History

G6PZ Callsign History

The call originally belonged to Ron Weston and originally issued around 1932.

Ron was a professional maritime operator before the war and saw service in the Army and RAF during WW2. He was a member of FOC and RAFARS.

Ron finished his career at RAF Locking (near Weston-super-Mare) as a civilian radio instructor. Ron has been “silent key” for some time now and is sadly missed. He was my friend and mentor and I am very proud and privileged to hold his call.

My radio history and G6PZ

1980/81

I was in the Royal Navy and serving in the Polaris Submarine fleet on board HMS Resolution in Faslane, Scotland. That same year I sat my Radio Amateurs’ Exam (RAE) at HMS Neptune Faslane and was issued with the class-B licence call GM6ALC. I was heavily into 2m DX but was limited to SSB and found it very difficult when operating meteor scatter and aurora without CW. This made me go for the licence upgrade!

1982

Living in Helensburgh, Scotland and with a lot of help from fellow ops, I passed my Morse test at the Glasgow Nautical College and applied, with Ron’s help, to the Home Office for G6PZ to be re-issued. It was very unusual for this request to be granted as no vanity type scheme was in place then.

Ron was very excited about the prospect of reactivating G6PZ as he had let it lapse in the early 1970s. I had to wait a while for the Home Office decision but it was favourable!

I received the call whilst at sea on board the submarine Resolution via teletype but unfortunately could not activate G6PZ until my return home.

It seemed only fitting that my first G6PZ (as GM6PZ) QSO was in CW out of respect for Ron and the call.

1984

I moved back to England and operated mobile with some fixed HF activity but nothing serious in the way of contesting or DXing.

1994 - 99

QRT due to other commitments

1999 - present

Moved to present QTH in 1999 and lots of space for aerials so put up a full-wave 160m loop and dug out my old Ten-Tec Corsair from the shed. QRV again!

G6PZ Contest Group

It’s grown over the years, please look around the site to find out more.

Please see the 3830 reflector for past scores; future results will also be featured on G6PZ.com.

I try to promote young contesters, particularly those who are members of the Worldwide Young Contesters (WWYC). This gives young operators a chance to operate a top grade station that they may not otherwise have access to.

73, Paul G6PZ