Please help, can't upload sketch

Have got a new board and want to upload a new sketch to it. When I do it, I get the following error message

avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync, resp=0x30
avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x51

The amber light on my arduino uno is also blinking constantly as well
Wheen I go to tools and look for my arduino uno board, it does not show. My port is assigned to com 3.
Can anyone please help? I am trying to implement this onto a system in work and after singing the arduino's praises I really do not want it to let me down.

Thanks for looking