I’m Andy – G7MJV and I’m a radio amateur located in the Cathedral city of Salisbury, southern England. I’ve been interested in all forms of radio communications for many years but I only discovered ham radio in the early 90s.
I happened to be tuning around on a shortwave radio and discovered a couple of American chaps nattering on the 20 Meter band. Propagation conditions must have been really good because I was only using the telescopic aerial that came with the radio. That convinced me to learn more about the subject.
I went to an evening class at Southampton Technical College to learn about the subject. At the end of it, I took and passed my Radio Amateur Examination.
At that time, I lived on a high spot in Hedge End and could access quite a few 2 meter and 70 cm repeaters.
I was also interested in packet radio and had a very good link to my local packet BBS. That side of the hobby seems to have died out, sadly. I know it’s easy to send messages over the internet but it’s not as much fun.
G7MJV – Salisbury – Ham Radio
My activity is very limited these days but I do still have the interest. As far as VHF and UHF are concerned, Salisbury is a bit of an RF blackhole. There are hills in most directions and, unless you live on high ground, radio can be a bit limited.
Since I retired from being a computer repair technician and moved into a flat, things are even worse. I’m very limited as far as aerials are concerned and I’m restricted to a digital/analogue handheld. I can use the local DMR repeater though, which is GB7SP and is located at Salisbury District Hospital. The repeater is also connected to the South West Cluster and more information on that can be found at https://gb7bs.com.
Hack Green WebSDR
Given my situation with aerials and the like, I’ve turned to listening to radio hams at the Hack Green WebSDR. Depending on propagation conditions and the time of day, you may hear people from all over the world. Happy listening.
Andy – G7MJV : IO91CB