Location
Saltford Brass Mill is situated on the banks of the River Avon in the village of Saltford, 5 miles west of the City of Bath in the South West of England. Its postal address is Saltford Brassmill, The Shallows, Saltford, BS31 3EY. However, there are some specific details that will be of interest to radio hams:
- Lat/Long (Brassmill): 51.401219°,-2.451116°
- IARU: IO81sj
- IOTA: EU005 (UK Mainland)
- WAB: ST66 – England
Introduction
The 9th and 10th of May saw the stalwart members of the club returning once again to Saltford Brass Mill to set up and operate GB0SBM as part of the Annual Mills on the Air event.
The Mill is tucked away in a side street of Saltford and not perhaps the most obvious place to get to. If you are interested in visiting please use this link to jump to a "live" Google Map which will assist you with route planning.
This year the Mill was to reopen to the public following nearly 2 years of closure whilst volunteers and Bath and North East Somerset Council restored and repaired the Mill following damage caused by a falling tree. The £50k repairs resolved the damage caused by the tree and addressed problems with the buildings wiring and structural repairs to attend to timber members that had lost strength over the years.
The station comprised: Icom IC-706Mk1 HF Multimode transceiver fed to a 70' doublet antenna at about 20' above ground fed with ladder line via an SGC auto ATU. Power was supplied from a 12V leisure battery. The antenna was supported by 2 aluminium flag poles, one strapped to the mills fence and other guyed into a freestanding position on the open ground adjacent to the mill. This choice of equipment has been the result of year on year evolution of our operation at this location. In particular the choice of a balanced horizontal antenna close to the ground has proven to be most effective in radiating a signal beyond the confines of our river valley using NVIS type propagation as one of the downsides of supporting a watermill is that it is, by definition, situated alongside a waterway which in turn is usually at the bottom of a valley.
Saturdays operation was undertaken by David G7BYN, Andy G7KNA, Julian M0JCE and Eddie M0LJT and we initially set out to bag the 10 mills required to qualify for the events certificate and so operated more in "hunt and pounce" mode. In our first hour we managed to work 4 other mills special event stations along with a couple of other non mills special event stations. We stuck to 40m SSB and successfully worked all over the country and into near European countries, the Dutch are usually particularly active for this event having a significant number of windmills at their disposal. Although there were many good and interesting contacts one that sticks in the mind is with Declan who was operating EI100MFA a commemorative station for the Cunard Line Lusitania; the Blue Ribbon liner sunk off the coast of Ireland on 7 May 1915. EI100MFA had been operational from Monday 4 May and had logged over 3,500 QSOs by the time we worked them.
On Sunday Eddie M0LJT was replaced by Mark M6FKV who had only passed his Foundation exam with the club less than a fortnight before the event. Despite this he happily took over the microphone and proceeded to work 20 or so stations on Sunday afternoon.
Logbook
GB0SBM – South Bristol ARC (Operating from Saltford Brassmill)
Date (UTC) | Time (UTC) | Station Worked | Band or Frequency | Mode | RST | Operators Name | QTH | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sent | Rec'd | ||||||||
09/05/15 | 10:12 | PA6MK | 7.1220 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Elmar (PD3EM) | Wisboomgemaal Kinderdijk | Mill on List: Unesco World Heritage Site |
09/05/15 | 10:21 | GB2EM | 7.1254 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Farnborough and District RS | Mill on List: Elstead Mill | |
09/05/15 | 10:31 | GB1VE | 7.1320 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Dave (Milton Keynes ARS) | Bletchley Park | T S Invincible |
09/05/15 | 10:50 | GB0JAJ | 7.1400 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Sue (Mid Sussex ARS) | Mill on List: Jill Post Windmill | |
09/05/15 | 10:58 | GB0BWM | 7.1440 | LSB | 58 | 59 | Jeremy (Chesham and District ARS) | Mill on List: Brill Windmill | |
