148 (Barnsley) Squadron

Royal Air Force Air Cadets

News

Cdt Yates Attends Bronze Radio Course

On the weekend of the 25th of January, I attended a Bronze Radio Course held by the South and West Yorkshire Wing radio team at the Wing Headquarters in Castleford. During the morning of Saturday, we had a refresher to remind ourselves of radio basics previously learnt on the Blue Basic Radio Operators course. Then in the afternoon we learnt new content, such as relay techniques and how to correctly use abbreviated callsigns. 

Then on the second day, we had the privilege of using Channel D. Channel D is an online radio communicator portal where you can communicate with anyone active on the channel at the same time. The good thing about Channel D is that it does not have a limited range and we were able to witness this on the weekend. Hopefully soon Channel D will be provided to squadrons throughout the Wing and this will help to enhance the ability of radio operators within local squadrons.  

On the afternoon of Sunday, we had a written exam to take which was multiple choice. Following the success of the exam, we then had to take a practical exam, where we would put into practice everything we had learnt from the Blue Radio Course and the Bronze Radio Course which would be assessed by members of the radio team. 

Finally, we then had to wait to find out if we had succeeded in the course and to be presented with our certificates and new Bronze communicator badge. To conclude, this was a great weekend and has inspired me to go further with radio and look towards the next course to further develop my skills. 

Cadet Thomas Yates