Welcome to Horndean & District Amateur Radio Club (HDARC)
About us
We are a long established amateur radio club, being first formed in 1975. If you are unsure what amateur radio is, then we recommend you first read our “What is Amateur Radio ?” page to learn more about our hobby.
Our club meets twice monthly at Deverall Hall, Purbrook. This large, comfortable venue provides our members the opportunity to chat with others on their current projects, operational experiences and any other aspect of the hobby.
Occasionally members or outside speakers will give presentations at our club evenings, sometimes deeply discussing an aspect of amateur radio, and at other times a subject only partially related to our hobby but, still very interesting and enjoyable.
A raffle is held on most evenings at the hall, and there is often used equipment, books etc. available for purchase.
Our radio shack
HDARC has its radio shack located within the grounds of Fort Widley.
Fort Widley, together with several other “Palmerston Forts” is located on the crest of Portsdown Hill overlooking the city of Portsmouth.
The club caravan, located on the upper parade ground of the old fort serves as the nerve centre of our club’s on-air operations.
Our Antennas
Our antenna tower sited next to the caravan is equipped with a range of antennas covering many of the frequencies commonly used by radio amateurs. Plenty of space exists for temporary installation of other antennas when operation is required on bands not supported by the tower antennas.
Horizontally polarised antennas are mounted on a rotator so that they may be positioned to give maximum signal strength in the direction that communication is being attempted. A rotator controller is permanently installed within the caravan.
The high location of our shack on top of the fort is ideal for very long distance communication. With suitable propagation conditions and the correct choice of frequency, worldwide communication is readily achievable.
All antenna feeders are routed to the operations desk within the caravan where the club’s or member’s own equipment may be attached.