People | N4BC

Long Time, No See …

Has it really been last December since I last posted here? Wow! Time flies!

Last December, my boss passed away, and as you can imagine, that was a major disruption to our work process. All of us in the shop were taking on responsibilities that he had previously taken care of.

Things are finally calming down now. We have a new manager, and things are running somewhat smoothly again. Hopefully, no more glitches.

Next month, though, we’re starting an upgrade to our radio system. Every two years, major hardware and software updates occur to keep our 800 MHz P25 radio system current. What could go wrong? 😀

I had to remove one of my long-time resources from the site … Astrid’s Embroidery. The owners are retiring, and it looks like they are closing down for good. Sorry to see that … they did quality work and were a pleasure to deal with.

73 de Dick N4BC

Missing Persons Report

Where have I been? Was I kidnaped? On a secret spy mission for the government?

Nope. Just out of circulation for a while. I went to see my doctor for my regular checkup and, to make a long story short, ended up being the recipient of quadruple bypass heart surgery. That will definitely take you out of the mix for a while.

All turned out well, and I am well on my way to recovery now. The surgery was back in October, and I go back to work in January. I feel better than I have in years, and am glad the doctor caught the abnormality in my ECG.

Radio-wise, I’ve been doing POTA and digital modes. Pretty much the same thing as before the surgery.

Merry Christmas to all!

73 de Dick N4BC

Plodding Along

Not a lot has changed in the past couple of weeks, radio-wise. I’m still working lots of digital modes (including CW) and enjoying it. FT4 activity seems to be increasing … probably since the FT8 segments are so crowded. PSK and Olivia activity is still sporadic, but I did notice some nice signals on 20 meters around lunchtime today … strong and lots of them!

One of my coworkers just became a ham last week. He attended an outdoor testing session, to comply with the social distancing recommendations. He passed the Technician and General class licenses, and was formally granted KO4DBF after about a week’s time or so.

Our club held its first virtual club meeting last night, using Zoom. Last week I attended our QCWA chapter meeting via Zoom as well. Looks like Zoom is the preferred method of social interaction now. At work, we’re using Microsoft Teams, but I like the Zoom interface better.

As a matter of fact, I’ve got two Zoom meetings later this evening. First, our Scout Troop, and then after that, our church Choir. We’ve been doing virtual meetings for Scouts for several weeks now and it seems to be working well. The choir meeting is more of a social thing rather than musical … just to keep in touch while in-person services are suspended. Our virtual church services are on FaceBook live.

73 de Dick N4BC

Silent Key – W4QM, Dale Streiter

I was saddened to read of the passing of another old friend recently …

SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX002
ARLX002 Past ARRL Southeastern Division Director H. Dale Strieter,
W4QM (SK)
ZCZC AX02
QST de W1AW
Special Bulletin 2 ARLX002
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT January 28, 2020
To all radio amateurs
SB SPCL ARL ARLX002
ARLX002 Past ARRL Southeastern Division Director H. Dale Strieter,
W4QM (SK)
Past ARRL Southeastern Division Director Harmon “Dale” Strieter,
W4QM (ex-W4DQS), of Cocoa Beach, died on January 6. An ARRL Life
Member, he was 92 and a founding member of the Maxim Society.
Strieter was ARRL Southeastern Division Director from 1970 until
1973.
During World War II, he served as US Maritime Service radio officer
in the Pacific. After the war, he received a bachelor’s degree in
electrical engineering from Michigan State. He got his amateur radio
license in 1947. Strieter later earned an MSEE from Michigan State,
and then worked as an audio engineer.
In 1958, Strieter moved to Cocoa Beach to work for General Electric,
a NASA contractor, and he served as the guidance engineer on the
Mercury and Gemini manned spaceflight missions.
Strieter was a prolific DXpeditioner. After 20 years with GE, he
returned to sea in 1979 as a radio officer in the US Merchant Marine
on a ship generally anchored at Chagos. As VQ9QM, Strieter logged
more than 200,000 contacts from nearby Diego Garcia, between 1986
and 2001. He retired in 2002.
NNNN
/EX

I first met Dale when I worked as a contractor for Ford Aerospace on Diego Garcia. He was one of a diverse group of hams there. Some were Navy personnel, some Merchant Marine like himself, and others were contractor personnel, like me. Over time, he became a close friend, and we shared many hours together, operating from the club station there on the island, sharing meals and drinks, or just sitting and talking. He was an interesting person! I was in awe of his CW prowess!

One morning, we woke up and the lagoon was empty of ships, and the normally deserted airfield was full of B-52s and KC-10s. Desert Storm was underway.

I eventually left the island and returned to the States, and like many good friendships, distance caused this one to lapse. Still, I thought about Dale and all the others every now and then, and reminisced about the “good old days.”

Rest in peace, old friend!

73 de Dick N4BC