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<blockquote data-quote="PaulR" data-source="post: 852691" data-attributes="member: 176256"><p>Oh gosh, this will bring a number of people out of the woodwoork.</p><p> </p><p>I have been interested in things electronic and electric since a very young lad when I experiemented to see what happened when I put a short length of wire across the bar of an electric fire; (a story I have told here before so search to find the result if you're interested).</p><p> </p><p>Although interested at school in the sixties I never progressed even though I did go along to a meeting of the local radio club. This was stuffed with seeming nonagenerians so that didn't go anywhere. I had a brief fling of interest in the seventies but I got waylaid into motorsport which took up all my spare time and money - rallying is expensive and i reckon I could have bought a house with what I expended!</p><p> </p><p>It was the early eighties when I became interested again following the CB craze. I decided that I would enter the RAE exams as an intellectual exercise for myself. I did this without any night school studying as I reckoned that I knew enough about the technical side of things and it would only be the rules and regs that I would have to swot up on. I took the exams and passed but then did nothing the pass slip for six months or more until I was persuaded by my wife-to-be to apply for a licence. I had also been along to a different, newer, radio club in the area which was full of young people my own age who had splintered away from the other club.</p><p> </p><p>So I got a G6 licence, became more interested in radio and started VHF contesting. I had also joined RAYNET as I reckoned that it would be all to easy to be a solitary person stuck up in the attic talking to people elsewhere - and anyway it was a way of putting something into the community.</p><p> </p><p>It was about the mid eigthies when I decided to take my morse test. Much hard work involved and I got myself up to about 20wpm. I still have the RSGB morse generator I assembled somewhere. This got me my G0 which I have kept ever since although lack of CW use has caused my morse to atrophy almost completely. Nowadays I am only active with RAYNET.</p><p> </p><p>As a side note my wife decided that she would like to join my interest and tried several times to pass the old two part licence exams. She got the licensing conditions but just couldn't get her head around the technical exam so that went into abeyance until the new three stage licence came into being. All on her own, well using the the club's tutoring system, she gained first her M6 beginner and then her 2E0 intermediate licences. I was very proud of her as it wasn't easy for her at all.</p><p> </p><p>However, her target has always been to take up my old G6 callsign so she is now taking a distance learning course for the full licence. She knew it would be difficult but it really has been a strain. The course notes said that most students hit a "brick wall" at about week 6 - she hit hers at week 3 she says! She's up to about week 6 or 7 on the course and this is the reason that we didn't go for a two week tour round Europe again this year as she needed all the time to work on the course. I help her when I can but, of course, it's like teaching your wife to drive - you shoujldn't!. There has been many a hot word spoken over this...</p><p> </p><p>As far as equipment goes, mine is very limited as I haven't really got into HF, preferring VHF and above even when I gained my class A licence. I've had a Trio TS9000 2m transciever for years which I still use. There was a 70cm convertor that came with it but that broke years ago and I've done nothing to fix it. I'm not even sure I know where it is! I also have a Trio TS430 which I used with a 2m convertor for contest use. It has been used for HF into a half G5RV when on holiday over 20 years ago. Disgracefully, it hasn't been out of its box practically since then.</p><p> </p><p>I bought a pair of Icom IC02e and IC04e handies when they first came out and, when they just stopped working a few years ago, replaced that with a dual band handy that I can't remember the name or model of and can't fully control anyway. There are usual failed projects and constructional items together with a couple that actually worked but that just about sums me up.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="PaulR, post: 852691, member: 176256"] Oh gosh, this will bring a number of people out of the woodwoork. I have been interested in things electronic and electric since a very young lad when I experiemented to see what happened when I put a short length of wire across the bar of an electric fire; (a story I have told here before so search to find the result if you're interested). Although interested at school in the sixties I never progressed even though I did go along to a meeting of the local radio club. This was stuffed with seeming nonagenerians so that didn't go anywhere. I had a brief fling of interest in the seventies but I got waylaid into motorsport which took up all my spare time and money - rallying is expensive and i reckon I could have bought a house with what I expended! It was the early eighties when I became interested again following the CB craze. I decided that I would enter the RAE exams as an intellectual exercise for myself. I did this without any night school studying as I reckoned that I knew enough about the technical side of things and it would only be the rules and regs that I would have to swot up on. I took the exams and passed but then did nothing the pass slip for six months or more until I was persuaded by my wife-to-be to apply for a licence. I had also been along to a different, newer, radio club in the area which was full of young people my own age who had splintered away from the other club. So I got a G6 licence, became more interested in radio and started VHF contesting. I had also joined RAYNET as I reckoned that it would be all to easy to be a solitary person stuck up in the attic talking to people elsewhere - and anyway it was a way of putting something into the community. It was about the mid eigthies when I decided to take my morse test. Much hard work involved and I got myself up to about 20wpm. I still have the RSGB morse generator I assembled somewhere. This got me my G0 which I have kept ever since although lack of CW use has caused my morse to atrophy almost completely. Nowadays I am only active with RAYNET. As a side note my wife decided that she would like to join my interest and tried several times to pass the old two part licence exams. She got the licensing conditions but just couldn't get her head around the technical exam so that went into abeyance until the new three stage licence came into being. All on her own, well using the the club's tutoring system, she gained first her M6 beginner and then her 2E0 intermediate licences. I was very proud of her as it wasn't easy for her at all. However, her target has always been to take up my old G6 callsign so she is now taking a distance learning course for the full licence. She knew it would be difficult but it really has been a strain. The course notes said that most students hit a "brick wall" at about week 6 - she hit hers at week 3 she says! She's up to about week 6 or 7 on the course and this is the reason that we didn't go for a two week tour round Europe again this year as she needed all the time to work on the course. I help her when I can but, of course, it's like teaching your wife to drive - you shoujldn't!. There has been many a hot word spoken over this... As far as equipment goes, mine is very limited as I haven't really got into HF, preferring VHF and above even when I gained my class A licence. I've had a Trio TS9000 2m transciever for years which I still use. There was a 70cm convertor that came with it but that broke years ago and I've done nothing to fix it. I'm not even sure I know where it is! I also have a Trio TS430 which I used with a 2m convertor for contest use. It has been used for HF into a half G5RV when on holiday over 20 years ago. Disgracefully, it hasn't been out of its box practically since then. I bought a pair of Icom IC02e and IC04e handies when they first came out and, when they just stopped working a few years ago, replaced that with a dual band handy that I can't remember the name or model of and can't fully control anyway. There are usual failed projects and constructional items together with a couple that actually worked but that just about sums me up. [/QUOTE]
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