Jim, ME7HEF – RSGB Discovery Logbook: Explorer

As a relatively new radio amateur, Jim, ME7HEF has found the Discovery Logbook to be just what he needed. As a person who enjoys having a clear path to follow Jim found the sheer breadth of the hobby made it a little difficult to know where to start, and the recently restructured Discovery Scheme has given him just the direction he enjoys.

When the first stage – called Explorer – was launched, Jim initially followed the logbook chronologically and began with the recommendation to complete a number of registrations online. This was soon followed by building a wire antenna, and the handy link built into the logbook made it easy to find instructions to follow. He made a 2m J-Pole and then had great fun testing it with his new purchase, a NanoVNA. However, with the hobby firmly taking its grip on him, he has a QRP HF transceiver on the way too, so he has managed to wrangle a resonant 14Mhz sloper into his compact garden.

After the antenna build, the Explorer Logbook moves onto getting on the air and making contacts through repeaters, which Jim found a relatively straightforward task. His local repeaters don’t have weekly nets or ragchews and can go all day without activating. Similarly, he has found 2m Simplex to be very quiet in his area, however he says this almost makes each contact all the more exciting.

Following this, he decided to move on to Summits on the Air (SOTA), which is included later in the logbook. Jim currently only operates on QRP and QRPp and felt this was a quick win to gain some more points in the scheme.

In reviewing the Explorer stage of the Discovery Logbook, Jim believes it has allowed him to try something new and different.

Jim says, “I could have easily have started up my computer and carried on making QSOs on FT8, which would have been straightforward and familiar. However, instead it’s encouraged me to branch out and explore the hobby, which I’m grateful for”.

Category: Student stories, Your stories