A busy March

I’m a bit behind in posting timely updates, but here goes…

So during this month I have been focused on something that is not photography. Ham Radio is a new hobby which I will be taking part in. To broadcast over the airwaves you need a license by passing an online exam with the Radio Society Great Britain. Essex Ham are a friendly bunch of Ham enthusiasts who provide a free course over 3 weeks to get you ready for the exam. It is all done over the internet and in your own time. You learn about how radio signals work, the equipment used and safety. I have prior knowledge of things like this from when I served in the Army. It did help and I was passing all the mock tests. In the real exam you must score above 19 out of 26 questions. I did fairly well with the course and booked the real exam with RSGB. I passed the exam and waited for the certificate to be posted to me. Once I had the certificate I was able to go onto the OFCOM website and get issued a license and a callsign all of my very own! It was a fun thing to do and now I can say CQ CQ listening for any calls on the 145.500 frequency… I’m pretty pleased I have my foot in the door and can now look at doing other things like HF and CW Morse code. I bought a nice little radio, a Retevis RT95 which I have on my desktop… There is much to learn and do with Ham Radio and I’m looking forward to see what else I can learn.

I did do some photography during March with some great results. I tried the new Harman Red 35mm film which I mentioned last month. The scans came back and wow they all look amazing. I shot at ISO 100 and I took my time when picking subjects. I had no idea what to expect but I can tell you that that morning I had amazing light. I have uploaded the shots to the 35mm section of my website…

Hopefully this week I will be visiting a church that is not in use… I’ve seen it from afar and it looks interesting. I will probably take two cameras with me so I can get shots in black and white and colour, in 35mm and 120 medium format.

I’m glad the weather is improving as I can do more stuff.

Thanks for reading my post, Take care!