This is an archived copy of the GW4BRS QRZ biography, preserved by Barry Amateur Radio Society. Original archive capture: 2 September 2026.
Thanks for looking us up, and a warm welcome to our radio club
The Club meets up on Tuesday evenings at 20.00 hours.
This page and are a record of the many contests and special event stations we have staged over the years.
2025
Glyn GW0ANA retired as Chairman of Barry Amateur Radio Society, we wish him a long retirement and thank him for his long service to the club. The new chairman is Nigel GW1CUQ, we wish him well.
2020
Glyn GW0ANA fancied going for a new beam with a pedigree and quality build, and liked the look of the Optibeam OB9-5. The other consideration was the new antenna must stand up to our proximity to the sea and the prevailing south westerly winds in this part of Wales. Everbody supported him on this decision and he proceeded to negotiate a very good deal for the club and the antenna is on order.
Optibeam OB9-5, 9 elements, 5 bands, 20m/17m/15m/12m/10m
TOWER REPAIRED AND PARTLY PAINTED – TUESDAY 18 AUGUST
We turned up for the club night to find the tower repaired by Bob GW0WKR and his very kind welder friend and painting of the tower well underway by Bob and Phil MW0DHF. It really is looking smart while it awaits it's new goodwinch winch, and refurbished luffing winch.
A team met at 1000 hrs Tuesday and luckily the weather was on our side. in attendance; Nigel GW1CUQ, Phil MW0DHF, Bob GW0WKR, Rich GW4BVJ, Steve 2W0VOG, Ivor 2W0ICD and James SWL. With workmates at the ready, we luffed the tower over and removed both sections of our Strumech Versatower BP60 Standard.
While we were cleaning the sections up with wire brushes John GW4SKA kindly dropped by. He surveyed the mast and spotted some damage to the luffed over base section on one of the top pulley bars, one was badly twisted and a wire rope had nearly warn through the bar almost halway. We all agreed this needed to be repaired properly. Otherwise the tower is in good condition and just needs a coat of paint over the areas of slight rust.
Glyn GW0ANA dropped in as well with our new wire ropes from Bishop Lifting and they all looked in order.
Bob GW0WKR's new bar with pulley The Goodwinch TDS-12.0 Winch on order
Phil MW0DHF and Bob GW0WKR attended the club Wednesday 5 August and removed the damaged bar. By the afternoon Bob had fabricated a brand new section and what a beautiful job it was. Once this is welded back we can paint the tower as required. Glyn negotiated a good and has placed the order with Goodwinch.
We all agreed it was very enjoyable and rewarding working on our tower and keeping it in good condition. It is a great resource for the club as we probably couldn't afford to buy a new 60ft mast and carry out the installation these days.
MAST & ANTENNA WORKING TEAM – SUNDAY 26 JULY
We had planned a club dxpedition to Flat Holm Island EU124 for IOTA this year with our contest call GW8K. Alas it was not to be, this was Flat Holm Island from our club car park when we turned up for the antenna work. The Island is behind rugby posts, rather than phased verticals. Photo Sherri Mortimore.
We had a healthy number turn up for the project, in fact it was good to meet up after so many months at home. Nigel GW1CUQ and Bob GW0WKR were assisted by Ivor 2W0ICD, James 2W0JYI, Steve 2W0VOG, Rich GW4BVJ, Phil MW0DHF and Richard MW0HAT.
We got access to the shack to turn the beam so the long elements were flat to the road, then Phil turned up with the industrial tower, we luffed the mast over and went about removing the Hygain TH-7DX and InnoVAntennas 6M Yagi. The Hygain beam was installed around 1997 and the brackets were well rusted in so we made good use of Nigel's lump hammer, and in the final event a hack saw. The sun came out and it was a perfect day for the work. Thank you to everyone who lent a hand.
ITV WALES 'WONDERS OF THE COAST PATH' AIRING JUNE
This programme aired on ITV WALES 2030-2100 Monday 1 June, Episode 6, South Wales including Flat Holm Is, Lavenock Point and the story of Marconi with BARS from 11 minutes in.
