Biography

I was first licensed at age of 15 in 1968, and was an active 2m/70cm QRP experimenter when 1W transistors cost >£5 in REAL money in the 60s/70s. I got hooked on designing and making RX/TX things, and generally creating world class TVI :-). And I would love to do all that again - in spite of all the imported gear that seems to have stunted much of the creativity in the hobby. Maybe not so much TVI, though, although digital TV gives precious few clues and simply breaks up when interfered with. Many neighbours of hams with discreet antennas (ie not 60 foot towers) probably have no idea why their TV goes on the blink every now and again. Satellite TV is probably 100% immune.

I have been away from amateur radio since 1985, mostly thanks to WKM (wife/kids/mortgage), and a career with computers and internet - some of you still seem to remember I was one of the founders of the Ambit mail order business in the 70s, specialising in wireless components at a time when no one else did. You can download PDFs of the famous Ambit catalogues at http://usp.net/ambit

And like many others approaching retirement, I am exhuming old interests and finding the amateur radio scene (especially in Essex) has never been more vibrant, but the use of the excellent 2m, 6m and 70cm repeaters is minimal.

I suppose the old adage about "content is king" is relevant to amateur radio as much as broadcast radio, and there are only so many discussions to be had about antennas, microphones and begonias. You would think the makers of the gear would have thought this through and come up with more engaging ways to get people to use it, but no evidence thus far. Contests seem to have a negative effect, and seem to deter those "regular" amateurs who are the lifeblood of the hobby and its potential for social very proactive networking.

FT8's lack of content requirement is undoubtedly why it is so popular!

The absence of CRT display scanning noise is wonderful, although XDSL and dodgy SMPS - especially LED lighting - is a considerable but fixable menace. Reception below 7MHz is generally compromised by noise, probably ADSL and VDSL from overhead BT cables - and power lines - and that is my next challenge. Replacing all first generation LED Mains lamps made a big difference - and leaving just one dodgy LED lamp can be fatal, since the lamp itself is not the issue - the house wiring to the switch and lamp is a very effective antenna. Meantime, the various web SDRs can provide respite and workarounds.

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

Equipment in use...

For HF, I presently use the only rig to have these days - the almost ubiquitous Icom IC-7300.

An Icom IC-7100 provides backup HF, but is mostly for JT, 6m, 4m, 2m and 70cm

Also separate WinRadio Excelsior SDR receiver/scanner. Which is quite a thing...
http://www.winradio.com/home/g39ddce.htm

Frequency range 9 kHz to 3500 MHz (except cellular bands where required by law)

Ultra-fast search speed 1 GHz/s
Two independent receiver channels
Real-time spectrum analyzer up to 16 MHz wide
Unlimited width swept spectrum analyzer
Audio spectrum analyzer
Audio and DDC recorder
High sensitivity
Excellent dynamic range
Numerous signal analysis tools
Numerous types of search and scanning modes
Numerous precise measuring tools