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the dawn of amateur radio in the u[1].k.(辺咄字鴨侘議貴伏)-及8何蛍

酔楯荷恬: 梓囚徒貧圭�鮗� ○ 賜 ★ 辛酔堀貧和鍬匈 梓囚徒貧議 Enter 囚辛指欺云慕朕村匈 梓囚徒貧圭�鮗� ● 辛指欺云匈競何! 泌惚云慕短嗤堋響頼���誅卒亮茂�俊彭堋響��辛聞喘貧圭 "辺茄欺厘議箝誓匂" 孔嬬 才 "紗秘慕禰" 孔嬬��



       ;It was then that we decided to form an association whose principal 

objective would be the enactment of legislation recognising officially the 

existence   of   radio   amateurs   in   Greece。 As   a   recognised   body   we   would 

then be able to go back to Nicolis and get him to pursue the matter。 

       ;That    was    how�察   �late   in  1957�察   �we    formed     the   Radio    Amateur 

Association of Greece�察�R。A。A。G。�察�Greek initials E。E。R。 

       ;At the same time�察�after considerable effort�察�we got the Ministry to 

issue 7 licences based on the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1930 ��No 4797�� 

and the regulations relating to Law 1049 of 1949�察�as well as a document 

dated July 8th 1957 issued by the radio division of the Central Intelligence 

service ��Greek initials K。Y。P。´R��。 This order authorised the installation of a 

50 watt transmitter to an applicant under certain strict limitations�察�one of 

which   was   that   the   station   could   only   be   operated   from   06。00   to   08。00 

hours and from 13。00 to midnight。 The seven lucky recipients are shown 

in the accompanying photograph。 

       Akis Lianos SV1AD�察�Socrates Coutroubis SV1AE�察�Nasos Coucoulis 

SV1AC        ��silent  key���察  �George     Zarifis  SV1AA�察      �Mikes    Psalidas    SV1AF�察�

George Vernardakis SV1AB and George Gerardos SV1AG ��silent key��。 

       ;At   that   time   ��1958��   my   AM   station   consisted   of   a   Hammarlund 

SP600 receiver and a home´built transmitter using an Italian Geloso VFO´ 

exciter    driving    a  pair   of  6146s    in   the  final�察 �with    anode    and   screen 

modulation by a pair of 807s in class AB2。 I had also assembled a double 

conversion   receiver   using   a   Geloso   front   end。   This   was   typical   of   the 

equipment used in Greece and Italy in the early 1960s。 

       ;Licences continued to be issued until 1967 when the Junta Colonels 

Papadopoulos and Patakos established the military dictatorship。 We were 

all ordered to seal our equipment and obtain written confirmation from the 

nearest Police authority that the disablement had been carried out。 

       ;Six   months     later�察 �in  December       of  1967    we   started   getting    our 

licences   back。   Most   of   us   believed   that   because   some   of   the   younger 

officers in the military government had received training at the Pentagon 

in   the   U。S。A。   they   convinced   their   superiors   that   it   was   better   for   the 

genuine   amateurs   to   be   allowed   to   operate   their   equipment   under   close 



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supervision   by   the   military   and   under   new   regulations�察  �rather   than   have 

under cover operators starting up all over again。 

       ;George      Gerardos     SV1AG       had   a   friend   Oresti   Yiaka     who    was 

involved in government telecommunications and it was through him that 

draft legislation for the issue of amateur licences was instigated�察�but not 

for the first time。 Unsuccessful attempts had been made before the war。 

       ;In 1965 when George Papandreou was Prime Minister�察�on the very 

day    when     the  Draft    Bill  was    going    to  be  put   before    Parliament     the 

government resigned and another 10 years went by。 When legislation was 

finally    published     in  the   Government        Gazette    in  1972�察   �owing     to  the 

prevailing      political    situation     ��military    dictatorship��     it   had    serious 

limitations imposed by some Ministries which had to look after their own 

interests�察   �especially     the   Ministry     of   National     Defence。     But    George 

Gerardos�察�SV1AG�察�who had been closely involved�察�decided that it would 

be better to overlook certain details which may seem strange to us at the 

present time ´ details which could be rectified at a later date�察�provided the 

law   was   finally   on   the   Statute   book。   For   instance�察  �I   refer   to   the   very 

restricted   frequencies   we   were   allocated   in   the   80´metre   band�察  �3。500   to 

