Analogue native - then and now!

 

 Here I was at 18 years old, shortly after passing my Radio Amateur Exam and Morse Test. Now I had a Class A licence and was building my own equipment. I was an apprentice TV Technician then, learning lots of electronics theory and analogue television. Video recorders had not yet appeared on the consumer market. I spent my 18th birthday working at Pontins at Camber Sands installing 900 black and white tv's in all the challets. It was great fun, I remember receiving a telegram from my parents at home at Camber Sands wishing me a happy birthday. (No e mails or text messages then)

Here I am now, 60 years old and wiser. Still an analogue native at heart but having embraced the digital technology. My 60th birthday was spent at St Annes-on-Sea on holiday. The hot weather was just the same as it was when I was 18 at Camber Sands. In fact, it occured to me how much the same it felt in the hot hotel at St Annes and the hot challet at Pontins. On my birthday I got text messages from my family and friends and many greetings on Facebook. How times of changed. Now I have semi-retired from teaching and look forward to some time on the air and maybe building some equipment again.