In 1999 i became interested in radio communications first as a CB Radio operator who was one of the few who help a license at the time, gaining many friends and enemies I would spend hours chatting on channel19 or channel 23 the home of the then Leicester Control helping out of town drivers find their way to there delivery destinations.

But as with everything which helps to make a difference in the local community, the local low life started to make CB impossible to be of help to others with music being played over the top of drivers or swearing or dead keys happening on a regular bases, it was decided to close down the channel and call local CB radio a day.

For me thought my fascination continued and in 2001 I become interested in Amateur radio for stories told by my parents of the husband of someone who my mum Val used to work with Arthur Gray G3LTT also known as “Little Tommy Tucker” and first licenced in1956

He was very popular across the world and within leicestershire he was known by everyone, so in 2000 i took my basic training in Amateur Radio gaining a City and Guilds in Class B Amateur Radio the most basic grade at the time, allowing be to operate on only 25 watts of power with basic equipment i gained my skills and made many friends alone the way. One of the most fun things about amateur radio is that you are always learning and you never run out of things to do or learn, The local Hams were very happy to help me a long and encouragement to upgrade to higher grades of which their was six at the time

3 Grades

Beginner

Intermediate

Full

Each with a A and B Classification class A being the top grade of the level.

Radio Amateurs around the world each gain a identification Callsign when their pass their exams and practical assessments and this callsign is yours for the rest of your life in the hobby, callsigns works in the following way. Amateur radio call signs are allocated to amateur radio operators around the world. The call signs are used to legally identify the station or operator, with some countries requiring the station call sign to always be used and others allowing the operator call sign instead. Prefixes are assigned internationally, and a separating numeral plus suffix are added by a national body to produce this unique identifier. These prefixes are agreed upon internationally, and are a form of Country Code Each country must only assign call signs to its nationals or operators under its jurisdiction that begin with the characters allocated for use in that country or its territories.

In some countries, an operator may also select their own “vanity” call sign that conforms to local laws. Some jurisdictions require a fee to obtain such a vanity call sign; in others, such as the UK, a fee is not required and the vanity call sign may be selected when the license is applied for