Fully licensed in 57 days

There’s little doubt that gaining the Full UK amateur radio licence is a proud moment – and Cathy Colless has every reason to be very proud… she took, and passed, all three licence levels in just 57 days… with no prior amateur radio experience

Cathy M0RTW is currently a Senior Systems Architect at Anglia Ruskin University, and as she was unable to find a course that fitted in with her busy schedule in Cambridge, so she travelled to Essex each week to attend training courses run by the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society (CARS).

Cathy passed her Foundation exam with CARS in October 2013, and whilst attending the CARS advanced course in November, took her Intermediate exam with the Bromley and District Amateur Radio Society.  With the Intermediate successfully under her belt, she was able to sit the Full exam session with CARS on the 6 December 2013. She’s now the proud holder of a full UK licence.

“The training team at CARS were consistently generous, patient, friendly and knowledgeable. The training was well planned and paced and very carefully prepared, and the team was very supportive, with encouragement such as “we’ve all been where you are now… Don’t worry, the penny will drop… don’t give up!” I owe the team at CARS a big thank you for all their help and support.

“The Advanced exam in December was tough and I was shocked when I passed it (with merit to boot). It just goes to show what a good job the CARS training team did.””

— Cathy Colless, M0RTW

Cathy is also a member of Essex Ham, the online community of amateur radio operators in Essex and beyond:

“The Essex Ham site has been great for finding out how to get involved with the community now that I have the licence. I am looking forward to attending the Amateur Radio Skills nights this year, back at the CARS training venue in Danbury.”

— Cathy Colless, M0RTW

Cathy was keen to get her full licence so that she can operate from outside the UK and better understand radio theory.

Keep an ear out for Cathy M0RTW, a success story for amateur radio training in Essex, and possibly a record breaker too!

CARS Training Courses - http://www.g0mwt.org.uk/training/

What is Amateur Radio? - http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio

Essex Ham - http://www.essexham.co.uk/

New Essex Ham Radio club in Thurrock

The latest amateur radio club to be formed in Essex is the Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club

Following the success of a series of weekly 2m simplex nets, a group of amateurs in the Grays Thurrock area met on Tuesday, January 21, 2014 for the first official club night of the Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club.

TAARC invited Essex Ham along to the first get-together, where the official formation of the club was discussed and agreed, and plans outlined to prospective members regarding the club’s future direction.

With support from the assembled amateurs, the committee was officially formed, and it was agreed that the club will host monthly meetings on the third Tuesday of each month, in addition to the weekly net at 7:30pm on Thursdays.

The new Chair of TAARC, Nick G4HCK, said it was great to see so many amateurs turn up to support the formation of the new club. A series of club nights are already in preparation and will be held at the club’s meeting venue: the 1st Grays Scouts Hall, Cromwell Road, Grays, RM17 5HG.

The club also plans to be very active with training, and at the same time as the inaugural meeting was taking place, a local foundation training session was already in progress at a nearby location.

To give prospective members a taste of what to expect from the new club, Dave M0TAZ presented an excellent talk on the subject of QRP. The talk covered a number of areas including antenna types, power supplies, and examples of some of Dave’s own operations.

The next meeting is on Tuesday 18 February 2014, doors open at 7:45pm. If you’re in the area, go along, meet the team, and sample their tea and biccies.

Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club (TAARC) - http://www.taarc.co.uk/

The formation of TAARC is a further sign of the growth of amateur radio in Essex coming just 16 months after the formation of the Thames Amateur Radio Group (TARG). It is to be hoped that more new clubs will form around the county in the coming years.

Ulster Amateur Radio Foundation Course

West Tyrone Amateur Radio Club will be holding a Foundation Course on Sat 15th and 22nd February 2014 with the exam being held on Monday 24th February 2014.

If anyone is interested they can contact us via email to info@wtarc.net or contact Paul on 07511411257.