I was at an estate sale a couple of weeks back and came across a couple of books that got my attention, The Radio Amateur's License Manual and How to Become a Radio Amateur. Unfortunately I didn't get to find out the callsign of whoever it was that had the books.
The license manual covered all of the classes of licenses available at the time: Novice, Technician, General, Conditional (same as General but test taken by mail), Advanced (not available to new applicants), and Extra.
As I scoped out the book, I found some interesting rules that the FCC enforced at the time:
If you wanted to take the test or renew, you paid $4, and it was good for 5 years. If you changed your address, it was $2.
Callsigns must be transmitted at the beginning of each transmission, every 10 minutes, and at the end of each transmission (currently hams don't need to identify at the beginning).
Novices retained their callsigns for a year and must upgrade.
Hams violating FCC rules faced a $500 fine per day during which the offense occurs.
Logs were kept of each QSO and must show:
Date & time of transmission
Signature of each operator
Call of the station contacted
Power
Frequency
Emission type
Location
Message traffic handled
Hams had to notify the FCC Engineer-in-Charge if they intended to operate mobile longer than 48 hours.
If an applicant failed an exam, they had to wait 30 days to re-take the exam.
The book cost 50 cents, and included the FCC Part 97 rules and regulations.
The other manual
I bought
Some rules have obviously changed.
What struck me even more was that many of the questions from the Novice/General/Extra questions were pretty tough. Even with my electronics education and background, it was amazing how intricate many of the questions were. Unlike today's question pools, the 1965 pool did not include multiple choice answers with the wrong answers included, but the exams were multiple choice. It also wanted the reader to draw out certain circuits.
So here are some sample questions in the Novice, General, and Extra class exam pool. See how many you can answer. I'll post the correct answers in 24 hours:
Novice:
Question #9: What method of frequency control is required to be used in the transmitter of a station licensed to the holder of a Novice Class License?
Question #13: What is the maximum permissible percentage of modulation of an amateur radiotelephone station?
Question #17: What is the relationship between a fundamental frequency and its second harmonic; its third harmonic, etc.?
Question #23: How is the actual power input to the tube or tubes supplying energy to the antenna of an amateur transmitter determined?
Question #27: What is meant by a "parasitic" oscillation?
General:
Question #1: Name the basic units of:
electrical resistance
inductance
capacitance
current
electromotive force or potential difference
power
energy
quantity
magneto-motive force
frequency
Question #10: What is the principal reason for using a filter in a plate power-supply system?
Question #19: What undesirable effects may result from operation of an unneutralized triode r.f. amplifier in a transmitter?
Question #69: What is meant by a "doubler" stage?
Question #71: What is the reciprocal of resistance?
Question #106: What precaution should be taken to protect filter capacitors connected in series?
Extra:
Question #4: What factors determine the core losses in a transformer?
Question #7: In a Class-C r.f. amplifier, what ratio of load impedance to dynamic plate impedance will give the greatest plate efficiency?
Question #12: During 100 percent sinusoidal amplitude modulation, what percentage of the average output power is in the sidebands?
Question #25: What are synchronizing pulses as used in television transmitters and receivers?
Question #34: What determines the operating frequency of a magnetron oscillator?
Question #46: If the conductors in a 2-wire r.f. transmission line are replaced by larger conductors, how is the surge impedance affected, assuming no change in the center-to-center spacing of the conductor?
Question #63: What is the purpose of the mosaic plate in a television camera? To what item of photographic equipment is it similar in function?
Question #92: What are the "Baudot" and "Seven Unit" codes? How are they used?
Question #120: What is the meaning of the term "frequency swing" in reference to frequency-modulation transmitters?
Question #136: What is the ohms per volt of a voltmeter constructed of a 0-1 d.c. milliammeter and a suitable resistor which makes the full-scale reading of the meter 500 volts?
Question #181: What is meant by low-level modulation?
Question #204: State where antenna impedance is usually measured.
Question #219: Define a "back-wave" and explain what causes it.
I have to wonder if this type of conversation happens on your area's repeaters (the exact conversation and names have been altered to protect the guilty):
Ham1: "Hey guys, I'm from out-of-town and need directions to . I'm currently at Can anyone tell me how best to get there?"
Ham2: "Sure thing, take the interstate to the next exit, follow the highway 7 miles, and then hang a left at the stop light."
