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Silent Keys
On this page we remember members who have passed away, known poignantly as "Silent Keys" in the amateur radio community.Please click on one of the following links to go to the corresponding section:
If you would like to add information to this page, please send an email to webmaster@fists.co.uk.
Angie G0HGA
Angie Sitton, G0HGA (previously G1XEO) #41, was an enthusiastic operator and enjoyed QRQ (high speed) Morse code on the HF and VHF bands.
Angie was originally in the legal profession and later became a primary school music teacher. She was the FISTS Public Relations Officer between 1993 and 1995. After retirement, Angie spent much of her time looking after John her disabled husband. Although this and her other interests in music, computing, digital photography and cats didn't leave time for radio, Angie enjoyed keeping in contact with her radio friends through email and various amateur radio and other online forums. She encouraged Morse code by creating the VivateMorse and twometrecw forums. Angie is particularly remembered for her promotion of CW on 2m.
Please visit the Angie G0HGA web page to read an introduction she wrote about herself in January 2005.
Angie became a silent key on 9th May 2009.
Bill G0VBH
Bill Chandler, G0VBH #2252, was born in 1935. He and his XYL Wendy (daughter of Peter G4LHI #2219) became interested in Amateur Radio and attended RAE classes at the Harwell Amateur Radio Society conducted by Colin, G3NNV. After successfully passing the RAE exam in 1994 they were gently persuaded by Peter to study for the 12 wpm Morse test.
In those early days there were not the computer programmes about like today to help with CW training, so most of the practice was self-training and the old fashioned tape cassettes exchanged by snail mail from Peter. They were both successful in their first attempt at the 12 wpm Morse test at Pickett's Lock on Saturday 30th July 1994. Bill became G0VBH and Wendy G0VBG.
Bill became a member of the FISTS Club, #2252. He was very active and enjoyed joining in the various club events. He was also a member of the RSARS, Nr. 3232.
His second hobby and his great love was fishing. He was an active member of various fishing clubs around the Oxfordshire area.
Bill became a silent key on 6th August 2002. [1]
Buck G0OYH
Buck Taylor, G0OYH #1078, was an active member on the air and in the fistscw online group. Having lived in Cape Town as ZS1VP (1980-1991), he came back to England in 1991 and became G0OYH.
He was a Morse code professional having served in the Royal Navy and Coastal Radio. He acted as QSL manager for a number of DX stations and was a GB2CW slow morse station.
Buck became a silent key on 7th August 2007.
Fred G3VVP
Fred Porter, G3VVP #5541, was a very active member, participating in the various club on-air activities and activating the club headquarters callsigns. He also provided slow morse practice sessions in the Plymouth area.
He was known for his keen sense of humour, an example of which can be seen in the article Franken-key he wrote for BrassPounder.
Fred became a silent key on 24th April 2010.
Geo G3ZQS
George ("Geo") Longden, G3ZQS #1, was the founder of the FISTS club. He was a very active radio amateur and renowned for his exceptional CW skills and the work he put into teaching and encouraging the use of Morse code.
For more information about Geo contained in the many tributes to him from FISTS members, please visit the Geo G3ZQS Silent Key web page.
Geo became a silent key on 25th April 2006.
Gerry G3HQU
Dr. Gerry Jackson, G3HQU #39, was an early member of FISTS and a member of the Furness Amateur Radio Society. Gerry had been a submariner, diver and was a member of the Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society (RNARS). He had a PHD in archaeology and was a professional archaeologist. He was involved in the restoration of the steam launch "Dolly" (1851, thought to be the world's oldest mechanically powered boat) at Windermere. He is also mentioned in The History of Barrow and District for having found a gaming board going back to Roman times. Gerry, along with his wife Aileen, enjoyed taking part in amateur dramatics.
Gerry became a silent key on 18th August 1994. [2]
John G2FXS
John Knowles, G2FXS #8949, was a member of the Tynemouth Amateur Radio Club.
John became a silent key on 18th August 2010.
Tony G8XGQ
Tony Saunders, G8XGQ #8949, was one of the early members to join in the local Huntingdon Chapter Morse practice sessions, which he joined on the 27th April 1983 while he was mobile on his way home from the Bedford Radio Club.
He suffered from dyslexia and as you can imagine, it was very much harder for him to learn and use the code with this disability. The Huntingdon Chapter were all so proud of Tony when they used to hear him calling CQ FISTS on HF and he enjoyed joining in all the FISTS Activities he could.
Tony enjoyed all modes with his amateur radio licence: CW of course, SSB, Slow Scan, RTTY and even WX. He was also a member of the Huntingdon Amateur Radio Club and attended the meetings regularly until he was unfortunately diagnosed with his illness. Even then he still was active in the FISTS Activities and a regular member of the local practice sessions on 2m on Mondays and Tuesdays from his home QTH, encouraging new members on the group in his cheerful and friendly manner.
Tony became a silent key on 16th March 2010. [1]
Acknowledgements
[1] Thank you to Peter G4LHI #2219 for writing about Bill G0VBH and Tony G8XGQ.[2] Thank you to Gordon G3ZFZ #2886 for helping with information about Gerry G3HQU.
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