I first became interested in amateur radio at the age of 12 or 13 when my father took up the hobby.  I spent quite a few years as an avid short wave listener especially on the HF bands.  I spent many happy hours scouring the air waves using a single valve H.A.C. Short Wave Products Model DX that I built myself.

My father was first licensed as G8DYT in 1970 and he progressed to the full "class A" licence G4ATA in 1971.  He had a Trio 9R-59DS HF receiver and I spent many hours listening to that and concentrating on the amateur bands.

In my mid-late teens other interests caught my eye.......motorbikes, cars and, of course, girls replaced much of the time I would have otherwise spent persuing my radio activities.

The love of radio never entirely left me though and eventually, in 1985/6, I attended a night school course that enabled me to pass the City & Guilds Radio Amateurs exam.  In 1986 I received my first licence and was issued with the callsign G1UDF giving me access to the V/UHF amateur bands.

Sadly my father went SK in early 1989.  Whilst assisting my mother clearing my dad's shack I came across his licence documentation.  Whilst reading this I could hear him teasing me and, once more, asking me when I was going to take the morse test and get a proper licence.  I thought that it would be a nice way to remember him by doing just that and getting his callsign, G4ATA, re-issued to me.  That I did and I have been G4ATA since August 1989.

Although the licence I had allowed me access to all of the amateur bands, my interest particularly in chasing locator squares on 2m and 2m contesting, I rarely operated the HF bands.

Around 2001/2 life got in the way again and several moves of QTH saw me temporarily QRT until late 2007.  Unfortunately all of my old SWL logs and operating logs (including the original G8DYT/G4ATA logs) got lost somewhere during those QTH changes.

My son took some interest in my amateur radio too and he passed his first novice exam and was licensed in 1997 as 2E1FVS at the age of 13 and has since progressed to the UK advanced licence and holds the callsign M0HOM.  Perhaps, one day, he will be able to keep G4ATA on the air and have his grandfather's callsign re-issued.....fingers crossed that won't happen for a few years though!!

From mid 2015 until early 2025 G4ATA became GM4ATA when I spent nearly 10 years in Scotland.  During this time my operating switched from nearly 100% SSB to virtually 100% CW.  Now back in England and a plain old "G" station again my interest, and love of, CW persists.  My CW isn't the best, I'm still learning and hopefully improving!  I have 0% interest in any of the digital modes....my PC is seriously anti-social and only talks to me....if you see G4ATA on FT8 it's a pirate or a bad decode!

So, there you are.....a potted history of my amateur radio activities.  Well done if you got this far!