Welcome
Welcome to the new Radio Communication Museum of Great Britain.
This is a brand-new museum which, as the name suggests, is focused on all aspects of Radio Communication. It is located in the city of Derby in Central England. The museum a registered charity and is being funded and built by enthusiasts and volunteers.
This web site is under construction and will be expanded as the museum itself is built. It will grow to become both an overview of the museum, as well as an information resource for people with an interest in radio communication.
The current status of the museum is that the building is complete and has been handed over to the museum’s team of volunteers. We have created a mechanical workshop and the ESD laboratory / electronics workshop for radio equipment maintenance, cleaning and repair; the Operations Room benches are being constructed where, in a few weeks, radios and transmitters will be live and connected to antennas.
We have just started our education outreach programme. We are running after-school and weekend, free to attend, Coding Clubs for children aged 9 to 11 using SCRATCH and PYTHON languages on PCs, Raspberry Pi and BBC Micro:Bit computers. These clubs are a great way to introduce children to programming (coding) computers. We are using material provided by Code Club UK for initial training. When children have completed the various Code Club projects and become proficient with Python, they will be able to get involved in more complicated projects. These advanced projects will involve the control of electronics, software defined radios and even working on space science projects, linking to orbiting satellites and the International Space Station. Follow this link to find out more about our Coding Clubs.
In September 2017, we are starting our Electronics Club for children. This will initially be for children between the ages of 10 and 16. It is aimed at complete beginners and will enable children to learn how electronics work, how to construct projects and use electronic test equipment. A more advanced club will also run, to which children can transfer when they have grasped the basics. Follow this link to find out more about our Electronics Clubs.
Later in 2017, we plan to start a Space Science Club as well as training courses for Amateur Radio Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced licence examinations to enable people to obtain their amateur radio licences.
We expect to have several thousand items of radio equipment on display and hope to be open by arrangement to radio enthusiasts from August / September 2017. Initially, we expect the museum to primarily be of interest to radio amateurs and engineers to look at our collection and use the equipment. Over the next few years the supporting graphics will be installed progressively, which will make the museum of greater interest to the General Public.
Please follow our blog and twitter feed to find out our progress on the creation of the museum. Bookmark this page now and return regularly.
If you would like to get involved with the museum as a volunteer, either in a technical role restoring and operating equipment, or in a supportive role in marketing or administration, then follow the link to that section of this web site.
We are also keen to talk with people who have worked either as designers, engineers or users of radio equipment e.g. military, marine, aeronautic, telecomms etc who can share their experiences with us. This could be face to face, or over the telephone, internet or even radio meetings!
If you just want to be updated with our progress then please subscribe to the quarterly news-sheet and we will email it to you.
If you would just like to know when we are open to the public, then tick that box and we will contact you nearer that time.
Many thanks for taking the time to visit our web site and we hope to welcome you to the museum in due course.