Sidmouth Amateur Radio Society
The History of Sidmouth Amateur Radio Society
The Sidmouth Amateur Radio Society first saw the light of day in 1981; formed by members of
the former Sidmouth CB club.
By 1981 CB had run its initial surge of interest and some CB users moved on to take the City
and Guilds Radio Amateurs exam.
The formation of a local Amateur radio club was the next requirement.
The club first met in the science lab at Sidmouth Community College where in house talks and
lectures were held, some radio operations were possible, but this was limited by the
inability to install any type of external antenna.
SARS 1981 first meeting at Sidmouth College
Current members Dave G6XUV and John G6YWX, second and third from right.
Radio on desk looks like Yaesu FT-480r Multimode FM/CW/SSB 10 watts output.
In 1983 the club moved to The Norman Lockyer Observatory at Salcombe Hill Sidmouth. Meetings
were held in a derelict "Green Hut" located just east of the current Victoria Dome. Most of
the club nights involved making the hut weather proof; under the guidance of carpenter John
Hartnell (G6YWX) we clad and insulated the internal walls and fitted new roofing material.
In 1984 the observatory site was purchased by the East Devon District Council from the
University of Exeter, and the Sidmouth Astronomy Society and the Radio club started to use
the site for their meetings and activities. At this time the green shed was abandoned and
the Radio Group moved into the main building and started limited operations from the members
room (now the NLO Library).
During early 1984, a chance radio contact with a station in the US spawned the idea of a
special event station to mark American Thanksgiving Day in November of 1984. The special
event call sign GB2UST was obtained and the NLO was assigned the job of being the UK link
for the day. Work commenced to get all the equipment needed either by using members own
equipment or by the loan of transceivers from Reg Ward's radio shop in Axminster. Antennas
for all the required frequencies were constructed, including a 14 MHz quad antenna
precariously perched on top of two 20' scaffold poles!
When the day arrived (22nd Nov 1984) numerous contacts were made with the US station WA1NPO
located at the living history settlement in Plymouth Massachusetts. The weather on the day
was typically British with heavy rain and high winds.
When we arrived at the NLO site the following day our treasured 14MHz quad antenna was a
mangled mass of twisted tube and wire, we all agreed we had been very lucky that the day had
been such a great success.
Article above from RadCom, November 1984
Tower Installation, August 1989, Ron Hamson
aligning the base frame prior to concreting.
In 1989 the Mond Dome at the NLO was converted into a small Astro Planetarium and a Radio
room was constructed. This enabled us to have a permanent radio room that we could use for
club meetings and open days and the call sign GB2NLO was obtained for the station. This call
sign is one of only 38 allocated throughout the UK for permanent special event stations.
During the early 1990s Bob Tedbury (G6SNY) held computer lessons at the NLO and instructed
many members in the use of DOS etc.. His amusing and instructive way of teaching allowed us
all to gain a good foundations in the mysteries of computing.
Bob Tedbury (G6SNY)
In 1995 the Sidmouth and District Astronomy Society and the Sidmouth Amateur Radio Club
amalgamated to form the Norman Lockyer Observatory Society (NLOS) and signed a lease with
the East Devon district Council to run the observatory site. At around the same time, a new
larger (60 seat) planetarium and a second radio room were constructed. This enabled us to
split our HF and VHF/UHF operations and, by the use of windows and split doors, the visitors
on open days were able to see the radio shacks in operation.
Patrick Moore officiated at the opening ceremony for the new planetarium,
which took place on 29th September 1995, Patrick was also a visitor in August 1992. He
showed great interest in the radio group and tried his hand on the Morse key, having been a
radio operator during the Second World War while serving with Bomber Command in the RAF.
Patrick Moore with Bill Gregory (G3AQM), at
the NLO, 30th Aug. 1992. (Photo: Bob Tedbury G6SNY)
The 1990's were a period during which the NLO site became a vital link in the Packet Radio
network that had spread across the world. As a packet node we linked to CDN, a node in
Crediton and ILP, a BBS node at Ipplepen (Torquay). Operation was on 70 MHz, 144 MHz, and
430 MHz. and the service was available 24/7 and ran without fault for the whole of the
1990's.
By 2000 the rise of the Internet meant that the use of packet wained and the equipment was
eventually switched off in 2000.
During the 2000's the group continued to grow operating the GB2NLO callsign at all the NLO's
open events and numerous special event call signs to celebrate notable events including
GB0HE (for the 145th anniversary of the discovery of Helium) by the start of 2012 relations
between the the group and other groups at the NLO started to sour resulting in the radio
group in August 2014 voting en masse to leave the NLO there being no way that an Amateur
Radio Society could operate under our licensing conditions on the site despite the charity
registration of the NLO the Board of directors ignored their obligations to operate a radio
group so after 34 years our association with the NLO ceased.
From August 2014 we restarted the SARS at the Thorn Golf Centre, Salcombe Regis, a site 1
mile North East of our previous location. Our affiliation with the RSGB continues and we
have registered new examination venues in the local area.
Since moving the SARS has continued to expand in the period from August 2014 until December
2019 68 people were successful in obtaining radio qualifications as a result of SARS
training.
In 2020 SARS started a new phase in its growth with the negotiation of a lease with the EDDC
for a disused ex-social club.
Work commenced in July 2021 to convert the premises into a multi use community facility
dedicated radio and electronics areas, the building once updated will be registered as a
training facility and examination centre.
Sidford Community Hub.