Watson's Radio Club
1972 GB3GWC UK Tour
by Robert Dalgleish GM3ZVB, Roger Manners GM3ZVL & Ed Bain GM4AIS
L-R in photos below: Ed Bain GM4AIS, Roger Manners GM3ZVL (SK) and Robert Dalgleish GM3ZVB.
Script by Ed Bain GM4AIS.
(1) The GB3GWC/P radio expedition was undertaken as a 6th form school project during May / June 1972. A complete radio station was set up inside a Commer 30cwt van, and for 3 weeks the members of the team (L-R: Ed GM4AIS, Roger GM3ZVL and Robert GM3ZVB) toured various operating sites in Scotland, England and Wales, averaging nearly one different county visited each night. The driving was shared by Robert and Roger. The special callsign GB3GWC (George Watson's College) was granted by the MinPosTel specially for the expedition. Although the idea was formed about a year before we went, it took about 6 months of serious planning, plus a week of hard work when we got the van to fit out.
(2) A view from the rear of the van. The van was at one time in its life an ambulance, but when we obtained it, it was more of a bus, being full of seats. These were removed (the more difficult of the rusty nuts and bolts being removed by that age-old method of the hammer and the hacksaw), and a large amount of Dexion racking installed. On the left is the operating table and the radio equipment itself, which was there all the time, and at the right hand side can be seen another marvellous feat of Dexion engineering. This served as shelving while travelling, and at night as a bunk bed!
(3) Close-ups of some of the equipment. The cabinet on the extreme right is the transmitter used for AM & CW, being VFO-controlled and running 40-50 watts. To its left, on the lower shelf, is the (Sommerkamp FT150) SSB transceiver. The H.F. signal from this was converted to VHF by the transverter, which was homebuilt by us for the expedition and is sitting at the bottom left. The signal from this was amplified by the linear amp, seen in the centre of the top row, which could give 100-150W p.e.p. Another transmitter & receiver were taken with us, and everything powered from a petrol generator. Although it was possible to go on the H.F. bands, operation was confined to the 2 metre band (i.e. 144MHz).
(4) After spending the first week of the expedition going round the Scottish border counties we headed south and spent two nights up Great Dun Fell in Westmoreland, beside the Civil Aviation Authority's main transmitter. Fortunately, the kilowatts from the opposition didn't give us much trouble, and, when the cloud base eventually lifted, you can see why amateurs like to use this site for VHF working, it being 2500 or 3000ft a.s.l.
(5) Another view of the interior of the van (as it was being dismantled after the expedition) taken from the back door again. The space up front was used for cooking in, so that when the weather was bad, as it usually was, the station, once set up, was self-contained, the only calls being that of a thirsty genny, and the call of nature!
(6) Roger operating the station. It could be operated by either one person or two, depending on the amount of activity on the band. Altogether the expedition was very interesting and enjoyable. Although conditions on the band were never very good, and the van gave us a lot of trouble mechanically, nearly 400 stations were contacted, and the longest distance covered was nearly 500 miles - not bad for what was once described as a 'local' band.
(7) A different subject - a portable station in action (?) during a contest last year. The site was in Lanarkshire, the tower on the adjoining hill, seen at the right hand side, being the P.O. station on Green Lowther Hill, it being one of the main microwave links on the route to south of the Border. Bands used by us on the contest were 4m, 2m & 70cm, the aerials for them being seen beside the tents. (Apologies for the hole in the film - it was the last on the reel).
Additional photographs provided by Bob Dalgleish (ex-GM3ZVB) in 2020
2020 Bob Dalgleish 1972
​
Many thanks to Bob for these additional photos and the GB3GWC QSL card.
==================================================================================
​
Radio Club at George Watson’s College Edinburgh
Amateur Radio Expedition May-June 1972 to the counties listed below, using callsign GB3GWC/P on 2m.
Sixth Form Project undertaken by Robert Dalgleish GM3ZVB, Roger Manners GM3ZVL and Ed Bain GM4AIS. Part funded by a Sanson Award from the school.
Date County Approx Location
​
13 May Wigtown ~3 miles S of Drummore, ~1mile from lighthouse
​
14 May Kirkcudbright Quarry at Kirkmabreak, past Creetown
​
15 May Dumfries A few miles west of Langholm on B709
​
16 May Lanark Peak between Lowther Hill and Greenlowther
​
17 May Peeblesshire Either Broad Law (nr Tweedsmuir) or Dunslair Heights (NE of Peebles) (no record of final selection)
​
18 May Selkirk Wall Rig (between Ettrick Bridge End and Ashkirk)
​
19 May Roxburgh Observer Corps post between A7 (S of Langholm) & Newcastleton
20 May Cumberland Mere Crags, Bootle Fell (4 mi east of Bootle)
​
21 May Westmorland Great Dun Fell, near Nature Conservancy station/radio station
​
22 May Westmorland As 21st
​
23 May Flint Moel Findig (2mi SW of Mold)
​
24 May Denbigh Cyrn-y-Brain BBC Tx site, nr Horseshoe Pass
​
25 May Caernarvon Hill to east of Penmaenmawr (Grid ref SH735759)
​
26 May Merioneth Bwlch y Groes, Bala (8mi S of Lake Bala)
​
27 May Montgomery Montgomery, 3mi SE of Welshpool
​
28 May Cardigan Between Ffostrasol and Plymp
​
29 May Staffs 4mi N of Leek
​
30 May Yorkshire Sutton Bank
​
31 May Northumberland Nr Hexham
​
1 Jun Berwickshire 4mi W of Duns (Grid ref NT662602)
​
2 Jun East Lothian 6mi SE Gifford on B6355
Total distance travelled 1240 miles. Some detail is missing as various sites were suggested by other people and directions provided by them are no longer available.
​
Many thanks to Ed Bain GM4AIS and Bob Dalgleish for providing this itinerary.
​
Also to Ed for these notes:
​
Some other snippets: The total cost of the expedition was £225.38. The Sanson Award was originally £120 in the award letter, but seems to have increased to £150 by the end of it all (maybe Tom had a word somewhere!), so the balance we had to meet was £73.25, split 3 ways. According to a calculator that £225 cost is equivalent in 2020 to £2,570. Looking back on it, it would have been much easier if we had mobile phones, Google maps and all the current facilities! Then again, filling in the necessary risk assessment would have taken too long. And AA/RAC/Green Flag probably still doesn't attend incidents on mountain tops.
I recall that the Sanson Awards were primarily for travel-related projects at school, but I see in one of our begging letters (sorry, sponsorship appeals, none of which was successful) that it was for pupils wishing to take part in a 'worthwhile project involving service, initiative, enterprise or a combination of these'.
The vehicle you see in the photos was an elderly ambulance originally belonging to Blackpool. It had been bought by a local Edinburgh group (possibly a university society?) from whom we effectively hired it. The only clue as to its former function was two fold-down slatted benches in the rear, which we didn't use. Using Dexion we built an equipment/operating bench at one side (which you'll see from the photos) and storage shelving on the other (which doubled as a bunk bed at night). The vehicle had slim sliding windows on the side, which we put to good use: the aerial mast was situated immediately outside at that position, we fixed a handle to it (mole wrench?) and this allowed us to lean back and rotate the aerial as required.