Abbreviation | RSGB |
---|---|
Formation | 1913 [1] |
Type | Company Limited by Guarantee, registered in England and Wales |
Purpose | Advocacy, Education |
Headquarters | 3 Abbey Court, Fraser Road, Priory Business Park, Bedford MK44 3WH IO92sd |
Region served | UK |
Membership | 21,200 [2] |
President | John McCullagh MBE, GI4BWM |
Main organ | board of directors |
Affiliations | International Amateur Radio Union |
Website | http://www.rsgb.org/ |
The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) is the United Kingdom's recognised national society for amateur radio operators. The society was founded in 1913 as the London Wireless Club, making it one of the oldest organisations of its kind in the world. [1] Through its work, it represents the interests of the UK's 80,000 licensed radio amateurs in the United Kingdom and certain dependent territories of the United Kingdom at the International Amateur Radio Union, acting as a medium for communication between the licensed operators and the UK government.
The RSGB has traditionally acted as the organisation through which its members interact with the telecommunications regulatory authority of the United Kingdom, Ofcom. Although Ofcom has used its web site to solicit opinions directly from all amateur radio enthusiasts and other interested parties, the RSGB continues to advise and to seek to influence Ofcom on the likely impact of proposed changes in many areas – from decisions on spectrum and licensing, through to interference arising from intruders or from spurious emissions from electronic equipment such as Solar Panels, VDSL or PLT. Its advice on EMC issues is one of many services to its members and the wider amateur community.
RSGB also acts as a parent organisation to many smaller groups and societies which affiliate to it. Some of these societies form in towns or unite local areas (such as repeater groups). Other specialist groups can include contesters, a particular operating category, or even people interested in a particular amateur radio band (such as 6-meter band groups).
The society publishes a monthly magazine called RadCom , along with a range of technical books.
The roots of the Radio Society of Great Britain can traced back to the formation of the London Wireless Club, inaugurated in West Hampstead on 5 July 1913. [3] The first President was Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton who was succeeded in 1920 by James Robert Erskine-Murray. [4]
At its first meeting in September 1913, it was decided that the name should change from the London Wireless Club to the Wireless Society of London. [5] In November 1922, the name of the Society was changed to that it holds to this day, the substitution of the term 'Great Britain' for 'London' being made with the view to extend the perceived scope of the Society's work. [6]
The RSGB made the first radio transmission across to the United States, but failed to have any receiving equipment. Many members were slightly annoyed by this fact and so formed other sections of the RSGB which were later absorbed into the RSGB itself.[ citation needed ]
During World War II, the entire RSGB Council and many of its members were recruited into MI8, also known as the Radio Security Service. Its mission was to intercept clandestine enemy transmissions. [7] [8]
In 2006, the RSGB cooperated with Ofcom to revise the amateur radio licence in the United Kingdom; following the formal consultation process, from 8 February 2007 the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 was replaced by the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006. [9] Changes included removing the annual licence fee and removing the requirement to log all transmissions. Amateur radio operators gained permission to operate one's amateur radio station remotely, and the changes increased the spectrum available to the lower classes of licensees. [10] [11]
On 28 March 2011, the Board announced that the RSGB's general manager had left the Society's employment after the discovery of financial irregularities, allegedly for the amount of £41,000. [12] RSGB Director, Don Beattie G3BJ, acted as general manager until the appointment of a new general manager, Graham Coomber G0NBI, in May 2012.
The following notice appeared on the RSGB website on 16 October 2013: “The Board is pleased to be able to report to Members that the debt owed to the Society by its previous General Manager, who left the Society in early 2011, has been repaid in full, together with statutory interest and the Society’s court fees. This will be reflected in the 2013 accounts as a write-back of the provision taken against the debt in the 2011 accounts. Details will be in the annual report and accounts which will be published in time for the AGM in 2014. The Board expresses its thanks to the Society team which has brought about the recovery of this debt and now regards the matter as closed. No further comment will be made.”
