M0TTB
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by M0TTB on Mar 28, 2008 9:54:11 GMT
Hi everyone, I'm Andy, just hit 40yrs and I have rediscovered amateur radio after many many years away from a radio, so the title says it all ;D I'm desperately trying to find a foundation course to get my foot on the ladder. Hopefully by June, I'll be an M3... or better still, a brand new M6 with almost any suffix to choose from (what would you choose?) Then I can progress to the intermediate and get a clunky call In my teens, back in the early 80's, I was swept along in the CB craze but I quickly ended up in the murky world of 11m ssb ... dashing home from school to work any dx that could be found, states, s. america, s. africa and up early in the morning for australia and the far-east. I had all the radios and ended up with a Yaesu 757. A schoolmate and myself were an awesome team... we even built a 6 ele yagi!! (11m dipoles were cheap in those days) Anyway, I had the dreaded knock at the door... and although I amazingly got my gear back from the magistrate, I quickly drifted off into the pursuits of a normal late teenager. I stayed as a swl for a few years but the rig was sold for some reason (probably for a bit of hi-fi). So 2008!! I create and admin big forums/communities for a living, 'big boards' as we call them (1/2 million posts is the qualifier). And one of our communities is for ships/ex sailors and suchlike... and inevitably radio comes up a lot, and a lot of these ex ships radio ops are gnarled old g3's So my interest was rekindled. I couldn't believe how much the license structuring had changed. I've already gone out and bought an HF rig + HF vertical (although still in the box) but am currently happy listening away with a 1/2 G5RV and getting in the swing of things again. Just a pity we're at or around sunspot minima... the only way is up Glad to be back!! Now if I can just find an old Belcom LS102L for 10m and have some Duran Duran on in the background, I'll be in nostalgia heaven As for other hobbies... I'm also a Bird Photographer (bizarrely I manage to sell a few) www.digiscoped.com And recently I've got into Aviation photograhy www.andybright.com cheers, Andy
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Post by k9do on Mar 28, 2008 11:38:33 GMT
Hello From Renae/k9do
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Post by ridgerunnr on Mar 28, 2008 16:09:49 GMT
Hey Hawkwind! welcome! They have a really nice forum here. I enjoyed reading your history..sounds just like an English version of me growing up (I'm 47) I had the big Midland c.b. base station with an Avanti 4-element "astrobeam" back in Illinois-used to work the whole midwest wit it! By the way, what was the "dreaded knock"..I suspect something to do with regulations? 73s
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Post by M0ZIF on Mar 28, 2008 18:40:33 GMT
Whilst I never got into CB I have been into radios for years and trust me when I say once you find a good club, it will be as has happened here M3 now studying for 2e and lets see if we can get a full license before Yule There are a fair few clubs down in Herts so its just a case of finding the local one i'd have thought 73's and Welcommen Martin M3 VQE
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Post by M0ZOE on Mar 28, 2008 19:35:18 GMT
:)Hi Andy and A Big Welcome, It's nice to read that you are still very much into radio. I think most of us started out on c.b. at some point and its great to see that many of the old cb'ers are coming into amateur radio. We have a nice little club at Burnley in Lancashire but definitely think that is tooooo far for you to travel each week just to do your M3 You seem to be well up on the antenna scene and am sure you will be able to post lots of idea's and help for other's that are perhaps not so up on them and I know I will find it interesting reading. Wow half a million posts is good going for a forum so congrats on that one. Anyways glad you decided to join us and hope to read lots of posts from you in the future. I like photography but never sold any but think that is because they are not as good as I would like to think they are hee hee 73's for now Andy Zo
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M0TTB
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by M0TTB on Mar 29, 2008 9:25:32 GMT
