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Hi, thanks for
looking me up.
My name is Steve
Bridgeman, I live in the County of Wiltshire with my partner Carol
and three sons, Aaron, Mark & Christopher.
I have been involved
with radio for as long as I can remember, starting as a young lad,
pulling apart small transistor radios to see what made them work,
and not always putting them back together without some pieces left
over. I have always had a thing for finding out how and why things
do what they do, and this is reflected by my current interest in
electronics & home brewing.
At the age of about 15 I
went on to be a Short Wave Listener using equipment like the Racal
RA-17. Later on I had a stint on CB Radio, though enjoyable CB went
downhill as sets became cheaper and more widespread, FM CB was ok
for a time but lacked in many ways after my days as an SWL, so I had
a go at 11M DX CB, this although illegal, was a whole new ballgame,
and I enjoyed many an evening parked on top of local hills working
what I classed as better operators than the local FM ones. But it
still wasn't enough, I found out about the Foundation License and
jumped at the chance to operate SSB legally, and to date I haven't
looked back.
I have been a Foundation
holder now since November 2002, yes it's a fairly long time, and
before everyone shouts about the Intermediate, and progressing up
the ladder, I am enjoying 10 watts, yes I could run more than 10 and
probably get away with it, but why should I? I would only be fooling
myself into thinking I am doing well. 10 Watts does everything
I want from it, and I enjoy the challenge of low power. I get a lot
of satisfaction knowing I have worked a station on low power, and
knowing my antenna's are doing a good job. A Yaesu FT-900 @ 10 Watts
into a full G5RV got me 5/7 into Lorde Howe Island, I can't complain
about that.
Self training in radio,
doesn't mean you have to sit the exams, I have learnt a lot from
trying to make the best of what I have, lots of listening, lots of
reading & sensible operating practise. I spend hours sometimes just
listening on the bands, and am the first to admit, I have learnt a
lot just from doing that. However I will eventually progress with
the Exams when I feel I have done all I can with my station and the
10 watts I'm allowed.
I have been active on
all bands from 160M to 70CM, mainly using digital modes to
communicate. To date I have contacted 289 Countries (all QSL
confirmed) and have a minimum of one QSL card for each Country
worked, with many cards for each of the European Countries.
My favourite mode is PSK 31, but I
can be found using many of the digital modes in use on Amateur Radio
today such as Slow Scan Television, Radio Teletype, Packet
Radio & APRS. I find PSK31 a great mode for HF due to its narrow
band width and the fact that huge amounts of power aren't needed, in
fact most of my PSK31 contacts have been on 5 Watts or less.
I have also in the past been very active on 2M band using Slow Scan
Television on a local SSTV Net night, and still call out on the 2M
segment for PSK31.
My shack currently has
two PC's, one desktop and one laptop, each are wirelessly connected
to my internet router and are both hard interfaced to my radio's,
this way I can operate PSK31 on one PC and simultaneously run SSTV
on another. While operating I can also check the internet for things
like DX Cluster, and look up people I am working on QRZ.com. The
interfaces are both home made and allow for CAT control as well as
digital modes.
I run a varied amount of
radio equipment and antennas from my home. Details of some of the
radios and accessories can be seen on my shack pages (links on the
left) .
I have recently had some
enquiries about local Clubs in my area, I'm sorry to say although I
have been a member of local Clubs I no no longer support them.
I would suggest you try
a search on Google & your search will turn up the info you require.
If your thinking of
getting into Amateur Radio I would say do it, but don't be pushed
into using certain modes and bands, there are many different forms
of communication in the hobby, do your own thing, and enjoy doing
it.
Well. that's enough from
me.
73 from me, in Rural
North Wiltshire.
Team SHARC was started
by a friend as an Idea to encourage portable activity on the Amateur
radio bands. It was decided to use the SHARC logo as it's eye
catching, it's in use on a digimode group, and has been in use by me
on HF using SSTV.
The basic idea is to activate the many interesting places in the UK.
Locations like Parks, White Horse hills, monuments, historical sites
and unusual places are some ideas.
Why not join in the fun, activate your local land marks and
historical places, or maybe you have an unusual site near to you to
operate from.
Anyone is welcome to join the Yahoo
Group to find out what we are up to, but to become a full member of
Team SHARC, you need post three activation photos in the members
activations photo album. Once you have provided proof of three
activations, we will issue by E.Mail a member certificate with a
unique membership number.
Becoming a member costs nothing more than some of your spare time by
activating three locations, which in turn shows us your willingness
to get on air and work some radio, this is after all what our hobby
is about isn't it?.
GO ON, YOU MIGHT JUST ENJOY GETTING OUT AND WORKING
THE BANDS.
Click on the SHARC logo above, to go to the Group
now.
This is the vehicle I
currently use for all my portable & mobile operations.
Its a Daihatsu 2.8 TDX
Indipendant, very good for climbing local hills for /M & /P
operating.
Operating mobile with
Team SHARC from Lydiard Park in Wiltshire
Radio is an Alinco
DX-70TH running 10 watts into an Outbacker HF -2M antenna.
Lydiard Park operating
mobile with an Outbacker mobile HF - 2M antenna.
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VHF
Aurora |
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144 MHz
Es in EU |
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144 MHz
Es in NA |
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I AM A MEMBER
OF THE RSGB BUT I DON'T USE
THE QSL BUREAU
BUT MY QSL IS
100% OK VIA
EQSL OR DIRECT
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