OJ remembered...
One of the many wonderful things about ham radio is that it transcends age.
Thus, as a teenager in CT, I spent the majority of my free time with the
Murphy's Marauders members who had welcomed me enthusiastically into the group.
The White family was a prominent segment of that group and, despite a few
years
of age difference, Jim and I became friends quickly.
Drove to/from Dayton 1977 with Jim. My Opel Manta's water pump blew on rte
80, with Jim driving and we spent the next hour sorting through incoming WA1QNF
QSLs while we waited for help to arrive. Amazingly, there was an Opel dealer
in the thriving metropolis of nearby Clearfield and we were able to resume
the journey home by Monday afternoon. One of the scariest moments in my life
was looking over to realize that Jim was having an epileptic seizure, very
likely because he'd not brought along enough medicine for that extra day.
"Happiness is a good run." That was the byline on the 1977 ARRL DX Test
results, authored by Jim White, K1ZX/WA1NNC and Dan Street, WA1QNF. Along
with Bill Jennings, WA1AHI/K1WJ, who became a tragic SK 2 summers ago, the
three
of us spent a fabulous summer checking logs and yukking it up. I had just
graduated from high school, while Jim was dating the girl that ended up being
his
(first) wife.
Not long after that, the Whites all moved to Homestead, FL, just south of
Miami. Bob, K1XA, another good ARRL friend, and I took a week of vacation in
Fort Lauderdale one spring and made a special trip down to see Jim.
Soon after that, Jim had a very serious auto accident and was laid up with
multiple injuries for quite a while.
For a number of years from then, the only time I'd see Jim would be in
Dayton. Many have, very appropriately, chronicled Jim's adventures at Dayton.
Despite being immersed in a ham radio family day in and day out, Dayton was
consistently the highlight of Jim's year. It was during those years that Jim
met
and married Teresa and became an instant grandparent.
After Hurricane Andrew destroyed Ellen and Bob's home, the Whites all moved
to the Tampa area on the other coast of FL. There, they collectively began to
build up a very solid contest station.
In March 1994, just under 10 years ago, Jim established the Florida CW
Contest Group which soon became the Florida Contest Group. Jim served as
President
for the first 4+ years of the club. When this writer took over in September
1998, the club foundation was solid and it's been a pleasure to build and build
upon that.
Jim particularly liked to host multi-ops and consistently invited anyone and
everyone to his operations. Perhaps operating at W2PV in the mid 1970s seeded
that interest. Here are some recent highlights:
IARU
- W1AW/4 in 2000 was a huge success, due greatly to OJ's coordination. With
WC4E and I overseas for WRTC, Jim led the effort to have 6 separate stations
on the air across Florida with 2 band/modes each. I believe that the score
attained by W1AW/4 that year remains the record for all of the W1AW/*
operations. There was a terrific write-up about this in NCJ, I think.
SS
- In Nov 1996, Jim kindly asked me to join him for an SS CW M/S, even though
he had finished 4th as a Single Op the year before and was itching for a win.
We managed to win M/S that year, unseating the four-year championship run of
AA5B.
- The following Nov 1997 saw Jim sport his new K4OJ callsign. Along with
his folks, he piloted the station to a second straight win in the M/S category.
- 2 weeks later, K1TO hosted a pair of Multi-Singles for SS SSB and Jim
enthusiastically operated some SSB (a mode that was largely banned at the
W1YL/W1CW QTH), all in the name of maximizing FCG points.
- Initially, it appeared that the K0RF team had pushed K4OJ down to 2nd
place in SS CW 1998, but revised results published a month later showed that
the
Whites had their three-peat.
- 2 weeks later, OJ returned here for another fun battle of Multi-Singles
(although one of the entries never got published). Jim had by far our best
hour, something like a 157 hour. The fun that he had doing that was just
mesmerizing for the rest of us to watch.
ARRL DX
- Feb 1997 - Jim invited me back for a M/2. When another promised op failed
to materialize, we did essentially a 2-man effort, giving me a good intro to
DX from FL.
- Feb 1998 - Time to try a Multi-Multi. One of the absolutely mind-blowing
experiences of my "career" was hearing JAs peaking at 599+30 on 160 Meters!
And with a single yagi, we still beat all the M/Ms on 15M.
- Feb 2000 - Along with Kevin, N4KM, Team OJ beat out Team N4WW for top W4
M/S to sneak into the box at #5, less than 5% from #2.
- Feb 2003 - Less than one year ago, and using the K4NNN callsign, another
#5 finish.
CQ WW CW
- After the passing of Bob, W1CW in November 2002, Jim and Ellen set out to
expand the station capabilities, in preparation for a W1CW Memorial operation
for CQWW 2003 on essentially the one-year anniversary of Bob's passing.
While those results are not out yet, it was again a labor of love as many
contributed to the station upgrades and the ultimate operation. With 10
operators,
and using the W1CW callsign, they achieved their goal of honoring Bob.
Jim's health declined over a long period of time, but as many of you
recognized and emphasized, his enthusiasm and positive outlook were staunchly
consistent. In one of my last e-mail exchanges with Jim, he told me that I'd
soon be
able to retire from antenna work at the W1CW station because he would once
again climb proudly.
When WC4E and I wearily exited our return plane from the WRTC in Finland in
July 2002, we were met with a K4OJ-organized group of FCGers waving banners and
greeting us back. Quite amazing since we were something like 4 hours late
and arrived at 1 AM.
Long road trips to Fort Walton Beach and Miami in recent years gave us a
chance to crank up the classic rock and get caught up.
One of Jim's greatest pleasures was developing funny phonetics. For some odd
reason, N4BP and WC4E were the butt of many of those cracks...
There are just a zillion stories like this and there is just no way to give a
comprehensive recall here and now, but I hope this has provided a flavor of
the man that OJ was, from my personal perspective.
Thanks to all of you who have already posted tributes to Jim. Some of the
suggestions regarding memorial awards are great, and the FCG will be setting up
a number of awards as well. Thanks also to K5KG, W4IX and K3TEJ for
dedicating their J7 effort next weekend in Jim's memory. I'm also hearing of
some
plans to honor Jim at Dayton in May.
The next issue of the FCG Gazette will be solely dedicated to K4OJ, the
founding father of this great club.
Since promoting the FQP was yet another source of joy for Jim, I encourage
everyone to circle the last weekend of April on your calendars and get on the
air as much as you can in the Florida QSO Party, in honor of Jim.
As mentioned earlier, Jim became a devoted father and grandfather, in
addition to all of his contesting interests. Teresa White would appreciate
hearing
from any of you at: 3527 King George Ln., Seffner, FL 33584-6117
As an only child, Jim ("Jamie") was the apple of Ellen's eye and I just hope
that we can all help Ellen through this staggeringly difficult time of losing
her husband and only son in less than 15 months.
At Ellen's request, the W1CW Memorial Fund is now the W1CW/K4OJ Memorial
Fund. In lieu of flowers, Ellen prefers that contributions be made in Jim's
name to that fund. Any donations should be made out to the Florida Contest
Group with a note to the effect that it is designated for the K4OJ Fund.
Please
mail any donations to the FCG Treasurer: Fred Perkins, 3437 Lake Josephine
Drive, Lake Placid, FL 33852.
RIP and Keep Smiling, old friend.
Dan, K1TO/4
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