Greetings,
I'll try not to repeat what others have already said.
Jack was my first VE station on Topband back in 1982. Subsequently, I
worked him probably more than one-hundred times with a great signal. He
never seemed rushed and always willing to stop and say hello. I also had
the opportunity to work him on 6 meters too.
RIP my friend. You will be sorely missed. 73, Bob K3UL
-----Original Message-----
From: Topband <topband-bounces@contesting.com> On Behalf Of Jon Zaimes
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2018 9:29 PM
To: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: VE1ZZ has passed on - Very Very Sad news! (Long)
Jack has always been one of my heroes on Topband.
I recall when K1VR visited him and wrote (in a QST article) about how Jack
used old plastic soda bottles to weatherize open coax splices in the field.
A great idea I've copied hundreds of times here on coax and hardline
junctions.
I usually gave Jack birthday greetings each Dec. 24, after he mentioned he
was 79 on that date in 2011. My log shows I missed him in 2015 but gave him
belated greetings on the following Jan. 1, and our last QSO was Jan. 24,
2016. He was 85 at his passing.
I often listened as Jack worked exotic DX I couldn't hear. On March 8,
2004, I lingered on 160 after finishing the ARRL DX contest and heard Jack
working some weak DX station. It was an extremely quiet night on the band,
and I was amazed that I could copy the station Jack was working. It was
Kumar, VU2BGS, and I was fortunate he came back to me when I tail-ended
Jack, and it was a new one for me on Top.
Jack often stopped by to say hello if I was calling CQ, often with a tip on
some rare DX that had been active.
Jack, we'll miss you.
73/Jon AA1K
-----Original Message-----
From: Topband <topband-bounces@contesting.com> On Behalf Of terry burge
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2018 8:33 PM
To: topband@contesting.com; terry burge <ki7m@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Topband: VE1ZZ has passed on - Very Very Sad news! (Long)
Sad to see he will no longer be there to give out Nova Scotia. I see I've
worked him three times 2014, 2011 and 2009 for a multiplier during CQWW160.
Never really got to know him but I have enjoyed the great stories. That is
something about ham radio I love. You never know who you might be hearing at
the other end of the either. Just hope a few will say one or two nice things
about me when I join him.
What do you suppose ham radio guys do for fun up there?
Terry
KI7M
> On October 19, 2018 at 1:35 PM Wolfgang Wessely <wessely@asamnet.de>
wrote:
>
>
> very sad to hear this...
>
> Jack was my first DX on 80m in the 80th, using an antenna myself,
> which could not really work - only he made the contact possible!
> Later, I had many topband-contacts with him and no wonder: Jack was my
> first VE on Six in 1992...
>
> RIP
> Wolfgang - DJ3TF
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Am 19.10.2018 um 19:10 schrieb k1zm--- via Topband:
> > Hello Gang
> >
> >
> > I am truly saddened to have to pass along the contents of an email I
just received from Carl Leahy who was one of Jack Leahy, VE1ZZ's sons.
> >
> >
> > It is short and sweet - but I will add some personal comments after
sharing his note to me.
> >
> >
> > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Carl Leahy carl.leahy1@gmail.comHide
> >
> > To
> > k1zm k1zm@aol.com
> >
> >
> >
> > Jeff, our family wanted you to know that dad passed away last evening.
If you could let the people in the ham world know we would really appreciate
it. It was a very big part of his life . He had just been talking about you
and the book you gave him a few years ago..
> >
> >
> > Carl Leahy
> > Signing off for VE1ZZ 😞
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> >
> >
> > A few comments from my memory now follow - as best I recall them:
> >
> >
> > VE1ZZ was not only a personal friend to many of us - he was probably
one of the finest Topband Dx'ers ever to have lived. He goes back to not
long after W1BB came back on the band at the end of WW!! - and was one of
the strongest signals I have ever witnessed on Topband. His signal was
almost LEGENDARY all over the world. EU stations used to say - "He is
almost as loud when he calls in Asian pileups as the EU callers are over
here"...and that says it all!
