Jonathan Machon, M7FQM: Foundation licence and beyond

Jonathan Machon, M7FQM has always held a keen interest in radio from scanning the bands to enjoying CB radio in the 1990s. However, due to severe vocal chord damage, which he incurred at birth, he felt afraid to make the move into amateur radio.

A few years ago, whilst he was listening to 2m, he came across a conversation between radio amateurs, one of whom had a disability. Every so often Jonathan thought about the conversation that he heard, until one morning he woke up and thought “I’m going to do it, I’m going to do something I have always wanted to do”. That week he went onto the RSGB website and booked the Foundation Licence exam.

Due to his interest in the hobby over the years, Jonathan had picked up a good level of knowledge, and consolidated this learning with self-study and watching some Essex Ham YouTube videos online.

Since passing his Foundation Licence exam, he has loved every minute of being a radio amateur and has found his speech impediment hasn’t been a problem at all. He has found a love for HF, as well as enjoying ragchew and DX, and now also goes out mobile at least once or twice a week.

As for his next steps – Jonathan is already studying for his Intermediate Licence Exam, with a view of doing the Full exam within the next 12 months.

He contacted us because, in his words, “I just wanted to tell my story a little, and to also make more people with disabilities realise that they can come forward and get on the radio too”.

Category: Student stories, Your stories