Ham3: "Yeah, but if he takes the bypass he'll cut about 7 minutes off his commute, then go to exit 9, hang a right, and he's there by the Post Office."
Ham4: "I was just 'copying the mail' and wanted to let you know that the Post Office is now a Dollar General store, and the bypass has construction so 's directions are better, at least until December when they finish the construction."
Ham5: "Hey, I think your radio's got too much static, you need to boost yer power or move to a better location."
Ham6: "I just checked with Google Maps and it says there's at least 3 stop lights before you get to the Post Office to make the turn."
Ham4: "I just said the Post Office is no longer there, it's a Dollar General!"
Ham5: "I still think needs to move his radio, still a lotta static."
Ham3: "Didn't used to work for that Post Office branch some years ago?"
Ham6: "No you're thinking of who worked at the one by the Walmart near downtown."
Ham3: "Well, he worked for that Post Office branch too, didn't he?"
Ham6: I dunno about that. What were we talking about again?"
Ham4: "I was trying to tell you that the Post Office is now a Dollar General, and the Walmart is near the mall, not downtown."
Ham5: "Your signal's not getting better try a different radio if you have one."
Ham2 & Ham4 doubling: "This is clear!"
Ham1: "Thanks, guys, but my GPS got me there 5 minutes ago and you all quick-keyed so fast I couldn't get a word in edge-wise, and by the way it's at the 2nd stop light past the McDonald's. There's no Walmart, Dollar General, or Post Office in sight. I think you all are off your rockers. Thanks for the comedy routine, this is clear."
Ham5: "I heard that same static on his radio as I did , and in fact several of you had that noisy signal, so maybe it's the repeater. Can't be my radio."
Every spring we see the midwest get hammered with severe weather, and every spring we get treated to a fresh batch of videos depicting tornadoes in action and we see some incredible footage. The people that bring us the memorable videos are sometimes just everyday people who happen to be in the right place at the right time, while other times the videos are provided by storm chasers, a unique breed of animal that goes out on the roadways to look for the bad weather.
Doppler on Wheels radar truck
There are many different kinds of storm chasers. Some are researchers, driving vehicles (like the doppler-on-wheels radar trucks) that search for tornadic weather to get up close with data collection methods for helping to better predict when and where tornadoes strike.
There are the spotters, such as ham radio operators who coordinate with local National Weather Service offices and/or TV/Radio stations in order to tell the public what's on the ground. Some chasers do it for the public service, while others are in it for photographic means, trying to capture the tornadoes on film or video in order to publish, or even sell the rights to news outlets, for fun and/or profit.
Then there are the "daredevils". The ones who see all the action on TV or on YouTube or even in theaters and wanting to get a piece of the action. The age of smartphones and camcorders have made many ordinary citizens amateur photographers and videographers and a lot of the "glamor" of storm chasing has turned rank amateurs into a risk, not just to themselves, but to the so-called "professionals" who are trying to do legitimate research and weather spotting.
I should know, because I used to chase storms, and I classified myself as a daredevil. Back in the early 90's I would go out and chase storms all across east Tennessee. This was before camcorders became affordable, before Twister, before cell phones, before the internet as we know it, and even before I became a ham. I was fascinated by weather (still am) and I just wanted to go out and see what it was like to encounter severe weather in the "safety" of my pickup truck. Yes, a pickup truck. I didn't think at the time about how dangerous it truly was, since we have hills and valleys, lots of trees, and the roads don't go North-South/East-West. I didn't know a damned thing about weather compared to what I know now, and I'm still considering myself a novice. I had no phone, no way to record, and no way to communicate what I was seeing to the rest of the world. And I put myself into some pretty scary situations.
After getting my ham ticket I started being the "roving reporter" on local repeaters. I didn't have spotter training, couldn't tell you what a wall cloud looked like, and I certainly didn't know when to quit while I was ahead. When I would check into a weather net as "stormchaser mobile", I can remember Rocky up at the National Weather Service office in Morristown openly sighing, as if to say "Aww geez, here we go again!".
But I got out of that habit. A couple of close calls too many, not to mention regular chastising by the ham operators at the NWS (and the meteorologists) directed me to stay off the highways and get behind the microphone of my ham radio and help the Weather Service by calling weather nets. I found that my calling a weather net was much more productive (and safer) than chasing. Although I still found myself behind the wheel every once in a while. Having kids broke me of that habit completely, however. I occasionally hear a ham out there chasing, and now I'm the one openly sighing and discouraging it whenever possible. Usually if I am mobile during severe weather, it's because I'm going to/from work.
