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which culminated in the loss of my beloved wife it was 1980 before I was
in the mood to take up amateur radio once again； with my present callsign
N2DOE。
When I went to London in 1984 to spend a few weeks with Norman
he told me he had started recording some reminiscences on a tape recorder
about the first radio amateurs in Greece； and he asked me if I would like to
help。 As I was one of them myself I agreed。 When I left to return to the
U。S。A。 he gave me a number of cassettes to transcribe。 Although he speaks
fluent Greek without any accent at all； he never attended a Greek school
and couldn't write the memories。 He told me to add anything else I could
remember about those pioneering days long gone by。
So； to start from the beginning； let me say that I was born in
Constantinople （now Istanbul） in Turkey； in October 1910； of Greek
parents。 Although we spoke Greek at home I did not go to a Greek school
until I was nine。 But I soon moved to the French College where all the
lessons were in French and Greek was only taught as a foreign language
for two hours every afternoon。
My elder brother had subscribed to a French magazine called 'La
Science et La Vie' （Science & Life） and I had become fascinated by a
subject called 'Telegrafie sans fil' （Telegraphy without wire）。 The
broadcasting of speech and music had not started yet in that part of the
world； though in 1923； a broadcasting station was built in Ankara the
capital of Turkey。 Broadcast receivers began to appear in the shops； either
with headphones or large horn loudspeakers； but we never had one at
home。
In 1926 we moved to Athens； Greece； where I went to school。
Strangely enough； as I found out later； that was the year when Norman
also came to Athens for the first time。 At school I met Nasos Coucoulis
（later SV1SM and SV1AC） who was also very interested in wireless。 I
made a crystal receiver and was able to hear the Greek Royal Navy station
at Votanikos SXA and the old station at Thiseon in Athens itself； which
was still a spark station。 There just was nothing else to hear。 I acquired a
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
Philips 'E' type valve and built a grid…leak detector circuit； but all I got was
silence。 The four volt heater drew one amp and I had been trying to get it
going with a small torch battery。 As I became more experienced I began
repairing simple broadcast receivers for my friends and putting up wire
antennas for reception for people who had bought broadcast receivers。
In 1929 Nasos and I were in our final year at the Megareos School。
We built a very simple AM transmitter tuned to about 500 metres and we
broadcast the performance of a play acted by the final year students。 I have
no idea if anybody heard our transmission； but it was certainly the first
amateur broadcast in Greece。
Nasos and I spoke to each other with very simple AM transmitters
across the 60 metres or so separating our homes； again without knowing
whether anybody else ever accidentally tuned in to our very low power
transmissions。
In 1932 I was called up for my compulsory Military service and
ended up attending the Reserve Officers Cadet School。 After my military
training I started work at the Lambropoulos Brothers shop in the
Metohikon Tameion building。 It was there that I made the acquaintance of
Takis Coumbias； who had come to Greece from Russia with his family。
Takis had had eight years experience of amateur radio in Russia； and he
told us how the radio clubs operated under the strict supervision of the
Communist Party。
Three years later； in 1935； I moved to Tavaniotis' workshop as his
mechanic。 'Bill' had built an AM and CW transmitter with an output of 150
watts。 He used the callsign SV1KE。 We had regular contacts with George
Moens SU1RO in Cairo； Egypt。 George is still active in his native land of
Belgium with the callsign ON5RO in Brussels。 He should be well into his
80s by now。 In 1938 George came to Athens with his wife Beba and their
little boy Robert to visit her parents who were Greek； and of course they
came to our shack and we had the pleasure of meeting them in person after
many years of chatting over the air。
In Greece we are 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time and so our
contacts with the U。S。A。 took place well after midnight； our time。 One of
the stations we contacted very regularly was Charles Mellen W1FH in
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
Boston。 Chas was born in Boston of Greek parents。 His father came to
Greece in 1936 or 1937 with Charles' younger sister； a pretty little girl of
about 14。 They came to Bill's shack and were able to speak to Boston with
the equipment shown in this photograph taken by Norman。 After the end
of World War II W1FH together with W6AM of California were the two
leading stations in the U。S。A。 topping all the achievement tables。 But
W6AM had a slight advantage； he had bought a site previously belonging
to Press Wireless which had 36 rhombics whereas W1FH always operated
with his simple Yagi at 60 feet。
Another station with which we had frequent contacts on 20 metres
was W2IXY owned by Dorothy Hall。 One night Dorothy gave us a big
surprise。 In the course of a QSO she told us to listen carefully。 Suddenly
the three or four of us in SV1KE's shack heard our voices coming back
from New York。 Dorothy had recorded our previous transmission on a disc。
A few days later we turned the tables on her。 We had hastily put together
some recording equipment and played back her transmission。 Dorothy said
that was the first time she had heard her voice coming from 5；000 miles
away。 I must explain that at that time （about 1933） home recording was a
novelty even in the U。S。A。 Recording on vinyl tape was invented by
Telefunken towards the end of the war in 1945。 Today even little children
play with cassette recorders； and the latest revolutionary home recording
system invented by Japan DAT （Digital Audio Tape） provides high fidelity
studio quality with no background nois