[Wswss] Brendan Quest

[peter h via Wswss]

Transatlantic signal from Pouch Cove sets recordhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/transatlantic-signal-from-pouch-cove-sets-record-1.2699961



A group of amateur radio enthusiasts set a new record on Monday when they sent a 
radio signal across the Atlantic ocean from Newfoundland to Europe.

Roger Sturtevant, part of the group from Nova Scotia, said they wanted to use 
new technology to replicate, in reverse, Guglielmo Marconi's 1901 transatlantic 
signal(http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/anniversary-of-marconi-s-achievement-marked-1.1035201).

He said the group was successful, and managed to send a two-meter (144 MHz) 
radio signal from Pouch Cove to the U.K., setting a record and surprising many 
amateur radio enthusiasts.

"In our hobby, this is really reaching for the limits -- most people think it 
could not be done," Sturtevant told the St. John's Morning Show.

"Theoretically, perhaps it could. We'd have to have exactly the right conditions 
at the right time."

Sturtevant said the group was thrilled when their message was heard across the 
Atlantic Ocean, and they weren't the only ones celebrating.

"[There were] lots of high fives, and immediately in Europe there were chat 
pages where amateurs were all looking and they're watching what everyone's 
trying to do. Many, many operators tried to work our station and all of a sudden 
the information was just spreading like wildfire amongst radio operators, and by 
yesterday it basically had gotten around the globe," he said.

Sturtevant said the group hopes to win the Irish Radio Transmitter 
Society(http://www.irts.ie/cgi/index.cgi)'s Brendan Plate, one of three coveted 
Brendan Awards, for their achievement.