In 2013 the RSGB celebrated its centenary with a programme of events including a special callsign G100RSGB, the RSGB Centenary Award 2013 and a construction competition. The special callsign G100RSGB travelled around the 13 RSGB regions and was operated by groups in each area. [13]
The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire opened in 2012. [14] It has exhibits and demonstrations of wireless technology, the GB3RS radio station, and the RSGB archives in a newly constructed building close to the main Bletchley Park entrance. [15] [16] The centre has proven increasingly popular with visitor numbers rising from 26,000 in 2017, to over 90,000 in 2019.
There are competing demands from more and more non-amateur uses of radio (for example mobile operators and wireless devices).[ citation needed ] Despite this, the RSGB has been able to maintain existing amateur radio allocations and negotiate some new ones.[ citation needed ]
With the formation of the Youth Team (Formerly RSGB Youth Committee) the society is catering for the demands of the younger licensees. In 2014, The society took part in the International Amateur Radio Union's Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) event in Finland, whilst completing a mini YOTA event in the UK. [17] The RSGB hosted YOTA in the UK in 2017, attracting over 80 young people from all over the world to the UK to take part in radio related events. [18] This event was organised by senior members of the RSGB with support from the youth committee. [19] The Youth Committee was Chaired from its formation in 2014 to 2018 by Mike Jones, M5PMJ, [20] acting as the Youth Coordinator for the UK for the International Amateur Radio Union. [21] The society had remained an active part in the YOTA programme, being represented in 2018 in South Africa and engaging in December YOTA Months. [22]
The RSGB publishes many books on amateur radio and related matters, including:
RadCom (formerly "Radio Communication", and even earlier "The Bulletin") is the official journal of the Radio Society of Great Britain, and is posted free monthly to all RSGB members. There are two other online publications:
The Radio Society of Great Britain has had a Royal Family Member as their patron for many years. These include:
In amateur radio, QRP operation refers to transmitting at reduced power while attempting to maximize one's effective range. QRP operation is a specialized pursuit within the hobby that was first popularized in the early 1920s. QRP operators limit their transmitted RF output power to 5 W or less regardless of mode.
LPD433 is a UHF band in which license free communication devices are allowed to operate in some regions. The frequencies correspond with the ITU region 1 ISM band of 433.050 MHz to 434.790 MHz. The frequencies used are within the 70-centimeter band, which is currently otherwise reserved for government and amateur radio operations in the United States and most nations worldwide.
MI8, or Military Intelligence, Section 8 was a British Military Intelligence group responsible for signals intelligence and was created in 1914. It originally consisted of four sections: MI8(a), which dealt with wireless policy; MI8(b), based at the General Post Office, dealt with commercial and trade cables; MI8(c) dealt with the distribution of intelligence derived from censorship; and MI8(d), which liaised with the cable companies. During World War I MI8 officers were posted to the cable terminals at Poldhu Point and Mullion in Cornwall and Clifden in County Galway, continued until 1917 when the work was taken over by the Admiralty. In WW2, MI8 was responsible for the extensive War Office Y Group and briefly, for the Radio Security Service.
Citizens band radio is a system of short-distance radio communications between individuals on a selection of 40 channels within the 27-MHz band. In the United Kingdom, CB radio was first legally introduced in 1981, but had been used illegally for some years prior to that.
Telecommunications towers in the United Kingdom are operated mainly by Arqiva. Arqiva operates the transmitters for UK terrestrial TV and most radio broadcasting, both analogue and digital. BT also operates a number of telecommunications towers in the UK.
The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) was formed in 1910, and is the first and oldest national amateur radio society in the world. It represents the amateur radio operators of Australia as the AR "peak body" in dealings with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the authority under the government of Australia that administers communications within and external to Australia. The WIA publishes a bi-monthly journal for its membership called Amateur Radio. The organisation is the national society representing Australia in the International Amateur Radio Union. The WIA holds regular meetings with the ACMA to inform the Authority on matters concerning the Australian amateur radio community.
