[CQ-Contest] W7GG silent key

[Dennis Ashworth]

Many memories of Bob over the years, but two stick in my mind as 
indicative of his character:

- Some 20 years ago Bob (AI7B then) was holding court on a JA pileup 
in a contest - don't recall which one. My son (8 years old at the 
time) had just gotten his license and I encouraged him to give Bob a 
call. This was Justin's first contest QSO and to be kind, it wasn't 
pretty. However, Bob took the time to help Justin through the 
exchange and told him how good it was to hear a young voice working 
contests. That made a great impression on the 8 year old just 
starting out in radio.

- The second thought goes back to when Tree and I began coordinating 
informal lunches for the Portland area contest guys. Bob attended 
most lunches when in town. We eventually changed the venue to another 
part of town to make things more convenient for the Intel and 
Tektronix guys. Bob wasn't big on change, but he went along with 
things in the beginning .... until he learned that the new restaurant 
was basically a salad bar!!! "I want Meat!" was his response and I 
don't think Tree or I ever heard the end of it!

I'll miss Bob's voice in the 'test' - great op, great businessman and 
great human being.

RIP big guy

Dennis, K7FL
Battle Ground, WA
==


>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Tree" <tree at kkn.net>
>To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
>Sent: Friday, November 14, 2008 5:50 PM
>Subject: [CQ-Contest] W7GG silent key
>
>
> >
> >
> > Thought I would share some W7GG memories (also known as AI7B or W7TDK).
> >
> > It has been a couple of years since Bob has posted much to cq-contest.
> > His unique style of using mostly lower case characters - and speaking
> > very openly about how he felt about things will be missed.  One post that
> > I will never forget is this one:
> >
> >
>http://lists.contesting.com/archives//html/CQ-Contest/2006-01/msg00091.html
> >
> > Bob pushed the envelope on speaking ones mind.  He even seems to be very
> > supportive of the idea of there being a QRP reflector:
> >
> > "why not take it to the QRP REFLECTOR for
> > criss sakes and give the rest of us a break....
> > and if there ain't a Qrp reflector it sure sounds
> > like their outa be ....."
> >
> > While Bob was dealing with his medical issues - I was invovled in taking
> > down some of this antennas and towers at his QTH in Culver, Oregon.  I
> > had never been to his place to operate and maybe those who have will share
> > some of their experiences.
> >
> > While one of the towers was already down before I was involved - there was
> > still a very impressive 180 foot rotating tower with about half of the
> > antennas on it to take down.  You can see some pictures of it here:
> >
> > http://www.kkn.net/~tree/gallery/W7GG2008
> >
> > This station was located out in the "desert" (yes - over 2/3rds of Oregon
> > is desert) on a 5 acre lot in an area that had no power lines.  I imagine
> > that it was really neat operating many miles from any power lines.  Many
> > of the houses there use wind and solar power.  Obviously that wouldn't be
> > enough to power a big contest station, so Bob also had a couple of
> > generators that could be fired up for contests.
> >
> > This was clearly one of the biggest contest stations in the area - ranking
> > right up there with the W7RM QTH (now owned by N7TT).  I was in awe at the
> > parts that Bob had accumulated at this station.  Rumor has it that K3LR
> > is thinking of renting a U-Haul truck and picking up some good stuff.
> >
> > Bob was supportive of the CQ WW and Stew Perrry Plaque programs and his
> > contributions will be missed.
> >
> > I remember during the first or second running of the Stew Perry contest,
> > there was a morning opening to UA4HBW and we were all calling him on 160.
> > Bob was the only one to make it through.  After seeing his QTH and half
> > wave slopers coming down from 180 feet - it's easy to understand why he
> > had a big signal on topband.
> >
> > His stacked 3/3 on 40 must have been bone crushing - as well as his other
> > stacks.
> >
> > Some pieces from Bob's station were integrated into mine in time for the
> > CW SS contest.  I was using a Six Pack and a tribander that used to be
> > part of his station.  So - Bob's key will never be totally silent - just
> > some of the pieces are now going to be part of other signals you hear
> > on the band.
> >
> > In fact - a very nice looking key that Bob had in his collection was
> > given away as the "Iron Man" award to Mike, RW0CN, at the recent FARS
> > games here in Portland.
> >
> > Hopefully - other's who knew Bob longer and better than I have can share
> > some other stories.  Bob was a long time friend of Stan, W7NI.  He also
> > worked with OH2BH when they were both at Tektronix.  Recently, Bob ran
> > a PC board manufacturing company that I believe makes PC boards for the
> > Inrad folks.
> >
> > RIP Bob.
> >
> > Tree N6TR/7
> > tree at kkn.net
> > _______________________________________________
> > CQ-Contest mailing list
> > CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
> >
>
>
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