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I have been a Ham radio operator since November 2005 when I passed my
Foundation license and was granted the call of M3LUA. I immediately caught the
serious bug and went straight through my Intermediate and Advanced licenses,
obtaining M0EAV in April 2006.
I am active on most bands, from both my home QTH and my car. My general home
antenna is a HyGain 12AVQ triband fed through an MFJ-945E manual tuner. My main
rig is a Yaesu FT-897 which I use at home and portable (it has the internal
battery packs giving a 20 watt output on HF). I also have a Yaesu FT-857 which
I use in the car feeding an ATAS 120. I have to say that I am very pleased with
the mobile setup, it obviously won't challenge a decent base station but it
does give me far more opportunity for getting QSOs!
I am interested in DXing on 2 metres using a 7 element "ZL Special"
beam mounted in the loft (keeping the neighbours happy!!) on a small rotator.
Not an ideal set-up but it seems to work well, a recent QSO covering 1040 miles
using just 5 watt....conditions were obviously very good but it is amazing what
can be achieved!
More recently I have been involved in the promotion of D-Star in the local
area, demonstrating the use of the CRG's D-Star Repeater (GB7PI) to local
Amateur Radio clubs.
I am a member of the Cambridgeshire Repeater Group who run a number of
repeaters in the area. There is also the “Camb Hams” (www.camb-hams.com) who
meet informally every month for a “Pie and a Pint” in a local pub. As part of
this group we take part in various events to promote Amateur Radio including
the RSGB VHF National Field Day and various special event stations to promote
the use of amateur radio around Cambridgeshire.
I am also a member of the International Radio Emergency Support Coalition
(www.iresc.com) who provide assistance with world wide communications during a
state of emergency such as flooding, earthquake etc.
If we have spoken, thanks for the QSO, if not, I look forward to meeting you on
the bands sometime.
73
John
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