This weekend sees the annual International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend, something that is close to mine and the Strumble Head Amateur Radio Klub’s hearts. This is where SHARK started and is where we get our name from. 

The object of the weekend is to work as many lighthouses or lightships that are on the air, or to have more fun get to a lighthouse and activate it. We were very lucky with Strumble Head Lighthouse in the fact that we were allowed to set up our kit actually in the lighthouse and having our antenna on the helicopter landing pad. It was a hard slog up to the light with all our kit, but well worth it for the fun and camaraderie we have as friends. 

You don’t have to be in the lighthouse to count as activating it, as long as you are at or adjacent to the lighthouse and can see the lighthouse from your position. All details are in the link above (click on the bold ILLW) and go have fun on the radio. I will be chasing them from home this year, but we may be active from a new one next year.

Here’s the regular IOTA update from the GPDX facebook page. This week also includes a link too the participants in next weeks International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend. Just get on the air and work them all.

This week I resurrected my account on the Red Bubble website. This will allow me to sell items other than just prints with my images on them, for example a nice tablet/laptop case with the Red Arrows in flypast with the BA Boing 747 in the old BOAC livery, or the Fulcrum of the Ukrainian air force on a beach towel (the “Ghost of Kiev”). Many more will be added over the coming months and I will add new going forward after the shoots/air shows. I may even have some special stuff for radio amateurs on there.

With thanks to GPDX group for their work in putting this list together. A list of the islands that will be active this weekend. 

YESSSS… Finally got to see it tonight. And it sure lives up to the hype. The flying sequences are amazing and have to be seen on the big screen. The first “BONG” of the bell in the opening credits sets the scene perfectly, and I swear I could smell Av Gas too.

Well it happened, and it was one of the best I have done. A long week of hard work and fun with friends I haven’t seen for 3 years. The aircraft and statics were a excellent mixed bag from plenty of different countries. The highlights for myself were the Korean Black Eagles, the flypast by the Airbus Beluga XL (my first time seeing this aircraft so close) the Austrian Typhoon and C130 QRA demonstration, the Belgian F-16 paintwork with the green snake, the E4B “Jumbo” of the USA, and the helicopter SAR demo by the Czech air force.

The accommodation this year was also different to previous years, being off site at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, where we were welcomed and looked after brilliantly. Nicknamed by us volunteers as Hogwarts (from the Harry Potter books) due to how the buildings looked, and the bar was just like the dining room from the films. Friendly staff and clean rooms go a long way when you have been on the airfield for a 12 hour day. I must also thank all the air cadets who attend the show each year and help with setting up and on the airfield, doing the dreaded F.O.D plod (Foreign Object Damage), picking up any rubbish and other debris that could damage the aircraft.

All in all a very enjoyable but tiring week, glad I had the following week off to recharge and edit my photo’s. Narrowing down 1600 to around 80 to share, and then processing through Photo Shop to get a final Jpeg. These will be in the gallery with the ability to buy them when I upload.