VK4DO silent key

[VK4WDM]

Sad news, Walter (Wally) Watkins VK4DO went Silent Key on Friday 2nd October.

Wally served Amateur Radio in many ways during his life, being the WIA VK5 Division Supplementary Representative (including participation in the Albury Conference that set out a lot of the band plan structure we rely on today), a staunch supporter for Amateur Radio in Counter-disaster through WICEN and other bodies, a Packet Radio BBS Sysop, a pioneer of APRS in Queensland, promotion of Amateur Radio Direction Finding plus he organized the 10th Region 3 ARDF Championships in Townsville. He was a recipient of the WIA G.A. Taylor Medallion, was a Life Member of the Wireless Institute of Australia and a Life Member of The Townsville Amateur Radio Club Inc. He also promoted, and was involved with many other aspects of Amateur Radio too numerous to mention here, and liked DX hunting rare countries on 40, 10 and 6metres on CW, Voice and the Digital Modes.

Funeral notice later

Wayne VK4WDM

[VK2ZRH]

Wally stamped his name on many fields of amateur radio endeavour across some five decades.

See: http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2 ... /index.php

[VK3ZAZ]

A call-sign made famous by Hal and then Wally.
I remember his large 6M Yagi on the range of hills as VK5ZWW making his own ionisation.
And subsequent M/S experiments with the 6UP gang that eclipse much of the mundane mornings of today.
I wonder who steps up to the plate now?

[VK2ZRH]

I well remember Hal VK4DO on 6m, from my student days in Melbourne (VK3ZRY, then). It turned out Hal was the brother of the local bank manager's wife, who were neighbours of ours. Hal was always a big signal from Rockhampton.

I was both pleased and surprised when Wally secured the VK4DO callsign, and I congratulated him when our paths crossed in the mid-1990s.

It was intriguing when Wally won the inaugural 6UP State of the Art Contest - although you had more contacts than Wally, he gained a higher point score.

Meteor scatter is now being promoted by Kevin VK4UH, more power to his elbow.