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Stuff about me:

I'm originally from Manchester in the northwest of England but I'm now living in north London. Two years ago, I returned from Cyprus where I was working in commercial electronics. I'm 39, Jewish and very happily married - we got married on 10th April 2000 - (definitely not looking any more :o) ). In my spare time (not much at the moment), I'm into Amateur Radio and messing about with my PC. I was also the Station Manager (fancy name for cleaner and general dogsbody) of the WSBA Amateur Radio Club (ZC4EPI) but I'm not currently active there. My UK callsigns are GØXFT and G8XFT.
 
 

On Saturday, 5 Sep 99, a wonderful thing happened. Having found my true other half after years of hoping, but missing the obvious, Deb answered 'yes' to that all important question. We got married on 10 Apr 2000.

Thank you, Deb, for making me so happy by just being there!

Amateur Radio:

I obtained my first licence in September 1980 with the UK callsign of G8XFT which is a Class 'B' licence. In 1989 during my first stint in Cyprus, I was granted 5B4ZL. I also spent a few months in the Falkland Islands where I operated as VP8CQJ. While I was in Cyprus, I  upgraded my UK call to GØXFT and I also obtained the SBA call of ZC4ZL.

Cyprus:
 
 

A brief potted history: In 1960, Cyprus, which had been under British rule for nearly 100 years, gained its independence and became the Republic of Cyprus. However, under the Treaty of Establishment, Britain retained two areas, known as the Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) which have their own administration and are effectively bits of Britain within Cyprus. In the west of the island, just west of Limassol, is found the WSBA while in the east, the ESBA is bounded by Larnaca in the west, Famagusta in the north and Ayia Napa in the south.

Callsigns:

Amateur Radio differs from CB in many respects, one of which is that while CBers choose there own "handle" (CB jargon for a radio nickname), Radio Amateurs are identified by unique combinations of letters - the callsign - issued by the licensing authority of the country in which they are licensed. The call consists of two parts - a prefix and a suffix. The suffix is a sequentially issued set of two or three letters which specifically identify the licensee within a specific licence class group. The prefixes are often the same as those used on civil aircraft in those countries and indicate the country of issue and either the licence class or the region of the country where the licensee is operating from, depending on the policy of the appropriate licensing authority. To use my callsigns as an example, we see:

GØXFT - prefix = GØ where G is England and Ø is class A, and XFT is the suffix.

VP8CQJ - prefix = VP8 which is Falkland Islands, CQJ is the suffix.

5B4ZL - prefix = 5B4 where 5B is the Republic of Cyprus and 4 is class A, and ZL is the suffix.

ZC4ZL - prefix = ZC4 where ZC4 is the SBAs, and ZL is the suffix.

Note that, for Amateur Radio purposes, the Republic and the SBAs are regarded as totally separate countries. In general, if you are a permanent resident (over three months for licensing purposes) of a country, you need to obtain a new licence to operate in that country. So, if you spend long periods in different countries with your job or whatever, you can end up with many callsigns.

For residency periods of less than three months, reciprocal licensing facilities exist under CEPT or local arrangements. Some countries' administrations also permit reciprocal licensing for periods in excess of three months.

Licence Classes:

There are essentially two classes of licence worldwide. The 'A' (CEPT Class 1) licence requires the licensee to have passed a written test on basic theory and electronics and a Morse Code test, usually to a standard of about 12 words per minute (some countries have lower initial speeds). This gives the individual operating privileges on certain allocated bands on HF (shortwave) and at VHF, UHF and above. The 'B' licence (CEPT Class 2) does not require a Morse test and generally offers the same privileges but without access to HF. In some countries, such as the US, 'incentive licensing' schemes operate whereby licensees can upgrade in stages (the US currently has in excess of five classes) such that passing more involved exams and/or Morse tests at higher speeds grants improved privileges.

Due to the new licensing arragements due the abolition of the Morse test requirement, the above is now a little out of date and will be updated shortly.

WSBA Amateur Radio Club:

The WSBA ARC was located at Episkopi, about 15 miles (24km) from Limassol. The membership is very small at the moment and the club is currently not active due to the loss of its accommodation. Club night is Thursday night when a net is activated to UK and beyond on 14.170 MHz at 1830z. The net is still active and you may hear ZC4RAF or ZC4ATC depending on propagation and other commitments. The net is specifically for RAFARS members, although RSARS and RNARS members are also welcome. It usually lasts for about an hour after which time contacts can be made with the club on its own callsign, ZC4EPI, or with one of the club members.

CEPT:

This is the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunication Administrations - a European Union body which seeks to harmonise postal and telecommunications standards. Many countries outside the EU, indeed some outside Europe, have also implemented some CEPT policies.

PC:

It's a AMD Athlon XP 2600+ with 1.5GB RAM, 200GB HD, Audigy, LAN and V.92 modem.

Station:

2m/70cm - Icom IC-2710 (50/35W to dualband mobile whip).

All bands/modes - HF-70cm - Yaesu FT-847 - plus various mpbile whips.

Links:

Nothing much here yet but here are a few:

• My beautiful wife Deb's home page
• Our new corporate web page
• My friend Chris's home page
• My friend Ruth's home page
• My brother Tony's home page
• My friends Alon and Yair's home page
• Lancaster University Jewish Society (JSOC)
• Cyprus Amateur Radio Society (CARS)
• Geocities