Station Locations
G4HLX      F5VLD
Loc: IO91FP   Loc: JN23QN
WAB: SU39   QTH: Aix en Provence
District: Vale of White Horse   Dép.: 13 (Bouches du Rhône)
County: Oxfordshire      
QTH: Stanford in the Vale, Oxfordshire, England
6 km ESE of Faringdon
21 km SW of Oxford		      


Neill G4HLX / F5VLD

G4HLX Station equipment

Elecraft K3/100 (#289)
Elecraft K2/100 (#2425)
Down East Microwave 144MHz transverter
Yaesu FT-847
BNOS 144MHz 100W linear
TE Systems 0552G 50MHz linear
Yaesu YD844 desk mic, Heil ProSet 4 headset, or Airmed 62 headset
Bencher paddle key, Palm mini-paddle
Homebrew speech recorder
144MHz GaAsFET preamp at the masthead
Home antennas: see photo, right
(these were all dismantled in 2007)
Westflex103 feeders
Portable antennas: 13 ele 144MHz Tonna, 19 ele 432 MHz Tonna, 5 ele 50 MHz M2 6M5X.
Mobile: Yaesu FT-857D, 7 - 28, 50, 144 and 432 MHz
Handheld: Icom IC-T8A 50/144/432MHz
Other portable gear: Icom IC-505

AO-40 equipment (now defunct, of course):
S-band downlink receiver: 70cm prime focus dish, DB6NT pre-amp, Drake 2880 downconvertor.
Uplink U-band: FT-847 to 9-turn 435MHz helix.
Photos of these antennas.

Portable kit also incudes:
Various sealed lead-acid cells from 7Ah to 100Ah
12V petrol-electric generator
Tenna-tourer mast base
6.8m portable sectional mast with rotator
Tonna portable mast
Mast-head preamps

Computers:
In the shack: 800MHz Pentium
Portable: Toshiba Libretto 50CT

F5VLD Station equipment

With me in France I have certain items from the above list, mainly:
Elecraft K3/100
Elecraft K2/100
Yaesu FT-857D
HF antenna: Buddipole (various configurations)
VHF antenna: Sandpiper 3-ele delta quad (144 MHz)





Contests entered recently by G4HLX / F5VLD

Contest Date Band
MHz
Section
Position
21/28 Mhz October 2006 21 Non-UK restricted 9
Backpackers #2 June 2005 144
S 3W
6
PW 144MHz QRP June 2005 144 Just "giving away
a few points"!
Backpackers #1 May 2005 144 S 3W 3
1st 50 Mhz April 2005 50 O 3
Backpackers Championship 2004 144   12
Backpackers #3 July 2004 144
S 3W
3
Backpackers #2 June 2004 144
S 3W
5
PW 144MHz QRP June 2004 144 Just "giving away
a few points"!
Backpackers #1 May 2004 144 S 3W 2
144 MHz AFS December 2003 144 SF 18 
Backpackers Championship 2003 144   5
Backpackers #5 Sept 2003 144 S 3W 2
Backpackers #4 July 2003 144 S 3W 2
50 MHz Trophy June 2003 50 6O 3
Backpackers #2 June 2003 144
S 3W
5
PW 144MHz QRP June 2003 144 Just "giving away
a few points"!
UK Six Metre Group June 2003 50 5 2
Backpackers #1 May 2003 144 S 3W 1
1st 50 MHz April 2003 50 SO 1
432 MHz AFS February 2003 432 SF 16
AFS SSB January 2003 3.5 -  168
AFS CW January 2003 3.5 -  191
144 MHz AFS December 2002 144 SF 16
Backpackers Championship 2002 144   2
Backpackers #5 September 2002 144
S 3W
1
Backpackers #4 28 July 2002 144
S 3W
1
Backpackers #3 7 July 2002 144
S 3W
1
Backpackers #2 June 2002 144
S 3W
6
PW 144MHz QRP June 2002 144 Just "giving away
a few points"!
50 MHz Trophy June 2002 50 6S 3
Backpackers #1 May 2002 144 S 3W 1
Xmas cumulatives December 2001 50 144 432 SF 3
144 MHz AFS December 2001 144 SF 14*
* part of winning team, Harwell ARS
October 50 MHz October 2001 50 SO 2
50 MHz Trophy June 2001 50 6S 2
144 MHz AFS December 2000 144
SF
 26
Backpackers #4 July 2000 144
S 3W
4
144MHz low power July 2000 144
SO
4
Backpackers #3 July 2000 144
S 3W
2
Backpackers #2 June 2000 144
S 3W
7
PW 144MHz QRP June 2000 144 Just "giving away
a few points"!
VHF Championship 1999 open
10
144MHz Fixed & AFS December 1999 144
S
16
144MHz Trophy September 1999 144
S
5
432MHz low power July 1999 432
M
9
144MHz low power July 1999 144
M
9
PW 144MHz QRP June 1999 144 Just "giving away
a few points"!
50 MHz Trophy June 1999 50
OS
1
144MHz May 1999 144
OS
2
144MHz low power July 1998 144
M
9