> >
> >
> > Jack Leahy was personally responsible for my migrating to VY2ZM and was
here at my home twice - once is 2002 and once in 2012. I last visited him
and Opal (his XYL) in August of 2014 with Mike OE6MBG who wanted to meet
Jack and see his QTH .
> >
> >
> > When I finally had the time after building my house here on PEI to
visit Jack which was probably in July of 2003 or 2004, at first blush his
place did not make a huge impression on me because it had only a short
triangular portion of land at the road in the Head of Jeddore NE of Halifax
- and the land rose rapidly behind his home. One initially wondered "How
does he get out so well from here down at the road?"
> >
> >
> > The answer came shortly thereafter - Jack took me out behind the house
- and we climbed that hill - up and up and up for something like a MILE - it
was a pizza slice in shape and very wide at the top of the hill in the woods
- with only about 100 feet (if that) at the road front side of the parcel.
> >
> >
> > Some distance up the hill was Jack's 160m 4sq array - which was made of
ROHN 6 tower - that was sitting on 18 wheeler truck tires as base
insulators. The towers were not tall - perhaps 55 feet or so and the rest
of each radiator was wire - so it was really a WIRE inverted L 4sq. Jack
was the "ultimate scavenger" and his radials were all 1-2" diameter pieces
of HARDLINE!!! Hundreds of them all over the hillside I think he had a
friend in CATV or at his local dump - but he got most of it for next to
nothing he said.
> >
> >
> > From that point of his land, he could reach around the HILLTOP on 160m
to acquire a clear shot to EU and the South was wide open and to the SW was
also clear looking over the water. Looking straight up the hill was
probably blocked to some degree - but often this does not matter all that
much on Topband.
> >
> >
> > The day I was there was shortly after Jack had managed to communicate
across the pond on what I think was 600m - I may be wrong about the
frequency - but the antenna he used to make the SLOW SLOW SPEED CW contact
was something out of this world!
> >
> >
> > It started about 1/3 of the way up the hill - and ran all the way to
the rear of the property to near the furthest reaches of his land - and this
was a LONG LONG LONG walk to get there - through some land that I recall was
swampy. It had to have been at least 3000 feet long.
> >
> >
> > Part way up the hill, Jack had built a small shelter in which he placed
the BIGGEST homebrew loading coil I have ever seen. It was about 4 feet tall
and about 8 feet in diameter and wrapped around some kind of coil form he
had created.
> >
> >
> > Jack explained that it took him awhile to resonate the system to his
desired operating QRG - and this was done by taking a pair of alligator
clips and through trial and error he tapped the coil he made - trying to use
a DC ammeter to find the point of peak current into the system - which he
explained seemed to indicate the system was reasonably matched.
> >
> >
> > His was among the first to work across the pond with that antenna -
just one of his many achievements.
> >
> >
> > When I was in the US Navy stationed at Bremerhaven, Germany I used to
listen to Jack and W1BB on 160m. W1BB would sit around 1801, KV4FZ often
was around 1803 and Jack was down at the low end as well - calling CQ
listening QSX up at around 1825-1830 in what was then known as the "DX
Window".
> >
> >
> > Jack had a huge signal even then - using equipment that was popular in
that era. I recall a Hammarlund HQ 160 Rx or something close to that model
- there is a photo of that station from the late 1950's in my book "Dx'ing
on the Edge."
> >
> >
> > Jack's More Recent Station - Inside
> >
> >
> > When I first visited Jack in 2003/2004, it was in his old house - not
the newer one he built further up the hill some years later. The station
was vintage (much like my own on Cape Cod) - and Jack used a TS830 driving a
HB amp to something around a KW DC input. Jack's operating table gave me a
chuckle because there was only about 4 inches of space between the front
panel of the radio and the edge of the table. Jack was a "leftie" and
placed his paddle parallel to the front of the TS830 and did his best to
keep his forearm on the table while he sent.
