news Military Mudlarks Radio record
The Brooklands Wireless
The 2019 Military Vehicles Day included a vast number of Land Rovers and Jeeps plus the arrival of a huge Centurion MK12 tank on an equally vast transporter. It all added to the patriotic atmosphere and re-enactment groups were dotted around the Museum site. Several of them represented foreign forces to add to the feel of the day and all were happy to talk about their particular interests. A poignant moment arrived at 11am as everything fell silent and those in uniform stood to attention for two minutes. Mercedes-Benz World kindly allowed the use of its 4x4 course. It was the smaller vehicles that enjoyed this session the most, mainly Land Rovers and small armoured vehicles that plunged very enthusiastically through the muddy puddles, which had been replenished by some recent rain. It was fantastic fun, with great swathes of
VC10 Open Day
brown water cascading over the vehicles and for some in open cars an umbrella and mud-proof overalls were a must. A selection of Scammell heavy loaders augmented the day by looming in the Campbell car park with troop carriers, Ferrets and more in their shadow. Finally, Test Hill beckoned for those brave enough to tackle the ascent, which many did with aplomb.
Tim Morris
Communications Collection set a new record of contacting, or working, 101 other radio stations using a single frequency. This was achieved to mark the 101st anniversary of the ending of hostilities of the First World War. The team started its record attempt at 9.45am on Saturday 9 November and made contact with the 101st radio station at 1.17pm. Using a mixture of equipment, the team contacted stations in countries as far off as Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland and Spain for the QSOs (two- way radio conversations). Four operators were used on the day and they used the single frequency of 7.135MHz. This was because most radio equipment used in 1918 was only capable of operating on a single frequency or channel. As part of the same record-breaking run, the team also set a new record for the Brooklands Museum Station by working 100 stations in only three and a half hours. The previous record was more than four hours, so this was a fantastic effort. As part of the record attempt, the team set up a special installation in the former Press Hut for visitors to listen in. One of the Museum’s collection of communications receivers, a Racal RA17 was tuned into the correct frequency and picked up local transmissions with a small antenna.
The Brooklands Museum’s Vickers VC10 was fired up in October at Dunsfold Aerodrome and gave visitors the chance to see the aircraft taxi up and down the runway. The well attended Open Day had an unexpected delay when the Auxiliary Power Unit refused to start, but the team knew what to do and soon had it sorted. With help from additional volunteers and marshals from Brooklands Museum, the
VC10’s runs up and down the Dunsfold runway went without any further hitches. Plenty of visitors took the opportunity to see ZA150 up close. Before the aircraft was made available to the public, we held a presentation to mark
the retirement of Tony Russell (left) from his volunteer work with the Brooklands VC10. Tony had been with the team since 2013 and worked with ZA150 when he worked for East African Airways in 1970 when the aircraft arrived in Nairobi, Kenya after its delivery flight. Alex Paterson, Director of Collections, Interpretation and Heritage made the presentation. Paul Robinson
8 BROOKLANDS BULLETIN | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2020
Peter Burton, Project Leader of the Radio Section at Brooklands, said: ‘The event was a great success. Not only did we reach our target of 101 QSOs, we set a new record for the Museum station using its special call sign GB1BM.’
Correction In the Record Rudge Returns story in the
Nov-Dec 2019 issue of the Bulletin, the story refers to George Barnes on page 38. This should have been Frederick W Barnes and we apologise for any confusion.
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