Sporadic E on 70Mhz

For the first time ever I managed to work a DX station outside of the UK on 70Mhz!
I have always liked to use 4m, back in the 70's I operated the 70Mhz contest station during VHF NFDs. A great band, but not much activity. On Sunday I listened to 4m out of curiosity because there was a contest sometime during the day. When I switched on my FT101E and home built transverter I heard a couple of local stations calling CQ. Then I tuned down a little and nearly fell off my chair when I heard CT1HZE in Portugal calling CQ!

This was obviously Sporadic E and his signal was fading in and out from S3 up to S7. I gave him several calls, but to no avail. After tuning up and down the band there he was again S9+ this time. I called again and he heard me! Amazing...we exchanged reports he got me at 5-7 and he is located at IM57NH.

My home built transverter from the 1980's still works perfectly...running about 4w into a 70Mhz HB9CV...I was so pleased with the contact!

Shortly after I went onto 50Mhz and worked another station with Sporadic E from Spain EA1AR in IN17PP.

Disco Native

The other night I set up my old disco equipment that I have had now for over 20 years! Until now, the equipment was stored in a cupboard at school gathering dust. It consists of a 100 watt MOSFET Amplifier that I built from a kit supplied my Maplin. It is mounted in the original aluminium case that I built back in 1970 that housed my stereo 'PW Partygram' amplifier.

The speakers also came from Maplin and the boxes I built myself from a design for the speakers that I used. The quality of these speakers are superb, even now after over 20 years of use.
The mixer was again supplied by Maplin and I built it into a case with jack sockets on the back for easy connection.

When my disco was in it's haydays the mixer was housed along with two Gerrard SP25 belt driven decks. Later, when CD's came along I stopped using the decks and just used two CD players.
Gosh...it seems so strange after all these years to think that I was once a DJ! I remember doing discos in all kinds of places. It started at school before I became a teacher, but then did discos for all kinds of events. I think the biggest was at the Pack Horse in Bolton with a huge number of people on a charity event. I also used it as a sound system for school plays.
Now I have a JVC LA-100 deck connected so that I can listen to my vinyl LPs and singles! The equipment works perfectly and the quality is brilliant....now that i'm a bit older, I don't whack up the volume like I used to!

Next job is to give the disco another coat of mattblack paint!

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.

60 today!

 

Well today I finally turned 60 years old and joined the retired club!

Last day in the classroom

 

Every picture tells a story...this desk could tell lots of stories!

 

For 23 years I have been a teacher with my own class of children. Today I finally retired to work part-time. So now I have no classroom and no class of my own...sad :-(  In September I will still teach lots of children, but only the new COMPUTING curriculum :-)  I am really looking forward to this!

B.I.T. Rock Nights

Someone posted these photos on Facebook which shows the stage at B.I.T. (Bolton Institute of Technology) Saturday Rock Nights.

I started going there back in 1973 and it was here where I met Kathleen, my wife. I can remember the first time I saw her standing in the large queue waiting to go in. She wore a long black coat that went to the floor and had freaky hair! Sometimes she wore an Afghan coat and other freaky clothes!
Saw some great groups there, Judas Priest, Dr Feelgood, John Peel and loads of local groups like Black Cat Bone and Iron Maiden. A great atmosphere and I lived for Saturday nights at B.I.T. even more so when Kathleen and I got together.

The rock disco was super, played classic rock tracks and often missed the last bus home because we stayed to dance to the last songs. I can still visualise in my mind what it was like at B.I.T.with the chairs in a separate room where you sit and talk, the stage and dance floor and the bar area where you could buy Younger's Tartan Ale and Newcastle Browns and if you were hungry, lovely steak barms!

Airfix Therapy

 

My model Spitfire

When I was young I enjoyed making model planes. You could buy them from our local model shop on Ainsworth Lane in Bolton called Doreen Du-Rose. It was a model shop and knitting shop. (I guess we have Hobbycraft now)
At Christmas this year my daugher bought me some Airfix Models to keep me quiet on a cold Winre night. Well it took me to May to build the first one! When I built them years ago I attached fishing line in the models and hung them from my ceiling in my bedroom, I might do the same again!

I love the Spitfire! Last year I watched as a Spitfire and Hurricane flew during a war day in Bury. It was amazing to watch them and also the speed and sounds as they performed mock battles over Bury.
Here I am at Ramsbottom where a Spitfire Exhibition was taking place as part of the East Lancs Railway 40's Weekend.