Icom UK to Support Titanic Centenary Amateur Radio Station - GR100MGY
The centenary of the loss of RMS Titanic on 15 April, 1912, is about to be commemorated worldwide. Included in these will be a special Amateur station in Godalming, Surrey, the proud birth-place of Titanic’s Marconi Radio Officer, Jack Phillips. Jack saved over 700 lives by sending distress signals in Morse code right until the ship foundered. In celebration of Jack’s heroism and the power of Morse code a commemorative radio station using Icom radio equipment is being operated in the grounds of Charterhouse, Godalming by members of the Wey Valley Amateur Radio Group.
Radio transmissions using the special call-sign GR100MGY will be made using Morse code and speech. MGY was the call-sign that the Titanic used for all its radio transmissions. GR100MGY is expected to make contact with many parts of the world, exchanging greetings with thousands of other radio stations.
GR100MGY will begin at 12:00 GMT on Tuesday 10th April (when Titanic sailed from Southampton) and end at 08:00 GMT on the morning of Monday 16th, pausing briefly at 05:47 GMT on the 15th (the time of the last radio transmission from Titanic).
GR100MGY will have two operating stations featuring Icom’s IC-7600 and IC-7700 HF/50MHz Transceivers . Towers are being supplied by Barnabus Communications and the Red Cross.
During Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th April the general public are welcome to visit the station from 12 noon until 4pm to help commemorate the centenary.
A mock-up of the original Marconi station used on board Titanic is also planned. There will be a display of early telegraphic equipment and iconic museum pieces. John Young, the Titanic archivist at Godalming Museum, will attend both public days, exhibiting items from his celebrated collection of Titanic memorabilia. To add a contemporary note, members of the Surrey Radio Amateurs Emergency Network (Raynet), will demonstrate emergency communication techniques using VHF radio equipment installed in a specially equipped vehicle on site.
To find more about this station, please visit http://www.gr100mgy.org.uk/
“The Saga of the Titanic" – Painted by Jim Manniso, picture by kind permission of http://www.titanic-nautical.com
Icom UK Marketing -
marketing@icomuk.co.uk
05/04/2012
