THE JOYS OF RADIO

SO MANY INTERESTING PEOPLE!

You know, many people (almost in a mocking way) ask "So what do you do on that radio thingy"? You can hear them sniggering and they usually tag a "Breaker Breaker" on the end of their question.

Well I for one don't care what others think about any of my hobbies and pastimes. I do what pleases me, not what pleases them. And you know what? Radio very much pleases me!

What I like about it is that I get to play with electronic gear full of knobs, switches and dials. That's just a man thing isn't it? It can be radios, hi-fi or cameras. We just like to twiddle! We like technical things with huge manuals to read (or sometimes ignore). We like experimenting and learning.

The other thing is that we get to hear interesting things from all over the world from a myriad sources using equipment that we've either bought, built-up or made from scratch.

But best of all is the amazing variety of people we get to talk to! Using just 10W I found myself chatting to a station in Russia who was using a special callsign to celebrate the Motherland of the First Cosmonaut - RG61PP.

Then I was chatting with a guy from Long Island in New York using just 10mW. And people from Italy, Canada, Greece, Bulgaria, Belarus. The list will never end! Different people with something unique to tell you. A new story from a new continent with a new outlook on life. All so very very interesting.

So when my mates are slumped on the couch watching telly or sat in a pub drinking pints of fizzy ale, talking about their workday, I'll be quite happy to sit in the shack travelling the world on my mic, talking to a space station or an airline pilot or setting up a QRP station in the great outdoors or maybe even chatting to some famous TV personality like Herman Munster :-)