what a shock to come back to ham radio to find everything has change, WOW slowly getting there, I am totally new to this mode l am disabled so l will be what you call a chaser please don’t ask me to many questions OH just thought that’s a different show lol. I am on QRZ and if you are passing please take a loot at my page… oh well lets see how this goes
all the best
Allan G6TMO
Hello Allan I bet you found a few things changed since 35 years ago.
Well first you are back just in time for the new sunspot cycle to get started.
There are plenty of Portable / QRP activities now days SOTA , POTA ,WWFF and a few other portable activities that use the internet as a back bone to help you know who is taking part in what. The SW3 site being the premium world wide site SOTA is a fantastic way to get some travel, exercise and radio fun all at the same time.
Best regards
Ian vk5cz …
Thanks so much for getting back to me and yes a lot has changed but getting there now I will say there is no fun in getting old lol
allan g6tmo
Hi Allan,
Welcome back to amateur radio!
Agreed…but SOTA does help take the edge off!
73
Adrian G4AZS
HI again just remembered my friend lives in a SA in Aldinga she has been to my. home here in the UK when she comes back to visit her sister. small world hey
regards
allan
Welcome back Allan!
Yes, nice thing about ham radio is that in addition to changing, it waits patiently for school, family, military, etc… Saw your QRZ page; clearly you’re a man of many talents.
All Best, Ken
Agreed! I don’t like to hear something like it’s nice to getting old. (It doesn’t mean I like to die young. But meanwhile also impossible when retired. 
)
HA ! Yes, Allan, I’ll bet it’s a real culture shock listening to the
bands today. I am active every day and sometimes I sit and
wonder what has happened to ham radio.
And yes, growing old is not for sissies!
73
John, K6YK
Allan your woodworking skills are awesome. You photography is great. Welcome back to the fold.
73,
Dave W4WLC
Imagine stepping away in 1955 and returning to radio 35 years later, in 1990. Gone are the wall to wall AM harmonics on phone bands. Gone are the separate transmitters, weighing 210 pounds (KWS-1) and 100 pounds (DX-100), and the 60 pound receivers. Gone are the J-38 keys and Vibroplex bugs. Gone are the key clicks and chirps and drifts. Gone are the 6L6 and 810 tubes. Gone is the green key model 28 Teletype. Gone is the black crackle finish on your home brew equipment. Gone are the fatalities from transformerless AC-DC chassis. Gone is Radio Row. All that’s left is nostalgia and the antique wireless association.
Tune for Maximum Smoke.
Elliott, K6EL
Welcome back Allan, having gained my ‘B’ licence in May 1986, I have been on radio for 35 years this month !!
Enjoy.
DAVID
G0FVH.
It was my favourite of all the teleprinters I used as a SWL at school/high school. We had Creed 7B, Creed 7E, Teletype 14, Teletype 15 and the Teletype 28 KSR.
A lovely example at https://kb8ojh.net
(C) KB8OJH
Mine’s a 28RO, geared for 60 wpm. Good enuff to print a transmission from the MIR space station… clatter, clatter.
Elliott, K6EL
Golly, Elliot, I haven’t heard that expression for years! It gives me a nostalgia trip!
I never saw true crackle finish used on radio gear, it was mainly black wrinkle or grey hammer finish. Wrinkle is often called crackle but it is actually completely different, I don’t know if you can even get crackle nowadays.
Wow, its a long time since I knocked out messages on one of those.
Hi John
Welcome to SOTA! Chasing is fun and quite a challenge if you are trying to ‘chase’, an activator on summit which doesn’t get activated often.
David
Was this in your RN days?
As a kid/teenager I was somewhat dismissive of old noisy TTYs and valve (tube) technology when I first came across it at school aged 11. Microprocessors and digital electronics was advancing rapidly and computers seemed more fun that copying TANJUG or TASS news services with an AR88 etc. But as I learnt more about electronics the more impressive the innards of TTYs became. Serial to parallel data conversion and vice versa using mechanics not silicon was what got me hooked. And also understanding when I tried to make anything so it didn’t fall apart was that Creed and Teletype Corp had had that licked since the 30s… there’s lots of mass and inertia in a TTY rattling away and having them survive for 80+ years with only lubrication shows how stunningly well made they were.
Then there’s the purring when marking , the clattering when spacing and the noise when printing…clatter, clatter, ting, whooooomp, thunk, clatter, clatter, clatter. And then there’s the smell of warm oil.
What still gets me now is hearing the startup: a TTY sat silent then the signal starts marking and there’s that wonderful spin up noise of the motor and the whump-clunk as the selector magnets engage.
Joy.
I had a Creed 7B in my bedroom (shack) - without silence cover, of course - and my parents were not quite as enthusiastic about it as I was 
Let me guess…
Adrian shouting: “Can’t hear you mum, the Creed’s printing.”
Can’t remember what happens when, like me, you type way faster than 60 wpm on a machine geared for that speed and no tape. Does it skip a character?
Elliott