Don started his talk at the very beginning – where he grew up, at 62 Foxbourne Rd, Balham.

The family moved to Aldershot, and it was there that Don’s interest in radio was first piqued, when he spotted a couple of Army signallers during WT training exercises.

The family then moved to Luton, and Don was given a TransTronic Super60 electronics kit which sowed the seeds of his talent in dabbling with electronics to component level.

Don’s early interest in radio, sparked by seeing the signallers at Aldershot, unsurprisingly led him to the famous 19 Set

Don became an active member of the Luton and District Amateur Radio Society

The Luton & DARS was re-formed in February 1964 and Don served as Treasurer

The club regularly took part in contests such as CQ WW SSB, HF NFD, VHD NFD

In May 1965, Don takes the RAE and passes, earning the callsign G8CDL and joining the RSGB

In 1967, the Luton & DARS club site is sold for redevelopment, leaving the members without a base to meet. G3HVA arranges for them to use a derelict laundry on the Putteridge estate.

Volunteers spent much energy making the building habitable and installed a generator and ran a contest from there in 1969.

However, it proved imnpractical, and they decided to leave, and the club became dormant.

One of the members, Graham Shirville, G3VZV, set up the Dunstable Downs Radio Club, which didn’t appeal to the other original members, so they founded the Luton VHF group.

In 1970, Don completed his apprenticeship and went to work for ICL in Stevenage as a technician in the Test Equipment Project Department.

In 1971, he moved to Gleason Electronics in Hitchin as a design engineer. Later that year, he made another move, this time to BAC’s Guided Weapons Division in Stevenage, as a Test Analyst.

In 1973, Don married and moved to Stevenage, with a 20 foot lattice tower and 8 element 2m beam.

Then in 1974 it was on to a new job at the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) transmission division in Chalton where Don was 3rd engineer. He moved to Stopsley at that time.

His shack in Stopsley was in a shed behind the garage, with asntennas for 2m and 70cms as well as a W3DZZ dipole.

In 1981 Don passes the Morse Test, and is given the callsign G4LOO.

In 1984 Don moves to Meppershall, with 2m and 70cm beams on an Ultimast, with the W3DZZ strung between the mast and the house.

The contesting was still a great draw to Don, and he and fellow mwembers of the Luton VHF group regularly operated at sites such as Whipsnade Reservoir and Preston Reservoir.

In 1994 Don moves to Clophill, with his shack indoors and his 70cm and 2m beams on the gable end of the house, but the house is in a dip, so HF becomes more interesting from home.

And of course, there are plenty of interesting /P locations to operate from ….

Don has diligiently managed the role of Equipment Officer for SADARS for many years, with performance-enhancing additions to the multi-operator, 2 radio contest setup, such as efficient band-stop filters for simultaneous multi-band operation, integration and maintenance of linears, contest software, auto-antenna switching, rotator management etc.

For a snmall club, this has enabled us to put in some very impressive contest logs, scoring 1st place in some cases!

Thank you Don, for a really interesting talk and for all your efforts for the Club over the years!