This portrait, by G5BQ, appeared in  the Autumn 1965 issue of Cambeam

Pen Portrait No.3 G3IIT

The subject of our latest pen portrait may be seen any Friday evening, dashing into the Club Headquarters, with a receipt book protruding from one pocket, and a bottle of milk from the other. You will immediately recognise from these details that we are talking about J. B. Foster, the Club Treasurer, known to everyone as Bernard.

The Treasurer has the onerous task of keeping the club "out of the red", so it is understandable that his first greeting of the New Year is "Would anyone like to pay his subscription?" His undoubted popularity surely has something to do with the ready response(Hi).

While still in his teens, Bernard was first introduced to wireless by another early enthusiast, Ron Wicks. Bernard’s father was anxious for him to have a hobby, and gave him every encouragement. So in 1922, a "Constructor’s License", still in Bernard’s possession was obtained. This had to be in his father’s name because Bernard was still a minor. The project was to build a receiving set.

In the garden was an old railway carriage in which there was a large bench. This became the first shack. The components for the receiver were assembled. Unfortunately the circuit has been lost in obscurity, but there was a large vario-coupler, an immense coil, inside which was a smaller coil that could be moved in and out on brass rods. There was a sliding tuner traversing the large coil, a variable capacitor enclosed in a glass case, and a Mullard "ORA" valve. This intriguing apparatus covered goodness knows what frequency, and was completed by a pair of Browns "A" type headphones which old-timers will remember with affection.

The thing worked and the first station heard was Writtle. This was followed by "The Hague". When the British Broadcasting Company came into being, Bernard was equipped for G2LO, and others of the early stations. If the valve burned out it could be sent away to be re-filamented, but this process was not altogether successful.

Around 1928 Bernard says he forsook wireless to start courting. When he married he and Aileen perused their common interest of music. It may not be generally known that Bernard is an accomplished violinist, and at one time did a lot of dance band work.

Bernard served an apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner but left the building trade to join the G.P.O.Engineering Department. When the war broke out he became a Signals Liaison Technical Officer, a civilian attached to 26 Group Signals R.A.F. His duties were concerned with the siting of Radio Stations and Direction Finding. It gave him the opportunity to go to many interesting places and see a good deal of interesting gear,

The "Bug" bit again. After the war he acquired a 1155 receiver, added a mains power-pack, and did a spell of listening on the ham bands. Peter Broom, G5DQ, who is a relative, brought Bernard along to an R.S.G.B. meeting at the Jolly Waterman, where he became caught up with the ham fraternity of the time, and with encouragement from one or another, he decided to try for a transmitting licence.

Peter wasn’t able to imbue Bernard with his own liking for CW, and although he passed his test, he confesses that he never quite got over the wonder of it.

In 1952 he came on the air with the call sign G3IIT. His first TX was a Chinese copy of one made by Martin O’Dwyer, G4MW, who did so much during his stay in Cambridge for the VHF addicts. Bernard has remained loyal to the VHF bands.

He is well known on "Two" from his home QTH and for mobile working. He has also made sporadic appearances on 70 cms. He claims to have worked 14 countries and 660 different stations on "Two", though he gets as much pleasure from listening and from a regular ragchew with any of the locals. More recently he has become keen on receiving Amateur TV and would like to develop this a good deal further.

He says that he has two dislikes. One is "Morse" and the other concerns people who come into the Club, and wonder why nothing is done about clearing it up, yet do nothing about it themselves.