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War II； in his capacity as Head of Lighting Development with the
Electricity authority； he designed the magnificent floodlighting of the
Acropolis which is admired by tourists to the present day。
To return to 1937： Mr Eleftheriou entrusted us with the task of
preparing draft legislation for legalising amateur radio activity。 We wrote
to the U。S。A。； to England； France and Germany and obtained copies of the
laws governing the issue of licences in all these countries； and we began
the long task of drafting a text which would be appropriate to the political
situation then prevailing in our country （military dictatorship）。 Norman
Joly； then SV1RX； had written a text in English； but before we could
translate it into Greek or do anything about it； all our hopes were dashed to
the ground by the outbreak of war in September 1939。
In 1944 while serving as a reserve officer in the Greek army； I was
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
seconded to the British Military Mission to Greece （B。M。M。） because of
my knowledge of English and French。 There I met several amateurs
serving with the British forces； and one of them gave me a small military
transmitter； so I was able to come on the air again with my old callsign of
SV1AZ。
3。 Constantine 'Bill' Tavaniotis （formerly SV1KE）。
There is no doubt that the most active and best known amateur in
Greece before World War II was 'Bill' SV1KE。 He was active on 20 and 10
metres on AM phone and CW； using his famous McElroy 'bug' to good
advantage。 （No electronic keyers and no 15 metre band in those years）。
Tavaniotis was born in Rostov； USSR； of Greek parents。 His father
was a well…known doctor。 Like many other Greek families Bill and his
parents left Russia in the early years of the Communist regime and moved
to Istanbul； Turkey； where he began his studies at the famous Robert
College。 Later he went to London where he first came into contact with
radio amateurs； while studying Electrical Engineering。 After that he went
to Belgium。
Bill had a knack of picking up languages and when I met him in
Athens in the early thirties he spoke at least seven to my knowledge：
Russian； Greek； English； French； Italian； Turkish and German。 His
pronunciation in all them was excellent。 On one occasion at a party in the
Athens suburb of Palaio Psyhico one of the guests was an amateur from
Italy who spoke no English； so Bill interpreted from that language into
Italian for his benefit。 He then translated what the Italian had said into
English for the others。 But suddenly their faces went blank。 Quite
unconsciously Bill had translated the Italian's remarks into Turkish！ Many
years later Bill was employed at the United Nations in New York as a
simultaneous translator。 In October 1946 Bill and his wife Artemis visited
Charles Mellen W1FH in Boston for an 'eyeball' after more than ten years
of QSOs over the air； with the exception of the war years of course。 Chas
photographed Bill outside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
Bill photographed Mary （Chas' xyl）； Chas and Artemis standing in front of
the W1FH tower。
The first transmitter he built can be seen in the photo taken from the
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
book GREEK BROADCASTING published by Radio Karayianni in 1952。
His shack was in the basement workshop at 17a； Bucharest Street in
Athens； an address which became known world…wide as the first QSL
bureau for Greece。
The gang of enthusiasts who met at Bill's included Nasos Coucoulis
SV1SM； Aghis Cazazis SV1CA； Nick Katselis SV1NK； Mikes Paidousi
SV1MP； Pol Psomiadis SV1AZ （now N2DOE） and the writer of these
memoirs； SV1RX。 Of course all visiting amateurs made a beeline for the
shack in the basement。 As most of our contacts were with the U。S。A。 we
were usually up most of the night because of the 7…hour difference with
Eastern Standard Time。 None of us had motor…cars and public transport
was not available during the night hours so we all got plenty of exercise
walking back to our respective houses。
Bill was closely in touch with two men who played a very important
role in the development of amateur radio in Greece。 I am referring to
Stefanos Eleftheriou who was Section Head for Telecommunications at the
Ministry （Greek initials T。T。T。）。； and to Captain Kyriakos Pezopoulos；
Director of D。R。Y。N。 （Greek initials for Directorate of the Wireless
Service of the Navy）。 The long wave spark transmitter at Votanikos； a
suburb of Athens； （callsign SXA） had been built by the Marconi company
before World
（Bill Tavaniotis died of cancer in 1948。）
4。 Harry Barnett G2AIQ （formerly SV1WE）。
In July 1946； Harry Barnett； a Royal Air Force officer attached to the
Press Department of the British Embassy in Athens obtained an
experimental transmitting licence from the W/T section of the Ministry of
Posts & Telegraphs； with the callsign SV1WE。 At that time he was living
in a flat in Athens and could not put up an antenna； so it was not until June
1947 that he became active。
The terms of his licence were in themselves rather strange； one might
even say quite 'experimental'； the final paragraph reading： 〃This
experimental research must be carried out as follows：…
1。 With a maximum power of 50 watts。 2。 In the frequency bands
（harmonics） 130； 260； 520 Mc/s。 3。 In the frequency bands 28 Mc/s and 56
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
Mc/s。 4。 With the call sign SV1WE。〃
From June 1947 until April 1948 Harry worked 61 countries； mostly
on phone in the 10 & 20 metre bands； at a time when there were not many
stations on the air … a minute fraction of the millions now active。
He used a National HRO receiver he had got off a scrap heap which
he modified to take the efficient EF50 valves in the R。F。 stages and EF39s
in the I。F。
The transmitter was completely 'home brew'； consisting of a metal
6L6 Franklin oscillator on 3。5 MHz followed by two more 6L6s doubling
to 14 MHz。 In the final amplifier stage Harry used a Telefunken pentode；
the famous and very efficient RL12P35 which was used in the German
tank transmitters in all stages； oscillator； P。A。 and audio
amplifier/suppressor grid modulator。 He adopted the same method of
modulation using a record player amplifier and an Astatic crystal
microphone。
W。A。C。 was achieved by February 1948 with about 50 watts of R。F。
into a simple dipole antenna。 During the ten months that SV1WE was
active 750 QSL cards were sent out。 Of the 61 countries worked only 49
were confirmed。
Today （1989） Harry is still regularly on the air under his original
callsign