Author: Alan, 5B4AHJ
Portishead Radio, GKA was an internationally famous long range maritime radio station that was QRV from 1928 until it closed in April, 2000.
The Portishead Radio main transmitters were situated at Rugby, England, and were controlled from a control centre near Burnham-on-Sea
Portishead Radio closed at 12:00z on 2000-04-30.
A special event was held to mark the closure.
Between 0700z and 1900z on 2000-04-29, radio amateurs were able to communicate in CW with Portishead Radio, which used the callsigns GKB2, GKB4, GKB5, GKB6 and GKB7, a different callsign being used on each band. QSOs were made cross-band, between a fixed frequency on each of the 80/40/20/17/15 metre amteur bands with a fixed frequency in a nearby marine band.
QSOs with these GKB calls are not valid for DXCC because:
- They are cross band
- The QSO partner is not a licensed amateur radio station.
Note: The term INVALID in Club Log only means that the QSO is not valid for DXCC.
Related articles and acknowledgements
Maritime Radio Stations of the World - Closedown of Portishead Radio / GKA
Maritime Radio Stations of the World - The Final Final Final
Wikipedia - Portishead Radio