El Reno, OK tornado 5/31/13
I've seen as many videos as possible of all the known tornadoes on film and video. I owned several videos of tornadoes and had books and even a poster or two of them. I went and saw the movie Twister in the theater (and I hated it!) and started to wonder at what point would storm chasing begin to go "mainstream" and THE thing to do in order to get that dopamine thrill some adventure seekers crave.
I didn't have to wait long, as more and more chasers, inspired by movies like Twister and all the videos now turning up online and an the evening news, began chasing. Everywhere.
A few thousand dollars can get you on board.
People from all walks of life, from college kids to retirees began following severe storms all across Tornado Alley. Some were amateur radio operators with a weather interest, some college students studying meteorology, some were just fascinated with what they were seeing on TV and wanted to see it up close and personal. How could you not be tempted to chase? After all, we were seeing all kinds of tornadoes wreaking all kinds of havoc and almost all the videos were recorded from a safe distance or from a location where everyone recording survived the event. Then cell phones came with cameras, so pretty much anyone with a cell phone could record photos or video of tornadoes, so you didn't need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get in on the action. With smartphone technology now you just need to have a car, a smartphone, and an idea of where to go to find the bad weather. Now, you don't need even that, just a few thousand dollars can get you a seat in a van and you can now take a tour with a group!
Now that pretty much anyone and everyone can chase, the roads are getting congested with storm chasers of all kinds. These additional chasers can congest roadways when residents are trying to flee the storms or emergency vehicles are trying to get to some people in need.
Last Friday's storms in Oklahoma and Missouri showed that tornadoes are still unpredictable and when even the so-called "experts" are put in harm's way, the novices can be in just as much danger, if not worse.
By now you've heard that a crew from the Weather Channel had their SUV caught in a tornado and it was tossed some 200 yards into a field after rolling over 6-7 times.
You can watch video of The Weather Channel's SUV getting tossed by the tornado here (or view the video below). You'll see the camera get tossed out of the vehicle and end up on its side, still recording, showing the SUV tumbling through a field several times. TWC meteorologist Mike Bettes and two photographers suffered some injuries. One of the photographers suffered broken bones.
Tim Samaras WJ0G (right) with Carl Young of Twistex
Tim Samaras, callsign WJ0G, featured on Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers, his son Paul, and Twistex crewman Carl Young were killed when one of the many twisters during last Friday's outbreak struck their vehicle with them inside. Details are still sketchy as to what happened but it is believed the tornado they were tracking near El Reno, Oklahoma made an unexpected turn and came directly into their path.
Twistex was founded by Samaras and its purpose was to take research instruments and put them into the path of an approaching tornado, which would provide valuable data on the workings of a tornado. His death brings to the forefront the true dangers of these violent weather events. When respected meteorologists and researches can get injured, or even killed, imagine the danger to novice chasers and daredevils. Tornadoes don't discriminate when they go on their warpaths. And when it
looks like we get a little bit ahead in our understanding of tornadoes,
we find out all too abruptly that we still know very little about them.
Tim was a pioneer in tornado research and has given a great deal in to
learning more about them. His research has made predicting tornadoes
more accurate and his research will be credited with saving lives for
many years to come.
"Tornado Hunt 2013" SUV tossed 200 yards by tornado
I've had to change the title of this post 4 times to reflect the message I want to convey. When I look at the Weather Channel SUV, I see a car with an autowrap design that's makes it look like it's on a rock concert tour, with graphics you could slap on t-shirts and sell to paying fans when the "tour" comes into your town. Perhaps this type of business model enhances the perception that chasing tornadoes is "cool", like an extreme sport, enticing people to want to participate. Storm chasing shouldn't be an X-Games sport, nor should it be treated like one. It's a serious endeavor that can kill even the best of chasers. I hope and pray that we never hear of a van full of paying customers becoming the next fatalities.
My advice is simple, if you want to chase tornadoes, DON'T DO IT! There are enough people putting their lives on the line, and we don't need to congest the road with more. If you can't fight the urge, then go to school, get a degree in meteorology, team up with a respected team of researchers that chase responsibly, and you may be able to successfully chase tornadoes and live to tell the tale. But, as we have seen this past Friday, not even that is a guarantee you'll survive.