G4HLX/P portable location in contests:
Sparsholt Firs, 6km west of Wantage, Oxfordshire
Loc: IO91FN   WAB: SU38
except:
Backpackers, May and July 2003, September, July 21st and May 2002 and July 2000, I was on the Long Mynd, Shropshire, Loc: IO82NN;
Backpackers, May 2005, I was GW4HLX/P at Hays Bluff, Loc: IO82KA.

For a list of my earlier contest operations (since 1972), click here


History and interests

First licensed in 1971 as G8EQX (callsign now held by my son, Ben) and then as G4HLX in 1978. Have been active on all 13 bands 1.8 MHz - 432 MHz, but my main interest is VHF/UHF, particularly DX and contesting.

Activities include amateur satellite operation, using various satellites from OSCAR-6 through OSCAR-23 and AO-40. In 1980's wrote software for ZX Spectrum computers for receiving text bulletins, telemetry and images from UoSAT/OSCAR-9 and 11 with no hardware decoder. Over 600 copies of this software sold.

User of packet radio on 144 MHz since 1984, and for some years ran the Oxfordshire hub station for TCP/IP packet users on 144/432 MHz. Pacsat operation including 9K6 through UO-22.

In 1982 conceived the idea of the Practical Wireless 144 MHz QRP Contest, which in 1984 became the best-supported VHF contest in the UK of all time. Ran and adjudicated this contest for Practical Wireless magazine annually 1982-2007.

Tutor of Radio Amateur Examination class at Harwell Education Centre from 1981-1993.

Member of Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) since 1968
   (RSGB Regional Representative, Region 6, 1985 - 1988)
   (RSGB Liaison Officer, Oxfordshire, 1988 -91).
Also member of:
   Réseau des Émetteurs Français (REF)
   Harwell Amateur Radio Society (Vice-chairman 1982 - 87).
   South Oxfordshire Repeater Group.
   AMSAT-UK
Formerly member of:
   ARRL
   UK Six Metre Group
   Oxfordshire RAYNET Group.
   University of Birmingham Radio Society (Chairman, 1976 - 81).
   South Birmingham Radio Society.
   University of Manchester Amateur Radio Society.
   Radio Society of Harrow.
   BARTG
   Ridgeway Repeater Group.

Transmitters, receivers, and transceivers that have been part of the G4HLX/G8EQX station at some time since 1971:
K3/100, K2/100, FT-857D, FT-847, IC-505, TM-732E, IC-T8A, FT-726R, TS-780, IC-32E, IC-202S, FT-101ZD, FR-50B/FL-50B, FDK-750E, TR-3200, TR-2300, 19 set, PCR-2, T1154, SCR-522, PF-2, PF-70, CQM-5662 and at least 5 other ex-PMR, plus various homebrew transmitters, receivers and transverters.

My home page
My amateur radio index
Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP Contest