On Saturday, March 20th the Rochdale Observer printed a full page spread on RADARS Open Day 2004.  The following is a copy of the article
 
 

REACHING for the moon ... Dave Carden with the large mobile satellite dish

Who would have thought that you could reach America all the way from Bamford in the blink of an eye?   But Radars - Rochdale and District Amateur Radio Society - demonstrated just how simple it can be when it threw its doors open to the public at the weekend.   Radars is one of Bamford's best kept secrets - tucked away inside Fieldhouse Cricket Club.   But the society was determined to come into the open and show people what members do as part of the National Science Week programme of events.   They also hope to have attracted a couple more amateur radio enthusiasts with the open day on Sunday

Secretary Dave Carden said: "We would love to have more people join us here at the club.  At the moment we have between 30 and 50 members but there is always room for more. Here at the cricket club it is the ideal location for us because we are surrounded by open space".   Members showed visitors of all ages how to transmit and receive messages to and from other amateur radio users all over the globe. And they revealed their own handmade transceiver kits, used for sending and receiving messages.   One of the highlights of the day was the 6ft computer-controlled microwave dish used by the society to bounce signals off the moon.   This was set up in the car park at the front of the club.

GETTING tuned in ... Radars members Jamie and Andrew Jackson compare some of the old equipment with the new and improved version.

"The moon is commonly used to bounce signals because it acts like a mirror", explained Mr Carden.   "The microwave dish is mobile so we can set it wherever we want it to go. It makes it easier for us to communicate with countries such as America."   The youngest enthusiast to join in Radars activities was five-year-old Jasmine Brown, the daughter of one of the members.  Jasmine quickly learned how to read Morse code and is hoping to become a fully fledged member when she is ready to take her exams.   Through Radars, members sit the Radio Society of Great Britain examinations so that they are fully qualified to use hi-tech radio equipment as well as build their own communication technology.   Members are licensed to chat with other radio users, but not broadcast music.  "We chat about things such as, 'how's the weather where you are?' and written confirmation is made of the contact," explained Mr Carden.   "We can pick up foreign radio stations over the short wave and in between them we can tune into other amateur radio users, which is very exciting.  Everyone has their own callsign which they use to sign in when contacting another enthusiast."   Anyone wanting to join the society at the Monday evening meetings can contact Mr Carden on 633400.