It's not everyday you can tell your friends and family you rode out an EF-4 tornado and lived to tell about it. It's even rarer to do it in a vehicle.
But when that vehicle is specifically geared to intercept said tornadoes, it comes with the territory. But even this monster twister would make the bravest of chasers wonder what could possess someone to ride out this big of a tornado.
Sean Casey and TIV2 before (credit Herb Stein)
If you're a fan of the Discovery Channel show "Storm Chasers" you've no doubt heard about Sean Casey and his quest to film an IMAX movie from INSIDE a tornado. His now-infamous "Tornado Intercept Vehicle", or TIV for short, was designed for such a task. And last Monday, it was put to the ultimate test, as an EF-4 tornado came bearing down upon them and passed over their location in Smith County, KS. It was captured on video by his tag-team partner Brandon Ivey.
His 2nd generation vehicle, the 10-wheeled monolithic TIV2, was bigger, tougher, and heavier than its predecessor TIV1, and in my opinion had they been in TIV1, would not have fared as well. TIV2 is over 14,000 lbs, has bulletproof glass composed of polycarbonate sheets combined with tempered glass on the outside, and thick metal shielding around the entire frame that can withstand micro-sized missiles from penetrating the inside of the vehicle. It also has several rods that ram into the ground in order to anchor the TIV2 and prevent the high winds from moving the vehicle. The 1/8th inch-thick metal shielding extends to the ground, to allow air to pass over the TIV, preventing the wind from going underneath the TIV2 and sending it airborne.
The tornado that was captured provided some dramatic images, from a 1000-lb bale of hay passing from the rear, to metallic objects striking the windshield and creating sparks.
You can watch the video here (high-res version here), and note the sound is fluttery during the most intense part of the pass. If you look at the bottom of the polycarbonate windscreen, you'll note the vibrations are in sync with the fluttery sounds coming through the microphone, as the pressure around the vehicle is dropping and fluctuating as the twister passed over the TIV2.
It's currently unknown how fast the winds were, because their anemometer snapped off when sheet metal debris from a farm a half-mile away hit it, registering wind speeds of 150-174 MPH at the time. These winds speeds register as an EF3 to an EF-4 on NOAA's enhanced Fujita Scale.
Fortunately no deaths occurred with this tornado, but a couple of houses were damaged or destroyed and some cattle are reported missing. They didn't fly by the TIV2, however.
The TIV2 did its job but not without some mishaps. A couple of hatch doors blew open during the intercept and debris entered the TIV2 cabin. The IMAX mount also became dislodged and Sean had to take cover while filming. But, any intercept you can walk away from is a good intercept, no? Before and after pics of the TIV2 can be seen at Sean Casey's Facebook page.
You can track various stormchasers as they go after storms during severe weather season with the Discovery Channel's storm tracker page. Unfortunately Discovery Channel cancelled the show despite decent ratings and a lot of great drama footage of the tornadoes in action. I'm almost certain fellow tracker/TIV copycat Reed Timmer is screaming at the top of his lungs for not being the one to encounter the tornado congratulating Sean for his historic intercept. And somewhere in that TIV2, I'm sure Matt Hughes was along for the ride as well, RIP.
Stay safe everyone, and please, please please...DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, OR ANYWHERE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER!
After my unexpected, less-than-friendly departure from the Pigeon Forge Titanic Special Event because of a lack of having my license upon my person, I made a photocopy and laminated it for my wallet (which soooooo many hams were soooooo polite to inform me of what a wallet-sized ham license looks like) so that this issue, should it ever occur again, will not prevent me from operating.
But I couldn't stop there. I needed to go deeper into being the smartass I can be.
I needed to make my license readily available so that I didn't have to go through the painstaking burden of reaching into my back pocket and pulling out the license. I needed something even more convenient.
Close up of my new necklace!
A coworker of mine has been making pendants using parts from a hobby store and clear acrylic, and one morning while we were talking about his latest creation (a OUIJA board) it dawned on me to have him attempt to do the same thing with my ham radio license. I obtained the parts needed, mainly the pendant, and he began work on the project. I sent him a scanned copy of my license and he was able to reduce it down to the dimensions of the pendant.
Once he had it reduced, he took it to Walmart and had it printed on photo-quality paper. After snipping it down further, he positioned it and poured the acrylic atop it.
Quarter for scale
After a couple of days to set, he brought it in Wednesday morning me to look over. I couldn't be happier with it.
