Ian Waters, G3KKD, 10 January 2021

Renowned and enthusiastic amateur television pioneer Ian Waters, G3KKD, passed away on the 10th of January 2021 from heart-related problems.

Writing in CQ-TV 62 (1968), Ian said that his interest in radio began around 1940 when he traded an air rifle for a crystal receiver. In 1945, reading pre-War magazines and seeing sets in shop windows kindled his interest in television. Joining Pye Ltd at the age of 15 as a trainee radio technician, he built his first television in 1949 from pre-War scrap he found in a junkyard. Shortly thereafter he built a ‘monoscope‘ test pattern generator and, in 1951, built his own ‘Photicon’ iconoscope-based camera (the second such amateur-built camera in the country). He joined the British Amateur TV Club (BATC) the following year and, in 1955, obtained the television callsign G3KKD/T. From March 1956 to October 1959 Ian had a regular TV sked with G2DUS/T over a 37-mile path using 1W of RF from 6J6 valves. For this they were jointly awarded the RSGB Courtenay Price Trophy. In 1956 the BBC ran test transmissions of (405-line NTSC) colour TV; Ian created a converter from NTSC to field sequential colour and watched the tests.

Around 2008, Ian made a 25-minute autobiographical video on his 60 years in amateur radio and amateur television, which you can view on YouTube here. It contains much more about his wide array of firsts and other technical achievements.

His other interests included the Ffestiniog Railway, where (among many other things) he helped restore prominent rolling stock and station fittings.

Category: Silent Keys