[CQ-Contest] GW4BLE SK

[john at kk9a.com]

Wow, that is very sad news! I have worked Steve so times that GW4BLE became
an easy callsign to recognize. He recorded many of his contests and somehow
put the audio clips of the stations that he worked on his website's online
log.  RIP!

John KK9A


To:	"cq-contest at contesting.com" <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Subject:	[CQ-Contest] GW4BLE SK
From:	Ian Pritchard via CQ-Contest <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Reply-to:	Ian Pritchard <g3wvg at yahoo.com>
Date:	Tue, 6 Dec 2016 20:41:09 +0000 (UTC)
List-post:
<cq-contest at contesting.com">mailto:cq-contest at contesting.com>
Hello all.
I'm sure you'll be sad to hear the news that Steve GW4BLE passed away in the

early hours of Friday the 2nd of December, his wife Mandy was with him to
the 
end.  
He was born in South Wales in 1952.  He grew up in what was probably the 
hey-day of Amateur Radio.  As a teenager he was a member of the local  
Blackwood Amateur Radio club, where he  rapidly progressed from SWL to fully

licensed Amateur.  He became a keen DX'er but what really motivated him was 
contesting.  He simply loved it.  His favourite was, of course, CQWW SSB.
Anyone around the world who has ever taken part in an SSB contest will 
recognise his callsign.  Steve was one of the good guys, fiercely
competitive 
but always ready to offer help and encouragement.  Scrupulously honest in
every 
respect he was an excellent operator who was always ready to adopt new 
practices and squeeze the most out of his station.  He crammed more antennas

into his small garden than one might have thought possible!
Steve had been diagnosed with cancer a while back.  It seemed as though the 
surgery had been successful in eliminating it.  He was a a fighter and
always 
positive. Unfortunately, over time, complications developed and in the end
his 
cancer returned with a vengeance.

Amazingly , even in very poor health, Steve managed to put in an entry for
this 
year's CQWW SSB contest.  He simply said he wanted to be a part of the
greatest 
contest in the calendar.   Many of us have lost a dear friend and the world
of 
Amateur Radio will be a poorer place without him.

73 Ian G3WVG