Biography

My interest in amateur radio came from my late father who was G3NEG. I grew up helping him carry 2 meter and other HF equipment around. In those days it could be a two man task to move a 2metre set (slightly different today).

When I finally made the decision to take the amateur radio exam I thought it would be advisable to attend a college course and enrolled on a City and Guilds RAE course in 1976 passing the exam in 1977. This allowed me to apply for a B class license (as it was in those days) G8NRG which then gave me access to certain bands. I had an unwritten agreement with myself that I could work HF under my OMs call sign on bank holidays only. This gave me the incentive to get my own A class license.

With the help of a local amateur G3LFB Bing (now silent key) I slowly got to grips with those little dots and dashes. Bing was ex RNR and he kindly devoted some time to prepare some excellent tapes which worked through the CW.

In early 1978 I was on 2m meters and someone called me and used an interesting phonetic alphabet - G8 no ruddy good. That was it and in June 1978 I took the CW exam, passed (hooray) applied for my A class license and G4HCK was issued.

Since then I have experimented with RTTY, SSTV and different digital modes. Today I spend a lot of time working on 10FM. It’s like talking to the XYL as quite often I find myself talking to myself as the skip changes very quickly and stations vanish.

My working conditions are a Kenwood TS570D to a HL - 2K linear (only used when really needed) to a 3 element beam.

Until recently I was employed by the government. I was charged with visiting local businesses supporting them as they develop their business. I have three degrees in this area and have presented papers on this topic at different conferences. Unfortunately the recent economic downturn resulted in the government closing the organisation I worked for and I now run my own business. I also lecture on different commercial topics.

Equipment

HF Kenwood TS-570D - Tokyo Linear - 3 element beam
2m Yaesu FT-290R 11 - 5 element beam