Boy Scout Training Licence (1953) - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Rowbank · 5th Apr 2022, 9:33 pm

Looking through some old magazines, I found that the November 1953 issue of the RSGB Bulletin carried a report that "during the year the GPO introduced a Boy Scout Training Licence which permits 5 watt operation on a spot frequency on the 144 - 146Mc/s band."

Was this a forerunner of the Class B licence introduced decade later for 70cm and above?

Can anyone shed light on this licence?

Bruce

GM4BDJ

G3VKM_Roger · 7th Apr 2022, 10:09 am

Hi Bruce,

I have asked a amateur radio friend who was in the Scouts in the 60s and he doesn't recall there being such a facility at that time.

I found the original article in the Bulletin but it didn't give any real details. I would think that commercial gear would be needed to ensure no QRM to other services and there wasn't a lot about in 1953. Home-brewing a station might also be problematic?

Perhaps there is something in the Boy Scouts magazines, I would imagine they will have an archive?

73

Roger/G3VKM

G3PIJpeter · 7th Apr 2022, 12:08 pm

I was in the Scouts in the late 1950s and also joined the fledging local amateur radio club at that time. From neither did I hear a whisper of this 1953 initiative - not that I asked.

The main route into 2 metres during the 1950s was almost invariably via ex-WD equipment in one hacked-about form or another. The first amateur signal I heard was on my MW crystal set - G3MHD "Mad Hound Dog" who, unbeknown to me, lived over the back of our house with his SCR522. The rest, as they say, is history . . .

Peter

G3VKM_Roger · 7th Apr 2022, 2:37 pm

Hi Peter,

I think that the "PCA Hamobile" transceiver was the only commercially-made 2m radio around the time in question, I have a June 1955 RSGB Bulletin with the advert taking the front cover.

73

Roger/G3VKM

G6Tanuki · 7th Apr 2022, 4:26 pm

Given the complexity of generating decent amounts of RF on 144MHz, back then, and similarly with receiving those frequencies, I find the idea of a 'boy-scout' licence for 2M deeply strange; plenty of fully-qualified and relatively-prosperous/well-testgear-equipped hams struggled to get radios to work on those frequencies !

I wonder what gear they were proposing to use? I guess it would have been super-regenerative 'rush-box' receivers and self-excited-oscillator transmitters?

E1148/CV6/DET20/VR145 valves, anybody?

5th Apr 2022, 9:33 pm	#1
Rowbank Triode Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, UK. Posts: 14	Boy Scout Training Licence (1953) Looking through some old magazines, I found that the November 1953 issue of the RSGB Bulletin carried a report that "during the year the GPO introduced a Boy Scout Training Licence which permits 5 watt operation on a spot frequency on the 144 - 146Mc/s band." Was this a forerunner of the Class B licence introduced decade later for 70cm and above? Can anyone shed light on this licence? Bruce GM4BDJ

7th Apr 2022, 10:09 am	#2
G3VKM_Roger Heptode Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Southeast Norfolk, UK. Posts: 773	Re: Boy Scout Training Licence (1953) Hi Bruce, I have asked a amateur radio friend who was in the Scouts in the 60s and he doesn't recall there being such a facility at that time. I found the original article in the Bulletin but it didn't give any real details. I would think that commercial gear would be needed to ensure no QRM to other services and there wasn't a lot about in 1953. Home-brewing a station might also be problematic? Perhaps there is something in the Boy Scouts magazines, I would imagine they will have an archive? 73 Roger/G3VKM

7th Apr 2022, 12:08 pm	#3
G3PIJpeter Hexode Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Chippenham, Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 323	Re: Boy Scout Training Licence (1953) I was in the Scouts in the late 1950s and also joined the fledging local amateur radio club at that time. From neither did I hear a whisper of this 1953 initiative - not that I asked. The main route into 2 metres during the 1950s was almost invariably via ex-WD equipment in one hacked-about form or another. The first amateur signal I heard was on my MW crystal set - G3MHD "Mad Hound Dog" who, unbeknown to me, lived over the back of our house with his SCR522. The rest, as they say, is history . . . Peter

7th Apr 2022, 2:37 pm	#4
G3VKM_Roger Heptode Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Southeast Norfolk, UK. Posts: 773	Re: Boy Scout Training Licence (1953) Hi Peter, I think that the "PCA Hamobile" transceiver was the only commercially-made 2m radio around the time in question, I have a June 1955 RSGB Bulletin with the advert taking the front cover. 73 Roger/G3VKM

7th Apr 2022, 4:26 pm	#5
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 13,998	Re: Boy Scout Training Licence (1953) Given the complexity of generating decent amounts of RF on 144MHz, back then, and similarly with receiving those frequencies, I find the idea of a 'boy-scout' licence for 2M deeply strange; plenty of fully-qualified and relatively-prosperous/well-testgear-equipped hams struggled to get radios to work on those frequencies ! I wonder what gear they were proposing to use? I guess it would have been super-regenerative 'rush-box' receivers and self-excited-oscillator transmitters? E1148/CV6/DET20/VR145 valves, anybody? __________________ I'm the Operator of my Pocket Calculator. -Kraftwerk.