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is an international confederation of national organisations that allows a forum for common matters of concern to amateur radio operators worldwide, and collectively represents matters to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The International Amateur Radio Union was founded in 1925 and, as of July 2021, it is composed of 172 national member societies.
The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967, shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act or Marine Offences Act, became law in the United Kingdom at midnight on Monday 14 August 1967. It was subsequently amended by the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 and the Broadcasting Act 1990. Its purpose was to extend the powers of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949, beyond the territorial land area and territorial waters of the UK to cover airspace and external bodies of water.
Field Day is an annual amateur radio contest, widely sponsored by IARU regions and member organizations, encouraging emergency communications preparedness among amateur radio operators. In the United States, it is typically the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in the country, with over 30,000 operators participating each year. Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 18:00 UTC Saturday and running through 20:59 UTC Sunday.
A spark-gap transmitter is an obsolete type of radio transmitter which generates radio waves by means of an electric spark. Spark-gap transmitters were the first type of radio transmitter, and were the main type used during the wireless telegraphy or "spark" era, the first three decades of radio, from 1887 to the end of World War I. German physicist Heinrich Hertz built the first experimental spark-gap transmitters in 1887, with which he proved the existence of radio waves and studied their properties.
CQ is a station code used by wireless operators derived from long established telegraphic practice on undersea cables and landlines, particularly used by those communicating in Morse code,, but also by voice operators, to make a general call. Transmitting the letters CQ on a particular radio frequency means that the transmission is a broadcast or "General Call" to anyone listening, and when the operator sends "K" or says "Go Ahead" it is an invitation for any licensed radio station listening on that frequency to respond. Its use on radio matched the existing use on Morse landline telegraphy and dates from the earliest wireless stations. It was widely used in point-to-point diplomatic and press services, maritime, aviation, and police services until those services eliminated Morse radiotelegraphy. It is still widely used in amateur radio which still has active use of Morse radiotelegraphy.
Wireless Telegraphy Act is a stock short title used for legislation in the Republic of Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom relating to wireless telegraphy.
The invention of radio communication was preceded by many decades of establishing theoretical underpinnings, discovery and experimental investigation of radio waves, and engineering and technical developments related to their transmission and detection. These developments allowed Guglielmo Marconi to turn radio waves into a wireless communication system.
RadCom is the monthly magazine published by the Radio Society of Great Britain and is provided to all corporate members of the society. Typically 100 pages, it includes a mixture of news, theory, construction and technical articles of interest to the amateur radio community. RadCom is the largest circulation amateur radio-related magazine in the United Kingdom.
The 2200-meter or 136 kHz band is the lowest frequency band in which amateur radio operators are licensed to transmit. It was formally allocated to amateurs at the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07). The band is available on a secondary basis in all ITU regions with the limitation that amateur stations have maximum radiated power of 1 watt effective isotropic radiated power.
The British Amateur Television Club (BATC) is the world's largest television technology club; it has members in the UK and all around the world and is a non-profit making club run by an elected committee of volunteers for the benefit of its members. Membership is open to all who are interested in television, amateur or professional, indeed the club has many members who work for major broadcasting companies.
The history of amateur radio, dates from the dawn of radio communications, with published instructions for building simple wireless sets appearing at the beginning of the twentieth century. Throughout its history, amateur radio enthusiasts have made significant contributions to science, engineering, industry, and social services. Research by amateur radio operators has founded new industries, built economies, empowered nations, and saved lives in times of emergency.
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communications. The term "amateur" is used to specify "a duly authorized person interested in radioelectric practice with a purely personal aim and without pecuniary interest"; and to differentiate it from commercial broadcasting, public safety, or professional two-way radio services.
Call signs in Europe are not formally used for broadcast stations.
Call signs in United Kingdom include a three letter country code, and a series of letters and numbers.
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