I recently visited Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes in UK. ( http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk ). This is the "National Code Centre" - the site where the German Enigma code was broken in World War 2. This work was secret for a long time and the story is only now being told

It is a facinating place and must be visited if you have any interest in history, radio or computers. It also houses other related exhibits, such as the museum of computing with the rebuilt Colossus computer. There is one hut stuffed full of vintage radios, including some of the WW2 'Spy' sets. There is a permanent amateur radio station, but it was closed on the day of my visit.

I took the conducted tour - which is free. Peter was our guide and he is an absolute mine of facinating information.

The only thing that let the place down was the catering, which was awful, and there is no alternative near by so do take sandwiches!

Entrance was £10, which allows unlimited visits for a year. I only allowed 3-4 hours for my visit, which was nowhere near enough so I will be going back.

Dave

2m Contest

It was the UK 2m Activity/club contest again last week. This happens on the first Tuesday of each month from 8pm-10.30pm (UK clock time). I enjoy this contest because it's not as cut-throat as some events and 2m is an interesting band, particularly as my location (Blackheath, SE London) is not in a good location.

Conditions were poor this month, but I did manage 24 contacts and 6 squares, giving a total claimed score of 144. Not my best result!

It's all to play for in December, when I am hoping the Bittern DX club (www.bittern-dxers.org.uk/) will finish the year in the top 10.