09/05/15 | 11:10 | EI100MFA | 7.1490 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Declan | Commemerative station for the Lusitania torpedoed by a German U-Boat off Ireland on 7 May 1915 | |
09/05/15 | 11:35 | GB6AC | 7.1380 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Abergelly Castle | Abergelly Castle | |
09/05/15 | 11:49 | PA6DYCK | 7.0800 | LSB | 54 | 55 | Fred (PA3GDG) | Mill on List: Stagemill Kyck over den Dyck | |
09/05/15 | 12:00 | GB0HPM | 7.0710 | LSB | 59 | 59 | James (Lowestoft District and Pye ARC) | Mill on List: Holton Post Mill operating TS2000 into Doublet |
|
09/05/15 | 12:04 | PH15MILL | 7.0680 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Jan | Mill on List: De Hoop | |
09/05/15 | 12:24 | GB1GSM | 7.1180 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Linda (Bittern DX Group) | Mill on List: Gunton Sawmill | |
09/05/15 | 12:34 | GB2RAF | 7.1200 | LSB | 58 | 59 | Terry | Norfolk | Radar Museum |
09/05/15 | 12:42 | GB4WMM | 7.1430 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Robert (Denby Dale ARC) | Barnsley | Mill on List: Worsborough Mill |
09/05/15 | 12:47 | GB2UW | 7.1500 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Dave (Havering ARC) | Mill on List: Upminster Windmill running 400W |
|
09/05/15 | 13:09 | GB0BM | 7.1630 | LSB | 59 | 59 | David (Mid Somerset ARC) | Mill on List: Burcott Mill | |
09/05/15 | 13:24 | OR4D/P | 7.1440 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Dominique (ON7NZ) | Club Station | |
09/05/15 | 13:33 | GB4VED | 7.1380 | LSB | 59 | 55 | Terry | Burnham on Crouch | |
09/05/15 | 13:44 | GX4CW/P | 7.1350 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Kevin (North Kent RS) | ||
09/05/15 | 14:04 | GB2AWM | 7.1300 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Melvin | Mill not on List: Alderford Watermill | |
09/05/15 | 14:12 | GB2RM | 7.1330 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Dave (Dudley and District ARS) | Mill not on List: Ruiton Windmill | |
10/05/15 | 09:17 | GB0LKM | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Ian (Bishop Aukland RAC) | Mill on List: Alston Killhope Lead Mine | |
10/05/15 | 09:24 | GB5EM | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Andy | Lincoln | Mill not on List: Ellis Mill |
10/05/15 | 09:26 | M0HEM | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | John | Dagenahm Essex | |
10/05/15 | 09:28 | 2E1AVX | 7.1140 | LSB | 58 | 59 | James | ||
10/05/15 | 09:31 | 2E0CSO | 7.1140 | LSB | 57 | 55 | Colin | Plymouth | |
10/05/15 | 09:33 | GB0WWM | 7.1140 | LSB | 57 | 59 | Colin (G4GBP) | Mill on List: Wilton Windmill | |
10/05/15 | 09:40 | G7LSR | 7.1140 | LSB | Ken | Poor Contact | |||
10/05/15 | 09:53 | GB2MOP | 7.1140 | LSB | 57/59 | 57 | Lloyd | “Internal Fire Museum of Power (see QRZ.com)” | |
10/05/15 | 09:58 | 2E1TAF | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Dave | Norwich | |
10/05/15 | 10:02 | G8GRS | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Richard | Dundry Highridge Common Bristol | |
10/05/15 | 10:03 | G7LSR | 7.1140 | LSB | Ken | Duplicate contact | |||
10/05/15 | 10:04 | GW1FKY | 7.1140 | LSB | 57 | 59 | Ken | Bridgend | |
10/05/15 | 10:06 | PB7JOS | 7.1140 | LSB | 57 | Jos | Netherlands | Mill not on List: Windmill | |
10/05/15 | 10:11 | M0VUE | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Chris | ||
10/05/15 | 10:14 | GW6STK | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 58 | Robert | North Wales | |
10/05/15 | 10:17 | GB4BM | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Laura (South Cheshire ARS) | Mill on List: Bunbury Mill | |
10/05/15 | 10:20 | 2E0EDL | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | David | West Yorkshire | |
10/05/15 | 10:22 | M0ZEB | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | David | Ely | |
10/05/15 | 10:26 | M0BAW | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Don | Bremtwood | |
10/05/15 | 10:28 | M0GLP | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Garry | Nottingham | |
10/05/15 | 10:30 | G8JUT | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Steve | Downend Bristol | |
10/05/15 | 10:34 | PA3EMN | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Roel | Amsterdam | |
10/05/15 | 10:37 | GM7KXZ/P | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Kevin | ||
10/05/15 | 10:41 | M0TRJ/P | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Simon | Acle | |
