As a boy in the 60s I used to listen to ham signals using an army-surplus No 19 set, then with a series of home-built receivers. I started to learn Morse code and tried to improve using a record played at different speeds.
In those days, the Morse test was administered by the General Post Office. I never felt ready for the test, but when the opportunity to apply for a GPO “student apprenticeship” came along I jumped at it. I thought that I would learn about valves (vacuum tubes) but they were being replaced by transistors and dropped from the syllabus!
There followed a long gap in my ham radio history, filled with marriage, children, work in telecoms Human Factors and project management, judo, running, the game of Go and learning French and Spanish.
I retired around the start of the 21st century, and filled my days with macro photography, mycology and entomology. In 2023 during the Covid lock-down my interest in ham radio resurfaced. I passed the UK licence exams and became, at last, a radio ham.
My first transceiver was a Xiegu X6100. After a brief foray into digital modes I caught the CW bug. I first heard about CWops from Danny M0SDB, a tireless advocate for CW on Facebook. I enrolled in CWA and was guided first by Lorenzo EA3IEB and then Hanz YL3JD. Both showed the patience and persistence needed to get the best from their students.
I am now 100% CW with an ICOM IC-7300 and an EFHW wire tuned to 20 m. My limited garden space and my XYL’s aesthetic tastes rather limit my scope for antennas. However, I have plans for a random wire antenna to allow me to explore other bands. My CW has improved and hopefully will continue to do so. I have started to try some contests and do the CWTs whenever I can.
I still have a touch of the imposter syndrome but expect that with continued practice I will do justice to the great traditions of the CWops. My thanks to my proposer and sponsors: Eric SM1TDE, Ivo 9A1AA, Kare SM5GRD and Ben SM6OEF and especially to Hanz YL3JD for his infection enthusiasm as a CWA adviser during my Intermediate and Advanced classes.
This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.