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you the only active station in SV？' I think those comments speak for
themselves。〃
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
Norman： 〃Had you not heard about Tavaniotis； who had also
emigrated from Russia？〃
Takis： 〃No。 It was you who took me to the basement shack and
introduced me。 I remember how I gaped when I saw the 150 watt
transmitter Bill had built。〃
Takis then described how he had heard a distress signal on his home…
made receiver。 It was in a language he could not understand so he called
his father； who was quite a linguist； to listen。 It appeared that the vessel
had caught fire as it was approaching the port of Piraeus； south of Athens。
The captain of the ship said their predicament was complicated by the fact
that they were transporting a large circus； with many wild animals。 Takis
ran to the nearest Police station and told his story； but was greeted
practically with derision。 How could a young lad like him know there had
been a fire on a ship which was not even in sight of the shore？ Anyway；
somebody was brought to the station and the officer said 〃Go with this
man。〃 Takis was taken to the coast at Palaio Faliro where he boarded a
salvage tug； and they set out to sea。 He said the vessel in distress had been
bound for Piraeus； and sure enough the salvage tug located it； but when
they approached it there was no sign of fire as it had been put out； before
any of the animals could be harmed。 But the engine room had been
damaged； so the tug towed the vessel into harbour。 What Coumbias didn't
know was that by law he was entitled to a proportion of the salvage money；
and he never got anything。
Another incident involving a small yacht which belonged to a friend
of Takis' led to an interesting assignment。 The yacht was considered to be
not seaworthy any more； and a W/T transmitter it carried was dismantled
completely by an electrician who knew nothing about wireless。
〃I was asked to put it together again by the owner who wanted to sell
it to the ship to shore W/T station where they did not have a short wave
capability yet。 When I was shown the parts I was horrified to see that there
was no circuit diagram or instructions of any sort。 It took me more than a
month to figure it all out。 The transmitter was of French manufacture and
consisted of two enormous triodes in a Hartley oscillator circuit。 When I
got it to work it was installed at the Naval Wireless station at Votanikos；
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
where the Director； Captain Kyriakos Pezopoulos used it for experimental
transmissions。 There were already two other transmitters there； one on
Long Waves and one on 600 metres。 The callsign of the station was SXA。
As this was the third transmitter they used the callsign SXA3。 The
operator； Lt。 George Bassiacos； had discovered some telegraphy stations
which replied when he called them he had accidentally stumbled upon
the amateur 20 metre band！ With a transmitter supplied with unrectified
A。C。 at 400 Hz。 and a power output of several kilowatts； no wonder
contacts with any part of the world were easy。 When Captain Pezopoulos
met Bill Tavaniotis the latter suggested that if the 'experimental'
transmissions were to continue in the amateurs bands； the callsign should
be altered to SX3A。 Thousands of successful contacts were made as it was
the beginning of sunspot cycle 16； a very good one as old timers will
know。 If anyone reading this has a QSL card from SX3A it would be
appreciated if he would donate it to the Technical Museum in Greece。〃
（Takis Coumbias died suddenly of a heart attack in September 1987。）
2。 Pol Psomiadis N2DOE （formerly SV1AZ）。
The text which follows was written by Pol N2DOE of Bergenfield
NJ。
Norman Joly and I first met in 1935 when I started working with Bill
SV1KE as his radio mechanic。 Norman was then working for the local
agents of RCA selling broadcast receivers。 The last time I saw him before
the war； was in September 1939。 I was still working with Bill and I went
to the British School of Archaeology in Athens to deliver a National NC
100 with a Spiderweb all…band antenna。 Norman had been recruited to set
up a monitoring station for the Press Department of the British Embassy；
which had been moved to a building in the grounds of the school。 After the
end of the war I saw him again in 1948 in the uniform of a Superintendent
of Police working in the British Police Mission to Greece。 He told me he
had obtained a special licence and was back on the air with his pre…war
callsign SV1RX。
In 1951 I emigrated to Brazil where I stayed for 17 years and then
came to the U。S。A。 in 1968； where I have been ever since。 We had lost
contact with each other and it was five years later that I found Norman's
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
address in the American callbook。 I wrote to him and in his reply he
begged me to come on the air again。 Owing to a prolonged family illness
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 SV