Have you heard of the International Lighthouse weekend? This is an annual event held by International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend (ILLW) where radio operators connect with each other from all around the globe on this one weekend in August. But the difference, they are all operating from different lighthouses around the world!!
This year it falls on August 20-21. This will be the 25th anniversary of the event. Because it is not a contest, amateurs may operate on any authorised frequency and mode permitted by their licence.
We came across an interesting article containing suggestions of the origins of this event.
This idea originated after a cold winter in 1992-1993 after two avid amateur operators wanted to encourage operators to get out in the summer and “play radio” . Originally some ideas like historic Scottish castles, however, they decided that the lighthouses of Scotland would be ideal!! The event was not to be a contest but simply “fun” time for the whole family. Take your family to the beach for a picnic and use your radio as an added bonus that day/ weekend.
It would appear that two lighthouse events were held for many years until eventually, the ‘The Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society assumed sponsorship and management of the ILLW event.
Want to listen in on the event? Most operation will take place on the HF bands, so this is an opportunity to listen on your Tecsun shortwave receiver. Normal operating conventions apply, so frequencies below 10MHz utilise LSB and frequencies above 10MHz use USB (upper sideband).
The Tecsun PL-365, Pl-368, PL-880, PL-990x, and H-501x can all be used for this event and we recommend our Outdoors MW/SW antenna also!!
Click this link to see a list of light houses in Australia for interested operators and listeners!!
https://wllw.org/index.php/en/
Please note, this is by no means the complete list but will give listeners an idea if the lighthouse closest to them will be operational.
i’LL BE ON 40 METRES