HamSCI Workshop 2026 Dedicated to VLF Master, Paul Nicholson, G8LMD

HamSCI wishes to dedicate the Workshop 2026 to Paul Nicholson's memory.  Paul, G8LMD, passed on 12 August, 2025.  Jonathan Rizzo, KC3EEY, details Paul's many accomplishments, both radio and community related, below.

Paul Nicholson G8LMD [SK] was a passionate VLF enthusiast, engineer, software author, amateur radio operator, and all around curious, intelligent, kind, helpful, and wonderful person and husband. Paul put his heart, soul, and brilliant mind into everything he did. One of Paul's biggest contributions is to the VLF community in VLF natural radio reception techniques, including his E-field and orthogonal H-field VLF receivers at his home in the countryside of Todmorden, UK, and his absolutely amazing vlfrx-tools software, containing 48 individual, scriptable, utilities for the application of data acquisition, timing, and signal processing of VLF natural radio emissions, sferics, VLF transmitters, VLF amateur radio reception, and VHF meteor scatter. vlfrx-tools allows any high-end computer soundcard with GNSS receiver to become a science-grade VLF data acquisition system.

His other software contributions include lcnetgen, a distributed capacitances and inductances calculator useful when setting up VLF receivers, and EbNaut, the very first digital amateur radio mode for the 8290 and 5170 Hz bands.

Paul's academic contributions include many natural radio emissions and man-made observations in the VLF band, collaboration with researchers on various topics including Q bursts, and his most ambitious project, the Indian Lightning Detection Network (ILDN), India's first domestic lightning location network run by Tripura University and other collaborating universities in India, which provides live lightning stroke data that saves countless lives. Paul designed a VLF reception system based on his E-field receiver at Todmorden and a soundcard-based data acquisition system using vlfrx-tools that provides real time processing of sferics at various locations in India to a central processing server that produces real time maps of lightning strokes and other data with location accuracy comparable to the WWLLN and commercial lightning detection networks, but using an open hardware, open software, and open data model that benefits researchers, students, and the general public.

Paul also was selflessly involved in other endeavors, including serving as the chairman of the board and treasurer of the Gaddings Dam group whose purpose is to maintain and preserve Gaddings dam in Todmorden. Paul also loved dogs and served as a dogsbody for the Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team in the Calder Valley and Mid Pennine region. Being a dogsbody involves hiding yourself in inconspicuous places outside to train the search and rescue dogs.  Paul was active as a dogsbody for nearly 30 years. He contributed to training 33 dogs.  He was known to be extremely generous with his time, even in poor weather conditions. 

Many have pledged to carry on Paul's VLF work.  The HamSCI Whistler Catcher/Lightning Detector System will be one such example.

RIP, OM.