Giles Read, G1MFG, 18th March 2022

Giles had been the RadCom Technical Editor since June 2006, working with authors such as Ian White, GM3SEK; Eamon Skelton, EI9GQ; Peter Hart, G3SJX; Andy Talbot, G4JNT and, of course, Pat Hawker, G3VA. Giles always enjoyed working on Pat’s column as he enjoyed being the first person to read his latest ideas.

Giles wasn’t short on ideas himself though. When he was talking to Members on the phone, he was jotting down notes and circuits that could help with their queries. He was always quick to research any extra information that Members needed whether it was licensing, technical or just general queries about the hobby.

Elaine, G4LFM

I worked with Giles for the past 14 years and I know we drove each other nuts at times! I am a ‘to do lists’ person and Giles had more ideas pouring through his mind than he could get down on paper. He was always coming up with ideas to improve an article, include extra information or looking at projects to review. But, as a team, we worked well together, always striving to make RadCom the best it could be. I was supposed to retire this year, leaving Giles to guide a new Editor into the job. I never thought I would be finishing this job without his support. He will be a hard act to follow.

Peter Longhurst, G3ZVI

Sometime in the early 80s, the teenage Giles wrote to my company—Garex Electronics—asking for a catalogue. His address caught my eye since it was a disused railway station in a part of Dorset special to my family. More correspondence followed, resulting in an enduring family association.

In January 1984 he stayed overnight at our home in Buckinghamshire en route to an interview at Chelsea College.

My children being of similar ages to Giles, there were frequent exchange family visits.

After a while, college life didn’t suit him and in 1985 he came to work for Garex, living with us. He was a most able worker and so keen to learn about everything. Living in a household with two licensed amateurs, it was inevitable he would join the fraternity and so G1MFG came about. It wasn’t all work, there were lots of fun and games. Giles had a mischievous sense of humour, but not cruel, laughter was everywhere. His constructional genius resulted in the “Rat-a-grab”. Next door had these unwelcome visitors and put down poison, but they died under our floor. A small electrically powered trolley was constructed, bearing a TV camera and headlamp, this was remotely controlled under our floor so the offending bodies could be located and retrieved.

The 1 April was his “saint’s day”. Here is a good one:

He wrote an article describing the “Adzap” device: Adzap was supposedly a set-top box that was able to extract a hidden data bit out of the Teletext stream—the dancing dots you used to see at the top of the picture. The hidden data bit supposedly flagged the programme content as either “Adverts” or “Normal programming”. The Adzap monitored the status of this digital flag and sent a pause command to your recording VCR so that all the ads were automatically edited out of your favourite show when you came to replay it.

Unfortunately, so the story went, the advertising authorities caught on to Adzap and had it banned from the market to protect their revenue. You could only own an Adzap if you built it yourself. The story wound up with a note about the central processing chip for Adzap. It was a very obscure hard-to-get chip and the only one capable of the extremely difficult task of recognising the critical Teletext bit. The part number of the chip was something like L00F1iRP-A—try reading that backwards.

Of course, he was ahead of his time: “Adzap” apps now exist.

Our families have remained in close touch for 40 years, so his passing is very personal.

Giles operated mostly in the VHF, UHF and microwave areas, although he was experimenting with WSPR on the HF bands in the last few months too. Many RadCom readers will remember his hugely popular QO-100 project that he published in RadCom in June 2019. This project won Giles the Norman Keith Adams Prize for the most original article published in RadCom at the 2020 AGM.

Noel Matthews, G8GTZ, BATC.

Giles lived near Southampton and was an active member of the Solent Amateur Television Group. He helped run the GB3AT television repeater but his real contribution to the ATV community was when he started to resell the Comtech ATV modules. These modules were cost effective FM Tx and Rx modules and helped a lot of ATV operators get started on 23cm FM ATV. A large number of these boards are still in use today. Giles, through his website G1MFG.com, offered help and support to enable people to get on the air and sold a number of associated products that he designed such as front panel controllers and antennas.

His early career was as a technical writer producing professional documentation for a wide range of technical equipment. He also worked in the sales department of one of the large amateur radio dealers before finally taking up a post with the RSGB. It was here that he really came into his own as he was always jotting down circuits and ideas, usually to assist Members who had telephoned for advice. In the office he was well known for his sense of humour as well as the advice and help he would so willingly give to those around him. Several colleagues have talked about examples of his help—

Carol, M6MUP

Giles was always on hand to help with anything remotely technical, even to the point of drafting a letter to the DVLA when my number plates were cloned! He was one of the most helpful people I have ever met. The information he could dig up when needed was unbelievable.

Another colleague mentioned—

Martyn, G0GMB

At a practical level, he had the untidiest desk, piled high with bits and prototypes but, I suspect that reflected his working mind, always investigating, always curious to try something new, always looking for that next project. But ultimately, at a personal level, I remember Giles for his kindness, readily available to offer advice on almost any and every subject—he had a wealth of knowledge on everything technical.

