A post about me, by me; which is a bit like bragging really. But, in this instance it is considered justified to report this in the first person…
I’ve been on the radio! This, in and of itself, is almost worthy of a News Post however, in this case I’ve been on the broadcast bands, and not as a pirate either!
On Saturday 28 January 2023 The Times newspaper printed an article about Amateur (Ham) Radio by Rhys Blakely entitled ‘Ham radio tunes in to a new generation‘. Unfortunately I can’t provide a link to this article as it is behind The Times “paywall” although I have read it. The article described the increase in interest in the hobby, due in part to the Netflix series ‘Stranger Things‘, and also references the work of Professor Cathryn Mitchell from the University of Bath who has given a talk at the South Bristol Amateur Radio Club in the past.
On the back of the article, the RSGB were contacted by BBC Radio Somerset who wanted to do a follow up piece and the RSGB put me forward as both the District Rep for the volunteer RSGB Regional Team and the Secretary of an active radio club (as opposed to a radio active club!).
So at around 10:20 on 6 February 2023 I joined Simon Parkin by phone and spent 15 minutes or so explaining Amateur (Ham) Radio to him and his listeners. He went on to invite other listeners to phone in with their own stories of Amateur (Ham) Radio. His show is available on BBC Sounds and the interview starts at around 19 minutes and 20 seconds into the show.
BBC Sounds only saves regular shows for 30 days or so. If you are reading this News post after the link to the 6 February 2023 Simon Parkin show has expired or if the link doesn’t work we have saved a copy of the interview for you below.
By the way we are aware that there was a short drop in connectivity during the interview which we have left in!
I am now available for after-dinner speeches which appears to be very lucrative at the moment!
