Chris Wilson Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Toying with taking my exam for the basic RAE test. Anyone done it? It looks fairly easy, and I believe Morse went out of the exam a while back? Having stopped smoking, and cut down on drinking, I need something to do at night that doesn't give `er indoors the opportunity for one of her headaches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Hi Chris, I first took the RAE in 74 when I was 13 years old, before it was multiple choice and in two written parts and covered thermionics! But I failed on the licencing regs but got a credit on the tech side and then due to discovering girls and beer and cars, I never really got back into it until the 80s when I re-sat the new format RAE and passed. If I hadnt have passed I would have had to hang my head in shame as in the meantime I already held c&g 270 in radio telecoms and was working in the microwave telecoms industry. For me the hobby was all about designing and making equipment but as that side of the hobby started to dwindle and the amateur bands filled with kids on black boxes my interest dwindled. Also during the 90s my career took a different path and I was working all araound the world repairing and installing professional HF gear, so the ham side started to become a little mundane and like a busman's holiday. I designed my own transvertors using Gaasfets which at the time were real state of the art devices and won a construction competition for a 28 MHz to 144 MHz hybrid transvertor which made me pretty proud at the time, I also was one of the first active users of the 50MHz band when it was released back to UK users, great fun. I still have all my gear at home decaying in the basement, but havent been active for around ten years now. It was a great hobby and I made friends all over the world and also changed my career path (for the better), but I cant see that I would ever get back into it, but who knows. G7EWL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purity14 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Chris, you should start Vaping - its alot healthier than smoking - and its great mixing your own flavours if you are that way inclined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Is that like Rapping but German style? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Dare I ask? I'll risk it, what the hell is Vaping? I'd Google it. but GCHQ might have a search set up for people looking for info... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Interesting stuff Shane. Maybe I should just buy a receiver and have a listen in to some of the bands? I hadn't considered it might be upmarket CB, run by a load of idiot kids, I had hoped it was still old codgers making "stuff" in their sheds. What's a reasonable multi band receiver to consider, do you keep abreast of that sort of thing? Thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Am a bit out of touch of what the latest gear is now, but I am sure there are still loads of people still out there making stuff and climbing up trees with bits of wire etc. In fact I do still see an old guy I used to know when I walk my dog sometimes and next time I see him to speak to I will ask him how the scene is nowadays. I would say that you need to get listening to 160m & 80m for UK stuff to get a feel for it and that way you are more likely to avoid the cbers on UHF and VHF with their packet racket from all their pcs and stuffhooked up to it. But as I say, I am long out of the loop now and it may have all changed. Whatever you buy it must be capable of SSB if you want to listen to old farts on top band or 80m. Have you taken a look at the RSGB website? I have a commercial version of the old classic Yaesu FT747gx, cant remember the exact model number, but that covers 500hz up to 30MHz with no gaps and in its day was better than Vaping . Its just collecting dust at the moment so might consider getting shot or at least loaning it so you can have a listen around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robzki Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I've started getting into using the scanner, can be interesting but never seem to find anything on the amateur bands. may be my setup though. I have a spare scanner here if you want to borrow you're more than welcome. You will need to sort an aerial though R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purity14 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Dare I ask? I'll risk it, what the hell is Vaping? I'd Google it. but GCHQ might have a search set up for people looking for info... Vaping is smoking but with water vapour - it tastes nicer, feels nicer, you still get the hit and a kick and doesnt even have to contain nicotine if you dont want it to. You can get normal cig flavours, or go for menthol, watermelon, coffee, or even smokey-bacon and chocolate cake flavours Its great, and legal to smoke indoors, no smell and everything is lovely. http://www.totallywicked-eliquid.co.uk/ You could even get yourself a e-pipe Mr Wilson You could even do it WHILST radioing ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 Just to say I have got into this to a stage that I could never have foreseen. Am taking my exam this coming Friday and hoping to take the next level shortly after that (Failing is NOT an option ). I had no inkling of just how sad I had become. I NEED an anorak with my call sign on it. I NEED to hang around amateur radio fairs and rallies. Went to one locally at the weekend. Bore it stoically for two hours, then went to the pub. We "hams" are indeed a sad lot Even made a 430 mile