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J de B Pollard, M0JDB Windy Arbour Kenilworth, CV8 2BB Maidenhead Locator IO92FI please email me at:  M0JDB |
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J de B Pollard, M0JDB Windy Arbour Kenilworth, CV8 2BB Maidenhead Locator IO92FI please email me at: M0JDB |
Link to John Pollard's Home
Page
The term "Radio Amateur" is generally taken to
imply a hobbyist who transmits radio signals for others to receive.
In the United Kingdom (and just about everywhere else in the world) a
government licence is needed to do this. All UK radio
amateurs possess an official document - legally forming
part of their
licence - which describes the purpose of amateur radio as "
self-training in the field of wireless communication". Triggered
by the disastrous floods in 1953, UK Amateur radio
operators engage in emergency and other public service
communications. Many amateurs have formidable technical
skills in
science, electronics and allied professional areas which they
import into their recreational life. As a consequence radio
amateurs are
frequently at the
forefront of new modes of radio communication, developed as part of
their hobby.
There are so many areas of interest that no one
radio amateur can hope to keep up, in depth, with all
developments.
My personal interest in amateur radio goes back
(too) many years when Dad showed me how to tune into the Sunday
'ragchew' amateurs on 40 metres using a domestic broadcast
receiver. In my 'teens I was reading 'Wireless World' (but
not understanding much) and going to the local radio club. I
passed the theory exam, but the drive to get 'on the air' was lessened
by the opportunity to transmit most weekdays as a member of the school
cadet force which had a very active Royal Signals section on the
national nets. So, what with one thing and another I
did not get around to getting a licence by taking a morse test (then
necessary) for over 40 years! In fact I claim to have had
the longest gap between passing the theory part of the British Radio
Amateurs
examination and actually transmitting as a radio amateur: 42 years and
4 months.
My main interests are: The theory of antenna
tuning; morse code (I am sometimes active at 20:00 local time
around
144.060 Mhz on the two metre band); collecting (and trying to repair!)
Eddystone radios (see for example the splendid Eddystone User Group
web site); and I also contribute to the web pages of the Mid Warwickshire Amateur
Radio Society .
The "Jewel in the crown": an
Eddystone 830.
Revised 21 March 2007