So now I not only have my official wallet-sized license to whip out on demand, I can also brandish this new piece of "bling" to amaze and impress. The wife and daughter like it and I'm going to have their licenses made into this as well. Amber, the little one, she wants one, too, and she's studying up already.
So next time before you ask me for my ham license, look around my neck for this new piece of hardware!
I've been a ham going on 20 years. Back when I got my license, there was no "internet" as we know it today. We did not surf the web, e-mail, blog, or Google. And cell phones? If you were a celebrity or a doctor, you got the privilege of owning one, which might have been a 20 pound battery with a handset strapped to the top of it. & frget txt msging LOL :)
Remember these things?
We also didn't get our ham radio licenses in just a few days. I waited nearly 10 weeks to get my license in the mail. Once I got it I finally knew what my callsign was (at the time KE4HSM) and got on the air, and got the ball rolling.
My, how times have changed. I mean, now we can do all those aforementioned things and then some and even do it in the palm of your hand. Heck, with electronic licensing, we don't have to wait around until the postman delivers our mail in order to get our callsign, we just check the FCC database and once it's in there, we're on the air! Am I Right?
So last Saturday night I made my annual pilgrimage to Titanic in Pigeon Forge, TN to assist in operating the ham radio special event to commemorate the anniversary of the sinking of the ship. I've operated there the last 2 years, brought my kids along and let them operate, and they both tagged along this year. It was late but they wanted to operate for a while then crash in the car while I stayed for a bit longer, that's how it's been done in the past. It's never been a problem.
My, how times have changed.
So we arrive and there's only one operator there and he's working the 80m station. We make small talk for a a couple of minutes and Amber grabs a headset from another radio and I turn it on and tune to 20m where I start to hear some chatter. Just as I start to fine tune the signal, Amber tugs at me and asks "where's your license?".
I didn't understand the gist of her question until the operator said "You need your ham radio license to operate here".
I said I didn't have it on me (I checked my wallet to be sure) and he said I was not allowed to transmit without my license in hand.
Now understand, I don't know this guy from Adam. In fact, I didn't catch his call because either I didn't hear it or he didn't tell me, even after I introduced my kids and myself, and I think it was the latter. He was using the special event club call (W4S) when he was on the air. So I don't know his realm of knowledge with all things ham radio, but he berates me for not having a license in my possession when I know for a fact one is no longer needed to be in possession in order to transmit on ham radio, one just has to have an active callsign. And here is this guy trying to school me on what an FCC ham radio license looks like. I advised him I didn't need one to operate a station thanks to electronic licensing, but he was having none of it.
I could have gotten belligerent with him but 1) I had the kids with me, and 2) I've learned to keep my mouth shut when it comes to speaking before thinking, especially when said thoughts are about what to do, where to do it, how to do it, and with whom to do it. I didn't say another word, other than telling the girls "let's go," and heading for the car.
Needless to say after 2+ hours and 80 miles of my life I won't get back, I'm pissed off. Royally. What good would it have been to argue my case, justifiably so, if it only creates a negative air and hostile tension between what's-his-face and myself? The kids are disappointed, I'm irate, and we are ready to have the day over with and done at this point.
When I get home I get on Facebook and let the guy in charge have it. His response was basically that due to events last year, there was a change in the rules and "it was in the notice". The specific rule in the notice says:
Non Members Must Present A Valid FCC License to operate the event stations !
Okay, fine. I honestly didn't read all of it. I didn't think I needed to because 1) I've done this event every year they've had it and nothing's changed except the location around the museum, and 2) it was buried at the tail end of the "notice" on the Facebook page, where few would catch it unless they were attentive. So screw me, right?
But basically this is a statement covering a lot of people. "Non-members" also includes the general public, as in non-hams. So what we have is a PUBLIC service club operating a PUBLIC event at a PUBLIC location not allowing the PUBLIC a chance to operate the equipment in order to make the PUBLIC demonstration hands-on. So what's the point of even having the damned thing if you prevent people from participating, maybe even getting some interested in ham radio and creating new licensees? Is this club going to instill this "rule" for Field Day, the biggest publicity event of the year?
But so be it, if this is how they want to operate, that's their prerogative. It's mine not to participate in the future with the event or this club, since obviously they feel "non-members" run such a serious risk to others. And this proves another example as to why I don't do clubs anymore.
Sometimes common sense fails miserably when trying to have a good time on the radio.
