Repeaters and Novices

February 18th, 2008

Have been flicking around on 2 metres (144-146Mhz Amatuer Band) recently because of lift conditions, in particular the GB3DA Danbury repeater nr Chelmsford in Essex has been consistently very strong (4-6bB) and I decided to break in and have a natter, at that point a kid called Rhys who was 11 years old called through and it turns out he has only just passed his foundation exam and earned himself an M3 callsign (ZFM), transmitting from an antenna on a metal tin from his bedroom in Harlow, North London. So I say hi and explain that it isn’t bad chatting to me 90 miles away on the south coast with such a simple set up and only 10 watts and he was seriously chuffed, and I thought how nice it was that a kid had bothered to take the exam and have the confidence to join in a net on a busy repeater, and he was very proficient too, only one operator had a moan about his slightly rookie radio procedure but he soon got fobbed off. Maybe Chain could access this repeater… hmmm.

Entry Filed under: Technical