Hi,

Thank-you for taking the time to look me up.

I was a shortwave listener in the 50's, passed the RAE in '61, took out my first callsign in '68. Worked as an audio/tv engineer until the 80's when I switched to the design and manufacture of satellite dishes.

With the ever advancement of electronics I looked for something requiring less brainwork and settled for work involving high level access using abseiling techniques. High profile work that I have done includes repairs to the Eagle Star Building in London following bomb blast damage, repairs to York Minster after the fire, cleaning windows on the 550ft Radio City Tower in Liverpool and painting Blackpool Tower gold for its centenary. The work is variable, enjoyable, never boring and not too mentally taxing for us old people!

I met Mary (M6KMB) my wife 28 years ago though CB radio and we both continue to enjoy radio communication in various forms to-gether, including building two MKARS 80mtr SSB transceivers.

The main station is a Yaesu FT-2000D with either a Heil ProSet Plus headset or a boom mounted MD100 mic. An FT-950 is used to monitor 6mtrs for those rare openings when the band, albeit briefly, springs into life. The Ranger 811 proves useful for those 20mtr pile ups, but both transceivers running barefoot serve well however for every day contacts. The YAESU FT-897 is used for 2/70 and still remains my favourite transceiver, not only for its ease of operation, performance, but also its versatillity.

An Icom IC-91 is used to monitor the progress of D-Star and I will watch with interest to see if it does indeed become a widely accepted mode of transmission.

Aerials, Hy-gain 4 element beam for 20-15-10 rotated with a Yaesu G-1000 on a 30ft mast. Trapped dipoles give good results on 160-80-40, homebrew half-wave dipole for 17. Five element beam for six metres. Verticals for general every day use on 2/70, but with the option of a 12 element yagi on 2 and a 13 element for 70.

We have a good open aspect from our Ossett QTH which is 471ft ASL, all of which helps with signal take off.

International Short Wave League Membership No G-21197.

Enjoy the hobby.

73 - Good DX.

Robert.