Hi,
My name is Martyn and I returned to Amateur Radio after a long spell off the air.
After passing my RAE at the tender age of 14 I was granted the Class B callsign GW6ITJ, I was a member of the Rhyl and District Amateur Radio Society (GW4ARC), now sadly not active. After a few years on VHF and little patience to learn CW I put my FT290R to rest and got on with University, marriage and children. I always retained my licence and a faithful Sony ICF-2001D accompanied me everywhere.
When I heard that my old Class B had been granted 'Class A' status and the HF bands were open to me - together with the mandatory mid-life crisis, I went out and bought an Icom IC-718 with cheap SWR meter and MFJ -902 tiny tuner. An e-bay FT290R and VX-150 HT followed quickly afterwards. Sadly the Sony IC-2001D is no longer with us.
Operations are still scheduled around a hectic work and family life but I have progressed to a proper shack and learnt CW (Morse) and passed my Morse Proficiency test at 15 wpm in November 2010. Operations are on all bands but are now mainly on 20, 40 & 80 m CW.
Hopefully the contacts will continue to grow and some awards might follow!
Best 73s
Martyn