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Radio

There are m,any like that, Dave, with their free conversations to a full licence.

Maurice :cool:

Hi Maurice,

In my case I seem to have a mental block at about 15wpm, and I am at the
moment having a final go at improving with the very able assistance of the
radio community here in Norfolk. Fingers crossed!

Kind regards
Dave
 
Hi Maurice,

In my case I seem to have a mental block at about 15wpm, and I am at the
moment having a final go at improving with the very able assistance of the
radio community here in Norfolk. Fingers crossed!

Kind regards
Dave

I learned morse aged 11 when I moved in with my step father (now silent key) and he said the best way to learn is to listen, turn your radio on, leave morse on in the background and do something else, read a book or something. One day you'll be sitting there listening and "a switch will flick in your brain" and all of a sudden you understand the code...thats exactly what happened with me; it really is a case of putting in the hours of letting your brain associate the sounds with words/letters. The hardest part for me was learning the 'text speak' hams use.

I had a break from ham radio lasting forty years between age 20 and 60 when I retired and took up the hobby again. It took a while to get my speed back up to scratch. These days I'm a happy CW QRPer and get a kick out of DX on a few Watts.

Setup shop/shack in the garden shed back in May, running a little Chinese SDR rig (Xiegu G90) through a G5RV and X-80 vertical and its great fun. When the loft conversion is finally finished the loft will be my shack and I'll rig up with something like an ic-7300 which seems a firm favourite with hams these days and the G90 will be my mobile rig...its the best £400 I've spent in years, superb value for money.

Keep listening, keep safe and 73.
 
I learned morse aged 11 when I moved in with my step father G5IW (now silent key) and he said the best way to learn is to listen, turn your radio on, leave morse on in the background and do something else, read a book or something. One day you'll be sitting there listening and "a switch will flick in your brain" and all of a sudden you understand the code...thats exactly what happened with me; it really is a case of putting in the hours of letting your brain associate the sounds with words/letters. The hardest part for me was learning the 'text speak' hams use.

I had a break from ham radio lasting forty years between age 20 and 60 when I retired and took up the hobby again. It took a while to get my speed back up to scratch. These days I'm a happy CW QRPer and get a kick out of DX on a few Watts.

Setup shop/shack in the garden shed back in May, running a little Chinese SDR rig (Xiegu G90) through a G5RV and X-80 vertical and its great fun. When the loft conversion is finally finished the loft will be my shack and I'll rig up with something like an ic-7300 which seems a firm favourite with hams these days and the G90 will be my mobile rig...its the best £400 I've spent in years, superb value for money.

Keep listening, keep safe and 73.
i have loads of fun with a BaoFeng BF-F8 :grinning: a very usefull handy.73
 
Learning morse is like riding a bike, once you have mastered it you never forget. I was aircrew wireless operator for 8 years in the RAF 1948 - 56 but because of a weak eye was 'grounded' for the last 12 months and worked in a signal centre at Bletchley where we took messages down on a typewriter at 25 wpm (about 18 wpm during my flying days) I doubt if I could do that speed now. Incidentally if you were a w/op in the RAF you could apply for your 'Ham' licence without taking the test Eric
 
i have loads of fun with a BaoFeng BF-F8 :grinning: a very usefull handy.73

I've got a the earlier one U5RV IIRC and that works well, lets me into a couple of repeaters but to be honest 2m is dead round here.

On the Xiegu G90 I've been playing with CAT control/FT8 digital and thats a bit of fun. My shed has served me well, started off running off a battery but put power in there for the rig and a heater but I am looking forward to the loft being finished. It would have been done by now but covid etc coming along put a stop on the works so I'm looking at end of March/April now. Its a good hobby, cheaper than golf ;)
 
I've got a the earlier one U5RV IIRC and that works well, lets me into a couple of repeaters but to be honest 2m is dead round here.

On the Xiegu G90 I've been playing with CAT control/FT8 digital and thats a bit of fun. My shed has served me well, started off running off a battery but put power in there for the rig and a heater but I am looking forward to the loft being finished. It would have been done by now but covid etc coming along put a stop on the works so I'm looking at end of March/April now. Its a good hobby, cheaper than golf ;)
and her 2m has had it. i use 70cms. and hf. uhf 446. i have a marine license as well.. my 570dge has done me well, i bought a blackbox yaesu 897,that is good. the kenwood 2000 was poo so i sent it back,it was deafer than i am lol. 73 de pete
 
My G5RV is half wave and does OK, the vertical (only £60) skips the UK, I might work far north of England on a good day, in 7 months I've only worked two other Welsh stations using it but...it does a grand job working Europe, east coast USA, Russia, Scandinavia on voice and I've worked Brazil, Mexico and north Africa on CW and Japan on FT8.

