Bob was truly a remarkable person. Not only did his homebrew skills far
surpass the vast majority of us but he also put out a remarkable signal with a
modest station. A lot of topbanders may be unaware that Bob's signal came from
a homebrew 42' vertical (yes, forty two foot) . Capped off with a hefty top
hat and a very good ground radial system, he was able to work the world daily.
He and I had other shared interests and enjoyed exchanging emails. I will
surely miss his friendship and his signal on 1824.5 on those cold, winter morns.
73 Bob. . .rest in peace OM.
Dave, W0FLS
----- Original Message -----
From: SidShusterman
To: topband@contesting.com ; Jean Briggs ; robert briggs ; Bernie McClenny,
W3UR ; Bob Garrett ; K3JJG ; David Raymond ; tree@kkn.net
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2014 6:23 PM
Subject: VK3ZL SK today
I received an email from Jeannie this afternoon. Bob succumbed to the effects
of bladder cancer today. Bob was many things. He was one heck of a builder.
His amplifiers won the SERG homebrew competition so many times that they
finally gave him a lifetime achievement award. He was a fixture on TopBand and
gave many their first VK QSO. He was also a beacon until recently. If there
was any propagation at all Bob was there to work it.
Over the years Bob and I and I am sure some others developed a relationship
that transcended ham radio. I found that Bob was a fire communications officer
who provided essential communications and control for the intense fires that
happen in that part of Australia amongst other interests.
Above all Bob was our friend.
Bob told Jeannie his wife he wanted the following on his grave marker:
Robert William Briggs..
..loving husband of Jeannie..
..17 Oct 1942 ---7 July 2014..
.......vk3zl s k......
and that is what she will do.
Jeannie can receive your emails at both her email address: Jean Briggs
<jabi77@bigpond.com>
and also she is keeping Bob's account open: VK3ZL@bigpond.com
Sid K3SX
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