Topband: VE1ZZ has passed on - Very Very Sad news! (Long)

[Dmitry Belousov]

Sad news.
VE1ZZ was my first transcontinental QSO on 160m in 1988.
R.I.P

WMF> Sad news.

WMF> RIP  73 Jack

WMF> W0MU


WMF> On 10/19/2018 11:10 AM, k1zm--- via Topband wrote:
>> 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 at gmail.comHide
>>
>> To
>> k1zm k1zm at 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 at 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
>>
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>> _________________
>> Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband

WMF> _________________
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-- 
Best regards,
 Dmitry                            mailto:ur4lrg at ukr.net


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