GLYN GW0ANA's PRESENTATION ON 'THE AMAZING & LITTLE KNOWN LIFE OF MR GEORGE KEMP' 18 FEBRUARY
There was a good attendance this evening and members were in for a treat. Glyn gave a fascinating talk on Mr George Kemp, supported by first class slides. It was amazing to learn of Mr George Kemp's achievements and the groundbreaking discoveries he made in his own right and see how he was able to help Marconi as much as he did. During questions Glyn's knowledge of the subject was impressive and the night was enjoyed by all.
BARS ARS TABLE TOP RALLY SATURDAY 1 FEBRUARY
Glyn GW0ANA our Chairman had the idea and asked Nigel GW1CUQ to organise the club's new Table Top Rally. We had wall to wall sunshine and a healthy attendance, thank you to everyone who supported us, and thanks to all the suppliers too. We are lucky at our club site that we have a room like the Wilton Lounge and the weather allowed for tables outside as well. It was so good to see so many friends there.
Well done Nigel and thanks to Bernie MW0GBW and Ken GW1FKY for organising the demonstration of the Qatar Oscar-100 Satellite. Also all the other club members who helped on the day.
RICH GW4BVJ'S PRESENTATION ON TRIP TO FLAT HOLM IS WITH GW8K FOR IOTA – 21 JANUARY 20
Rich gave a PowerPoint presentaion to the club on the proposed GW8K dxpedition to Flat Holm Is EU124 for the RSGB IOTA Contest 2020. There was a good attendance and lots of interest. We had a Q&A after.
BARS CHRISTMAS MEAL CAPTAINS WIFE RESTAURANT 14 JANUARY 2020
BARS decided to have it's Christmas meal in January as it generally more relaxed, and this proved to be the case. There were about fourteen of us present and we all enjoyed the meal and the evening.
Glyn, BARS Chairman announced the Committee had decided to award Bob Critcher GW0WKR with the BARS Shield for his first class engineering work; this included organising to get the hexbeam at 25ft at the Royal Mint in 2018, constructing a mounting and radial plate for the Hustler vertical at the same location and building a custom-designed tilt plate for the Clubs new yagi.
It was a total surprise for Rich GW4BVJ who was presented with the Dan Adams GW3VBP Shield by Glyn for his work on the Club's QRZ page GW4BRS amongst others. Then Glyn presented him with the Dan Adams GW3VBP Trophy Cup for completing four contests to add to the Club's two contests and successfully re-applying for the Club's Contest Call GW8K in 2019.
JOTA 2ND LLIW VALLEY SCOUTS, GOWERTON, SWANSEA SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER 2019
Glyn GW0ANA was approached by the Leaders of the 2nd Lliw Valley Scouts regarding JOTA and BARS duly responded. So we met at 0900 Saturday and installed a vertical made by Nigel, GW1CUQ and Bernie, MW0GBW's excellent Hyendfed multiband longwire. Nigel was on SSB with his Yaesu FT-991, Bernie on Digital including FT8 with his Icom IC-9610, assisted by Steve 2W0VOG, Rich, GW4BVJ on CW with Glyn's Kenwood TS-590SG and Glyn did the ever popular 'I sent my name in Morse Code' certificates. A lot of time was spent doing Morse Code apppreciation and Amateur Radio educationals. We each saw about 50 Scouts and Beavers and a great time was had by all.
CLUB NIGHT TUESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2019
We had another busy week getting the details and quotations in. Bernie and Rich collated all the information at the beginning of the evening, then Rich briefed Ivor who offered to print it up nicely in a presentaion pack for the committee. Broadly speaking we are fully refurbishing the tower, fitting two new electric winches, a new modern rotator, and a new Multiband Yagi and 40M rotary dipole. So in the coming weeks we should know where we are, and once we have the kit, we will be looking for suitable weather windows to carry out the work in due course. We have come a long way in three weeks and it's a very exciting plan
COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2019
We had a busy week getting information together. Before the meeting Bernie brought his modern Antenna Analyser and we read the SWR on our HF Beam, as it is over 20 years old and we are literally 500M from the Bristol Channel and it was way off where it should be.
