[SCCC] Services for Phil Goetz, N6ZZ

[Leigh S. Jones, KR6X]

To all of those who never met Phil Goetz, N6ZZ, and have commented so, I 
guess it's
my turn to provide a description.  I was not close to Phil during recent 
decades, but as
a teenager I operated alongside Phil numerous times at W6RW.  In fact, it 
was through
the kindness of Phil and Dick, N6AA that I was invited to operate at W6RW --  
first in
multioperator CD party efforts then in DX contests.

Phil was slender but not tall, and had an extremely expressive face with an 
honest and
comical smile.  His hair was extremely thin on top, moving quickly to 
baldness.  There
was something about him that would have reminded you of a Don Knotts, though 
he
would never play the fool like a Don Knotts.  Instead he gently invited deep 
respect.

Phil operated any band, but tended to be on 15 or 40 meters while Dick 
operated
10 M and 80 M and the 20 M position tended to be filled by Southern 
Californian
operators.  The W6RW station typically had two Collins receivers - 75A3s or 
75A4s
and a single Collins 32V3 transmitter at each station plus a push-pull 
kilowatt final
amplifier shared by the two operators manning the two receivers.  I operated 
beside
Phil often on 15 meters during DX contests.

As an operator Phil was quite quick on his feet and intensely focused.  He 
had the
unusual skill of being able to send CW with one hand while writing 
simultaneously
into the log -- without imparing his sending.  He was thoughtful and 
precise, and he
typically brought a pipe along to smoke, which gave him the look of a 
Sherlock
Holmes character.  In immense pile-ups he had a knack for setting the CW 
transmit
frequency at the optimum spot for breaking through the pile-up (and often 
this
was at a frequency that surprised me).  Phil's callsign at that time was 
K9ELT/6
and Dick was K2PHF/6.  That was about 1967.

A couple of months after my first operation from W6RW in a CD party, Phil 
operated
W6RW single operator in the SS CW contest and came in very near the top 
spot.
Through the next several months more operation took place from W6RW, K9ZMS
and K9LBQ were added to the W6RW operating crew, making the
W9YT/W9EWC influence very strong at the W6RW operation. The next fall, Phil
won the CW SS from W6RW.

In an act of kindness that still floors me, Phil went to the trouble of 
copying his winning
SS logs for me to study and learn from.  The operations from W6RW ended 
soon;
first changing callsign to W6GP then disappearing completely.  Although 
there were
years of ragchewing with Phil and the W9YT crew on 75 M phone that followed,
I don't believe that I ever operated alongside Phil again -- although I did 
operate
from various stations with the rest of the W6RW crew.

Phil's CW operating quickness -- this is not about sending or receiving 
speed, but
about speed and agility finding new contacts in hunt-and-pounce mode and 
quick
receive to transmit turn-around -- taught me extremely important lessons 
about
operating that I have valued through the decades.  Phil managed to pull this 
off
with apparent cunning while at times when I approach the bands I still feel 
like
a clumsy kitten charging a swarm of moths without success.  His cheery
disposition, even when operating conditions were adverse, contributed to my
love of contesting.  I won't bid a goodby to Phil, instead I'll continue to 
carry
him along in my mind as I go through life.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "M L MacMedan" <n6no at arrl.net>
To: "Richard J. Norton" <richardjnorton at gmail.com>; "SCCC" 
<sccc at contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 12:19 PM
Subject: Re: [SCCC] Services for Phil Goetz, N6ZZ


> Dick, N6AA:
>
> Thanks for relaying the sad news about Phil, N6ZZ.  I never met him
> personally, but once we hams QSO, we feel we have met the person
> anyway.  I have worked him many times over the years and he was a
> great contester and first class operator.
> He gave me lots of information about operating from Zone 2.
>
> I last worked him during the 2006 CQ WW CW contest where he hid
> behind the call PZ5ZY and gave me two new band-entities.  After I
> heard of his death, one of many thoughts that ran through my head was
> "I'll never get his QSL now, I'll have to work Suriname again."  But,
> as usual, he was right on top of things: his PZ5ZY logs had been
> promptly sent to LoTW, and when I checked, I found that I already had
> my credits electronically!  What a guy!  We will all miss him ...
> Please pass along my condolences to his family and friends.
>
> The contest is over, Phil, but its sweet memory lingers on.
>
> 73,
> - - Merv, N6NO
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