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Dozens of official award stations have registered to take part in
the 2017 International Marconi Day, or IMD,  event, this year being
held on April 22, 0000 to 2359 UTC, starting on April 21 in US time
zones.  All contacts counting toward the Marconi Award must be made
on HF with registered stations, but other participating stations do
not need to be registered to claim awards. This year marks the 30th
IMD, held each year to mark the anniversary of wireless pioneer
Guglielmo Marconis birth on April 25, 1874.  IMD is observed each
year on a Saturday close to Marconis birthday.  Many special event
stations, some operating from Marconi related sites, will be on the
air.  Marconi Award certificates are available for both transmitting
stations and shortwave listeners.  The event is not a contest but an
opportunity for amateurs around the world to make point to point
contact with historic Marconi sites using HF communication
techniques descended from those used by Marconi, and to earn an
award certificate for working or hearing a requisite number of
Marconi stations.  There are two categories. Transmitting amateurs
attempt to complete contacts with 15 of the official award stations,
while shortwave listeners attempt to log two way communications made
by 15 of the official award stations.  International Marconi Day
special event station GB4IMD will be on the air from Cornwall,
helmed by members of the Cornish Amateur Radio Club, which organizes
the IMD event. Cornwall was home to some of Marconis early work. A
list of participating stations is on the Cornish Amateur Radio Clubs
website.  The Kerry Amateur Radio Group in Ireland will be taking
part as an IMD award station. EI6YXQ will be set up on the site of
the former Marconi Station at Ballybunion. The YXQ suffix
commemorates the call sign of the Marconi Station at Ballybunion.
In the US, special event station K2M will be on the air from
Binghamton, New York, the site of the remaining Marconi tower, where
the inventor demonstrated in 1913 that it was possible to
communicate via radio with a fast moving train.  For the seventh
year, radio amateurs in Norfolk, England, will be active from
Caister Lifeboat as part of the IMD celebration. The Norfolk Amateur
Radio Club will be on the air from special event station GB0CMS at
the Caister Lifeboat Visitor Centre to commemorate the villages
original Marconi wireless station, established in 1900. The stations
original purpose was to communicate with ships in the North Sea and
the Cross Sands lightship.  Other IMD sites with historical links to
the inventors work include Cape Cod, Massachusetts, WA1WCC and
KM1CC, Nantucket Island, W1AA/MSC, Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, VE1IMD,
Villa Griffone, Bologna, Italy, IY4FGM, and many others.

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