I have been a licensed Radio Amateur since September 1983.

I came into the hobby quite late, being 32 at the time.

I was first a CB'er for several years, but when CB became legal in the UK, it also became unusable by real enthusiasts, so I wanted something better.

A friend of mine came around with a 2 meter transmitter, and I was hooked after having a listen to it.

After studying with my friend for a year, we both took the exam and passed.

I was given the call sign G6ZNW and really haven't looked back since.

My interests within the hobby are, Packet Radio, (I am remote sysop for my local BBS, GB7RMS.#34.GBR.EU), and use a Kantronic's KPC4, which, unfortunately, has been discontinued for some years now, but is still going strong after more than ten years of continuous use on both ports.

I use PaKet6 most of the time, but have also recently started using UI-VIEW as well, and have just installed UI-VIEW32. I have found both to be excellent programs, PaKet for it's simplicity, and UI-VIEW for it's inovative use of UI frames, usually ignored by most packetteers.

As a lorry driver (in my working life) I have a radio with me in the cab, usually monitoring the various repeaters around the country as I drive around, though, as I start work about 3 or 4 in the morning, it tends to be a bit quiet!!

Having done the CB bit earlier, HF hasn't really interested me, and anyway, I haven't been able to do the CW to the required standard, though now it might go down to 5 words a minute, you never know, I might get there yet!!

Another aspect of the hobby that interests me is RAYNET which I have been in since 1983. RAYNET is the UK equivalent of the voluntary emergency comms aspect of Amateur Radio. Most country's tend to have their own organisation for this worthy aspect of our hobby.

I am a member of South Kent Raynet Group and although we are probably not the most active of groups, we still manage to attend about 6 or 7 regular events a year.

Some recent "real" incidents we have taken part in as a group, include the aftermath of the "hurricane" in 1987, the Zeebrugger ferry disaster, the Deal barracks bombing and "Operation Stack" when lorries were parked up on the M20 for the first time.

"Training" events we attend include fun runs and other fund raising events, Marathons, Cross country walks, Overnight Scout events, Horse riding events, Cycle rides and so on.

As this page develops, I will be posting pictures of my various equipment and possibly, events that I attend.

Pictures Can be found in my Photo Gallery of my Antennas and Shack