I have been a listener for a number of years but just didn't have the work pattern to support doing the RAE course nor to be honest the inclination to do morse. The new Foundation Licence came as a breath of fresh air to me and I resolved to take the course as soon as it was available. I took my foundation at Colchester on the February weekend course run by Frank Howe G3FIJ and received my licence in the post ten days later on 23rd February.

Whilst waiting for the licence to arrive I started to set up my station, I have a Yaesu FT757GX Mk1 powered by an old Sommerkamp FP-12 PSU and a borrowed Yaesu FC700 ATU.

My aerial proved to be the main problem, I have a small difficulty with my neighbours who are suspicious of aerials, wife, Ruth, who prefers not to have yards of wire spoiling the look of her garden and a house at the bottom of the Gipping Valley. After a series of emails and phone calls with a very patient Trevor M5AKA and Peter G0DZB, I decided to use a vertical antenna bolted to my garden shed. Cash however was the immediate problem so I borrowed a half size G5RV (to Ruth's dismay) from a pal and slung it East-West between the house and the shed (a distance of just under 60ft). To avoid attracting attention it is only 5 feet off the ground and the twin ribbon feeder cable is mostly dragging on the lawn. Some 30mtrs of cheap RG58 connect the aerial to my rig upstairs. The rig is not earthed as the ground is 20ft away and the plumbing is fed by plastic pipes. (I promised Ruth the G5 was a temporary feature and the vertical would arrive as soon as we have the cash)

After listening for a while on 40m I plucked up the courage to send my first CQ at 10.30am Monday 25th February, it took a while to get a response but eventually my first 40m QSO was established with G2DOJ whose QTH was a few miles north of Marble Arch, the signal report was a good 59. Hooray! Proof at last that I was getting a signal out and for a reasonable distance (well I thought so). Encouraged I tuned up and down the band and answered a CQ from Kevin M3VKD in Bath, getting bolder I fired up again that evening and had QSO's with Wolf DF9YK in Frankfurt and Philip GI0VAB in Belfast. These were had to work as the continental operators had fired up and there was loads of QRM, but we made it. I have now had a number of QSO's including Croatia and Belorussia on 40m and the USA on 15m. I also worked Trevor M5AKA himself who was testing a new mobile aerial. After some responses seen in the radio media, I had been a bit concerned that full licence holders may try to avoid M3's on air but so far I have nothing but praise for their help and encouragement, I have not encountered any animosity and have now worked a fair number of G's and M0/M5's.

A month elapsed and I have now changed the G5RV for a resonant 40m dipole set to resonate at 7070.0 (still less than 10ft above ground). I have recently had a number of QSO's with David (M3EKO) and took his advice, my signal was rarely getting above 5+7 and my audio is not punchy. David operates like myself at 10w but had a very strong punchy signal, it appears that his attention to detail has paid off so I set out to emulate it. David is very practical and believes that there is no substitute for detail as better results can be had from a homebrew aerial than a purchased one. The dipole is working fine and I am getting 9+10db reports which is great and I have been able to dispense with the ATU as well. The audio is my next port of call as I often get buried by QRM. I shall try some different inserts in the mic, if that fails I will try to experiment with some different mics. The best I have heard is Davids 1950's Shure, but the chance of finding one is probably a million to one.

I know that 10w is not the strongest signal but will get me across the world, the only time that 10w seems to be a disadvantage is when trying to beat a "pile up" you just don't get heard.

I have been absolutely amazed at the quality of QSO's with a home made aerial and 10watts output, so all you new M3's or folk contemplating the Foundation do not worry it is great fun and the airwaves are full of very friendly folk who enjoy a nice chat.

73's

Nick M3NIC

Email - nick@sunwharf.com