I’ve been in Edinburgh, Scotland again since early August and I’ll be here for just under one month. I had a few days spare so decided to contact Carl 2E0HPI who has got to be the most active portable amateur radio operator I’ve ever known and arranged to visit him in his home town of Hartlepool. I collected my hire car from Edinburgh today and was on my way to Hartlepool which is approximately 150 miles south east from Edinburgh.
I arrived in Hartlepool about 3 1/2 hours later and met Carl shortly afterwards. Carl has been a ham since 2013, initially as a Foundation licence holder and currently with his Intermediate licence. Carl is on air most days (if not all!) and gets himself to locations using public transport, his bicycle and his two legs. He operates using a maximum of 5 watts from his trusty Yaesu FT817 and a half wave dipole using a fishing pole.
Hartlepool is on the coast and it seemed that everywhere I turned was a flora and fauna park! We arranged to get up insanely early the following morning for a 40 minute drive to North Yorkshire and a 20 minute walk to the summit of Cringle Moor.
We then drove to Durham which is about 15 miles west from Hartlepool and went to visit Eric G1SLP. I know Eric from the Field Radio Facebook group and was looking forward to meeting him very much. Eric suggested that Carl and I attend the meeting that evening of the Wearside Electronics and Amateur Radio Society (WEARS) which is held near Sunderland so after an enjoyable chat we set off for the club.
The club made me feel very welcome and they have food on every club night, 52 weeks of the year come rain or shine. Mostly it’s just snacks and cold drinks, but I was fortunate to have timed my visit for their once a month or so proper sit down meal and was spoilt with two helpings of cottage pie! It’s more like a big family gathering than a club, with brothers and sisters of the airwaves having a social coming together. It is no surprise they won club of the year!
I had a long chat with Ian Douglas G7MFN the club president and he explained that the club has only been going for 15 months and they already have in excess of 50 members. They must be doing something right!
We all had an enjoyable evening and I was back at my hotel by around 10:00 pm. With the daunting prospect of a 5:00 am start the following morning.
Tagged with: amateur radio • amateur radio operator • Flora and Fauna • Hartlepool • portable
Filed under: Amateur Radio
