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G8WWD

RAOTA number 2564

Electronic QSL's only via either eQSL.net or QRZ.com

Located on the Wirral peninsula, 4 miles west of the City of Liverpool in the UK.

I've been interested in amateur radio since I was 13 years old. I was at that time the youngest member of the Ayrshire Amateur Radio Group and met some very good friends there. Bill Bruce, GM3KGJ took me under his wing and I remember Saturday nights and Sunday mornings sat in his shack learning all the time about propagation, antennas, radios, etc. I moved to Sussex in 1971 and eventually got my ticket in 1980 after I found that one of my old school mates was now G8PUH. I was active on 2m and 70cm, mostly mobile as I drove around as a field engineer fixing computer systems - at component level in those days. No throwing boards away!

In 1984, I moved on to colour fast scan TV on 70cm before losing interest for a few years as computers and the internet became the "new toys" in the mid 1990's and before many people had computers, or internet connections. I'm now on the Wirral peninsula near Liverpool and I am back on the air. Now I use my vintage FT-101ZD. (Real valve/transistor radios are the best though! LOL). For antennas, I have the problem of a very small garden, so I use a half size G5RV which is between our house and the one next door as it is the only way to get the length of even a half size in our garden. I also have 6, 10 and 15m wire dipoles in the loft, used for listening only, and the obligatory colinear for 2m & 70cm. I also do DMR with a Retevis handheld and and MMDVM hotspot.

As I am so close to Liverpool, I am also interested in listening to the shipping channels. I also follow the AIS information from them seeing them moving on the map in real time as they update their positions.

73

Gordon, G8WWD