G5RV Obituary
Death of Louis Varney, G5RV
It is with regret that we have to report that Louis Varney, G5RV passed away on Wednesday, 28th June 2000 at his home. He was 89 earlier in June.
CARS Club President Harry, G5HF was the last person to work Louis, on 11th January, 2000.
Louis was a Founder Member of the Society in Chelmsford and was a Life Member. He will be remembered for his work on Amateur radio aerials and in particular the G5RV for the HF Bands.
It is strange to report that the rope halyard broke the day Louis died bringing his double size G5RV aerial down to "half-mast".
Louis Varney (left) talking to Arthur, G3KPJ with Geoff, G3EDM looking on.
Photograph taken a year or two ago when Louis presented a Talk to CARS.
G5RV Memories by Arthur Butcher, G3KPJ
Peter Bendall-SWL, Alan Davies-G3INW, Peter Naish-G3EIX and Louis Varney-G5RV (Right)
Peter Bendall was later G3NBU and now DJ0JR, Alan is now GW3INW, Peter Naish was later VK2BPN.
The photograph was taken in a tent set up in "The Rec" Chelmsford (now Central Park) to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 1952.
The Special Event Station, callsign GB2CRA (Chelmsford Radio Amateurs) was the first time that a GB callsign was issued for such purposes.
Louis, probably though his contacts in the GPO (the Licencing Authority at that time) arranged for the call to be issued. Up to then, only the RSGB Headquarters had GB callsigns - they were not very pleased when Louis broke their monopoly. This was probably what started the general issue of such callsigns.
The photograph shows the original G5RV "TVI Proof" 50 Watt Transmitter built by G5RV. The later one had 2 x 807s in the PA and was published as the "Elizabethan" because of the Coronation. Also in the picture is a HRO loaned by Lawrence Fuller, G6LB.
The photograph was taken by G3KPJ using a 9 x 12cm plate camera and the above picture was scanned directly from a contact print. Our thanks to Arthur, G3KPJ for permission to publish his photograph.
Contact Information
The August Newsletter refering to the Death of G5RV is available for you to read and print-out, if you wish.
To RETURN from the Newsletter to this G5RV Page, Click on the Back Symbol on your Computer at the top left hand corner.
You need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader 3 or 4 loaded onto your computer to read the Newsletter. This Program is availaible on just about every "Free CD" given away with a computer magazine.
Click to read or down-load:-
The August Newsletter with reference to G5RV
Click here to visit a Web Site about Louis Varney, G5RV.
Kind permission given by Jim Thompson, W4THU, Webmaster. http://www.radioworks.com/Varney/G5RVmain.htm
Note, Louis (and Jim, W4THU) recommend the use of an Aerial System Tuning Unit (ASTU) when using a G5RV Aerial with a solid state final stage RF amplifier.
Click here to go back to the Top
To RETURN to the CARS Information Page - Click Here
To RETURN to CARS Home Page - Click Here
©Copyright CARS 2005