Having been captured by my father Derek's interest in Short Wave listening, we took the amateur radio license course together at North Trafford College of Further Education, South Manchester,  run by John Beaumont G3NGD. Following our success at the exam, we quickly took the morse test and I was first licensed in September 1979 whilst still at school in Stretford, Manchester. My father Derek was licensed at the same time as G4IRM. (Incidentally, Stretford is home to Manchester United football club and Lancashire County Cricket Club). 

I was off the air between about 1983 and 2001 whilst other interests took over my free time but have since come back and resurrected by interest in CW, which is where 99% of my operating is done. Occasionally I can be heard on SSB or data-modes if there's something rare enough at the other end or maybe a contest going on. 

My main interests are DX'ing and contesting and I enjoy nothing better than being on the DX end of a pile-up. I also hold a United States extra class license: N4IRN and a UK short contest call-sign: M5S.

In 2023 I was honoured to serve as a referee at the World Radiosport Team Championships in Bologna, Italy (WRTC 2022).