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Horndean and District Amateur Radio Club

~ G4FBS ~
Founded in 1975.

Affiliated to The Radio Society of Great Britain

Meet: first and fourth Tuesday every month, 7.30pm,
Lovedean Village Hall, Lovedean Lane, Lovedean, Hants.

The Horndean & District Amateur Radio Club, was formed when a small group of licenced radio amateurs in the Horndean area of Hampshire advertised that they wished to arrange a meeting of like-minded people sharing the same hobby. The club was formed and soon gathered support over the local area. It has maintained a steady (but changing) membership of around 50 people, these being predominantly licenced radio amateurs, but also includes short-wave listeners, those particularly interested in constructing radios and associated equipment, and others interested in radio communications using a variety of different techniques.

The membership is primarily in the age range 40-80+, but some younger people are coming into the hobby now through the link with communications by radio using computers and with data communications modes.

We meet on the first and fourth Tuesday each month at the Lovedean Village Hall, Lovedean Lane, Lovedean, Hants, at 7.30pm. The first Tuesday is treated as a social ('natter night') where members can chat generally and obtain information perhaps about a particular technical or operational problem they may have, and the second Tuesday is more (but not very) formal where usually a speaker is arranged to talk on a subject usually related to an aspect of our hobby.

The hobby of amateur radio is unique in the opportunity and freedom it allows in developing and experimenting with radio communications equipment. Radio amateurs contact others in most other countries worldwide, where the hobby is permitted, and language need not be a barrier.

Morse code is still popularly used by radio amateurs and this enables contact to be made using a series of radio-terms and codes which are universally understood. Voice contact is usually as easy, as English is the common tongue.

The hobby frequently leads to participants making lasting friendships both in the UK and worldwide. In this way it has also proved to be a great asset for those who are housebound, or who find mobility a problem.

There are over 60,000 amateurs in the UK, well over 2 million worldwide, and the number is increasing. To become a licenced radio amateur in the UK, it is necessary to pass a written City & Guilds examination in radio theory and practice (the major difference between our hobby and CB radio), and this allows us to hold a transmitting licence issued by the Radiocommunications agency of the DTI. The licence which allocates a unique callsign, lists the rules under which radio amateurs are allowed to transmit. This includes the permitted frequencies, depending on the class of licence held, and there are more than 25 bands of frequencies allocated to the Amateur Service, covering the short waves, VHF bands, and microwaves. The modes of transmission include voice, morse, data, television, and communication using satellites. Something for everyone.

By setting up an operational amateur radio station at a public event (as we have done many times) we hope to be able to demonstrate to the general public what an interesting hobby we have, and to encourage them to find out more. It truly is a hobby for a lifetime.

I hope you find this information of use, and if you would like further details please contact the club secretary, Stuart Swain by email or phone: 02392 472 846. (Please note: I'm not generally available during the day.)