I'm not a licensed operator.. merely a listener.. not entirely without experience.. 12 years in RA Sigs.. and a failed exam after a lot of study.. my teachers then were valve dinosaurs.. not that there is anything wrong with valves.. but I copped a major question about something my mentors had seen fit to skip over.. a block diagram of an SSB transceiver.. simple but novel in those days.. and my tech friends at Vinten had already crystalled up an old MTR13 with the current 4 repeaters at the time for me.. I've still got it.. dusty and I don't know if it still even works.. Life has disappointments but I still enjoy listening in.. Best wishes to all out there on the ether.. Geoff.
Geoff
Many things have changed over the last 10-20 years including the introduction of a Foundation Licence (FL, at entry level), the abolition of morse code testing, no more "essay style" exams (now just multiple choice), many different repeaters and modes (IRLP, Echolink, Digital Mobile radio, etc). Your old Vinten (and yes I remember them from the first time around) probably won't be a lot of use as most repeaters are now tone access on their receive.
I suggest that you locate a local WIA Assessor (
http://www.wia.org.au/licenses/assessor/assessors/ ) and have a talk to him/her about current licensing requirements and processes. You might find it all easier than you think to gain a licence at FL, Standard or even Advanced level.
By all means ask for info on this forum too.... Lots of well-informed people visit here.
73 Doug VK4ADC
'There is nothing like a warm valve."
Well in the 'old' amateur vernacular, that wouldn't be an '807' simply 'cos that would be a cold beer.
Time to warm up a few semiconductors too perhaps ??
When you upgrade to VK3..., I can simply update your profile so that your forum history remains. Just let me know.
73 Doug