Cray Valley RS meets at the 1st Royal Eltham Scout Headquarters, 5 minutes' walk south from Etham town centre in the London Borough of Greenwich (10 miles SE from Central London). The white coloured Scout building is located 80 metres down an unmarked track between 61 and 71 Southend Cresecent on Footscray Road, SE9 2SD. The track is directly to the east of the mini roundabout at the junction of Southend Crescent and Footscray Road - opposite Ladysmith Road.

Arriving by Personal Transport

There is NO PARKING directly outside the club house with the exception of registered disabled drivers, those with limited mobility and visiting speakers. if you are disabled and want to reserve a parking space, please use the contact form. The club is fully wheelchair accessible and step free, with an accessible toilet. At present there is unrestricted evening parking in the surrounding roads, but we would ask you respect our neighbours by parking considerately and quietly. For cyclists, the club is just off London Cycle Network Route 65, and for intrepid walkers it is 100 metres from The Green Chain Walk and the London Ring.

Public Transport

Trains

The club house is equidistant between Eltham and New Eltham railway stations on the South Eastern network. Both have regular services from London Bridge taking approx 20 mins. There are also services available from Charing Cross, Cannon Street and Victoria (Eltham only). See https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/timetables for timetables.

Walking from either station will take approx 15 minutes but there are also direct bus services (5 mins) to Stop FG in Footscray Road and Stop FA Holy Trinity Church) in Southend Crescent.

Buses

STOP FG from New Eltham direction - 160, 233*, 314*, 321*

STOP FA from Eltham direction - 124, 126, 160, 233*, 314*, 321

The * denotes buses that stop right by the railway stations

Accessibility

The club meeting place is fully wheelchair accessible.  It also has accessible toilets.

A ramp allows step-free access to the building from the parking area, and the building itself is step-free.  

To reserve a parking space contact us selecting the meetings option.

With over 150 members we are one of the largest local radio clubs in the UK.  Although most of our members are located quite close to our base in Eltham, we have members world-wide.

Our members are a very diverse group of different ages and backgrounds. Their interests cover a wide variety of aspects of the radio hobby.

We welcome new members of all skills, abilities, background, and age. It does not matter whether you are already a licensed radio amateur or not.

Members having a chat at a club meeting

As member of the Cray Valley RS you have plenty of benefits:

• We can help with getting on the air.
• Setting up your own station that fits your budget and needs.
• Advice on finding the right antennas for your flat, house or garden.
• Get help with your construction projects, whether it's radio or general electronics.
• Two club meetings per month with interesting topics (currently held via Zoom as we can't meet in person per government guidelines).
• Access to our state-of-the-art club station G3RCV.
• Receive our monthly newsletter called QUA.
• Membership in the club's email reflector and WhatsApp group.
• Learn from our experienced members how to become more a more successful DXer or contester.
• Exchange ideas and learn from a 150-strong membership who are experts in various aspects of the hobby.
• Participate in our regular radio activities like special event stations, expeditions and contests.
• Make new friends at our social events like the summer BBQ and Christmas parties.
• Receive a discount on our training courses.
• Get club merchandise.

Become a Member

If your are interested in becoming a Cray Valley RS member, please do not hesitate to get in touch via the contact form or fill in the membership application.  Also feel free to visit one of the club meetings or Zoom meetings as a guest before you make a decision.

Dave, G4BUO operating from the club's own radio station

As the Coronavirus pandemic limits our club activities during 2021, we have reduced the annual membership fees to 25% of the usual levels.

Justin, G4TSH operating from the island of St. Kilda

Club Merchandise

The club offers a range of club branded merchandise.

Just get in touch using the contact form for cost of shipping and other queries.  We may not be able to accommodate orders from outside the UK, but don't hesitate to ask and we will investigate.

Club Apparel

We offer a range of clothing items in "Cray Valley blue".  You will have spotted members wearing these items during club events.  The items currently available are:

Special Occasions

We still offer 2O12L branded polo shirts from our activity in 2012.

"The Cray Valley RS Years", by Bob Treacher M0MCV

For our 70th anniversary in 2016, Cray Valley's President Bob Treacher, M0MCV has written a history of the club which is available for purchase.

