I was first licensed in 1982 as G6RZL and passed my morse test the following year to become G4TGJ. After a few years on the air from my parents’ house I left the hobby for almost 30 years but came back to it in 2017.
Initially, after returning, I was doing a lot of the data modes and became addicted to FT8 when it launched. I got bored of it and relearnt morse. I am now primarily a CW operator again but do the occasional FT8 to test antennas and propagation.
My main interest at the moment is home construction. If you work me on 40m I am probably using my homebrewed transceiver. I hope to document many of the circuits on this website.
Home brew
As well as home brewing radio equipment I also home brew beer. I shall post some beer recipes here.
Equipment
Current base equipment is a Yaesu FT450D with a 40m doublet. I still use the SEM Tranzmatch from 1983.
For portable and holiday operation I have a Yaesu FT817ND and a 30m QCX.
Summits on the Air
One of the inspirations for getting back into the hobby was SOTA as it sounded like a great way to combine hill walking and radio. I have done a few activations with my FT817ND and homemade EFHW antenna.