Biography

Licensed in February 1980. My father was my mentor - G4MRV (SK) - and kindled my interest in radio both as a short wave listener and then into amateur radio. He was the clever one, homebrewing Louis Varney's (G5RV) AM 'Elizabethan' transmitter; a signal generator; one of the first FM stereo decoders; a reel to reel tape deck; an oscilloscope and CR tester .. amongst others.

I started with a 'Gillette Blue' razor blade receiver - an advance on the galena crystal original version, that I also made - and then onto a transistorised super regenerative VHF receiver!

My early commercial receivers were the R1155; CR100, (which my Dad rebuilt) and Heathkit RA-1. This was secondhand and all I really needed to do to return it to 'as new' condition was to re-align the Electroniques coilpack.

Two school chums and myself - all keen SWL'ers and now keen to get into amateur radio - started a radio club in one corner of the physics lab and we were given a National HRO - with a number of plug-in coilsets - to start us off.

The radio model control company I worked for at the start of my career, was very small - only 2 of us full time - and it's instigator was an amateur radio enthusiast. The Company directors of the umbrella' company were both keen radio amateurs.

So, the hobby was all around me from a very early age. :-)

I've bumped into one or two other hams during my various other working escapades too!

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

Kenwood TS480HX. Yaesu FT817ND. Dell Latitude laptop. HF fan dipoles for 40/30/20/17/15/12 and 10m bands. Homebrewed simple antennas for 2m and 70cm. Homebrewed magnetic loop for HF bands.