Combined Cadet Force CCF days.
IT IS ILLEGAL TO TRANSMIT ON FREQUENCIES FOR WHICH YOU ARE NOT LICENSED.
(THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO ME!)
Delta Oscar, Delta Oscar, Delta Oscar. Hello all stations delta oscar, this is 4 alpha. Radio check, over.
By popular demand, this page is dedicated to the happy days of the Combined Cadet Force.
What is the CCF?
The Combined Cadet Force is a youth organisation that provides training to young people aged 12 to 18 in schools and colleges. One of the training areas in the CCF is radio communication, which teaches cadets about the principles and practice of using radios for communication.
CCF cadets learn about different types of radios and how to operate them. This includes learning about radio protocols, procedures, and etiquette, as well as understanding radio frequencies, channels, and call signs. Cadets are also trained in radio security and the importance of maintaining confidentiality in their communications.
My recollection of CCF Days.
I first discovered the Combined Cadet Force frequencies back in the 1960s. Delta Oscar was the main CCF channel on 5330kHz. There was also Tango Golf which I believe was around 4900kHz. I listened using a 19 set and a dipole aerial, which worked extremely well… on receive only, of course! For many people, listening on the CCF frequencies was the first step towards obtaining an amateur radio license. Hooked on short wave listening, many went on to transmit on the CCF and Echo Charlie frequencies, illegally, which encouraged them to take the RAE exam and obtain a license. They were great days for experimenting. They were also great times for learning, as most of the old military gear bought from army surplus stores had to be modified.
I got to know a couple of CCF operators, one in Surrey and one in Somerset, and we wrote to each other. I didn’t give my home address, but the address of a relative. I learned a lot from them but I won’t go into that here. I can say that one of them got the cane for straying away from the CCF frequencies to chat to pirates on Echo Charlie, 6.6MHz. Apparently, his headmaster wasn’t too pleased when the GPO arrived at the school.
I went to a secondary modern school for boys which was fine because I wasn’t interested in learning the words of fools. Words from a song, not mine. Itchicoo Park. However, grammar and public schoolboys got to join the CCF and chat on the radio. I had to be content with being trained as a factory worker… a career that I never took up. OK, rant over. But, that didn’t stop me from joining the posh lads and having fun on Delta Oscar! I suppose I was… am, a rebel at heart.
CCF Frequencies.
WX 3360kHz c/w
WL 4030kHz voice
?? 4920kHz voice
TG 4972.5 kHz voice
DO 5330kHz voice
?? 5972.5 kHz voice
A Genuine Recording?
CCF QSL Cards:
Please note, I was sent the QSL cards below and have placed them here in the good faith that they haven’t been stolen from other web sites.
Thanks to Mark for the 33C card. Quite a rarity these days!
More QSL Cards:
If anyone has any CCF QSL cards they’d like to share, I’d be only too pleased to add them here.
Thanks to Brian for the call sign 2 card below:
An audio clip:
CCF Pirate radio memories from the 1960s:
More CCF Pirate radio memories:
The WS 19 set:
Here’s a video about the infamous 19 set.
GWM Radio, the Amy surplus shop in Portland Road Worthing, sold 19 sets for 30 bob, that’s £1.50 in new money. At that price, I bought several and spent hours modifying them and, in the process, learned a great deal.