Overlapping Hobbies. Sandtoft.

[Carbon Brush]

At Sandtoft (North Lincs) there is an amateur radio society. A small group of people who are always experimenting with microwave frequencies, bouncing radio signals off the moon and other activities.
They host several radio beacons to assist in UHF and microwave propogation measurement.
I have visited them a few times and eventually joined the club.

The club is extremely fortunate to have their own premises which means there is no caretaker jangling keys at 9pm. They can leave equipment in the two buildings that are on the large site.
The site is reasonably dark.

I'm sure that I am not alone in noticing that there is a significant overlap between people who are interested in the night sky, radio astronomy, amateur radio, electronics and mechanical engineering.
The members represent this overlapping range of interests.

The buildings include radio shacks (as expected). a large lecture room, small radio museum and a workshop.

Under construction outside they have a large mount, with drives, that will hold a 2.4metre dish. This being for moon reflection radio at microwave frequencies.

My most recent activity has been to promote the night sky to the members. Recently lending my Skywatcher 250 goto dob for members to use.
They knew i was going to bring a telescope. But I think they were expecting a table top refractor!
I tend to forget about what non astro folks have experienced until questions like 'will this shows the craters on the moon' get asked.

My hope is that there will be a closer link at amateur level between radio, radio astronomy and visual astronomy.
I am hoping that the site will be made available to amateur astronomers. Being between (light blighted) Doncaster, Scunthorpe and goole, there should be significant interest.

The club always meets on Tuesday evenings, and Saturday afternoons. There may well be members there at other times.
Take a look (no charge) and see if it is of any interest. It is located near to the Sandtoft trolley bus museum and Sandtoft airfield.

If there is interest, I will look at arranging a 'bring your scope' astronomy evening with an indoor talk of some description in case of clouds.

The radio club has a really great asset with the buildings, large site and dark location. It is underused by the amateur radio community.

David.

 

[Kn4fty]

David, I would definitely be interested if I wasn't across the pond. I'm also an amateur radio operator. Astronomy was one of the things that got me interested in radio. There are astronomy nets on VHF and HF. I think you've got a good idea about an astronomy program there at the shacks!

Rob

[Gina]

I was interested in radio from a very young age, encouraged by my father - my first receiver was a crystal set!  Later I went on to valves and transistors...  I was in the Radio Society at university.  Never got to getting a transmitting license though even though I did know a bit of Morse code.  Any transmitting I did was very limited range so as not to contravene the regs.

[DAVE AMENDALL]

I was interested in shortwave radio for some years. Didn't have a licence but used to like to listen to Amateurs on ssb and foreign broadcast stations on A.M. using a Trio R5000 receiver. This was hooked up to 180 feet of long wire antenna the supporting pole meant loss of night sky and so as interest in Astronomy grew the antenna and pole had to go...Dave

[Swoop1]

Perhaps they have room for an obsy?

[Kn4fty]

There are amateur radio net groups out there that do astronomy. They will wire their telescopes and computers to the radio. Then they all view the same thing and discuss it in real time. The net control can control all the scopes at once. Very cool set up!

Rob

[Carbon Brush]

On 17/10/2019 at 12:04, Swoop1 said:

Perhaps they have room for an obsy?

There is definitely room for an observatory. It just needs enough people interested for long enough to promote the build.

Strangely there is a large unused (ex ship) radome on top of a lorry container.
I can't help but think of taking a hacksaw to the radome, adding a slot and rings....

David.

[George Jones]

On 16/10/2019 at 09:47, DAVE AMENDALL said:

using a Trio R5000 receiver.

I always wanted one of these.

[StuartJPP]

I know this club and some of the members very well David and yes, the site is like you describe it, and a bunch of great guys they are. It is very generous of you to lend your dob to them to try and perk up some interest in visual astronomy.

I have been threatening to visit on a dark moonless night, but they have eluded me so far but I am sure that it will be a fairly dark site (within reason) and will take an SQM reading when I get a chance. There is a car depot close by with a lot of security lighting but still much darker then where I live and I know the Milky Way is clearly visible from there.

It would certainly be nice to set up an observatory and I have also spotted the same radome begging to be used for another purpose.

 

 

[Carbon Brush]

Stuart. Thanks for your comments.

The dob is stored in a room a few metres from the main entrance door. It is on a trolley and there are no steps. There is hard standing outside the entrance and a network of paths on the site. A near ideal setup.

Don't worry too much about LP from the car depot. I didn't notice any particular glow on the few times this autumn that I have still been there as it gets dark. Only clouds and rain! Going back 20 years+ when doing my flying training, I remember the reflections from car windscreens being a good visual aid visible from miles away to locate the position of Sandtoft airfield along the length of the M180. Later having got my 'ticket to fly' there were a lot less cars and I had to use other visual cues. I think now a lot of the car park land has been put to other use, or is empty. In fact the most significant off-site light comes from one security light at the trolley bus musueum and it isn't that bad to be honest. As the radio club has a good relationship with the museum, I'm sure that in due course this can be tilted down a little. I have not pushed for this as there is yet to be any significant astro activity at the radio club.

Yesterday I dropped in to leave a Philips Toucam that I don't use at home. I thought that as it is a simple fit and gives immediate views on a laptop or tablet, it might arouse interest and allow shared experiences with the dob.
I also left my Vixen SG binoculars in the optimistic hope of there being a clear sky in the next week or two before I take them back home. M45, M42, M31 and the milky way being good easy targets for these.

Spent a bit of time chatting with a member about the EME (moonbounce) radio work. It turns out that the majority of people trying this could benefit from better antenna mounts and lunar alignment tools.
Essentially take a standard alt az goto controller and fit bigger motors. I can see that as the clubs EME dish mount continues to shape, some astro input will be helpful. The base is on the recently extended concrete pad. The mount 'big lumps' are in the club workshop as assembly continues. They are not yet ready to deal with the weather.

The club is always open Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon. Call in whenever you think the weather might be half decent. Don't worry if there is nobody there who knows how to 'drive' the dob. I'm sure you can manage this. Maybe bring a scope of your own to enhance the members experience?

David.

[Carbon Brush]

A 'heads up' for anyone who is thinking of visiting the radio club.
I was prompted by a thread on here about getting power connectors repaired - problems finding someone with soldering skills, etc.

This Sunday morning from about 10am there will be plenty of people in attendance at the radio club. I will be there to present an astronomy face.
If anyone wants to turn up and have a daylight look at the facilities, view the dob, or chat, or get a connector soldered, it is a good opportunity.

The radio club site includes a memorial to those who lost their lives at Sandtoft airfield and there is an 11am remembrance service.
The memorial is right next to the site entrance.
I mention this as anyone arriving at this time might feel awkward about driving past the large gathering next to the gate.
Or might want to arrive earlier to join in, or arrive after the event.

David.

 

[Guest]

I've been a licensed radio ham for just over 10 years, by the way.😉 

[wxsatuser]

My obsy is also my radio shack. 😀

It's got more radio gear than AP gear now.

Just went out to align a 1.1metre dish on the Es'hail 2 satellite, Rigel was almost on the satellite about 8 minutes a go.