G4BKI home page (amateur radio)
Hello. I'm Paul. I was born on 1959-04-29. As I write this today I'm 51 years old.
G4BKI was issued to me on 29th August, 1972.
This was through hard work and the teaching of David, G3NPB. I joined the RAE class at the St. Ives School late - one session late - joining it one third into the way of the teaching. In a frank comment, David said I had no chance of passing this year, but maybe next year........

I started the course in January, finished it in May and passed in June.

It was also through my Dad's (G3DLH) determined teaching of CW to me over the space of 6 weeks to 12wpm+. It wasn't easy and I wasn't a natural.

Then, just before my licence was on the way, Dad and I built my first rig. A Heathkit HW-101. Soon after a 400Hz CW filter was added.

I actually got news of my licence arriving and what my callsign was, while I was in the Isles of Scilly, on holiday.
The minimum age for a callsign in those days was 14 years. I got mine at 14 years and 115 days, the youngest radio amateur to do so at that time.

My brother, G4AMJ (NQ0I, then N7DR) let me know that the "I" at the end was horrible on CW.........

My family went to the QTH of Mike Goody, G3RPC. We went out to his garden shed and I actually worked a W6 on SSB (GASP!) as my first QSO.

When I first had to learn morse (CW), I swore I wouldn't use it ever. In fact, for 6 months after I got my licence, I didn't.

Then, slowly, very slowly, I started to use it. After we built a home brew keyer with Barry, G3YCZ, in Hayle, Cornwall. He helped with the case and the paddle movement, while Dad and I built the TTL keyer circuit on Veroboard. I can see it now - grey paddle, metallic green box, silvered plastic knobs (On/Off and Speed). It ran off 240VAC. Mostly made from RS parts (that's Radiospares, NOT Radio Shack!).

It didn't take me long to work CW every day on 21MHz, even with the cycle at the low.........

In fact, I went out of my way to work AT LEAST 10 Ws per night - at 19:00z. After I had done my school homework.

I worked a number of stations at gathering speed, including W1TW, my best friend. I think I must have worked him just about every night.

I was sponsored for FOC at the age of 16, but didn't take it up :-(

I started to chase DX on CW and soon reached 230+. Not easy in those days. No cluster. Just EARS. I was using an HW-101, 100W and a long wire with a KW Ezee Match.

As my speed increased, I still went back into the 21MHz Novice band to work and work and work my friends and help them speed up into their next step.

At age 16, we moved back to Bermuda (we had been there before I was licensed, but Dad was VP9GG). I used G4BKI/VP9 for every night. That was about 300-500 QSOs per NIGHT on CW. It was easy. Even if using an FT-101 which was modified to switch in a CW filter.

Finally, when I was 21 and in Bermuda I won the local CW contest and the next day I took the RAE. I passed the theory exam and the CW and got VP9KF. My local CW score was a record which still stands to this day (and I still have the Winners Tankard right HERE). Unfortunately, the Bermuda Contest used to be the top one in the World, but is now reduced to nothing :-(

Between times, I worked too much in the UK for Plessey, then found out that the UK was dying.

To distract myself I spent a lot of time and money adding to the GW8GT group, setting many contest records. This included my friends G3OAY, G4IFB, G4VXE, G3LNS and many, many others.

In 1989, 1990 and 1991 I toured the Caribbean. Going from Barbados to St. Vincent and other places.

Then I decided that the UK wasn't going to offer anybody in engineering a livelihood from that point onwards..... so I moved to Florida.

I spent my first 3 years in Florida doing the following:

Establishing a new CW Contest Group. In December 1993, at the FOC Dinner in Orlando, K4OJ and I started the FCCG - which became the FCG.
Buying a sailing yacht.
Working for a campany in Tampa and saving their a$$ each week

After biting the bullet, I moved into my own business and worked in the marine electronics and computing field. Big time.
Running a business and keeping a boat afloat was a big task. But I did it. I tried to stay on the air as W4/G4BKI at this time.
After a major car accident I was connected with Ann. Within a short time we couldn't be apart. We moved to Grenada in 2003. We sold everything, except her house, and went to Grenada.

I was, within days, on the air from J3 as G4BKI/J3. Unfortunately, I just could NOT live with the noise, heat and bugs in J3.

After many months of suffering, we finally moved back to FL at great expense. Leaving behind a dream and a newly purchased piece of property. By purchasing this land, I got the callsign J37KF. Surely the most expensive callsign of all time! (US$100,000)

When we moved back to FL, we found that we could live without being beholden to anybody. I took on the callsign W4/VP9KF.

On 2005-12-25 in a fit of madness (!) I asked Ann to marry me. She said yes.

On 2006-03-20 we were married in Bermuda (VP9). My brother, his wife and Sarah were there. Mostly, my Dad, VP9GG, was there. So was VP9GE.

In 2006-11-01 to 2006-11-15 we went back to VP9 on our Honeymoon.

We are going to take our Anniversary 2007-05-15 to 2007-06-05 again in VP9.


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Callsigns: G4BKI, G4BKI/VP9, VP9KF, 8P9FT, J8/VP9KF, W4/G4BKI, G4BKI/J3, J37KF, W4/VP9KF, V31WJ