Biography

I began being interested in Amateur Radio by accident after my parents bought me a kit to make a crystal set when I was 10 years old. The kit required that I run out a length of copper wire outside my bedroom window. One day I was messing about and plugged this aerial into the car radio socket of a portable radio in order to get Radio Caroline. Just tuning around the dial I heard two people talking to each other. This was on what I thought was long wave. I asked my father (former Royal Signals) who they were and he told me that they were Radio Hams. It was two local radio hams talking on AM on 160 metres. The reason I could hear them on long wave was due to image interference. I cycled over to meet this Ham G3SBW (10 miles) and looking for a large antenna and knocked on his door and he showed me all his home built radio equipment. I was hooked.

I joined the Royal Navy as a Radio Engineer in 1964.

After spending twelve years in the Royal Navy repairing Radio and Radar, I left in 1977 and became licensed with my previous callsign G8NOG

I took my morse test at Humber Radio (My examiner was Dave Hopcroft.) and took my present callsign in 1980.

I left the UK and worked for Siemens in South Africa. I ran ZS6BIS from 1981 to 1985 from Rustenburg and Johannesburg in South Africa. (This callsign is now reissued.) I held a private pilots licence whilst in South Africa. The picture above shows me in a Piper Tomahawk at Lanseria airport belonging to the Witwatersrand University.

I returned to the UK and worked for Plessey working on Microwave Equipment, eventually becoming a lecturer on Microwave Equipment.

I left Plessey to become a Telecomms Tech in the North Sea working with Tropospheric Scatter amongst all things Telecomm (from Marine radio to telephone exchanges and also including Network equipment (routers etc)). I hold a CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) certificate. I spent a total of 22 years offshore in the North Sea eventually retiring in 2010.

I have a commercial ex Marine-Band Radio made in Denmark SKANTI TRP5000 which now serves as a converted linear amplifier running two 4CX250B valves in the final). I rescued it from a skip. + a lifetimes supply of boxed unused 4CX250B valves.

I also have a SKANTI TRP 7000

I also have run a special event station callsign GB2OIL - read about it here http://www.dukeswoodoilmuseum.com

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

KENWOOD TS850S
YAESU FT 450
ICOM 7600MKII
ANYTONE AT-779UV

SKANTI TR5001