Glyn Chairman, Bernie Treasurer, Rich Secretary, Nigel Shack Manager, Gordon (Retired Training) and General Committee Member Ivor were present. In summary we decided to refurbish the tower including new wire ropes throughout. We also decided to replace both aging winches and the unreliable rotator. We considered which Antennas we would replace the current aging beam with.
WORKING PARTY TUESDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 2019
Glyn Bernie & Rich turned up at 16.00 Hours and rotated the Yagi to beam skywards and manually luffed the tower over. We set about removing both sets of wire ropes, then evaluated the tower, pulley's, bearings and fixings, and both winches. We also surveyed the ground post and luffing wire ropes. That took us to dusk and we put the tower back in position.
Our tower is a Strumech Versatower BP60 Standard, the HF Yagi is a Hygain TH-7DX with an InnoVAntennas 6M Yagi above. Bernie MW0GBW took the photo.
Glyn GW0ANA DXCC CHALLENGE 3000 29 August 2019
Our Chairman Glyn is celebrating receiving this excellent certificate from the ARRL for successfully achieving a credit of 1000 Band/Slots in the DXCC challenge. Congratulation from the Club Glyn, what an amazing accomplishment. To put it into perspective it is equivalent to getting DXCC (100 countries) on on all of the ten bands 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10 & 6, absolutely awsome and well done!
Glyn GW0ANA in his shack 29 August 2019
ITV FILMING- FLAT HOLM ISLAND & LAVERNOCK POINT – 29 JULY 2019
ITV Wales contacted Glyn GW0ANA, our Chairman about their plan to feature Flat Holm Island and Lavernock Point in a new ITV programme called 'Wonders of the Coastal Path' with particular attention being given to Marconi's famous experiments of May 1897.
The plan was to send a team to Flat Holm Island and have a team based at Lavernock. The Island team were to send a morse message to Lavernock Point where the TV presenter Sean Fletcher would be with Glyn to help decode the message. I believe ITV had their Programme Researcher Eugenia Taylor and Executive Producer Matthew Tune on-site and the programme is to be transmitted early next year. Glyn was assisted by Gordon MW1EAA, Bernard GW6RDV and Steven 2W0VOG and had full size replica's of the Marconi equipment made by Glyn GW0ANA.
Glyn GW0ANA with TV Presenter Sean Fletcher receiving Morse code from Flat Holm Island
The Flat Holm Team travelled from the Cardiff Bay boarding platform on a 12 seater RIB along with the single camera operator Phil Chappell from LensMonkey for ITV Wales. We had wall to wall sunshine and it was an exhilirating ride out there and glorious while we were on the Island.
We set up Bernie's new 2m Colinear on a 3m pole in view of Lavenock and the table was opposite the Bar window and on the lighthouse side of the path. We used Glyn's Yaesu FT-857D and my Marconi style straight morse key. The Island staff couldn't have been more helpful. We were relieved when Lavernock confirmed receiving our CW sigs loud and clear. We had to send the message with 10 seconds between each letter to give Sean a chance of decoding it.
Flat Holm Island Team (left to right) Rich GW4BVJ, Ken 2W0KPH & Bernie MW0GBW. Photo by Phil Chappell.
THE CLUB WILL OPERATE THE CRICKET WORLD CUP CALL GB19SG DURING JUNE AND JULY 2019
On the Tuesday Club evenings of 11 June, 25 June, 2 July and 9 July between the hours of 1900 – 2200 BST we will be operating the CWC station GB19SG. This is the station representing the Sophia Gardens Cricket Ground in Cardiff during the Cricket World Cup.
Richard GW4BVJ our Club Secretary was Co-ordinator of the GB19SG call sign he and the team of activators made a total of 15,450 QSO's and was placed 6th out of the 31 CWC call signs.
On the 26 April 2019 we received another 5 year NoV for GW8K, the Club's Contest Call. Thanks goes to Ian Pawson, G0FCT the RSGB's SCC Manager.
We are servicing our Beam shortly, dusting down the shack, and we will see you in some forthcoming Contests.
The Club has met in the past in the room that could be converted into a partime Bowling Alley and leads to our shack. In recent weeks flood damage to the room has been repaired, the bowling alley has gone and there is a brand new floor, central heating, decor and lighting, so now our meeting room and shack are very much more comfortable.