My, how times have changed, indeed. Now if you'll excuse me, I apparently need to make a photocopy of my license in the event some overbearing individuals need to see proof I know what the hell I'm doing.
Northeast Bexar County resident John Watkins III is accused of making death threats to members of an amateur radio club.
Watkins
was arrested on two counts of making a terroristic threat, and booked
into jail Saturday. Records show he has been released after posting
$4,000 bond.
According
to an arrest warrant affidavit, radio club members determined someone
was making threats, using racial slurs and creating “white noise,” or
static, on the channels that they use for broadcasting.
Some people watching KRTV in Great Falls, Montana got a startling message on their TV screens last Monday, as an Emergency Alert System, or EAS alert came on their TV screens and then a deep-sounding voiceover cautioned that "Civil authorities in your area have reported that the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves."
The message advised listeners to tune in to "920AM" and that the TV station they were watching was going to go off the air (after advising viewers to "follow the on-screen instructions").
The KRTV video is below:
KRTV also reports that several stations across the country were also hacked and similar messages were broadcast.
This one was at a TV station in Michigan (garbled audio):
WNMU-TV in Northern Michigan was also affected, and kids watching Barney got a surprise message as well. No video yet that I can find.
At first I thought the National Weather Service's system was hacked and that these messages were broadcast over NOAA weather radio, however it appears that hackers outside the US were able to get into the sites of the stations themselves and then use "default passwords" to get into the EAS equipment and send out the alerts of the undead.
While the whole incident is, at least to some, hilarious, the FCC, however is not showing their sense of humor about the whole brouhaha, even issuing an advisory (.pdf) to all TV stations using the EAS equipment that was the center of the hack to change their passwords immediately.
As more reports of the undead alerts surface, I'll try to post them, and the videos if they arise from the grave.
The Oatmeal had this comic strip back some time back about Nikola Tesla, one of my personal favorite inventors who was generations ahead of his time.
Without Tesla, a lot of technologies would not be possible, from AC current electricity to RADAR and even X-ray technology. I've never been too enamored with Edison to begin with, and the more I read about him, the less I like him. Edison was a charlatan who stole others' ideas and pushed them as his own, while blue-collar tinkerers like Tesla really pushed new technologies and incredible ideas, often from science fiction to science fact. One project I did in vocational school was to create a Tesla Coil, which was a lot of fun.
Part of the comic is below (reduced size, click on link for the full comic).
Also, they are trying to organize a fund-raising effort to buy land where one if his laboratories was and turn it into a museum. Click here for that info.
I went outside Thursday night in the chilly weather around midnight and the Geminids meteor shower was in full swing. I witnessed a few dozen before having to go to bed.
I'm still trying to find a frequency I can listen to in order to "hear" the meteors as they come into Earth's atmosphere. I posted about my search some time ago and still haven't gotten any success in locating a good frequency to listen.
It was suggested I try an empty National Weather Service frequency for NOAA weather radio, but where I live all available NWS frequencies are in use, either from Morristown or Nashville, and my antennas pick up the ones off in the distance and so any NWS frequency I tune into I can hear something enough to where any attempt to listen is futile.
Since the FCC transition to digital, there are not major TV stations that I can tune in, and the low-power TV stations that remain I couldn't hear, but then again I don't see any listings for said low-power TV stations in adjacent cities.
It's with great sadness I report that one of my closest friends, Tom Ogle, KE4WFJ passed away this morning after a brief fight with cancer. He was 52. He is known to many in the Knoxville ham community, from APRS, chasing high-altitude balloons, DFing QRMers on some repeaters, bike tours, Field Days, and as an NCS for SKYWARN.
Tom (right) with me at Field Day in 2010
I hadn't been in touch with him for a few weeks but invited him to come up this past Friday for SKYWARN Recognition Day but had not heard back from him. I didn't think it was anything serious, but he apparently kept his illness a secret from even his closest friends. He only found out last Saturday (Dec. 1) that he had Stage 4 cancer that had spread rapidly in his body, and was given just 6-8 weeks. It ravaged him so fast I don't know if it could have been caught early enough, because he claimed he didn't feel any symptoms until a few weeks ago. I was contacted at 7:30 this morning with the terrible news. He loved ham radio and he was always wanting to help whenever possible. He was also a great friend. A few years ago when I had a falling out with another ham, he was one of a handful who stood by me from the beginning and reminded me what a true friend could be. Here is his obituary.
