Hi, thanks for dropping in on my personal website. My name is Penn and my amateur radio callsign is G0VQY. My home QTH is the small fishing town of Brixham which is located on the southwest coast of the United Kingdom in the county of Devon. My house is located on the edge of a cliff overlooking Lyme Bay which is an area of the English Channel situated between Torbay in the West, and Portland in the East.

About Me

I am 41 years old and am single with no children. In 1986 I dived into a shallow swimming pool and sustained a serious spinal cord injury to my neck. Unfortunately the injury was so serious that it rendered me completely paralyzed from the neck down. I now have to use a wheelchair for day to day motability. Even though I have a fairly serious disability, I am still able to sustain a fairly good degree of independence. I now live in my own house and have people to help me on a day to day basis. I am able to drive independently and have a specially adapted Mercedes Sprinter Van which I drive whilst sitting in my electric wheelchair. I operate the vehicle using specially adapted driving controls such as the joystick to steer the vehicle, and a special brake and accelerator.

I have various interests and hobbies that I enjoy participating in. Computers are my lifeline, I really don't know what I would do without my PC and Internet. I am not a gamer or anything like that, my particular interest lies in designing and constructing websites. I have several of my own websites and I also construct websites for friends and family if asked to do so. Another passion of mine is keeping South American fish. I actually specialise in a fish called the "Oscar". In 2006 I setup and launched Oscarfishlover.com, an information website and community advice forum. We are now the number one Oscar fish community online and have several thousand members which is growing day by day.

The hobby I have been participating in the longest is fishing. I first started fishing when I was nine years old, I used to go coarse fishing when we lived in Luton in Bedfordshire. We moved down to Devon in 1981 and I then started going sea fishing. Several years after my accident I once again took up fishing. I really didn't think that it was possible that with the aid of some adaptions that enables me to hold my fishing rod, I was able to get right back into fishing. I went back to my roots and started freshwater fishing, carp fishing in particular. We have several ponds and lakes in the area and during the summer months I will go on a regular basis. I've caught several large carp throughout the years, the biggest being 29lb.

Welcome to my shack

Radio Communications Hobby

I first developed an interest in radio communications back in the early 80s when citizens band radio was all the rage. Then in 1990 I once again got myself a CB radio, I set myself up with a radio at home and an antenna on the side of the house, my friend also set me up so I could put my radio on my wheelchair which was lots of fun. I made lots of friends very quickly and would spend hours chatting away to friends all around Torbay. 1990/91 was a great time for sporadic E, this is when I first really got into talking to people a little further away, quite often mainline Europe.

In 1994 I decided to take my amateur radio license. I passed the exams and CW test and obtained an A class at the beginning of 1995. My first transceiver was an Icom 738 which I obtained from Reg Ward's in Axminster. Along with my trusty half size G5RV I really got into talking to people all around the world.

Nowadays I can be found floating around the various HF frequencies, normally hovering around 20, 15, 17 or 10 meters. I am not particularly fussy who I talk to. or for how long. For me, amateur radio is all about getting to know people around the world, not just exchanging reports, although this is now a common occurrence with a lot of DX stations so it's something that we just accept now.

It may sound strange to say but amateur radio is not dissimilar to angling. If you think about it, when you go fishing you cast your bait into the water and wait for a fish to come along have a nibble. That fish could be a little tiddler, or could be a large twenty-five pound carp. Amateur radio is much the same, you put a "CQ" call out and wait for somebody to reply. That somebody could be anywhere in the world. They may be just across the Channel in France, however they could be on the other side of the world on a small island in the Pacific, you never know who's going to return your call, that is what makes amateur radio so exciting and very much like fishing.

If you hear me on and have never spoken to me, give me a shout, I'd love to chew the fat with you.

Please Leave Me a Message

If you would like to leave me a message in my guestbook then I would really appreciate that, it's nice to hear from the people I have spoken to. Even if we haven't spoken, or maybe you are a shortwave listener and have heard me, I would love it if you to would take the time to leave a little message.

Exchanging QSL Cards

My preferred method for exchanging QSL cards is via eQSL. You will need to register an account with www.eqsl.cc before you can use this facility, Once you are registered, sending cards will never be easier. If you do not use the computer to send cards then I will accept cards sent me directly or via the bureau. I do not insist on you paying for my postage, however I would be very grateful for a SAE. You can find my address by going to my QRZ page here.

Logbook of the World

I also use LOTW (Logbook of the World) so if you also use LOTW I would appreciate it very much if you would confirm our QSO using this method as well.

Ham Radio Deluxe Utilities

If you use Logbook of the World and Ham Radio Deluxe then you might benefit from using a piece of software called Ham Radio Deluxe Utilities. This useful piece of software enables you to upload your log straight from HRD onto LoTW with just the click of a button. Download Ham Radio Deluxe Utilities

A Special Thank You to My Good Friends

I would like to express my deepest thanks and gratitude to the three people who spent considerable time and effort installing my antenna system for me. They are Steve Passmore, M0BKL, & his cival partner Ian Chick, M0IAT, and not forgetting Nick. Steve owns and runs "Camouflage", an army and naval type store in Paignton. We have been friends for quite a few years now after meeting up on the radio when he owned his own skip hire company. Ironically we both went to the same school but he was one year older than me so we really didn't have much to do with each other at school.

Ian and I have been friends for about three years after he replied to an advert I'd put on a fishing website looking for somebody to help me go fishing. Although Ian had been a CB'er in the 90s, he wasn't a licensed radio ham. However, we soon changed that, I introduced him to Steve and he studied for his radio amateurs license, he now holds an intermediate license and will soon be taking his final exam which will give him a full amateur radio license. We mustn't forget Nick, he works with Steve maintaining one of his websites and takes fantastic photographs.