Their can be many different reasons for setting up a Special Event Amateur radio station it could be part of a local show or Celebration perhaps to mark 60 years of your local radio club or as part of. National Science Week. Regardless of the occasion your special event station will be a showpiece for our hobby. Great care should be taken to present the hobby of amateur radio in a slick and positive way. As this will more often than not be the first time that members of the public will have come into contact with amateur radio. Be warned organising and setting up a special event station should not be gone into lightly if it goes tits up it. It will reflect badly on your amateur radio club possibly damaging it future on a personal level you will loose your credibility and at worse if there is an accident were theirs blame there’s a claim.
Oxford Science week 2002
I am not talking from theory but from practice. I have a good working knowledge of and excellent track record of Organizing and setting up and running successful special event stations. I served the Radio Society of Great Britain for three years during 2002-2004 as the Deputy regional manager for Oxfordshire in 2002 I was asked by the RSGB board via my regional manager to set up a special event station for National Science week in fact I set up a talk and demonstration on amateur Radio at St Barnabas First School Jericho Oxford and the second special event station was GB4OSW. Golf Bravo Four Oxford Science Week. During 2003 I was asked by the RSGB board via my Regional Manager to organise in Oxfordshire a regional event with a special event amateur radio station to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Radio Society of Great Britain. With the call sign GB90RSGB/101. This event was going to take place over the weekend of 26th-27th July and collectively throughout the country events will be organised by the regional teams. The entire event came under the title Party in The Park.
GB90RSGB/101
Just like most activities a well prepared event will be a successful event 90 percent is down to good planning and organising. Before you start make sure that you have permission to operate the amateur radio station from the venue with room for the antennas sounds silly don\’t say you have not been warned. Give yourself plenty of time to apply for the special event call sign and once the call sign has been confirmed set The publicity in motion make sure you get a listing for your event in RADCOM and a mention on the GB2RS new service contact the International short wave league and get a mention in their DX News. Most important make sure you have insurance cover for your special event station. In the unlikely event of an accident the person in charge of the team or your radio club could be legally liable. Sort the problem out of QSL cards who will be the QSL manager? Who is going to pay for the QSL cards
If your amateur radio station is for a corporate event or at a museum these types of groups are keen to sponsor the event and pay for the QSL cards if your special event station is more on a local level then the question of sponsorship and who will pay for the QSL cards is a different matter. For example, the two special event stations that. I organised for National Science week. I personally paid for including the QSL cards postage and all out of pocket expenses. The Radio Society of Great Britain provided me with free publicity material, teaching aids, and for a set of books on amateur radio. To be presented to the school. I also provide all the station equipment the antennas coax poles guy ropes etc. Not only for the National Science week special event stations but also for The RSGB 90th Anniversary party in the park event. As this was a corporate event the RSGB paid for the event.
On the other hand you could be approached by the local scout group to put on a special event station there are some clear cut guide lines that should be followed when dealing with the Scout Association as all adults who will be at the amateur radio station and taking part in the event will be required to be CRB (Police Checked) by the Scout Association the reason for such a check sadly is that in all walks of life there are some people who would like to be in the company of children for the wrong reason and its very important to make sure that these are weeded out.
GB4HSC Centenary of Scouting
During 2007 the Scout Association was celebrating it Centenary during the May bank holiday weekend 25th-28th the members of the scout movement in Oxford were planning a centenary camp for over 600 people. I was invited by the district to organise a special event amateur radio station I had to make sure that all my team were members of the scout association in uniform and all CRB. This I was able to do and we had a most successful weekend helping the children exchange greeting messages the team often found themselves working very large pile ups.
On the 1st August 2007 I was asked would I provide the amateur radio equipment at Youlbury Scout camp so that the special event station could go on air using the station’s normal call sign GB4YOU as some scouts had asked for the station to be put on air so that they could exchange greeting messages hopefully with Brownsea island and the jamboree camp site near London.
During the last six years I have been involved with the following special event amateur radio stations
2002
G5LO/P National science week.
GB2OSW Oxford Science week.
GB2YSC 60 years of Youlbury Scout camp.
2003
GB90RSGB/101 Radio Society of Great Britain 90th anniversary 1913- 2003.
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
GB2CCC Annual special event station. For the Historic church trust.
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.
GB4YOU annual Radio Scouting. Special event amateur radio station Thinking day on the air and Jamboree on the air.
2005
GB2OOT Special event station at the London maritime museum.
2006
GB4MHS special event station Museum History of Science Oxford
2007
GB4HSC