10/05/15 | 10:44 | GX0BRA/P | 7.1140 | LSB | 57/58 | 57 | Simon (Banbury ARS) | Mill on List: Balscote Mill | |
10/05/15 | 10:50 | GB4NHM | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | Jamie (Sutton Coldfield RS) | Mill on List: New Hall Mill | ||
10/05/15 | 10:52 | G3WBB | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Ted | Blackpool | |
10/05/15 | 10:57 | GI4DYE | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 58 | Eamon | North West Ireland | |
10/05/15 | 11:01 | GB2CW | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Harry | Mill on List: Chesterton Windmill | |
10/05/15 | 11:06 | GB2WBM | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 57 | Keith | East Sussex | Mill not on List: East Sussex |
10/05/15 | 11:07 | G4ACS | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 58 | Geoff | Kinver South Staffordshire | |
10/05/15 | 11:09 | GI0ZAK | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Fred | 1 mile north of Bedford | |
10/05/15 | 11:13 | G8CKK | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Tony | ||
10/05/15 | 11:16 | M0DFW | 7.1140 | LSB | 57/58 | 58 | Dave | Cambridge | |
10/05/15 | 11:20 | 2E0XFF | 7.1140 | LSB | 58 | 58 | Mark | North of Luton | |
10/05/15 | 11:24 | F5NPS | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Dennis | Verron | |
10/05/15 | 11:26 | G6INU | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Doug | Sidcup | |
10/05/15 | 11:29 | G0NKZ | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 58 | Ken | Quantock Hills | |
10/05/15 | 11:32 | GB0CHW | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Bob (Downland Radio Group) | Mill on List: Chailey Heritage Windmill | |
10/05/15 | 11:40 | PH7GIS | 7.1140 | LSB | 56 | Jeffrey | Rotterdam | ||
10/05/15 | 11:45 | PB15?LL | 7.1140 | LSB | Technical Difficulties – Station Lost | ||||
10/05/15 | 11:51 | ON4DN | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 57 | David | 30km east of Brussels | |
10/05/15 | 11:54 | M0LJT | 7.1140 | LSB | 47 | 59 | Eddie | Bristol | |
10/05/15 | 11:56 | M1DUC | 7.1140 | LSB | 58 | 59 | John | Tilbury London | |
10/05/15 | 12:01 | 2E0ZXW | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Mike | Eastbourne | |
10/05/15 | 12:07 | G4HAP | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Fred | Wigan | |
10/05/15 | 12:27 | G4CHD | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Terry | Westward Ho! North Devon | |
10/05/15 | 12:37 | GB2PW | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Henry | Mill not on List: Polegate Windmill | |
10/05/15 | 12:39 | M0HEM | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | John | Dagenham | Duplicate contact |
10/05/15 | 12:41 | M6NBJ | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 57 | Paul | 5W QRP – QSL Requested | |
10/05/15 | 12:46 | G0NGE | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Bill | Leyland near Preston Lancashire | |
10/05/15 | 12:53 | G4DUL | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Martin | Doddington south Bedfordshire | |
10/05/15 | 12:56 | 2E0AYQ | 7.1140 | LSB | 57/58 | 59 | Martin | Orpington Kent | |
10/05/15 | 13:00 | 2E0HPI/P | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 58 | Carl | Hartlepool | Lighthouse – 2.5W QRP |
10/05/15 | 13:05 | GB2LM | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Rich (Cwmbran and District ARS) | Mill on List: Llanyravon Mill | |
10/05/15 | 13:09 | G8HBS | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Peter | Great Yarmouth | |
10/05/15 | 13:12 | GB2RWM | 7.1140 | LSB | 57 | Lost reception with station | |||
10/05/15 | 13:15 | GB2GG | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | David (South Nottinghamshire ARC) | Mill on List: Greens Windmill | |
10/05/15 | 13:18 | G3YZY | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Howard | Portsmouth | |
10/05/15 | 13:21 | GB0BWM | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Phil (Chesham and District ARS) | Buckinghamshire | Mill on List: Brill Windmill Buckinghamshire Duplicate mill with different operator |
10/05/15 | 13:24 | G4RAC | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | John | Burton on Trent Staffordshire | |
10/05/15 | 13:40 | M3WRB | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Robert | ||
10/05/15 | 13:42 | DJ1BWH | 7.1140 | LSB | 59 | 59 | Bridgette | Hemer |