Edmund Spicer - M0MNG

I have no memory at all of how, when or where I discovered amateur radio. None of my friends, neighbours or relatives were hams.

However, by 1994, my parents had bought me a second-hand Sony ICF-SW7600 and I see from my logbooks that I was listening to 40 meters SSB.

I wanted to take the Radio Amateur Exam while in my teens, but sixth form college, university, employment and girlfriends came along instead.

I forgot about amateur radio for many years, although I did continue as a broadcast radio SWL everywhere between the Long Wave and FM bands.

Fast forward to the summer of 2009, and I discovered by chance that the Worthing & District Amateur Radio Club was holding an "on the air" evening.

I turned up uninvited and unannounced, and the chairman welcomed me personally and was talking about me taking the Foundation Licence within half-an-hour of walking in the door!

I was invited to a Special Event Station (SES) that the club was putting on at Shoreham Lighthouse (GB8SL) a few weekends later, as part of the International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend (ILLW). I was hooked.

I passed the Foundation Licence in the autumn of 2009 (M6MDO), the Intermediate the following spring (2E0MDO), and finally the Full Licence (M0MNG) in 2013.

As soon as I became M6MDO, I bought the cheapest handheld on sale at the time... a monoband Yaesu 2 meter rig for around £100. How times and prices have changed!

I climbed into my attic for a bit of extra height and called CQ. A station in the very next village came straight back to me and we became lifelong friends.

I decided early on that 2 meters was good for meeting local stations and finding out what was happening in the local area.

The events above are where my love for 40 meters, Special Event Stations (the ILLW in particular) and 2 meters came from originally.

These days I also enjoy VHF in general, operating through repeaters, operating/working SES and club callsigns, welcoming newcomers to the bands, learning CW, and speaking foreign languages on the air.

I am fluent in French, all right in Spanish, and can even speak some self-taught German on a good day!

My next goals are to master CW and have my first ever contact through an amateur radio satellite. I am also taking my first steps in D-STAR.

I discovered the ICQ Podcast in 2012 thanks to a chance meeting with the team at the 2O12L (Two Oscar One Two London) mega SES that the Cray Valley Radio Society hosted for the Olympics.

I hope to work you one day and 73 from Ed (Edmund) M0MNG.