This past weekend I attended BARCfest in Longmont, CO. BARCfest is hosted by the Boulder Amateur Radio Club and it was held in an excellent indoor location at the Boulder County Fairgrounds. The weather was nice, in the upper-70's and attendance was good. The $5 entrance fee and free parking made for an excellent and affordable hamfest experience. There were plenty of bargains on the tables and an overall cheerful mood was in the air. Here are some of the visual highlights from the event: Great table space And some great hamfest entertainment from a member of Steel Pennies Bluegrass A trio of classics. A great reproduction of the radio used aboard the HMS Titanic Boulder County ARES had a great display.
Hi Fred, BARCfest seems to have been really great! I especially found curious one picture : the reproduction of radio used aboard the Titanic. I am particularly interested in Titanic and Marconi. Marconi moved to England and chose Poldhu ( on a cliff, along the Southwest coast, England) as a perfect place to install his radio station. It is surrounded by sea, the place is spectacular, with stunning sights. The place was perfect to achieve transatlantic transmissions. In 2009, my wife and I visited Poldhu station. They still keep Marconi shack, with the equipments. Marconi also set helium balloons to elevate his antennas, although the balloons are not there anymore, you can see the rests where these were attached. There is also a hotel in the zone called Marconi. I recommend to visit Poldhu and Lizard, not only for the history of radio ( that is ,indeed , amazing for any radio user) but its stunning location and the beauty of the coast and cliffs. Poldhu station was very important for the development of transatlantic transmissions, from here Marconi experimented with his equipments and finally achieved the first Transatlantic transmission (1901). Until then, it was thought that due to the curvature of the Earth, this would be impossible. The first contact was England ( Poldhu) - Philadelphia. The Titanic was provided with equipments from Marconi company. Not only Titanic, but many ships started to use Marconi equipments. So, the equipments that Marconi had at his station at Poldhu and Titanic were,basically, the same. In 1912, thanks to Marconi equipments, the Titanic could send SOSs that were received and helped to rescue people. In that moment, the work and effort of Marconi was patent. I attach some pictures, so you can see Poldhu station , rests of attachments of his antennas and Marconi hotel ( the white building at the back ). Julio, 73
