Well,I went to see my local ham radio club on Tuesday night,and they’ve already started the foundation course,but the chairman said that because I had ‘done a bit’ few years back,I was more than welcome to jump in,even though it’s 2 weeks in.The only problem is,it’s having a small holiday at the moment,until Feb 25th.
There is a big radio rally this weekend,at the Thornes Park leisure centre in Wakefield, (It will be signposted form J39 and J40,M1) and once I’ve finished work,I may pop down and spend some hard earned in anticipation.
Because I’m on the agency,I’ve decided on a small handie,and have one or two in mind,because of the need to change trucks daily,that and a mag mount will be easy to chuck in the bag.
nice one ken,
i wanted to go to the wakefield rally but im too busy bit of a shame as its a good day out and its a good chance to meet the other hams you may have spoke to for years but never meet up with before
as for going to the radio club… well done m8ty dont give up let me know how you get on with your test… and you will have to send me a IM with your callsign when you get it
dont put it on here what ever you do…
Quinny:
I’m curious though,about a couple of things regarding the foundation course.
Some say,you do it in a weekend,others say it takes about 10 hours,over,say a month.So which is it?
I would think that you could do 10 hours work over a weekend of “intensive” training, or spread it out over a month doing a couple of hours a week, so its both Quinny. It would depend on what your local club is able to support, which way you do the course.
Passed with flying colours ( 100% on the written paper )
Quinny, I did all my training at home, first time I attended the club was Tuesday evening. Did all the practical tasks immediately before the exam.
I was a wee bit apprehensive at first but I really enjoyed playing around with the radios. I was terrified of the morse code part though but I even started getting into that after a while…
Now looking for some kit to buy and getting it in the cab.
Your very lucky Mike, the guy running courses in my area has just finished one and won’t start another until he has sufficent names on the list, and mines the first, so it could be some time
Well,I started my foundation course today,and I have to say,I remembered a lot of stuff from when I took my old class b licence,and also my days on ssb on cb.
Should be taking my exam within the next 3/4 weeks.
Well this thread has got my interest in Amateur Radio going again and although I haven’t posted untill now, I have some interesting info.
I took the old Class B test way back in 1984 after many years of CB and used my callsign untill about 1990. After seeing this and doing a bit of investigation with the RSGB and Ofcom, I found that I could resurrect the old callsign at a cost of £15 and it came back as a Full License. This I have done and got myself a little handheld with a mobile whip for using out and about. I’m amazed at the number or drivers now on the air and have had some good old natters. EG Me driving down the M5, Worcester area, chatting with someone in Reading through the Swindon repeater. Much better than any CB for sure!
I have now also got my Son into the hobby and he’s studying for the Foundation exam. We have also joined the local club which was friendly and informative, got Titch a receiver set up in his bedroom so we are well on the way to a full station at home.
Hope this helps some people and good luck to those that are taknig the entry level exam.
Me driving down the M5, Worcester area, chatting with someone in Reading through the Swindon repeater.
Well done for resurrecting your licence John.
As I’m on the agency,I intend to do what you’ve done,and get a handie,purely for ease of throwing in my bag at the end of the shift.Which one have you got,and which aerial? Can I take it you are running it on 12v to get the maximum power out of it,ie:5w,and are you using an extension mic?
The reason I ask,is because if you can hit a repeater and get that distance on a handie,then for my first radio,I’ll be well pleased at that.
I got an old Icom IC32E (2m & 70 cm) with speaker mic/base charger for £80, a 5/8 wave dual band whip on a mag mount (£19.95), running 5w from the battary pack which lasts me most of the day and have had no problems getting out or accessing various repeaters around the Country.
Oh so much better than CB and it’s good to be back!
Oh, forgot to say Ken, there are some cheap handies on ebay at £14.99 + postage. Works out about £35 for a 2m or 70 cm set with 2.5w output. They are made by Jingtong and I saw 1 at the club last week. Good and cheap enough to get you on the air easily.
Just bought a belting little Yaesu FT-50R tonight off Fleabay, (The older version of the FT-60 I guess.) complete in the box,with instructions,extra hand mic,and extra battery pack,for £103 plus P&P.
Should arrive by Friday.
I’ve also found some sites that list extra mods for all sorts of radios,including the FT-50,so they should come in handy.
I found another site with ads,and came across a guy that was selling a Yaesu FT-530 with a cart load of extras,mint in the box,£175.But the guy is moving house,and not answering any mails from the ad he placed.Shame really,because although the 530 is an old set,it gets 5/5 on reviews on another site I found.
Forms got posted yesterday,(By me!!) for the exams for the 3 of us that are doing it.Should take it within a fortnight.
Just on a sidetep…
Our club had a couple of radios set up yesterday,and on one we were listening to foreign stations on SSB,and on the other,we used the node to make contact to a station in Indianapolis,USA.He was running a radio with only 5 watts.and this was on FM!!!
Modern radio technology is brilliant now,meaning you don’t need masses of power to talk around the world.But,some of the purists will say that using a node/internet,isn’t proper ham radio,but my opinion is you use whatever technology is available to your hobby.
If you work nights using the IRLP links and echo link nodes you can stay in contact with the whole of the UK , there’s normally a few guys who link up the nodes up and down the country talking to each other.
I can normally stay in contact with the guys up here in Leeds all the way down to Dover, with the odd yank or aussie jumping in saying hello, the night seems to go faster, there’s now a lot of truckers on the air now, some of the Echo link nodes/Repeaters have Echolink Information Server (E.L.I.S), live spoken travel information for England’s motorway network covering all motorways in England which is very new technology.
You can also run SSB mobile like the old 11m days but legal with 100/50/10 watts 40metres 7mhz is a good band to work on a night and 20metres 14mhz is good for day time i work both and have had some good contacts mobile.
I’ve also joned Wakefield and DRC,and there is a node about to go live very soon,on 145.3875mhz,with a 82.5khz tone burst,which is being ran by a club member,but supported by the club. (Watch this space.)
For me it will be ideal,because the guy who is running it,lives line of site across the valley from me,so I should be able to access it on my Yaesu handie,and then the world is my oyster.
The only other thing I need to do now,is purchase an aerial for the car,so that I can connect to whatever radio I have in at the time, (Currently the handie for listening,) and then I can get better TX/RX,as opposed to the stock rubber job now.
I have pm’d John, (Zebadee) to ask him what he bought for £20,as from the reports of QSO’s he’s having using his handie,then it’ll do for me.
In the mean time,listening on the bands,is teaching me the etiquette needed to operate.
Hi, you guys have got my interest going again. Having just sold most of my gear I didn’t intend getting back into the hobby. I am on agency at the moment so have just bought a second hand Yeasu VX 110 hand held for ease of operating/carrying. Can you let me know your callsigns and which repeaters you work mostly, if you don’t want to list it on here you can PM me. My call is G0SBP and I am mainly on the GB3IR which is the Scotch Corner Repeater. I have heard there is another repeater in this area,GB3CD Bishop Auckland club run, but have not used it yet due to selling all my gear. Hope to talk to you all soon.
I’ve been watching this thread with intrest for a while now but there’s a couple of points I think i’m missing.
Bearing in mind somebody mentioned that this is better than CB…If you have a set in your cab, I understand the ‘talking to other callsigns miles away’ thing, but what about the like of more ‘local’ info that you would get from the CB i.e. traffic report for the next few miles/junctions up the road, local area directions etc etc■■?
One other thing, are there planning permission requirements to erect a ‘big’ antenna on yer house??
100% on the written paper 
