How It Started

My interest in radio stemmed from the age of 7. A neighbour gave me a crystal set which, when attached to a good earth and a long wire antenna, pulled in stations on Medium wave and Long Wave. By connecting the antenna and earth across the diode I could also receive the TV sound from the Crystal Palace transmitter which was only a couple of miles from where I was living at the time. At school the interest continued with a class held in the lunch hour where we could build, with assistance, anything from a crystal set to a valved receiver.

I obtained an old R107 set from a jumble sale and my days of serious Shortwave Listening took a new turn. Eventually I was given a Codar CR 70A MkII receiver which, in its day, was quite a luxury. My other treasured possession was the Phillips Electronics set which provided a practical and interesting way to learn basic electronics.  I was a member of the Purley and District Radio Club and also the Addiscombe Amateur Radio Club. Both groups gave me a good foundation in radio and also contest operating in the case of the latter. I took the RAE twice before I passed it and my first station was a Codar AT5 AM/CW transmitter which paired with the Codar receiver. I had a BCC Low Band base station which had a few crystals for 4 metres and an AM homebrew transmitter with a handful of crystals for 2 metres.  Although morse code was a necessary evil for the Class A licence my key was relegated to the position of doorstop from day one. It is only now that I have regained an interest and realise the value of CW. A bit like learning Latin at school – I could never understand the point of learning it until later in life when one appreciates it for what it is!

Study took precedence and then I became gainfully employed in the Health Service and continued day release study in college and the hobby took a back seat.

I moved to Galway in 1973 and met up with a few local operators who were keen to get me back into the hobby in Ireland. I sat the Irish Radio examination in 1974 and passed first time and even took the CW test as this was compulsory to get an EI licence. No such  thing as a Class B licence in those days. The first year was CW only and confined to 40 and 20 metres. After the second year everything had to be applied for and justified as to why the bands of operation and modes of communication were required because this was an Experimenters Licence and not an Amateur Licence. I purchased a Yaesu FT101E and the world was my oyster.

After a year I set up the Radio Experimenters Course in the local Technical College to introduce more to the hobby in the Galway area. The lectures continued for a several years before the numbers dwindled and it was no longer practical to run the classes.  In 1983 myself and a  handful of Radio Experimenters formed the Galway VHF Group which has gone from strength to strength over the years. There is always plenty of activity and when we are not out in the field there are many new ideas and projects to keep us busy.
 
The Galway VHF Group is a very active group in which all are interested in HF & VHF portable operation, Digital Modes, ATV, UHF & SHF and emergency communications. With the current membership, an awful lot has been achieved by the group which has kept it together to date.

See our site at galwayvhfgroup.com.