1979

The Junker hand key had just arrived, but the microphone was still primarily in use. The TS520 has been serving me well for 2 years by now, and would continue to do so for another 5 years.

After starting out with parallel dipoles for 20/15/10 I had by now settled on an 84ft tuned doublet for all band working. The ATU was located on a window sill, right where the tuned feeders came in through the wooden frame.

1982

The Junker has now replaced the microphone as the means of communication, but the Apple 2e computer has appeared

1984

A year after moving QTH the reign of the TS520 came to an end when the TS930 arrived. This picture captures the short period of time between the 930 arriving, and the 520 departing.

1987

The arrival of some ex-PMR gear heralds my arrival on 70MHz FM

The 5bandDXCC plaque has been on the wall for a year already.

2005

The Ascom se550 had arrived 2 years earlier. One of the 1500 purchased by the Rugby Transmitting society and sold on to amateurs after software updates & retuning. Fully synthesised. 12.5kHz spec.

The 70 MHz band was very busy around this time.

2012

Moved to the current QTH about 6 years ago. The ts930 is still here. So is the Junker and the Ascom , but an ft8900 has joined them on the bench for local ragchews.

The KW EZEE match balanced ATU matches the 84ft doublet on all HF bands.

I used this aerial to great effect at my first QTH and it seems to be working well here too, despite the massive increase in local QRN levels over the previous 3 years.

2013

I finally replaced the ts930 in September. After much deliberation I settled on the ts590 and it seems to have been a good choice.

The ft8900 and Ascom have been replaced with an FT2800 2m FM rig. The replacement was intended to be an Icom ic7100 but Icom are still apparently having quality control issues with the 7100 so I returned it.

2015

The FT2800 has gone, along with the FT7900 that replaced it. In October 2014 the Wouxun KG-UV950PL arrived, covering 4/6/2/70cm.

Early in 2015 I decided to investigate digital voice and bought a Motorola DM4600. A completely new mode to me & lots to learn.

After 45 years using my Junker hand key I noticed that manual sending was getting tiring so I started using a Kent twin paddle.

2017

New shelving to get extra space & a new chair.

The Wouxun has gone, so I now only have 70cm for local contacts. Still coming to terms with the tonal qualities of DMR, but the Motorola 4600 is superb on analogue FM too.

The BaMaTech twin paddle has replaced the Kent. It uses magnets instead of springs for the return force, which seems a better idea. You'll find my review of it elsewhere on the site.

2018

I picked up a TS890 from the Newark Hamfest which I'd had on back-order for a while. Turned out to be s/n 00001. The very first one.

Its quite large for a 12v rig. About the same size my TS930 was & almost as heavy.

Nice to be back in front of a sizeable rig again.