(Dr.) Paul B. Webster VK2BZC

  Amateur Radio, (AR, "Ham Radio" in the Yankee lingo but not a favoured term to those of us of British extraction!) used to be the "ultimate" technical endeavour.   Many exponents tenaciously assert it still is; a challenge to its credibility which is possibly a major contribution to the frustration of efforts to engage new blood!

   Exactly how instrumental radio amateurs have been in actively developing the technologies responsible for our global communications networks is unclear and a matter of some controversy within the hobby.   A very significant number of notable people within the communications industry in the past have been radio amateurs and in the present there are still plenty to be found, for example "Me ol' mate, Andy".

   It's not that I have necessarily tired of building radio equipment, or participating in "foxhunting" (for the uninitiated, a singularly bloodless sport involving the pursuit of hidden radio transmitters using directional antenna equipment).   The fact is, any of these activities could be a complete end in itself and there are only 24 hours in a day.   Put another way, I have a family to feed!

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