3。600 MHz。 Obviously when we began transmitting SSB telephony below 

3。600   we   were   greeted   with   angry   protestations   from   the   CW  operators 

there。 And what was worse�察�the voices of Greek amateurs were not heard 

in the DX portion of the phone allocation from 3。750 to 3。800 MHz。 

       ;Unfortunately�察  �there   was   another   and   more   serious   snag。   The   last 

paragraph      of   the  Law    said   that   it  would    come    into   force   only   after 

publication   in   the   Government   Gazette   of   regulations   clarifying   certain 

details and procedures。 So we were back to square one。 

       ;But this did not prevent the General Staff of the military dictatorship 

from continuing to issue new licences under the special restrictions they 

had laid down。 When the dictatorship came to an end the new government 

finally   published   Regulation   271   on   April   30th   1976�察  �which   made   the 

1972 law fully operative。; 

       During the period of the military dictatorship a break´away club was 

formed by Dinos Psiloyiannis SV1DB who added the word 'national' to its 

name making the Greek initials E。E。E。R。 His motives were rather dubious�察�



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one   of   them   being   that   he   objected   to   a   regulation   which   required   an 

applicant for a licence to produce a declaration signed by the President and 

the Secretary of Radio Amateur Association of Greece。 Psiloyiannis�察�who 

had contacts with the military authorities ��both his father and brother were 

officers�� declared ;I will form my own association and issue declarations 

myself。;      By    this   manoeuvre       he   obtained     licences     for   quite   a   few 

newcomers�察�but after a year or two his club ceased to function and most if 

not all of its members joined the R。A。A。G。 

       An   amendment   of   Law   1244   of 1972   published   in   the   Government 

Gazette No。114 dated June 3rd 1988 finally abolished the requirement of 

the   controversial   declaration�察  �as   well   as   the   rule   which   said   that   before 

anyone could apply for a licence they had to join an officially recognised 

association or club。 



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                        CHAPTER SEVEN 



                                 PIONEERS IN GREECE 

     1。 General George Zarifis ��retired�� SV1AA。 

       As recorded in detail in chapter 5�察�George was undoubtedly the first 

Greek amateur to have two´way contacts using radio telephony�察�way back 

in 1921。 He was also the first amateur to operate from the island of Crete 

in 1938。 

       2。 Dr Costas Fimerelis SV1DH。 ��Transequatorial propagation��。 

       On October 9th 1988 at 23。10 GMT a new world distance record was 

established     on   the   50   MHz     band   by   the   Greek    experimental      station 

SZ2DH   operated   by   Costas   Fimerelis   SV1DH   and   a   station   in   Tokyo�察�

when it was proved that the signals had travelled a distance of 30��650 over 

the   South American   continent。   This   is   15��000   kilometres   more   than   the 

short path between the two stations�察�over which there was absolutely no 

propagation at that moment in time。 

       A   simple   5   element   Yagi   and   a   power   of   100   watts   was   used   at 

SZ2DH。   The   contact   was   on   CW   but   the   signals   were   so   strong   that   it 

might well have been on SSB。 It is estimated that 8 hops were needed to 

cover this record distance。 

       Most   people   know   by   now   that   SV1DH   was   one   of   the   principal 

stations involved in the very successful Transequatorial propagation tests 

which took place during the 21st sunspot cycle between 1977 and 1983。 

Costas gave me a simplified explanation of the phenomenon first noticed 

by    Ray   Cracknell     ZE2JV     and   Roland     Whiting    5B4WR       way    back   in 

September       1957�察   �namely    that  VHF     signals   can   travel   great   distances 

across   the   equator   ��5��000   to   8��000   kilometres��   during   the   years   of   high 

sunspot activity。 

       Costas    said   that  usually   stations   located    approximately      the   same 

distance   north   and   south   of   the   magnetic   ��not   geographic��   equator   can 

contact   each   other   shortly   after   sunset   at   both   locations。   The   first   such 

QSO took place on the 10th April 1978 between ZE2JV and 5B4WR。 Two 

days later ZE2JV contacted George Vernardakis SV1AB and this contact 

was   followed      a   few   days   later   with  QSOs   with   SV1DH   and   SV1CS。 



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��Fuller details of these contacts are given later in this book in the interview 

with SV1AB��。 

       In October 1976 there was a rumour that 145 MHz signals had been 

heard     directly   between     Argentina     and   Venezuela。     With    the  imminent 

beginning of sunspot cycle 21 many amateurs in the northern and southern 

hemispheres began organizing tests on 50��144��220 and 432 MHz。 Within 

less    than   a  year   successful     2´way     contact   was    established     between 

Argentina and Venezuela on 144 MHz。 

       Greece   is   favourably   placed   for   TEP   to   countries   in   Africa   where 

there is considerable amateur radio activity�察�like Zimbabwe and the Union 

of Sout
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