 My
name is Brian Pickup and I'm 40 years old. A
professional PRINCE2 Project Manager, I work
for Royal Mail where I have been since I was
16 years old also a member of the Royal
Naval Reserve, where I specialise in
Communications and Information Systems RNARS
4613
I first became interested in radio at the
age of 10 when I got my first CB radio. My
Mum told my Dad it was a phase I was going
through and that I'd grow out of it, Its not
often she is wrong but on this occasion she
was !
I gradually progressed through the CB scene
in the 1980's, making DXCC on 11mtrs by the
time I was 13 with 10w and a dipole. After
much deliberation, took my amateur radio
exams in 1996 followed by my Morse test to
gain my A class licence and have never
looked back since
Despite the opinions some may have of CB
enthusiasts within the Amateur community, it
certainly opened my door to radio as a hobby
and gave me a good grounding of the basics
before I took my exams. I welcome with open
arms those who share my love of radio, no
matter what their background or from where,
or how they entered the hobby.
My Main interests are DX and Island Hunting
and Contesting, I'm also interested in
weather satellites and I dabble in digital
modes when the mood takes me.
Living in an urban environment my conscience
has got the better of me over the years so I
have no space for a tower, however, I do
live in a 3 storey high house which provides
a built in 10m tower, the trouble is
reaching it safely !
I work predominantly with Icom equipment
with the main station rig an IC-756 PROII
and I have an IC-706 mkII I run from the
car. I also have a Yaesu FT-817nd for
portable work and holidays. From there I
drive a Ranger 811h to provide the power to
a ZX 3 element triband mini beam (to
minimise impact) for 20-15-10m, I also have
a home made ¼ wave vertical for 40m and an
inverted L for 80m. Throw a co-linear for
6m-2m-70cm and a 10 ele for 2m in the attic
and I’m pretty much covered. Hope you enjoy
looking around the site and hopefully I’ll
work you on the bands
73 de M0RNR
Brian |
