For your information.
73 de Johan SM6LKM

-----Ursprungligt meddelande-----

Till: [....]
Ämne: VB: International longwave meeting Summer 2005 in Sweden (incl
World Heritage Grimeton)?

Hello, longwave (ELF, VLF, LF) people,
----------------
Summary:

Do you want to take part in an international "longwave meeting"? I have
been told that the most recent one was in York, UK, in 1992.

Earlier this year, VLF radio station SAQ in Grimeton was put on the
Unesco World Heritage List.
The meeting would combine present ELF, VLF and LF issues with a visit to
SAQ.

Given sufficient interest, the venue will be on the west coast of
Sweden, in the town of Varberg, from around Thursday June 30 to Saturday
July 2, 2005. The time period should be regarded as fixed.

To go further, we need your advice. Are you interested? If so, please go
along and read the rest of my message.

----------------

Details:

I take this opportunity by email and through websites to query your
possible interest to take part in a "Nordic longwave meeting" on ELF,
VLF and LF communication and navigation systems (whistlers and other
natural phenomena covered by other events). Given sufficient interest,
the venue will be on the west coast of Sweden, in the town of Varberg
and nearby Grimeton, from around Thursday June 30 to Saturday July 2,
2005. There is a reason for these dates and the time period should be
regarded as fixed, provided we get sufficient interest to launch such a
seminar, symposium, or fullfledged conference.


A few weeks ago, the Nordic Radio Society Foundation (NRS) had its 7th
"Nordic Shortwave Conference" HF04 on the exotic island of Fårö in the
Baltic. HF04 comprises VLF issues, albeit the majority is related to HF.
160 participants attended and I devoted my HF04 opening speech to radio
station SAQ in Grimeton that had been added, on July 2 this year, to the
Unesco World Heritage List:

"an exceptionally well preserved monument to early wireless
transatlantic communication. It consists of the transmitter equipment
(i. e. the Alexanderson alternator), including the aerial system of six
127-m high steel towers. Though no longer in regular use, the equipment
has been maintained in operating condition. The site is an outstanding
example of the development of telecommunications and is the only
surviving example of a major transmitting station based on
pre-electronic technology".


That HF04 opening night, I got congratulations for our world heritage
success and people said "now we must go to Grimeton". All of a sudden,
it came to my mind that we ought to organise an international "longwave
meeting" in Varberg so as to combine present ELF, VLF and LF issues with
a visit to nearby vintage SAQ. I got immediate support from industry,
operators and various agencies. As a matter of fact, I was told that the
most recent VLF meeting had been in York, UK, in 1992.

I promised to look into the matter and I have done that:


Varberg is a "Summer Town" and a perfect venue with all facilities
within short walking distance (hotels, youth hostel, campus lecture
halls, railway station, Denmark ferry terminal, parking lots, old castle
and swimming of all sorts, cafés etc etc).

SAQ was inaugurated on July 2, 1925 by King Gustaf V. The new reception
building will be inaugurated on July 2, 2005, celebrating 80 years of
SAQ operation. Then, we hope a royalty will start the alternator to
transmit a "royal message". This will be the perfect final activity of
the "2005 Grimeton longwave meeting". Thus, the dates are fixed and we
have already made a preliminary reservation of hotel rooms. So, please
mark the dates in your calender - now.

So, everything sounds fine, doesn't it? Well, we have all things under
control except money. We doubt that we can find sponsors to cover an
anticipated full conference loss. Do we keep the ambition low
(=seminar)? Will we get a lot participants (=conference)? We know that
we have to keep the fee reasonably normal and we hope to offer lower
rates for university people.


Therefore, I kindly ask you to tell us if you would be interested in
taking part in a "2005 Grimeton longwave meeting". All answers are
without obligations, but we need them in order to help us decide if we
should go on and, if so, the ambition. A first invitation and call for
papers could be sent out in November, 2004.

All views are welcome. Please submit yours by email to the HF04
administrative secretary, Ms Winnie Svensson at AerotechTelub AB, email
<[email protected]>, fax +46 470 42042.


For those, who want to look into HF04 and SAQ more closely, I recommend
the websites of
HF04 http://www.nordichf.org
SAQ http://www.alexander.n.se (click Union Jack)
Town of Varberg http://www.varberg.se (click Union Jack)
For SAQ summary in Swedish and pictures see
http://www.raa.se/press/040702.asp (free to download).
For SAQ articles in English see http://hem.passagen.se/sk0mt (0 is a
zero, SKØMT is the call sign of our local amateur radio club, click TSA
logo to proceed, look for Grimeton 2/3 down in the left column).


Well, will we meet in Varberg in June/July 2005? The answer will depend
on you. Thanks for your cooperation,


Carl

-----------------------

Carl-Henrik Walde, HF04 chairman
Secretary of the Swedish National Committee of URSI (Union
Radio-Scientifique Internationale)
<[email protected]>, [email protected]>, + 46 70 5916061