round trip last Friday with the trailer to buy a 50 foot lattice-work steel mast for aerial mounting. Looking into microwaves now. My office looks like GCHQ already. I honestly never thought it would get me so hooked. love the technology, not sure about some of the odd balls. Some are very easily wound up. One forum suggested my semi vintage rig was not suitable as it *COULD* give 100 watts, and I will only be licensed to 10 watts output. They failed to see how it was like them having a car that COULD do over 70 MPH. Decided to wait and then ask them how hard this would be to duplicate http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=13207 Cool huh? This Polish guy makes simply stunning high power gear "on the kitchen table". The metal fabrication work is totally professional, the electronics lovely. http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=8908 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Just to say I have got into this to a stage that I could never have foreseen. Am taking my exam this coming Friday and hoping to take the next level shortly after that (Failing is NOT an option ). I had no inkling of just how sad I had become. I NEED an anorak with my call sign on it. I NEED to hang around amateur radio fairs and rallies. Went to one locally at the weekend. Bore it stoically for two hours, then went to the pub. We "hams" are indeed a sad lot Even made a 430 mile round trip last Friday with the trailer to buy a 50 foot lattice-work steel mast for aerial mounting. Looking into microwaves now. My office looks like GCHQ already. I honestly never thought it would get me so hooked. love the technology, not sure about some of the odd balls. Some are very easily wound up. One forum suggested my semi vintage rig was not suitable as it *COULD* give 100 watts, and I will only be licensed to 10 watts output. They failed to see how it was like them having a car that COULD do over 70 MPH. Decided to wait and then ask them how hard this would be to duplicate http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=13207 Cool huh? This Polish guy makes simply stunning high power gear "on the kitchen table". The metal fabrication work is totally professional, the electronics lovely. http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=8908 Chris well done and good luck with the exam, though if you failed the novice thing as it is now you need never show your face here again! I am in the midst of clearing out my cellar and have piles and piles of stuff, including a couple of homebrew transvertors 144Mhz and 432Mhz which I designed and built myself, as well as lots and lots of books. Think there is also a few bits of old HF mobile stuff down there that I inherited after a job in Eastern Europe some years ago. Interested? If you are going to start building microwave stuff I have some books that you will like, old tech compared with today, but principles the same. I trained as a microwave Engineer when I left school with the then Microwave Associates who were bought out by Omni Spectre and was in the military microwave comms industry for many years and to a degree am involved again in certain aspects of it now, albeit in the broadcast industry. I had a mate in Romania (he's dead now) who made the most amazing HF stuff I have ever seen and all in the days of Ceaucescu when radio amateurs would have been either shot or recruited by the securitati. He was building synthesised VFOs when in the UK people were still building direct conversion rubbish. He used components salvaged from old TVs, radios or anything else he could find. I used to send him bags of mixed components in the post and it used to cause a real stir when they arrived at the Post Office. Another good friend of mine over there is Adrian YO3APJ and he is a big gun in Bucuresti with a tri band on top of his tower block in the middle of the city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Hi Shane, definitely interested in books, on can never have too many books or technical magazines. maybe intereted in hardware, depends on how brave I feel about sneaking more stuff past "she who must be obeyed" Given free reign I would say yes to any interesting hardware, sadly my reigns are quite tightly held! Telling me you were a microwave engineer is a recipe to have a full in box, but I will try and restrain myself! What I *WOULD* like to find is a secondhand ex GPO or data company weatherproof equipment cabinet, the sort of thing you find at the end of suburban streets. I want to install some gear at the base of my mast, and feel there must be a source for the real McCoy cabinets when they are retired, or sent to scrap? Probably a bit big, but rather too big than too small Cheers Shane. Intersting what went on behind the Iron Curtain. Must have been fascinating, if riosky times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 As it happens, we use quite a lot of external enclosures at work to house various bits of kit like i/f splitters, amps and switches at our dish farms, they also act as a test point and house power for the test gear. We have just moved workshop and we had a mass clearout of stuff we had been holding onto for ages which is a shame as I am sure there was a large enclosure without too many holes in chucked. We have refurb coming up in the summer which will free up 2 small enclosures, will let you know when it happens. Will also put a list of books together for you and email it across. Am going to QSY now and have a quick look around the forum before going QRT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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