From comments posted in various forums it would seem that some of the members are or were Hams at some time. It would be interesting to know how many hold a licence and what sort of equipment they use. Even more if some are using vintage transceivers or transmitters and what bands they cover.

For the record, after 50 years of procrastinating I now hold a Foundation licence but so far have not been able to get any suitable old gear for the bands that I am allowed to use.

Andrew VK1ADW

The question arises as to where you are looking. Several members of the Vintage Radio Club I am in are licensed. They also belong to the local Amateur Radio Club. There has been a spate of members in both clubs dying to leave & their gear, becomes available.

WIA still exists there may be something on their site. The odd bit of stuff turns up at the HRSA, & Magazines like Silicon Chip are worth a look for new & adds.

Marc

I am not a radio amateur though I do understand that the list of available two-letter callsigns normally issued to the top-level licensees are all taken for the time being, providing a hint that the number of amateurs is growing. So only three-letter callsigns are available for the time being.

Back when Dick Smith was a proper electronics shop, they sold a large range of amateur radio equipment, probably because Smith himself is a licensee. Sadly, that chain of shops is long gone and their closest competitor, Jaycar, does not sell such gear that I know of.

Even though a test on morse code is no longer a requirement, there is still a requirement to have a good working knowledge of how radio works and basic electronics principles before a licence will be issued. This is to keep mugs from applying and is probably a good thing. Back before the Internet was commonplace I used to talk to people on the CB and the channels were littered with idiots only wanting to get on and personally abuse others and wreck the bandwidth with systemic carrier-dropping which blocks legitimate transmissions. The ACMA and its predecessors seemed completely disinterested in trying to do anything about it.

I am hoping this behaviour hasn't made its way onto amateur bands.

I've had a ham licence since the 1980s, however the names and addresses of hams are freely available on the internet (if you know where to look), so I won't say what my callsign is.

I first began on CB radio in late 1976 and went through all the fun of it being illegal, then legal but there was 18 channels and you had to buy a licence, then the change to 40 channels, then eventually no licence needed. Lots of fun and new friends back then.

I also had other involvement with CB which I won't go into here, but eventually I decided that becoming a ham would be a good idea. I haven't transmitted since about 1990, but I still pay each year, in the hope that I might rekindle that interest.

I've got a Kenwood TS-930S (with the transmitter disabled) which still mostly works. There's also a 2m radio, but last time I tried, it had broken down. Everything else was sold off years ago.

As far as I can tell, no shop sells any gear any more, or even parts such as antennas or coaxial cable. A far cry from the old days when 27MHz CBs were sold in chemist shops - now they cannot be found.

As for bad behaviour, I do listen to the hams from time to time on HF, and they seem to be well behaved. I'm sure there's bad apples out there, but I don't know where they are. The 27MHz CB band is all but dead - it's quite uncommon to hear anyone talking there. In fact, it's more likely to hear long-range skip coming in than local users.

I have two brand new GME CBs, one is AM and the other UHF. Both are quiet in Sydney, especially since the range for a typical CB is about about 10km but outside Sydney there is more activity, mainly truckies and mostly on the UHF band.

Those who once used the CB for the wrong reasons have probably shifted to Facebook to engage in their carry on and I dare say most wouldn't know how to set up a CB.

Ha I used to have a CB in my days where I used to have to travel 1000 ks a week just to get to work. I quickly worked out that I didn't have to transmit to learn what's going on, just listen in.
There were many times when I had to talk to truckies just to keep them awake so they didnt end up dead in a ditch ( bloody over worked ). I learnt a lot about respect in those days and how many idiots were on the road and on the air .

I gained my Amateur Radio licence in 1972.
The requirements then were full theory and Morse code for a two letter call sign.
At the time I was completely into radio/tv servicing so had no problem with the theory, but did not do Morse code.
So, callsign VK7ZJJ. The Z indicating no Morse.
Although It was possible to change to a two letter callsign in recent years with a change of regulations, I proudly have retained the original callsign which is a full licence covering all bands and high power levels.
JJ

Spot on Ian. Hence the term 'flag waving' as receiver sync circuits become swamped with competing signals. Good archive material.

Some time back viewers watching their favourite evening program when suddenly an episode of I Love Lucy interrupted their show. This led to several books written by non-tech authors describing the phenomena as TV signals from earth travelling to outer space and somehow arriving back to earth many years later. UFO crew members were implicated, naturally.

Not to be outdone, another non-tech writer suggested it had nothing to do with aliens, no, it was what happens when TV signals enter our hollow earth via a big holes at the poles then bounce around inside the planet till they eventually find their way out again.

Brilliant minds.

BBTV: wrong thread?

Yikes!!! Yep, wrong thread. Sorry guys.

^ You can use Edit Post to obliterate it, if you wish.

I'm WA2ISE.(Robert Casey, which is a generic American name) Extra class license, I could get a shorter call, but I like my call and will keep it. Like a sheep in wolf's clothing.