One of the saddest things is, like many others, we had only seen Giles via video link for the past two years due to the COVID pandemic. He passed away just as everyone was preparing to come back into the office.

Steve Thomas, M1ACB

We have lost a valuable colleague, a key member of our small team, but much more than that, we have lost a friend. Giles cared about people as well as amateur radio. He could often see past the first question, whether it was technical or personal, and he was happy to listen and help with support for both in equal measure. We will miss him. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult and painful time.

RIP Giles

Jacqui, G6XSY
I shall miss his sense of humour and more specifically his knowledge and help. A trip to HQ will not be the same.

Philip Hosey, MI0MSO
I have many fond memories and am currently laughing at some of them.

Ian, G4EAN
I regarded Giles as a good and very helpful friend.

Steve, PJ4DX/ G4JVG
I had many dealings with him after my early retirement as RadCom Editor in 2005 and always found him to be patient and very helpful responding to my queries—we had a long-standing joke when I had to request a replacement RadCom after my regular copy went missing in the post: Giles thought I should move to Grimsby and then there wouldn’t be a problem!

Steve, G4HPE
Giles saw the good side in everyone and always made time to advise and nurture.

Ian, G0FCT
I always enjoyed our chats when I visited HQ, he will be missed.

Tom, G0CAJ/ZT1T/ZS1AFS & Sue, G0EZN, ZS1AFR
I would like to say how brilliant he was not only in making articles come to life, but, as a person who always took the trouble to answer my emails.

Paul, G4MWO
We certainly exchanged numerous friendly and humorous emails. He will be sadly missed,

Ian, 2E0IAJ
Giles was always so helpful and kind to me in all my dealings with him.

Max M0VNG
Giles was a lovely guy and always good to talk with at Newark—he’d always encourage us to send in any news bits—and don’t forget the photos!

Martyn, G0GMB
I, like I’m sure everyone, was shocked at the sad news of Giles becoming SK. Since starting at the RSGB some four years ago, I have good memories of working with Giles. In the business, we worked at desks next to each other and whilst he was always highly professional and took his RadCom work seriously, he had a mischievous sense of humour, and we shared many a joke together. At a practical level, he had the most untidy desk, piled high with bits and prototypes but, I suspect that reflected his working mind, always investigating, always curious to try something new, always looking for that next project. But ultimately, at a personal level, I remember Giles for his kindness, readily available to offer advice on almost any and every subject—he had a wealth of knowledge on everything technical—and how he helped me to settle into my new role at the RSGB. RIP G1MFG.

Carol, M6MUP
I worked in the RSGB office with Giles for almost 12 years. I was originally based in the office downstairs but Giles was one of the first people from upstairs to make the effort to introduce himself and make me feel welcome. He was always on hand to help with anything remotely technical, even to the point of assisting me change a battery in my car when I absolutely had no clue what I was doing and drafting a letter to the DVLA when my number plates were cloned! Giles was one of the most helpful people I have ever met. The information he could dig up when needed was unbelievable, and I shall miss not being able to ask his advice on so many amateur radio subjects that if I’m honest, just went over my head. His heart was truly made of gold and the RSGB will not be the same without him. A cheeky chap with a crazy sense of humour and an absolute gentleman. Rest forever in peace.

Dave, G8GKQ
A great loss to the amateur radio community.

Mike, G0JMI
Over the years we have worked closely together on both the antennas column in RadCom and on two books by email and phone. We worked very well together.

Martyn, G3UKV
I met Giles long before he joined RSGB—at an early Telford Rally, also at a Regional meeting a few years ago. I remember his early ads for ATV tuners and parts when it was all analogue TV on 70cm.

Lee, G4EJB
He had helped me on a number of occasions. I had a RadCom Basics contributor—Tony, M6CIH—get in touch to pass his condolences on as well.

Steve, M1ACB
We have lost a valuable colleague, a key member of our small team, but much more than that, we have lost a friend. Giles cared about people as well as amateur radio. He could often see past the first question, whether it was technical or personal, and he was happy to listen and help with support for both in equal measure. We will miss him.

Andrew, G4EAQ
So sorry to hear of the death of Giles Read. I greatly appreciated the improvements he made in the technical editing of RadCom, feeling that he brought a breath of fresh air to the position. His book reviews led me on to purchases, which never disappointed. Always approachable, he helped me with submission of papers to RadCom and we spoke about the diverse subjects of SDR, infrared photography and earthing. I know he will be missed and that his successor will face a real challenge in filling his place.

Jonathan, G1EXG
I have communicated a bit with Giles over the years with the various articles I have put through RadCom and RC Plus. He was very friendly and positive. Two years ago, I had a detached retina and whilst discussing a RadCom article with Giles, I found out that he too was worried that the same thing might happen to him—apparently its common in his family. I think he said that a family member had some of the earliest and pioneering eye ops—it sounded horrible—and I’ve been through the ‘easy’ modern op. We both agreed how lucky we are to live in this age—rather than say 50 years ago—and appreciated the wonders of science and technology.

Category: Silent Keys