I remember being distinctly nervous opening the envelope from the UK Home Office that contained my Amateur Transmitting licence. It probably also contained a booklet of rules and regulations, with dire warnings about how I would be punished by fines, incarceration, or death, for breaking the law if I was not very careful. It was the morning of 26 November, 1976. I looked up to see that this was a Friday. Back in those long lost days, it was common for post to be delivered early in the day, before its recipients would go to work, or (in my case) school. From page one of transmitting logbook number one for station G4FPH, I deduce I probably opened the envelope, skimmed its contents and went off to school. I wonder if I ever told my headmaster that I had passed the RAE and/or received my licence? I don't recall. Either way, those deeds were well and truly done.
Having banged on (still do!) about how much topband and HF operations runs in my blood, I feel slightly sheepish to admit that the first half page, in my first ever transmitting logbook, records contacts made solely on the two metre band. I can explain! Apart from my home-built, MW transmitter, I did not own anything capable of transmitting on those bands I professed most interest in. So, it was that trusty old Pye Cambridge that came to the rescue and it provided me with the capability of making duly authorised transmissions, on the earliest day I could do so legally. It would seem that, on the big day, I still only had the original pair of crystals in the Cambridge, for 145.0 MHz, but the mode in the logbook is recorded as being 'FM', so I must have done the conversion from AM to FM by then.
I do remember the conversion of the Cambridge from AM to FM, but not precisely when. I bought a PCB containing an FM discriminator from a company called 'Garex Electronics, a regular advertiser in Radio Communication magazine. This board was a nicely engineered, drop-in physical replacement for the AM Squelch board in the Cambridge, which as I recall was only a one transistor circuit, but took up a lot of board space. The Garex board replicated the original Pye squelch circuitry in addition to it having the discriminator IC and associated components on a board the same size as the original Pye one. It was possible to add an arrangement to allow the receiver to be switched between AM and FM modes. I elected not to do this for two reasons: (1) It was clear that AM operation in the two metre band was heading for extinction and, (2) I did not wish to drill any holes in the front panel of the Cambridge.
I'm endebted to George, initially licenced as G8JXB, later G4EUF, for testing my conversion of the Cambridge transmitter from AM to FM. The conversion I did was a simple (the simplest) one, practised by many others at the time on same and similar equipment. Disconnect the series connection of the modulation transformer to the Cambridge RF PA stage (a Mullard QQVO3-10 valve) and apply fixed high voltage DC to the RF PA stage instead. Terminate the now unused modulation transformer secondary winding with a resistor, add a simple audio filter following the termination and apply, via a potentiometer ("set deviation"), to the screen grid of the 6BH6 oscillator valve. Result: A reasonable approximation to phase modulation. I recall making the trip of a few miles to George's house in Kingsbury. He must have had his Class A licence by then, as his shack sported a National transceiver - either an NCX-3, or NCX-5, which looked impressive with its mechanical, digital frequency readout. He air tested my modification to the Cambridge and seemed happy enough with the results of my work to sign it off as fit for service.
From the times of transmission recorded in the log, my first two-way contact was at 12:23 GMT, where I worked Sam, G8FHB, in Erdington, just a few miles away. The preceeding and very first line in the logbook records a test for TV interference, made while transmitting into a dummy load. I don't recall actually having a dummy load and it would seem pretty pointless transmitting into one to test for interference, when transmitting into an aerial would subsequently be the norm. I think I was just trying to create a good impression should someone official come around to inspect my station. I definitely never owned an absorption wavemeter, that was a mandatory requirement to check for harmonics of the transmitted signal. I suppose I would have 'lent it to a friend', if an inspection ever happened, just like those same friends would have leant me theirs!After nearly 50 years without one, I guess a station inspection by a person duly authorised by the Secretary of State, or some such, could still happen, but I'm not holding my breath!
I must have gone to school at the normal time that Friday morning and just popped home at lunchtime to make that first contact. The next block of contacts in the log is recorded as starting at 17:19 GMT, so post-school time. Homework could wait. I'm glad I didn't bunk off school for the entire day. Shows character!
It was through the kind generosity of another (very) local amateur, with whom I had become friends in my days as a Short Wave Listener (SWL), that I was able to start transmitting on the HF amateur bands. Colin, G8JFR, a jolly Welshman by birth, lived about half a mile from me. He was keen on two metre operation, SSB and FM modes. On Saturday 27 November, 1976 - the day after my first ever contact - Colin arrived at my house bearing gifts in the form of a Heathkit HW-101 transceiver and companion power supply. I had worked Colin on 145.0 MHz FM early on Saturday morning. This contact would have confirmed to him that I had received by licence and callsign. One hour later he arrived, saying words like, 'Here, give this a try until you can afford something yourself'. Having a Class B (VHF and up) licence, Colin said that he only used the Heathkit as a driver unit for his transverter to the two metre band. He had a bit of a twinkle in his eye whilst saying this and I thought I knew what that meant!
And so it was that the day after receiving my licence through the post, I had put out my first CQ call on 80 metre band SSB (and got no reply); Worked one Italian station on 20 metre band SSB; and tried out a Morse key connected to a proper transmitter (no reply to that CQ either!). I did also work quite a few UK stations, plus some DX on that day though - Wales, USA, Norway, Germany - there was no stopping me. Untill 22:42 GMT that is, when I wrote 'Station Closed Down' in the logbook (what, on earth, was the point of that requirement?!) and went to bed.
Copyright 2026 Mark Hill, G4FPH.
Last modified: 18 August, 2026.