New Member Request (Issued)

Good morning all.

I'm back to CB/radio after a 25 year (or so) break away from the hobby.
Currently studying for the Foundation exam.

Have been chatting locally to some very nice gents on Channel 35 and shooting plenty of skip recently, listening mostly, stations from all the way across Europe to Scotland, Northern Ireland.

QTH is in Chislehurst, Kent, about 7 miles from centre of London. We are in a very built up area and have terrible planning permission procedures - such is life.

I am currently restricted (council + wife) to indoor/loft arial which is a home made inverted V dipole with a 1:1 balun in the centre, coax/fed. Works very well for DX'ing, OK for local.

Radios: Midland Alan 42, Albrecht 2990AFS (SSB), Albrecht AE6110
Have a CRT S9900 and ICOM 7300 on order for when the foundation ticket comes through.

Kindly requesting a CT - callsign. My old CB handle from back in the day is Pistol Pete.

73 to you all.

Hi Peter, welcome to the CTDX group
73s
Steve.

Thank you Steve.

73s, Peter

Hi Pete.
Welcome to the Forum/Group. And welcome back to CB/Freebanding

There are plenty on here myself included that have returned to the hobby after a long spell away (40 years in my case) I dont sit on 19 much prefer the triple and there abouts.
Noting where you are, you might be able to get Fred in the Shed and the group on 27.305 Mhz USB weekdays 0600 and 1600
I too thought about the Amateur side and got my foundation a month before the lock down. Truth is i find myself having much more fun on the triple especially that the skips coming in.
I've got similar operating conditions to yourself, no outside antenna allowed, Dipole in the loft. But well pleased, got contacts to Italy and Germany the other day on 8 watts.! I was buzzing, see my other posts where i talk more about it.
I agree with Victor and the other guys about the Amateur/CB/Free banding stuff. There is a strong sense of elitism at the clubs i visited local to me, where i did my training, and also on the ham bands where i live, especially on the 2 meter band. Talk of CB is frowned upon
But suffice to say i'm very happy doing what i'm doing and certainly glad i came back to the hobby but i wont be taking the "Amateur side" any further.

73's
Dale (Templar)

Hi Dale -

Much appreciate your reply and long note. Congrats on getting the foundation done. I'm 100% with you on the whole Amateur/CB/Freebanding topic.

I have been wanting to get back into radio for years. Probably 5/6 years ago spoke to the local Amateur radio club, was tougher than a Freemasonry lodge interview to say the least ... not impressed, put me off completely.

Must admit the only reason I'm doing my foundation exam now is that the RSGB will allow me to sit the exam from my home computer and I won't have to do it via a club - because of Corona.
I'm not worried about 'not knowing the etiquette' for lack of practical exam ... just takes bit of practice.

I too was amazed by the amount of skip we've had recently. On my little 4 Watt Albrecht and the home-brew antenna I could work this chap in Newcastle and listen to incoming from all over Europe. Definitely got me excited. As I'm a native German speaker also and pretty fluent in Italian I've been also listening in on lots of traffic from that part of the world.
For me it's a lot about getting back to the analog world I knew from when I was young, away from the digital - cell phones, mp3s, Netflix, you name it. It's a great way to communicate locally and remotely.

The amateur radio elitism you mention, has no place in my playbook. Interestingly, when I asked about one of the 10/11m radios at one of the big online retailers I was told 'forget the 10m band, nothing happening there, it's crap. You want to be on Xm, Ym, etc. Better get an 'insert expensive HF radio' than this crappy 'insert 10m band radio'...he said.
One other thing that I already noticed having been back only very recently is that there are some 'high power' station that love to talk over everyone else, like 'yours is bigger than mine kind of thing' ... makes me chuckle It's all good fun though
I try to hang out on Channel 35 as wife/children allow. There is a local group down here (London, South London, Kent) and some very nice gents who I hear being on there daily have helped me brush up on my etiquette and include me in their nets which is very nice as effectively an 'outsider' for now.

I look forward to making contact on the radio, with you and Fred and as many CT'ers as possible. I will be spending the next days/weeks, etc optimising my antenna set-up - right now, and given where I am, my local DX capability is not great. Tx for the heads up on the 27.305mhz net also. Fred has a brill youtube channel btw.

Look forward to receiving my CT call sign and wish you 73s.

Pete

Hello Pete, welcome to the forum.

You're only up the road from me in Sydenham. I used to work at the bottom of Leesons Hill!!! I am a member of Bromley & District Amateur Radio Society (B.D.A.R.S) When lock down finishes and we are allowed to meet again it would be great to see you at our club!!! Good luck with those studies.

I am delighted to allocate you 26-CT-3575 may you have good luck with it.

73's Gary.

C.T. Admin.

Hello and welcome, Pete.

73s John.

@Gary - many thanks for the calls sign. BDARS Bromley is about 5 mins drive from my QTH. Would be great to meet up there indeed once we're all free to roam around again. Yup, Leeson's Hill is on our way to the Nugent shopping centre also very close.

@John - thanks John, look forward to chatting on air.

73s and enjoy the bank holiday weekend.

@Gary - many thanks for the calls sign. BDARS Bromley is about 5 mins drive from my QTH. Would be great to meet up there indeed once we're all free to roam around again. Yup, Leeson's Hill is on our way to the Nugent shopping centre also very close.

@John - thanks John, look forward to chatting on air.

73s and enjoy the bank holiday weekend.

pistolpete wrote:

@Gary - many thanks for the calls sign. BDARS Bromley is about 5 mins drive from my QTH. Would be great to meet up there indeed once we're all free to roam around again. Yup, Leeson's Hill is on our way to the Nugent shopping centre also very close.

@John - thanks John, look forward to chatting on air.

73s and enjoy the bank holiday weekend.

Nice one Pete, when the lock down is finished do come to BDARS it's a warm and welcoming club.

I used to have a unit on the old Nugent industrial estate before it was demolished and rebuilt!!

73's Gary.