📡 Radios

My journey into amateur radio didn’t exactly begin with a family member or a neighbour dragging me into it. It started in a very different place: the National Museum of Computing in Milton Keynes.

I was there for a Raspberry Pi event, more interested in robots and blinking LEDs than HF signals. But somewhere in that maze of old computers and codebreaking history, I overheard people talking about amateur radio. I didn’t think much of it at the time — just filed it away as “cool tech adults use.”

What stuck with me, though, was the idea: talking across the world without the internet. No Wi-Fi, no SIM cards. Just physics and circuitry. It lingered in the back of my mind.

📅 Fast Forward to 2023

That was the year I finally got my amateur radio license. I had just started high school, was feeling frustrated by the mismatch between the way school works and the way my brain works, and needed a challenge that felt real. Amateur radio gave me exactly that.

Everything I love about hands-on learning, problem solving, and just messing with electronics lives here:

• The maths behind antenna lengths and impedance.
• The physics of wave propagation and RF behaviour.
• The hands-on act of soldering, testing, building, breaking, and trying again.

Every bit of it feels like learning that matters. Not because I’ll get graded on it — but because I want to know how it all works.

🔧 What I Actually Do (Right Now)

• I’m licensed and active mostly on digital modes (FT8, WSPR) when I am transmitting larger amounts of RF into the ether.
• I don’t have an HF radio at the moment — I’ve poured most of my money into my 3D printing setup — but I still experiment with antennas, filters, and low-power QRP circuits whenever I can.
• I build and repair gear when it comes my way.

I’ve also operated under ZL4YOTA, helping promote the hobby to younger people. That part really matters to me — proving this hobby isn’t just for retirees with tower setups. There’s room for us too.

🧠 Why It Matters

Amateur radio is my personal curriculum. Every single part of the hobby teaches me something — from theory to practice. And more than that, it’s helped me understand who I am as a learner.

Radio rewards patience, curiosity, and experimentation — everything school tends to flatten out.

I’ll be here tinkering, learning, and listening for years to come because of amateur radio.