Wednesday, July 11, saw the official opening of the RSGB’s National Radio Centre (NRC) at Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes.

Ed Vaizey MP Unveiling the Plaque with RSGB President Dave Wilson M0OBW

The opening and unveiling of the plaque was undertaken by Mr Ed Vaizey MP. Mr Vaizey is the Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries and, as such, has overall responsibility for OFCOM. He stated that he fully supported the aim of the Centre in being able to enthuse and inspire children to become the engineers of the future.

Attendees included many of the sponsors together with Iain Standen, the Chief Executive of the Bletchley Park Trust plus, from overseas,  Dave Sumner K1ZZ, CEO of the ARRL and Ole Garpestad, LA2RR  IARU Vice-President.

Ed Vaizey MP and RSGB President Dave Wilson M0OBW

AMSAT-UK have supported the creation of this valuable educational outreach resource at Bletchley Park and have arranged for the provision and installation of a set of fully steerable VHF and UHF satellite antenna arrays. It is hoped that it may be possible to use the NRC as the FUNcube-1 Mission Control Centre during the Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP) of the mission later this year.

National Radio Centre http://www.nationalradiocentre.com/

AMSAT-UK at NRC for World Amateur Radio Day https://amsat-uk.org/2012/04/19/amsat-uk-on-satellites-for-world-amateur-radio-day/

Sponsor Plaques Fitted at National Radio Centre https://amsat-uk.org/2012/04/21/sponsor-plaques-fitted-at-national-radio-centre/

Minister opens National Radio Centre http://www.rsgb.org/news/articlelinks.php?id=0377

National Radio Centre – A First Look http://www.essexham.co.uk/news/national-radio-centre-a-first-look.html

Howard Long G6LVB and Carlos Eavis G0AKI