Amateur Radio Led to a Teenager Embarking on an Electronics Career
/The Bradford Telegraph and Argus reports amateur radio led to a career in electronics for Geoff Higgins G3UBD
Geoff Higgins started tinkering with radios in his early teens.
“After the war, a lot of stuff was being sold off - it was a treasure trove of parts. I used to cycle down to Bairstow’s in Keighley on my bike - they sold lots of bits and pieces and I bought the bits that could be used for radios and transceivers. I would mess about with them. I pulled them apart and made new ones.”
Aged 16 he had an amateur radio licence. “My call sign - which I still have - is G3UBD. I did a lot of amateur radio and talked to people across the world.”
With a passion for electrics, Geoff considered joining the General Post Office to work in telephony. “But back then, to me, telephony was just about bits of wire - when you think what it has become, how wrong I was.”
He went to work for Leonard Dyer as an apprentice in Bingley, attending Bradford College studying TV and radio electrics on day release.
At the time, Bradford was a key player in the world of television, with Baird TV in Lidget Green manufacturing the bulk of the nation’s TV sets. At one time it was the most modern and largest TV factory in all of Europe.
Media Story - https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/20027985.tinkering-turned-career-electrics-geoff/