We have had a clear-out in the shack and will be at the Pencoed Table Top sale at the end of March. We also have plans to service out our 60ft Versatower and Hygain TH7DX yagi as soon as the weather allows.
2018
HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL MINT – RADIO MONITORING & ESPIONAGE – GB4RME – 1 & 2 JUNE 2018
Report on the Special Event – Written & Photographed by Jack Richards MW6JRI
The BARS team behind last year’s GB4RME at the Royal Mint has taken up the mantle once more to celebrate the release of a new 10p coin into circulation featuring the iconic British spy, James Bond: 007. This event was a celebration of British history, and more specifically, the achievements of the Special Operations Executives, or SOEs, as well as the crucial role of radio throughout both World Wars and thereafter.
Photo on left The Bond 007 side of the new 10p, thank you to the Royal Mint and right the painting called 'James-On her Majesty's Secret Service (2018)' by Paul Wright, oil on linen, inspired by the Novel by Ian Fleming. Kindly supplied by Bletchley Park.
The Special Event
Ken, GW1FKY, assembled and manned an amazing exhibition of how radio is used in space and how we use satellite to communicate world-wide. Ken attracted attention with his models of satellites and live view of when satellites were going over as well as his NASA uniform. Ken also brought his jacket embroidered with the logos of many space-related organisations; AMSAT and NASA among others. This allowed children to dress up and take photographs to feel the pride of being a space pioneer! We had a large number of visitors over the two days.
Glyn, GW0ANA, further inspired people by hosting an activity where they could key their name in Morse code. Upon completion, they would be given a certificate stating ‘I sent my name in Morse code’ so they can show off their skills to their friends. Glyn also gave people the opportunity to see another rare piece of our history by bringing and displaying his WW2 Spy kit and Morse keys to give people an idea of the technology at the time.
Everyone then had the opportunity to see Morse code in action on Rich’s station, GW4BVJ. There they could see his Mercury Paddle and Samson ETM9C-X3 memory paddle alongside 'The Lancaster' straight key and a K1EL WinKeyer to smooth the PC output from EI5DI's SDX Logging. The first day Rich also put Glyn's very nice Begali Camelback straight key through it's paces.
Rich’s station showed people that CW is still being used, and did expert demonstrations in the form of live QSOs using each of the keys and the club’s Icom IC-7300 running 100W through a Hustler vertical. This spiked the curiosity of the public, and some people even recognised the sound of a CQ call after being taught by Glyn!
To show the evolution of radio, Bernie, MW0GBW, ran an FT8 station using his Icom IC-7610 with WSJT-X at 65W through his HyEndFed 8-band antenna. People were interested by the fact that you don’t need to speak to communicate, and were impressed when he worked the USA. Bernie’s station gave people a glimpse of how much ‘radio’ has developed and its possible uses in the future.
Though the band conditions were lousy at best, and the compromises with antenna placement were working against us, we worked through it and gave each member of the public an insightful demonstration of the capabilities and uses of radio, and still managed to get over 170 QSOs in total. Each workstation would have been impossible without the contributions and effort of each member of the team, from event manager to those who were helping out, as well as operators and staff at the Royal Mint; so to everyone involved, Thank You!
Jack MW6JRI Ken GW1FKY Rich GW4BVJ (007) Glyn GW0ANA Ken 2W0KPH Gordon MW0EAA Bernie MW0GBW
James Bond 007 & Miss Money Penny
Rich GW4BVJ realised he had a summer jacket similar to James Bond's in 'Sceptre', it's after the the fight on the train when he ends up in Morocco with a young lady. So he went about completing the look as near as possible. Lydia Griffiths, Assistant Duty Manager of the Royal Mint played Miss Money Penny who is in her very nice 1940's outfit and look.
To all who visited us at the award winning Royal Mint Experience thank you. We trust you enjoyed your visit to The Royal Mint Experience and our shack to see contemporary amateur radio in operation along with more cladestine sets from the past. More Information on GB4RME pages.
