Operators Brave The Heat at the1st Twyford Scouts Donkey Derby 2026

The Bracknell Amateur Radio Club (BARC) turned up the heat and braved the sunshine to attend the 1st Twyford Scouts Donkey Derby.

Our mission for the day was two-fold, to introduce the fantastic world of amateur radio to the general public and activate a prime Parks on the Air (POTA) location. We set up our Gazebos at the King George V Fields Recreation Site (POTA ID: GB-4661) and got straight to work.

Despite the scorching weather, the team had a brilliant time connecting with local visitors, as well as and operators worldwide. We had great conversations with event-goers, sharing the magic of ham radio and showing how we operate in the field.

The bands were buzzing! We managed to rack up more than 80 successful contacts across 4 hours of operating by splitting our focus between HF and VHF to get the best of both worlds. 2m FM kept us busy with plenty of friendly, local chat and 20m SSB allowed us to stretch our reach, netting several long-distance (DX) contacts, including successful QSOs all the way to the USA!

We were even treated to a Fly Past by a Battle of Britain Dakota who made several passes right overhead.

A huge thank you to the 1st Twyford Scouts for hosting a fantastic community event, and to all the BARC members who volunteered their time (and sweated it out!) to make the activation a resounding success.