the dawn of amateur radio in the u[1].k.(辺咄字鴨侘議貴伏)-及9准
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!!!!隆堋響頼��紗秘慕禰厮宴和肝写偬堋響��
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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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece �此�a personal view
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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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece �此�a personal view
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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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece �此�a personal view
��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 South Africa。 So towards the end of 1977 SV1AB and SV1DH began
looking for colleagues in suitable geographic locations with the
appropriate equipment and the time and inclination to engage in tests
which could go on for months and months on end。 Very soon the following
stations agreed to participate in the tests。 The northern group included
SV1AB�察 �SV1DH�察 �5B4WR and 5B4AZ。 In the southern hemisphere
participants were ZE2JV ��now G2AHU���察 �ZS6PW�察 �ZS6DN�察 �ZS6LN and
ZS3B。
After 4 months of daily test schedules�察 �early in 1978�察 �successful
contacts took place on 144 MHz�察 �some of which constituted world
distance records for that time�察�as can be seen in the accompanying table。
Amateurs in Malta�察�Italy�察�France and Spain soon began to participate in the
tests�察�as well as amateurs in other areas of South Africa。