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone By the way, what was the "dreaded knock"..I suspect something to do with regulations? 73s Yep, a visit from the Department of Trade & Industry Radio Investigation Section (as it was around 1985)... very nice guys as it turned out. It seemed to help matters that I didn't have a microphone connected at the time of the 'visit'. At the time 'cb' in the u.k. was 27.6-28mhz fm only, so operating outside of that was illegal. As it happened, there were no complaints of RFI/TVI and it was just bad luck that my antenna was spotted while they were in the area. The 600+ qsl cards from exotic locations on my bedroom walls didn't help my cause Still, it went fairly well in court and, despite a £300 fine, it was all quite jovial and my FT-757 was returned on the understanding it would be used for swl only. I broke the law, and you can't grumble if you get caught and pay the price. That was my one and only brush with the legal system. cheers, Andy
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M0TTB
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by M0TTB on Mar 29, 2008 9:36:21 GMT
Whilst I never got into CB I have been into radios for years and trust me when I say once you find a good club, it will be as has happened here M3 now studying for 2e and lets see if we can get a full license before Yule There are a fair few clubs down in Herts so its just a case of finding the local one i'd have thought 73's and Welcommen Martin M3 VQE Thanks Martin. Must admit, I never thought of myself as a cb'er... never got into the 'lingo' and found most of it embarrassing at the time, let alone in retrospect ;D Unfortunately the Watford radio club has long gone, but I'm on the list for the Chesham Amateur Radio club foundation course, which should be in the spring some time ... like many clubs, they wait for a suitable number to hold it. In my impatience, I don't mind paying for an empty seat if it means saving a month or two. I just don't fancy those '1hr for 12 weeks' courses that some clubs do... far prefer a more intensive course over a shorter time span. It is a little frustrating, as the foundation course is a formality and the sooner it is out of the way, the quicker I can get to the intermediate and ultimately the RAE...although that maybe next year for me. cheers, Andy
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M0TTB
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by M0TTB on Mar 29, 2008 9:46:18 GMT
:)Hi Andy and A Big Welcome, It's nice to read that you are still very much into radio. I think most of us started out on c.b. at some point and its great to see that many of the old cb'ers are coming into amateur radio. We have a nice little club at Burnley in Lancashire but definitely think that is tooooo far for you to travel each week just to do your M3 You seem to be well up on the antenna scene and am sure you will be able to post lots of idea's and help for other's that are perhaps not so up on them and I know I will find it interesting reading. Wow half a million posts is good going for a forum so congrats on that one. Anyways glad you decided to join us and hope to read lots of posts from you in the future. I like photography but never sold any but think that is because they are not as good as I would like to think they are hee hee 73's for now Andy Zo Thanks Zo, I did note a 'northern flavour' to the forum In my impatience to do the foundation, I have been looking at clubs a long way away, providing they do an intensive course rather than spread out in bits over a long time...but, yes, Burnley is a bit too far Yep, running big boards is a funny job ... we have over 100,000 members on our communities, and managing that amount is hard work... thank god for moderators Photography seems popular with a lot of amateurs. I think it's simply having a web presence for many years that my images are picked up by picture editors and other commercial buyers. I'm heavily involved in the birding scene, and that helps as well. cheers, Andy
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Post by M0ZOE on Mar 29, 2008 12:08:44 GMT
Awe Yes Andy, Wee'r Reght Norvern up here (Spelling may not be correct for dialect as we were all supposedly taught Queen's English and haven't a clue how to spell the dialect words hee hee ) Good Luck with all the boards and I can imagine how hard work managing them all must be. I know photography is popular with many amateurs and have still to work out the connection, is it just that there are more aspiring photographers out there than we imagined? I am not sure where weekend courses are run but I am sure they must be out there. Hope you find one soon Andy 73's Zo
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Post by M0ZIF on Mar 29, 2008 12:22:31 GMT
I did live in Harrow on the Hill for some time, as well as Kingsbury. I wonder if the Harrow Club is still going.
