A Tibetan adventure, circa 1936-1937, told by AC4YN (G5YN) Reprint from an RSGB article. Obituary of Sir Evan Yorke Nepean LIEUTENANT COLONEL Sir Evan Yorke Nepean Bt, G5YN, died at the age of 92 on 11 March 2002. Son of Sir Charles Evan Molyneux Yorke Nepean Bt and educated at Winchester and Cambridge, Evan became the 6th Baronet on the death of his father in 1953. He had a life-long interest in radio, taking out a Post Office receiving license when he was 16 and, two years later, his first transmitting license. He joined the RSGB in 1926 and was, at the time of his death, the longest-serving member of the Society, clocking up an incredible 75 years of unbroken membership. Sir Evan will probably be best remembered for his activity from Tibet as AC4YN in 1936. He was the last-surviving member of a British political mission to Tibet, which travelled overland from India via Sikkim to Lhasa, crossing the Himalayas on foot. Bearers and pack animals carried the radio equipment, which had been broken down into several loads of 80 to 120 pounds in weight. During WWII Evan worked for MI8 on codes and ciphers. He was sent to Iraq and Egypt in 1941. He retired from the army six months after the Suez crisis and then worked for the Civil Service on ciphers until 1973. For many years G5YN was President of the Salisbury Amateur Radio Club and was a tower of strength to many, particularly those struggling with Morse code, driving in from 10 miles away for almost every meeting. He ran the 'G5YN Net' on 80m SSB most weekdays from 1970 onwards and remained active until 200 l. His funeral took place on 18 March and was attended by at least 10 radio amateurs. The RSGB was represented by the President, Bob Whelan, G3PJT. AC4YN Reg Fox Reg Fox, an ex Royal Signals, was sent up from Calcutta. in order to keep the radio in operation,after the departure of Evan Nepean, Reg Fox, He did not arrive on time, so there was no EYE-Ball QSO between the old and the new AC4YN. When the mission closed in the spring, he stayed on in Lhasa and married a Tibetan girl. After WW-II Reg Fox activated AC4YN again after he was hired by the Tibetan government as a radio monitor and trainer. He also used some old QSL cards from Evan, G5YN, as shown on the QSL card he sent to VU2WP for a QSO on July 3, 1946. Reg Fox used also his own printed QSL cards. Reginald Fox was active until the Chinese invasion in October 1950, when he escaped to India where he died. Whether any of his records, logs, or equipment have survived, i s nont known. Besides Reg Fox, there were some more hams active from Tibet after WW-II before and after Chinese troops invaded Tibet. Robert Ford, AC4RF was in 1950 sent to prison for five years by the Chinese occupiers. After 1955 only a few hams were active from Tibet. Tibet got on May 31, 1975 on the Deleted List. AC4YN Jeff Stafford The prefixrange AA-AL belonged to the United States. So the AC prefixrange, used by amateurs from Sikkim (AC3), Tibet (AC4) and Bhutan (AC5 ,now A5) was not official. When Jeff , KD4BKF, upgraded his licence, he got the call AC4YN, assigned in order. He is the third in order to use this call after Evan Nepean and Reg Fox. AC4YN QSL card It is believed that more than $US 1,100 was payed for an original used AC4YN QSL card. The most expensive QSL card was from 1AW (Hiram Percy Maxim) for a “QSO” with 9CTR on 193 metres. The winning bid on an auction was $US 2,125.