People think radio hams are a bunch of 'anoraks' well, I double qualify as I also collect old Primus stoves LOL. Primus stoves were born in Sweden but the UK had some very very good manufacturers of Primus type paraffin stoves and some were based in the brum area; two of the best known was Samuel Heath & Sons and George Marris & Co. My auntie Lillian was a solderer for Samuel Heath during WW2 so may well have made one of the old stoves I own :)
 
Back in March I posted a link in a thread called "These Trying Times - 2020" to a excellent site called "American Radio History". At the time I thought some folks may find loads of interesting material to peruse to pass the time. The site has now changed it's name to "World Radio History" and I thought this would be an excellent and more appropriate thread to remind you all of it's existence.

There is thousands upon thousands of radio and music books and magazines going right back to the start of broadcasting, also, there of loads of British books and magazines relating to radio, music and electronics. All these may be downloaded to read at your leisure, I myself have spent many a happy hour going through this excellent site bringing back memories of yesteryear.

Here is the link....

https://worldradiohistory.com/index.htm

I must say a big thank you to all the folks at World Radio History who have spent thousands of hours and and a lot of personal expense at creating such a fantastic collection of radio, electronics and broadcasting history.

I hope you all enjoy.
 
Dave,

Yes, that is an excellent site and I have used it quite often myself when doing technical research though I wasn't aware of the name change. Thanks for reminding me to take another look.

Maurice :cool:
 
These posts about radios led me to find and set up my scanner. It's batteries had gone flat and programmed frequencies were lost so new batteries inserted and re-learning needed. Using it combined with FlightSimX and Flightrader24 on my computer can easily waste two hours of my day!

I'm looking at programming it from my computer but Win10 doesn't use legacy serial ports so will have to find a 'workaround'. Another slight problem is there are not many aircraft flying in the current conditions. I can however hear my wireless thermostat sending info to my CH boiler on 868Mhz ... :rolleyes:

My radio (toy!) ...:)
IMG_0773 (Medium).JPG
 
These posts about radios led me to find and set up my scanner. It's batteries had gone flat and programmed frequencies were lost so new batteries inserted and re-learning needed. Using it combined with FlightSimX and Flightrader24 on my computer can easily waste two hours of my day!

I'm looking at programming it from my computer but Win10 doesn't use legacy serial ports so will have to find a 'workaround'. Another slight problem is there are not many aircraft flying in the current conditions. I can however hear my wireless thermostat sending info to my CH boiler on 868Mhz ... :rolleyes:

My radio (toy!) ...:)
View attachment 150534
not many aircraft. you should be here its the training area for the RAF. ... now most services are digital.apart from CoastGuard. my programing leads are usb,i got them off fleabay.... usb to serial etc. god luck phil.
 
Hi Pete,
I've installed the Scan125 Control Program in my laptop and it is working and operates all features on the scanner. Win10 uses the USB ports when the scanner is connected and the Com port error solves itself. I can see a lot of Hawk trainers presently flying around off N.Wales on FR24. I can receive from a/c using Brize. I think I am going to 'waste' more than two hours playing with this lot .... :grinning:
Phil
 
Hi Pete,
I've installed the Scan125 Control Program in my laptop and it is working and operates all features on the scanner. Win10 uses the USB ports when the scanner is connected and the Com port error solves itself. I can see a lot of Hawk trainers presently flying around off N.Wales on FR24. I can receive from a/c using Brize. I think I am going to 'waste' more than two hours playing with this lot .... :grinning:
Phil
phil. they sure make a racket. with the texan. i have not used my scanner for years. my HF radios rec most. i do like navtex.
Weather messages decoder - RTTY, NAVTEX, PACTOR-1 FEC ...
 
I remember buying a radio from a junk shop in nechells for £5.to get it home i had to use a old pram,when i got home mom said "what the heck is that contraption", you are not having that in the bedroom, so i was sent to the old coal house.
Now i see why:grinning:
 
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