Churches on the Air event on the 13th September 2025, please put the date in your diary. This will be a full day event taking place at St James’ Parish Church at Silsden. Operators will be required all day so please join in for what has the makings of a fun day….
John M0PLN, Shirley M0KWS and Barry G7KHE
The event is open to all Amateurs who are boaters, cyclists, walkers and other users of the canals, rivers, towpaths, riverbanks for work or recreation. Many clubs and individual Amateurs on or near the UK inland waterways obtain Special Event Station (SES) callsigns. Others operate mobile or portable using their own callsigns. Many more like to contact the BiWota stations. It is also a good chance for WAB enthusiasts to get some rare WAB squares. The primary bands are 40m (7MHz) and 2m (144MHz SSB and FM) but all bands are be acceptable.
The aim of the event is to bring together Radio Amateurs who regularly use the waterways to celebrate their hobby and raise awareness of the UK waterways.
BiWota was instigated by John Rogers M0JAV when he was Secretary of H.A.R.E.S. The photo below is of John and his narrowboat Carnival.
On Saturday the 9th August 2025 we will be holding The Teddy Bears Picnic and radio play day in the Main Car Park at Penistone Hill Haworth from 12:00 hours onwards. If you arrive early that’s OK too. Please bring a packup…. Hope to see you there…
The RSGB IOTA Contest, using the Islands on the Air concept, was created in 1993. This is now a major international event, attracting thousands of participants from all over the world. Radio Amateurs will be travelling to islands around the globe, and putting them on the air, making contacts with other islands and with those who are chasing islands.
Contest bands are 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m, both CW and phone. The duration is 24 hours, starting at 12:00 UTC on Saturday (1 p.m. UK time). Stations send a signal report and serial number, with stations on islands sending their IOTA reference number, described below.
The next RSGB IOTA Contest is 26-27 July 2025, and a guide for newcomers to the contests is at www.rsgbcc.org/hf/information/iotahelp.shtml .
The IOTA Contest is based on the RSGB Islands on the Air awards programme which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. The IOTA idea was conceived in 1964 by British short wave listener Geoff Watts (SK), who imagined that those of us who live in crowded cities would love to set up a station on a sunny beach among palm trees. This prospect is appealing to Radio Amateurs, even if the island in question might not be further away from the UK mainland than the Isle of Wight!
Geoff realised that there were too many islands in the world to enumerate, so he grouped together islands, particularly when they were small. In the IOTA programme numbers are allocated to each group using a continental prefix. The basic IOTA award requires contacts with 100 islands and groups including at least one from each continent. Entrants can obtain award credit for QSOs made in the RSGB IOTA Contest.
The IOTA Reference, sent by Island Stations in the IOTA Contest, consists of two letters indicating the continent, and a number indicating the allocated reference within that continent.
For example:
| EU115 | EU = Europe | Ireland |
| AF032 | AF = Africa | Zanzibar |
| AN003 | AN = Antarctica | Heard Island |
| AS020 | AS = Asia | Taiwan |
| NA107 | NA = North America | Martinique |
| OC225 | OC = Oceania | Turtle Islands |
| SA004 | SA = South America | Galapagos |
This contest brings together those who like to put islands on the air, those who enjoy contesting, as well as those chasing islands for awards. Please join us for a great weekend!
Keighley Amateur Radio Society
Organiser Shirley Kendrick M0KWS
Churches on the Air event on the 14th September 2024, please put the date in your diary. This will be a full day event taking place at St James’ Parish Church at Silsden. Operators will be required all day so please join in for what has the makings of a fun day….
Our Teddy Bears Picnic was held at Penistone Hill Country Park Haworth on the 11th August.
It was a warm sunny day, masts were setup and antenna’s tuned, Sandwiches and sausage rolls made. We had a few contacts on HF then came the picnic with sandwiches, sausage rolls, quiches and home grown salad and tea, coffee and lemonade kindly provided by Sheila and Pat – thank you girls.
Many thanks to all the teddies that attended and who brought their owners with them!
Joe G0RLY, Sheila G0TSJ, Barry G7KHE, Ken M7KPB, Pat M7KPB/XYL, David M7WKD, Geoff G7JZM and Mike G7HEN.
Keighley Amateur Radio Society and Keighley RAYNET Group camping and caravanning weekend on the 1 to the 3 August 2025
Lower Heights Farm, Horn Lane, Silsden, Keighley BD20 9JJ
Members only
Mills on the Air – this international event is a celebration of the different types of mill there are in the world. From windmills to water mills and everything in between. This years event takes place on the 10-11th May. Registration is open.Railways on the air (ROTA) weekend usually takes place every year on the weekend closest to the 27th September. This date celebrates the anniversary of the first steam powered passenger railway which took place on 27th September 1825 – the first passenger train ran on a line in the North East of England from Darlington to Stockton.