[50mhz] 50mhz Digest, Vol 101, Issue 6

Wed Jun 6 13:27:51 EDT 2012

Gene's passing is a sad day for all. When I first started in VHF in 2006, he 
gave me a lot of guidance and knowledge via email. It was always a pleasure 
to work him on 6 meters. I knew he was ill when he gave up the QST column. 
But I did not know what his illness was. He will surely be missed.

Best Regards
Dan Schaaf
K3ZXL www.k3zxl.com
60 Meters www.60metersonline.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <50mhz-request at mailman.qth.net>
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Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 12:03 PM
Subject: 50mhz Digest, Vol 101, Issue 6

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> Today's Topics:
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>   1. Fwd: ARLX008 Former "The World Above 50 MHz" Conductor Gene
>      Zimmerman, W3ZZ (SK) (Lance Collister, W7GJ)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2012 23:06:14 +0000
> From: "Lance Collister, W7GJ" <w7gj at q.com>
> Subject: [50mhz] Fwd: ARLX008 Former "The World Above 50 MHz"
> Conductor Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ (SK)
> To: 50mhz <50mhz at mailman.qth.net>, Magic Band EME Group
> <MagicEME at googlegroups.com>
> Message-ID: <4FCE90E6.4030404 at q.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
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>
> *Many of us knew Gene and shared his interest in 6m propagation.  His 
> dedication and
> inquiring mind will be greatly missed. **I think this bulletin from the 
> ARRL best
> says it all.  RIP Gene!  VY 73, Lance
>
>
> From:* ARRL Web site <mailto:memberlist at www.arrl.org>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 05, 2012 11:48 AM
> *Subject:* ARLX008 Former "The World Above 50 MHz" Conductor Gene 
> Zimmerman, W3ZZ (SK)
>
> SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX008
> ARLX008 Former "The World Above 50 MHz" Conductor Gene Zimmerman,
> W3ZZ (SK)
>
> ZCZC AX08
> QST de W1AW
> Special Bulletin 8  ARLX008
> From ARRL Headquarters
> Newington CT  June 5, 2012
> To all radio amateurs
>
> SB SPCL ARL ARLX008
> ARLX008 Former "The World Above 50 MHz" Conductor Gene Zimmerman,
> W3ZZ (SK)
>
> Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, passed away on
> Sunday, June 3. He was 71. Zimmerman wrote the popular QST column
> "The World Above 50 MHz" from 2002-2011. He also served on the ARRL
> Contest Advisory Committee, edited the VHF contesting column for CQ
> Contest magazine during its five-year lifespan and was director of
> the CQ VHF Contest from 2000-2002. An ARRL Life Member, Zimmerman
> earned VUCC on six bands: 50, 144, 222, 432, 903 and 1296 MHz, as
> well as DXCC, Worked All States and Worked All Continents on 6
> meters. He was an early proponent of -- and participant in --
> aggressive contest log checking.
>
> First licensed in 1956 -- and an Amateur Extra since 1963 --
> Zimmerman has logged several national Top-10 finishes in the ARRL
> November Sweepstakes (both modes), as well as a second-place North
> American finish in the CQ World Wide CW Contest (from VP2MDD). He
> also placed in the Top 10 several times in the ARRL VHF QSO Parties
> and in the ARRL VHF Sweepstakes.
>
> Zimmerman earned a PhD in Microbiology from the University of
> Maryland in 1968. He began his professional career at the National
> Institutes of Health (NIH), where he spent a year as a technician in
> an NIH laboratory, studying respiratory viruses. This experience
> sparked an interest in virology and conquering the common cold.
> After this, he conducted early research at NIH, studying the
> relationship between retroviruses and cancer, the use of the simian
> model for studying leukemia and the use of interferon as an immune
> system modulator. In 1976, he joined the NIH Grants Associate
> Program, which groomed promising scientists for careers in managing
> NIH research programs. Zimmerman was then recruited to be the
> Scientific Review Administrator of the Allergy and Immunology Study
> Section of the Immunological Sciences Integrated Review Group, where
> he evaluated research proposals to provide funds for research in
> immunology.
>
> "Gene brought the same intensity and depth of knowledge of his
> career at the NIH to understanding propagation," said Ward Silver,
> N0AX. "His tenure as the conductor of QST's 'The World Above 50 MHz'
> usually resulted in a sharp recounting and analysis of the month's
> unusual on-the-air events. I learned something from every single
> column. But what most will remember about Gene, though, will be his
> amazing capacity for storytelling and the twinkling of his eyes as
> he told of the undoing of scoundrels with obvious and undiluted
> glee. I've had the pleasure of being his roommate at Dayton and WRTC
> and I don't believe I've ever laughed harder or longer. Gene knew
> where all the bodies were buried and relished his role as sage and
> historian."
>
> Zimmerman was a shortwave listener before becoming a ham. After he
> got his ticket when he was a freshman at Yale University, Zimmerman
> became interested in weak signal VHF, due to his friendship with
> Paul Doane, W1HAD, who at the time was a college student at Brown.
> "I remained active on the VHF bands until I left Connecticut in
> 1964, but I also developed an interest in HF and VHF contesting," he
> told the ARRL in June 2011. "When I moved to Washington, DC, I
> became involved in HF contesting in a serious way, particularly
> building multi-op contest stations with Tom Peruzzi, W4BVV (SK). I
> returned to weak signal VHF in 1981 and built a pretty decent VHF
> station, which I have expanded to 10 GHz."
>
> Unlike HF where some band is open for long distance communications
> all the time, Zimmerman said that openings on VHF are few and far
> between -- and extremely exciting when they happen. "I guess I don't
> like things that are easy, so I chose to do VHF+, "he explained.
> "Over the years, I have worked more than 140 DXCC entities on 6
> meters, 38 states and 9 DXCC terrestrially on 2 meters, 36 states on
> 222 MHz and VUCC on 50-1296 MHz. In contests, I have also been in
> the Top 10 nationally several times from my home station, and have
> won the multi-unlimited category four times with K8GP, the Delmarva
> VHF and Microwave Society. I think once you have built an interest
> in the VHF+ bands, it never goes away."
>
> "Gene was a pleasure to work with, witty and insightful," said QST
> Editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY. "I am sure he will be greatly missed by
> many."
>
> "Amateur Radio has had its share of characters but none were more
> colorful or more widely respected than Dr Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ -- a
> man who in one breath could identify the source of the world's
> greatest hot dogs, explain once-in-a-lifetime propagation and
> recount the history of contesting and contesters," Silver said. "We
> will all miss Gene's presence greatly and it is a sad day for us all
> to learn of his passing."
>
> Zimmerman was a member of the Delmarva VHF and Microwave Society,
> K8GP, the Grid Pirates Contest Group, a Past President of the
> Potomac Valley Radio Club and an honorary member of the Connecticut
> Wireless Association. Funeral arrangements are pending.
>
> The Zimmerman family has requested that memorial contributions may
> be made in Gene's honor to the ARRL Education and Technology Fund.
> NNNN
> /EX
>
>
>
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> End of 50mhz Digest, Vol 101, Issue 6
> ************************************* 