> >
> >
> > Jack's keying system triggered a bunch of interconnected relays as he
operated and he had quite a number of vintage antenna switches which
selected his many Rx antennas.
> >
> >
> > After visiting his shack, Jack later showed me around other parts of
> > the rest of the house - and I recall several rooms CHOCK FULL of
> > stuff most of us would die for. One room was full of EIMAC xmitting
> > tubes - 4-400's, some 304TL's, some 4-1000A's etc
> >
> >
> > Another room had shelves loaded with vacuum relays and vacuum variables
he had collected over the years. Not one or two - but something like a 100
of them. There were also rotary inductors for HB design and many other
things that made me drool.
> >
> > I think I remember a third room full of vintage ham radio gear as well.
Older stuff he had used previously over the years I guess.
> >
> >
> > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> >
> >
> > I will relate one story about Jack when I was operating at 7O6T over in
Yemen in 2012 I think it was. I was calling CQ arond 1823kHz waiting for SS
to occur in NA - and this bone crushing signal came at me that almost blew
me out of my chair. You can listen to this clip on my VY2ZM website - and
you will see what I mean.
> >
> >
> > I told Jack that I was operating in the snippet - and later asked him
to please tell me when OTHER NA stations were calling. I said, please do
NOT tell me the calls - just tell me that USA stations are now hearing me
and calling me. Jack did as I asked and about 15 mins later a very weak in
the noise caller was Dave Patten, NN1N who was probably 3-4 S units down
from Jack's signal. Dave's station is first rate - but there is something
truly magical about operating from the Maritimes along oceanfront property.
It is just how things work - Jack had what I call the "front door" to the NE
path and it often shows up as it did that evening at 7O6T.
> >
> >
> > Here's how to listen to what I heard:
> >
> >
> > 1) Go to http://www,vy2zm.com
> > 2) Select the sound bites tab
> > 3) Click on Sound Bite #4 and play VE1ZZ - Booming.
> > 4) If you also wish to hear NN1N's piece look further down the list to
hear the difference in signal levels.
> >
> >
> > JACK's last years
> >
> >
> > I last spoke with Jack in the summer of 2016. He told me he then had
COPD and that his amp needed repairs and that his antennas were largely
broken. I had heard him sparingly in 2015 and probably not at all in 2016 -
and that explained why.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > JACK's 160m DXCC Achievements:
> >
> >
> > For many years JACK held the #2 position WORLD in the Topband DXCC
rankings. He finished his legendary Topband career at 334 countries
confirmed at position #6 in the current rankings. This is only a HANDFUL of
entities below that necessary to have qualified for DXCC HONOR ROLL - single
band 160M. His mild, unassuming manner was also the measure of the man. He
would stop DX'ing and work ANYONE who called him - which says alot as well.
His was a special person and I have always admired him and what he managed
to do in HAM RADIO.
> >
> >
> > Not only did he make DXCC on 160m - in the summers he got me hooked on
6M and he had a 6M DXCC as well - just to keep himself occupied during the
summer doldrums on 160M.
> >
> >
> > I will close now and stop reminiscing about Jack - but I think it is
altogether fitting that we stop and pause a moment to remember this fine
160M operator and gentleman and what he achieved on the band we all love to
operate. He will always occupy a special place in our memories of Topband!
> >
> >
> > 73 and thanks for the bandwidth.
> >
> >
> > JEFF K1ZM/VY2ZM
> >
> >
> > Email: K1ZM@aol.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Jeff Briggs
> > DXing on the Edge: The Thrill of 160 Meters Available worldwide
> > through BookBaby, Array Solutions, DX Engineering, Royal Society of
> > Great Britain, & Amazon
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________
> > Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
>
>
>
> ---
> Diese E-Mail wurde von Avast Antivirus-Software auf Viren geprüft.
> https://www.avast.com/antivirus
>
> _________________
> Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
_________________
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
_________________
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
_________________
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
|