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M0TTB
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by M0TTB on Mar 29, 2008 12:32:10 GMT
I did live in Harrow on the Hill for some time, as well as Kingsbury. I wonder if the Harrow Club is still going. Yep, Harrow is still going... it used to be totally dominant as a radio club when I was last involved but it has shrunk considerably since... and they seem to have meeting venue problems as well. It was my first port of call when looking for a foundation course but Chesham looks favourite, nice and easy to get to, and 4 sunday afternoons, which isn't too bad. cheers, Andy
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M0TTB
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by M0TTB on Mar 29, 2008 12:46:46 GMT
Awe Yes Andy, Wee'r Reght Norvern up here (Spelling may not be correct for dialect as we were all supposedly taught Queen's English and haven't a clue how to spell the dialect words hee hee ) Good Luck with all the boards and I can imagine how hard work managing them all must be. I know photography is popular with many amateurs and have still to work out the connection, is it just that there are more aspiring photographers out there than we imagined? I am not sure where weekend courses are run but I am sure they must be out there. Hope you find one soon Andy 73's Zo Lol, on one our of sites, our Northern members organise 'oop north meets' The good news about our sites, is that out of the 100k+ members, at least 2k are not on medication ;D I did guess that the technical side of photography may appeal to amateurs...but then again, that all leaves me a bit cold and my enjoyment of photography is all about getting close to, and undertanding nature and wildlife. cheers, Andy
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Post by m0wow on Mar 29, 2008 15:12:49 GMT
Hi Andy, Both Zo and myself have c+g photography passes, and what i think is a shame is that all photography now seems to be digital. I used to enjoy spending long hours in my darkroom developing and printing my black and white piccies, i think it is another skill which is being lost in the digital revolution. As for the M3 course, it is not always a good idea to rush through it in a few hours. I am a registered tutor with the R.S.G.B. and i teach the M3 courses at our club, we tend to make them about 7 weeks in duration hoping the students will understand the theory and not just learn ' parrot fashion' the book. This point was brought up on the R.S.G.B. tutors website in the examination committes report, as the knock on effect of not really understanding reached as far as the M0 exam. I agree the M3 is just a formality really as it is not difficult, but it is the start of a learning curve which rises more steeply in the 2E0 and M0 courses. Of course this is just my humble opinion 73's de Den.
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M0TTB
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by M0TTB on Mar 29, 2008 18:34:35 GMT
Fair points, Den. It is selfish of me to expect the course to be catered towards my needs rather than any others...as everyone will be on slightly different level. I do know many have a real tough job grasping the basics of electricity. I certainly don't mind the hours needed, it's just that I've seen some 12 evening courses, which does seem excessive, and possibly counter-productive in some ways... many aspects of the basics are inter-linked and you'd wonder if the aspects need to flow rather thanbe interupted by a week or more. I'm certainly of a mind that the course should be far more than just a means to an end. cheers, Andy
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Post by M0ZOE on Apr 1, 2008 18:53:07 GMT
I personally think that if a person has a good understanding of basic electronics through something else they have done and they have had experience with CB then I don't see why a weekend course wouldn't be a correct road. I do agree with you Den where its a case of someone completely new to radio taking it a little more slowly so they can get some understanding of what is being taught in the course.
73's, Zo
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M0TTB
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by M0TTB on Apr 1, 2008 20:18:10 GMT
Well, I have had a change of plan and I'm all set for a weekend course on the 17th/18th May...not with my original club but with Loughton & Epping Forest ARS. I'm extremely excited ;D ... my girlfriend is less so, as she thinks it's sad enough that I'm a 'birdwatcher' without adding amateur radio to the list... I've told her Feargal Sharkey is a ham and Joe Walsh of the Eagles, but it has had little effect cheers, Andy
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Post by ridgerunnr on Apr 1, 2008 21:40:01 GMT
Hi Hawk-give her the pespective.."you know honey it could be worse-I could be into----not that I WOULD of course!!!"
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Post by M0ZOE on Apr 2, 2008 13:31:51 GMT
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Post by k9do on Apr 2, 2008 15:32:50 GMT
p.s. Nothing wrong with being a birdwatcher as long as it is the feathered kind hee hee I love to look at birds. Have to use a Bird book to identify some that come to our yard. have seen which is strange for our area a Turkey Vulture was walking around our neighbor's front lawn one spring. I know the least about about birds (and reptiles) but I like all animals.
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m3vqb
Full Member
Posts: 150
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Post by m3vqb on Apr 2, 2008 17:30:56 GMT
hello andy welcome to the forum my name is janine and iam a newby to the radio world i passed my m3 on the 20th of december and had my call sign on the 21st how quick was that . ive just started my 2e at the burnley radio club so could have a new call sign in the future i hope ha ha. would off said hello before but have been busy glad to here you have found a place to take your m3 and good luck with it the pics on your link are fab ive enjoyed looking at them my fav are the badgers.the planes are cool to thanks for the link .welcome again 73s janine
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