Marconi Wireless Beam Celebration Launch

(not a photo of the original beam aerial)

Marconi Wireless Beam Celebration (Launch)

This is a Special Event between Drummondville, Quebec and Poldhu on Tuesday, 21st April 2026.

Event Timing

The Marconi Centre will be open from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm BST (12:30 to 16:00 GMT/UTC).

The first test transmission is due to take place at 14:00 BST (13:00 GMT/UTC), and the main operation will be from 15:00 to 17:00 BST (14:00 to 16:00 GMT/UTC).

Operating

The main operating mode is CW.

The WSJTX FT8 will be used in last resort if establishing a CW QSO fails on the HF bands fails.  We will use the allowable DATA segment of the HF bands (a non-standard frequency) for the WSJTX FT8, to avoid QRM.

This is a very memorable event, and all members are invited. As this is in the form of a press conference with mayors present on the Canadian side, our local representative will be Councillor Rory Gow from Mullion.

Tim M0AFJ will operate CW for GB2GM.

Here is a quote concerning the event

A special event organised by Normand Juneau (VE2DVG) who is a member of the organizing committee for the celebration of the centennial of the 1st
international communication using the Marconi Intercontinental
Wireless Beam Network in Canada. On Monday, October 25, 1926, the very
first commercial shortwave radio link was broadcast from the
Drummondville transmitting station, owned by the Canadian government
and built by Marconi, to the Marconi receiving station in Bridgewater,
England.

A press conference to launch this year's celebrations will be held on
Saturday April 21st, 2026. For this event, the Drummondville Amateur
Radio Club VE2CRD will set-up an HF station in the original Marconi
transmitter building in order to establish a HF link with England. The
building is now used by the local civilian emergency support group.

Note: Ignore that this incorrectly says Saturday, as it is definitely the Tuesday

The Marconi Centre Poldhu is our best chance to establish an HF link as a commemoration during the press conference. From our source, there is nothing left in Bridgewater, and the Bodmin building is in poor condition.

There will be a further event for the anniversary on Sunday, 25th October, 2026.

Beam Station Notes

1. Some of Marconi's first experiments with beam aerials were at Poldhu in the early 1920s.  The remnants of the circular track used by Franklin to test HF beam designs (see Club Site & Aerial Field - Item 2 in the aerial view).
2. Taunton Radio Club has just secured permission from the owner of what was the Bridgwater receiving station (from Drummondville) at Huntworth for the use of a very close adjacent field in order to lay on a special event station on Sunday, October 25th. The original receiving station is now a private house.
3. There was an article in the New York Times on 20th July, 1924 describing Marconi's experiments with beam aerials:
   https://www.nytimes.com/1924/07/20/archives/marconi-sends-radio-beam-from-england-to-australia-new-invention.html
   Here is a quote from it:

   Successful experiments have been conducted from Poldhu to Sydney, Australia, and with Marconi's yacht Electra. It is reported that the voice in Poldhu was so clear in Sydney that it might have been spoken from the next street instead of being thousands of miles away. The "beam" is so directional that a conversation between England and Australia cannot be heard in America or in Japan.

4. Marconi's Beam Wireless Station in Dorchester.  This was one of the biggest beam stations at the time, constructed from 1925 to 1928.