chief of the Post Office, and later that year was granted the world's first patent for a system of wireless telegraphy. He demonstrated his system successfully in London, on Salisbury Plain and across the Bristol Channel, and in July 1897 formed The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company Limited (in 1900 re-named Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company Limited). In the same year he gave a demonstration to the Italian Government at Spezia where wireless signals were sent over a distance of twelve miles. In 1899 he established wireless communication between France and England across the English Channel. He erected permanent wireless stations at The Needles, Isle of Wight, at Bournemouth and later at the Haven Hotel, Poole, Dorset.

In 1900 he took out his famous patent No. 7777 for "tuned or syntonic telegraphy" and, on an historic day in December 1901, determined to prove that wireless waves were not affected by the curvature of the Earth, he used his system for transmitting the first wireless signals across the Atlantic between Poldhu, Cornwall, and St. John's, Newfoundland, a distance of 2100 miles.

Between 1902 and 1912 he patented several new inventions. In 1902, during a voyage in the American liner "Philadelphia", he first demonstrated "daylight effect" relative to wireless communication and in the same year patented his magnetic detector which then became the standard wireless receiver for many years. In December 1902 he transmitted the first complete messages to Poldhu from stations at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, and later Cape Cod, Massachusetts, these early tests culminating in 1907 in the opening of the first transatlantic commercial service between Glace Bay and Clifden, Ireland, after the first shorter-distance public service of wireless telegraphy had been established between Bari in Italy and Avidari in Montenegro. In 1905 he patented his horizontal directional aerial and in 1912 a "timed spark" system for generating continuous waves.

In 1914 he was commissioned in the Italian Army as a Lieutenant being later promoted to Captain, and in 1916 transferred to the Navy in the rank of Commander. He was a member of the Italian Government mission to the United States in 1917 and in 1919 was appointed Italian plenipotentiary delegate to the Paris Peace Conference. He was awarded the Italian Military Medal in 1919 in recognition of his war service.

During his war service in Italy he returned to his investigation of short waves, which he had used in his first experiments. After further tests by his collaborators in England, an intensive series of trials was conducted in 1923 between experimental installations at the Poldhu Station and in Marconi's yacht "Elettra" cruising in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and this led to the establishment of the beam system for long distance communication. Proposals to use this system as a means of Imperial communications were accepted by the British Government and the first beam station, linking England and Canada, was opened in 1926, other stations being added the following year.

In 1931 Marconi began research into the propagation characteristics of still shorter waves, resulting in the opening in 1932 of the world's first microwave radiotelephone link between the Vatican City and the Pope's summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. Two years later at Sestri Levante he demonstrated his microwave radio beacon for ship navigation and in 1935, again in Italy, gave a practical demonstration of the principles of radar, the coming of which he had first foretold in a lecture to the American Institute of Radio Engineers in New York in 1922.

He has been the recipient of honorary doctorates of several universities and many other international honours and awards, among them the Nobel Prize for Physics, which in 1909 he shared with Professor Karl Braun, the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, the John Fritz Medal and the Kelvin Medal. He was decorated by the Tsar of Russia with the Order of St. Anne, the King of Italy created him Commander of the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, and awarded him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1902. Marconi also received the freedom of the City of Rome (1903), and was created Chevalier of the Civil Order of Savoy in 1905. Many other distinctions of this kind followed. In 1914 he was both created a Senatore in the Italian Senate and app ointed Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in England. He received the hereditary title of Marchese in 1929.

In 1905 he married the Hon. Beatrice O'Brien, daughter of the 14th Baron Inchiquin, the marriage being annulled in 1927, in which year he married the Countess Bezzi-Scali of Rome. He had one son and two daughters by his first and one daughter by his second wife. His recreations were hunting, cycling and motoring.

Marconi died in Rome on July 20, 1937.

Guglielmo Marconi and Amateur Radio