BARS RSGB NATIONAL CLUB OF THE YEAR 30 SEPTEMBER 2017
Left to Right: Bernie MW0GBW, Bob GW0WKR, Jeff Stanton (Waters & Stanton), Glyn GW0ANA and Nick G3RWF (President RSGB)
HER MAJESTY'S 'ROYAL MINT EXPERIENCE SPECIAL EVENT GB4RME, SUNDAY 30 JULY – SATURDAY 5 AUGUST 2017
The Special Event
Members of the Barry Amateur Radio Society were active from the Royal Mint at Llantrisant, South Wales, UK with the call GB4RME between Sunday 30 July and Saturday 5 August 2017. This special event station was a world first, operating from within a Mint, and a Royal one at that.
Here is the the very nice QSL card and smart crew neck shirts we wore with individual names and callsigns.
We offered this certificate to children who learnt to send their name in morse code, after a short training session. It was incredibly popular, well done Glyn!
Phil MW0DHF and his Yaesu FT-2000 operating SSB James 2W0JYI and Bernie MW0GBW operating Digital
Rich GW4BVJ's Ten Tec CW station The Hexbeam and the Hustler Vertical
Summary
We must thank the Royal Mint Experience for all their hospitality and assistance during the event, especially Claire Evans in Marketing, we had a greatl time.
Also Heather Parsons from the RSGB who supported us all the way through the project and visited us during the event. Amsat UK too who liased with Ken and lent their support.
Thanks again to all who worked us and the Radio Amateur families who did indeed visit us in the shack. The runaway success of the event was the 'I sent my name in morsecode' certificates managed by Glyn GW0ANA. It caught the imagination of the parents and their children alike, and there were queues on most of the days. Who knows how many CW operators of the future were inspired during the week!
Richard receiving his certificate from Glyn Tomi, son of Paul GW0GPQ, receiving his
Glyn presenting Lilyah with her certificate Commander Heather Parsons, NASA/RSGB Astronaut!
Operator Ken nearest, Phil and Jack Rich's SDX by EI5DI, logging for GB4RME
Jack MW6JRI Glyn GW0ANA Bernie MW0GBW Phil MW0DHF Ken GW1FKY Rich GW4BVJ Ken 2W0KPH
Photo by Heather Parsons RSGB
2016
RSGB IOTA 2016 GW8K EU124 FLATHOLM ISLAND
After two years we were back on Flatholm Island again with a team of club members from Wales and Germany. We operated in the Dxpedition, Multi-Single, Mixed, 24Hr, High Power section. Conditions were not very good but we managed a decent score. We made 1,230 QSO's, 162 Mult's and a score of 1,404,540. We were 4th in the UK and 9th in the World. Unfortuntaely we lost out Amplifier midway through, but enjoyed the beer post contest. The photo shows us the morning of departure at 06.00Hrs.
BARRY AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY AT 50 16 OCTOBER 2016
BARS had a dinner to celebrate its 50th BIrthday. Past and present members were there for the event, and a good time was had by all.
2014
RSGB IOTA 2014 GW8K EU124 FLATHOLM ISLAND
We had a team of Welsh and German members again this year. We entered the Dxpedition, Multi-Single, Mixed, 24Hr, Low Power and made 586 QSO's, 113 Mult's and a score of 611,330. We were 4th in the UK and 11th in the World. The photo shows three of the team pleased to be heading home.
George MW0TDQ, Steven MW0VRQ and Phil MW0DHF
2013
PENARTH PIER SPECIAL EVENT 20 JULY 2013
We had the opportunity to put on a special event station from the beautifully restored Penarth Pier. We operated between 09.00- 18.00.
RSGB IOTA 2013 GW8k EU124 FLATHOLM ISLAND
We were back on Flatholm Island for this years IOTA Contest. We had our friends from Germany to make up the Multi-Single team. We entered the Dxpedition, Multi-Single, Mixed, 24Hr, Low Power and made 508 QSO's and 132 Mult's making a score of 620,400. We were 5th in the UK and 25th in the World.
George MW0TDQ , Phillip MW0DHF, Steven MW0VRQ & Ken GW1FKY
This is the team that had just finished the RTTY Contest, we did a Multi-One entry, the team leader was John GW4SKA and we came 5th with 214,008 points. It was more like a masterclass as several of us had not tried RTTY before, whereas Glyn had.
