CQ CQ CQ from GB2THL GB2THL...

International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend

Todhead Lighthouse - Aberdeenshire

Todhead Lighthouse Tower

ILLW Lighthouse Number: UK0218
QRA Locator Square: IO86vv
Worked All Britain (WAB): NO87
QSL is via www.eQSL.cc ONLY

The Board of Trade sanctioned the building of a lighthouse and fog signal at Todhead in November 1894 and following construction, the light was first exhibited on 20th December 1897. The fog signal became operational at the end of April 1898.

Originally the light was provided by a paraffin (kerosene) vapour burner but the light was electrified in 1973 and an automatic standby generator was installed to cater for any supply outages. The fog signal was also changed to an electrical system with fog detection sensors. The lighthouse was fully automated and became unattended in 1988. Following a review of Aids to Navigation carried out in January 2005, it was decided that the light at Todhead would be discontinued and the lighthouse was permanently closed on 11th July 2007.

Each year, several members of AARS set up a portable amateur radio station and operate using the callsign GB2THL from the lighhouse for International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend.

It's not a contest, just good fun!

Operation is normally on several bands (HF and VHF), depending on conditions, with a mixture of SSB and CW. Logging software is used to keep an electronic log of stations contacted.

View from Todhead Lighthouse tower

The tower is used to support a wire antenna and the balcony rails provide the mounting points for VHF & UHF antennas, up at around 13m.

The lighthouse is now a private residence with limited parking and access. We are very grateful to the owners for their enthusiasm and generosity in allowing the Society to 'invade' their home each year so that we can set up the station for the ILLW event.

The 2024 Event

Todhead Lighthouse Team 2023
For the 2024 event, Graham GM4OBD had constructed a revised delta-loop antenna for the lower HF bands. This antenna was similar to the version used last year but was of more robust construction to cope with higher power. The top corner of the loop was attached to the lighthouse tower, which is where the feed-point was located. The other two corners were supported on poles further down the cliffs. With the close proximity of the sea this antenna worked well for shorter skip inter-G on the Saturday and for the longer skip conditions, which were evident on the Sunday.

For the higher bands, the station used an R5 vertical antenna (provided by Steve GM0ULK) mounted on the lighthouse tower. This produced good results on the 18m and 15m bands, particularly on the Sunday afternoon. The station had the advantage of higher power on the Saturday with Fred GM3ALZ bringing his SB200 linear, which gave 500W when driven by the club's IC-7300. In total about 125 stations were worked over the two days - mainly on HF.

VHF was also available this year using a fixed 5-element yagi (pointing south) and a 'white -stick' co-linear mounted on the tower balcony. An unexpected contact was made on CW with a station near Bolton using the yagi in response to a CQ call put out by Graham GM4OBD.

73 from the GB2THL team. If you hear us next year, please give us a call. We look forward to adding your callsign to the log in 2025!

The scrolling gallery below shows a selection of pictures from our visits to Todhead.