To mark 100 years of British broadcasting, the BBC will be putting on special events throughout 2022. As part of the celebrations, the staff amateur radio club, BBC Radio Group, will be active throughout the year using the special callsign GB100BBC.
BBC Radio 4 announcer/newsreader, Jim Lee, launched GB100BBC, from the BBC's Broadcasting House, in London, at exactly midday on 1 January. Within minutes amateur radio stations around the UK and throughout Europe were clamoring to contact the special BBC station and secure a prized entry in their logbook.
The London BBC Radio Group has been granted an extended special event radio license by the regulator Ofcom, to operate the station throughout 2022. Ofcom has permitted operation from club members’ home stations, as well as from BBC premises around the UK, and locations associated with BBC broadcasting such as transmitter sites.
Operators can be present and retired BBC staff or those who now are working in former BBC or privatized successor premises, for example, the Woofferton transmitter site.
The BBC Radio Group was launched in 2017 by a handful of radio enthusiasts to revive a long and rich history of amateur radio at the BBC dating back to the Second World War. The ‘radio shack’ at the BBC’s headquarters, Broadcasting House in central London, was officially opened by the then Director-General, Lord Tony Hall.
In addition to online QSL options, a traditional commemorative QSL card will be available via the RSGB bureau. View the GB100BBC page on QRZ.com for more information and look for GB100BBC on all bands and modes. E-QSLs will be available by registering at:
https://www.eqsl.cc/QSLCard/Home4G.cfm No direct reports - paper QSLs will only be sent via the RSGB bureau.
(RSGB/ Dave Porter, Jonathan Kempster)
(BDXC-Jan 2022/U.K. & Ireland News via Dave Kenny)