Phil MW0DHF, Rich GW4BVJ, John GW4SKA, Steve MW1COY, Glyn GW0ANA
| Call | Claimed | Actual | Mults | Conts | Points | |
| 1 | UT9F | 901 | 881 | 108 | 6 | 570,888 |
| 2 | S53M | 627 | 605 | 84 | 6 | 304,920 |
| 3 | YL7C | 600 | 579 | 85 | 6 | 295,290 |
| 4 | RK9JWZ | 593 | 576 | 80 | 6 | 276,480 |
| 5 | GW4BRS | 490 | 482 | 74 | 6 | 214,008 |
| 6 | VE3FJB | 338 | 323 | 66 | 6 | 127908 |
| 7 | UT0H | 262 | 258 | 58 | 6 | 89,784 |
| 8 | AA0YX | 319 | 308 | 57 | 5 | 87,780 |
OPERATING RTTY A TALK BY JOHN GW4SKA
John Barber, GW4SKA gave an inspiring talk to the Club in 2002 and it is no coincidence that we made a muti-op entry in the BARTG Sprint 2002 a month or two later.
We thought it was high time the club made an entry into the RSGB CW NFD in June on the Sully shore line. We had quite effective antennas and my Companies long wheel base van for the station and a tent for rest. It was between 2000 and 2002, I can't be more specific.
Standing Phil MW0DHF, Margaret GW4GSH, in the Van rear Steve MW1COY, Colin GW3WSU Rich GW4BVJ
2001
Whilst on Ascension Island the CQ WPX SSB Contest was due to take place, so we took advantage of our location and made a serious entry, the operators were Rich GW4BVJ, Glyn GW0ANA, Doug G0WMW and Keith G3TTC, we were 4th in Africa and 46th in the world. We used my Ten Tec Omni VI+ and Hercules II Amp and it was great fun and none of us had made 5 Million points before, it just showed that a remote location and a great team does matter.
Here is Keith G3TTC on his shift.
This is the fabulous RMS St Helena, she is 105m long, 19.2m draft and 6,767 gross tonnage. As the airport in now operational on St Helena the Government announced the last sailing from St Helena Island in February 2018.
2000
| 50MHz | 144MHz | 432MHz | TOTAL |
| 459 | 114 | 75 | 649 |
Ken GW1FKY, John GW0ACH, Phil MW0DHF, Glyn GW0ANA, Rich GW4BVJ, Steve MW1COY
Just prior to May, 1997 Rich made contact with BARS and it was time to celebrate the Centenary of Marconi's first transmission across water from Lavernock Point to Flat Holm Island. This event created a huge amount of publicity, both local and national, radio and television. It meant a lot to him to take part in the Centenary having been on the Dxpedition to Flat Holm Island on the 74th Anniversary, 26 years previous.
Jim GW3PYX, Rob MW0COE, Brian GW0PUP, Alf MW0ZEM (SK) Rich GW4BVJ on CW
Lin Jones G4DZE (EX GW), John Woodland GW4KHQ and Rich GW4BVJ all members of bars at the time decided to make a club entry in to the CQ WW DX CW Contest this year. Using an iambic paddle key and a paper log it was tremendously exciting and we achieved a healthy number of QSO's. They seem to remember either using this Yaesu FT-901DM or a Kenwood TS-520. They don't recall the amplifier.
Rich GW4BVJ recalls…"I was excited to be invited on my first Dxpedition GB3FI to Flat Holm Island which took place Saturday 22nd – Monday 24th May 1971, actually celebrating the 74th Anniversary of Marconi's first transmission across water in 1897 from Lavernock Point to Flat Holm Island. I was still in school and had to get permission from the headmaster. It was an amazing experience and I didn't want it to end. The sound of KW2000A transceivers, and the taste of black pudding, brings it all back."
The Sully & District Shortwave Club and Barry College of Further Education Radio Society did plan to activate GB3FI on the 75th Anniversary in May 1972 but the dxpedition was called off due to bad weather.
So who was on the Dxpedition in May 1971, thank's to Brian GW3WBU for giving us this photo some years back, and thank you to Kevin VK4UH for remembering everyone's name, Phil GW3PPF was the Team Leader.
73 bars