This illustrated book captures the highs and lows of one of the United Kingdom’s most well-known, and successful, amateur radio societies.

The book features archive material from its modest beginning in 1946 to the highs of the wonderfully successful special event station for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Learn why the Society took the unusual step of becoming a company limited by guarantee in the 1970s; share in the success and disappointment of field days and national and international contests; and obtain first hand appreciation of the Society’s expertise in organising special event stations, not only on a local scale, but in the national and international arena with the prestigious and highly successful celebrations of the Millennium, HM Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee, the bi-centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar, and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The book is written by Bob Treacher M0MCV, who has been a member of the Society since 1968 and its President since 1993. He was also team leader for the prestigious M2000A, GB50, GB200T and 2O12L special event stations.

"The Cray Valley Years", by Bob Treacher M0MCV

Our 150+ members are a very diverse group and their interests cover many aspects of the radio hobby.  This is reflected in the variety of activities the club offers.

Club Meetings

We hold two meetings per month at our club headquarters in Eltham, SE London.

Members at one of the regular club meetings

Meetings usually consist of presentations from a variety of speakers.  We recently welcomed the journalist Laurie Margolis, G3UML who told us how the beginning of the Falkland War made it to the news in the UK via amateur radio.  Earlier in 2020, Rainer, DF2NU from Germany explained the challenges setting up a radio station on an Antarctic research station.

Paul Hyde, G4CSD talks about practical radio astronomy

We are always happy to welcome guests to those meetings.  If you are planning to attend, or join a Zoom meeting, just drop us a note via the contact form so that we can make sure you find us and have a contact number to call in case you struggle.

We also hold an annual construction contest during which members present the projects they have been working on.

In the time between meetings we keep in touch with regular member chats on the radio.  We have about ten of these "club nets" per month; they are on a variety of frequencies so club members whether local or further away can tune in.  For more instant communication, we maintain a members-only email distribution list and a WhatsApp group.

Club Station

We have our own club station ("club shack") for the use of licenced members.  During normal operations we use the callsign G3RCV, and M8C during contests.

The station is equipped with modern radios and we have antennas covering the major amateur radio bands.

Frank, G0FDP operating from the Cray Valley RS's club station G3RCV

Radio equipment

• Yaesu FTDX-101D radio for the HF, 6m and 4m bands
• Yaesu FT-857D for VHF
• Gemini HF-1K linear amplifier
• Lenovo Laptop for CAT control and logging
• Internet access for DX cluster

Antennas - 12m Tennamast supporting:

• 3-element Yagi antenna for 10/15/20m
• 13-element Yagi for 2m
• 4-element dual-band Yagi  for 6m and 4m 
• Wire dipoles for: 17, 40, 80 and 160m

Special Event Stations

We regularly organise events on the radio waves. These range from big scale like the station for the London 2012 Olympic Games to smaller scale like an annual exhibition of equipment produced by KW Electronics.

Cliff, G4HSU holding the relay torch at the station 2O12L for the 2012 Olympic Games in London

Off-Site Activities and Expeditions

We also organise radio activities from other places than the club headquarters. During these we often showcase amateur radio to the public. We set up stations for example at Meopham Windmill (GB6MW) and Crossness Pumping Station (GB2CM).

Showcasing amateur radio to the public with a special event station at Meopham Windmill

Some members take radio even further afar; these are more expedition-style and include operating from places like the island of St. Kilda in the Atlantic or Les Minquiers off St. Hellier, Jersey.

Dave, G4BUO operating from Conachair, the highest point on St. Kilda

On a regular basis, members also visit exhibitions in the UK and abroad.

Members at the Ham Radio exhibition in Friedrichshafen, Germany

Contest and Radio Sports

The more competitive members frequently take place in radio contests. This ranges from UK club team contests to international 48-hour contests. We are very proud that Cray Valley RS came 2nd in the county-wide 2020 UKAC contest series on both 144MHz and 432MHz.

On a regular basis, the club takes part in the co-called field day events where we set up a station independent from the existing building structures and mains power supply.

Cray Valley RS station during a field day event

Inside the club we organise an annual direction finding competition for our members.

Social Events

But we are not purely focussed on radio. During our summer BBQ and Christmas events members and their families meet in a casual atmosphere.

Cray Valley RS summer BBQ