Hi All,
Any quick and foolproof way to obtain correct postcodes for Summits?
I had it asked on one of the Backpacker weekends and could not help I only had Grid Locator and WAB references (I always take them with me). I am OK this weekend as no postcodes are needed.
But While I am up three summits for the weekend 1st & 2nd August, there are backpackers contests on that need postcodes ( My 3 Summits are SP-012,SP-006 & SP-005)?
any info please?
Ta
73
Tony
Try finding the site on www.streetmap.co.uk, then under the map select ‘click here to convert coordinates’
Stewart G0LGS
In reply to 2E0LAE:
You only need the first two letters of the postcode so just look up the address of the nearest house on the Royal mail site.
I always thought postcodes was a dumb way of doing it. For example at my mothers house on the Wirral they used to be a Liverpool post code but due to sorting office closures they are now a Chester postcode which is the same as me in North Wales. Counties are nearly as bad, The Wirral was once in Cheshire and is now in Merseyside and CQ town is now in Flintshire were it used to be Clwyd. It just seems daft that an arbitrary change of postcode or county boundary could mean the difference between winning from one year to the next.
Regards Steve GW7AAV
In reply to G0LGS:
You Are a Star Man Stewart, got all three summits closest postcode in minutes
Well Done
73
Tony
In reply to GW7AAV:
Thank You Steve,
I found it with Stewarts Idea, no probs!!
I know what you mean about Postcodes, I Live in Helsby which is closer to Chester and Runcorn ,but we have a Warrington Postcode???
I only wanted to be forearmed as I like to have all the info when up “in them thaar Ills”
As I said I dont need it this Sunday as IO Locators are fine I always bring them with me and WAB SQ for every summit especially when on HF in case some one wants WAB Square for their collection?
Hope to catch you on 6m ssb this Sunday would be nice to get Helen in my log from a summit also??
73
Tony
In reply to 2E0LAE:
The whole system is floored because if you look up the VHF committees list of postcodes Liverpool is LP. There is no postcode LP it it L and a number we used to be L53 when I lived on the Wirral it is now CH something. I think they have been making it up as they go along.
Steve
Ps Sorry Tony I am working Sunday
In reply to GW7AAV:
Maybe The committee at RSGB need to be highlighted of this and others, or would it be better to not rock the boat??? HIHi
Shame you not on Sunday,But I should be okay for qualifying as 2m contest is on as you know?
Take Care
73
Tony
In reply to GW7AAV:
I think the vhf contests committee did that so everyone had a two-letter “postcode” - same applies, for example, to Glasgow. Rumour has it that the change on the Wirral from L to CH was so that they could benefit from lower insurance premiums - they deny being Scousers!
We have the same problems when sorting out qualification for representative rugby union at County level - we still use “Cheshire” which includes the Wirral and parts of greater Manchester, even though some clubs and schools in Cheshire affiliate to Lancashire (and vice-versa). We even have schools in North Wales affiliated to Cheshire, even though they cxome under a completely different union with differing laws for certain youth age groups. Sorry gone a bit off topic now!
73
Reg
Ladies,
Postcode letters are based on where the mail is sorted not where the mail is delivered. You need to remember the postcode is only for the PO benefit. But like social security numbers in the USA, they are used as a hash for many address lookups and that’s just so wrong!
There are a few gotchas like the Wirral having a Chester postcode, but its mail is now sorted in Chester not Liverpool. (The best thing that ever happened because when my postcode changed from L to CH my car and house insurance dropped even though I did move area!)
Northern Ireland is easy, everything is BT but you can count it 6 times. Likewise the Scottish codes can be counted 3 times. This is because the sorting office density is so low there are few postcodes to cover a huge area. If in doubt use the code for the nearest town. Anyway, there are so many only resources that you can use it should only take moments to find out any postcode.
Yes the VHF contest committee know all about postcodes and the non-sequitors that crop up. But they don’t change too often. They were brought in as county multipliers were dropped due to the changes in local government boundaries in the 90’s. In fact since I stopped actively contesting in 1999 there have been many significant boundary changes but few postcode changes in comparison. So unless you can think of some other piece of info that gives geographic info that can be used a multiplier then we’re stuck with them!
Best of luck in the contest and with the activations.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to G3WPF:
In reply to GW7AAV:
Rumour has it that the change on the Wirral from L to CH was
so that they could benefit from lower insurance premiums - they deny
being Scousers!
Problem here was that when we went to a CH postal code here in Flintshire our insurance went up.
:0(
Steve GW7AAV
In reply to GW7AAV:
My insurance went down. I can remember asking why there had been a drop and one pleasant young lady told me I had moved to a lower risk area since last year’s quote even though I was sat in the same house! It shows what a bunch of cowboys insurance companies are.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to 2E0LAE:
I interesting for the WAB details of the British summits.
Have any list from this?
Feri
In reply to HA7UL:
Feri
Send me an e-mail to g4owg@eu.srars.org and I will send you an excel sheet with WAB and other data.
Roger G4OWG
In reply to HA7UL:
Hi Feri
you can get the WAB reference by clicking on the summit ref in SOTAwatch, then when the details come up, look at “Grid Reference” and take the 2 letters eg “SE” and the first figure eg “6” and the fourth letter eg “3” and you get SE63 for the WAB ref.
OK ?
Looking for you on your next activation
73 Graham
G3OHC
In reply to HA7UL:
I interesting for the WAB details of the British summits.
Have any list from this?
The ARM and the database both have the 6 figure grid reference. You can get the WAB area from that by throwing away digits to make a 2 figure grid reference. The letters stay the same, and you discard the 2nd, 3th, 5th and 6th digits.
For example, if the grid reference is NS123456 the WAB square would be NS14.
In reply to G0LGS:A postcode will be handy for telling the ambulance controller where you are when they say they don’t understand grid references… {;¬D
I hope none of you ever have to use this knowledge.
Cheers
David 2E0DAI
In reply to M6WOW:
A postcode will be handy for telling the ambulance controller
See, I told you people use postcodes for all the wrong reasons!
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
In a country area the post code can leave you seriously adrift, but in a town or city it can get the ambulance into the right street. The man in the street will certainly not know his latitude and longitude, or his QRA, and he is very unlikely to know his NGR, but he has memorised his postcode! So yes, I would offer the controller the postcode right after the street name and house number…do you know how many “Station Streets” or “High Streets” there are in Brum?
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G3OHC:
Thanks for all!
Feri
In reply to G8ADD:
In the early 1960’s we lived at 5 Golden Butts Road Ilkley.
One day my mother started a chimney fire due to an accumulation of soot.
She dialed 999 and gave the address.
We heard the siren, it was a retained station so local workmen were the firemen, and the screeching of tyres and the engines setting of post haste.
I had an old Pye Cambridge at the time and listened to the AM broadcast.
The engine had gone half a mile before it got the message of the address.
We lived at the fire station and my dad was full time Fire Officer in Charge 
I don’t think he ever lived it down.
Roger G4OWG
ps wish I lived there now it had a 60ft stone tower. with spiral staircase, for drying hoses.