[DCboatanchors] Silent keys - comments

[Brian Carling]

Stu, K4BOV just reported these silent keys. They will be missed.
Perhaps you knew or knew about one of them?

As I read about them, I noted that there is a knowledge base that  passes away 
with these dear old guys; how to work on R390s, SP600s  Swan rigs etc.

What are we doing to preserve the knowledge?

Anyone have any thoughts?

Two hams that were past participants of the 40M Swan Tech Net have been 
reported as Silent Keys.

Dave Cook, N2ILO, passed away this past Friday, March 21st at age 62. 
It has been over a year since he checked into the Saturday net.  
I know he was suffering from a serious kidney
ailment; so, suspect that may have contributed to his death.

Frank Gunther, W2ALS, had not checked into the net since 1996.  In
checking with his family,
I found he passed away in 1999.  Strange, you think you know someone
pretty well; then, findyou know squat.  During our association with Frank on the 
Swan Tech Net, we learned he was a pilot during WWII and was real familiar with 
the old SP-600's and R-390's.  He had also
mentioned about spending time with his grandson Robert Jr,  KB2MSK, to help 
him get his ham radio license. 
Frank's son, Frank Jr, (which would be Robert Jr's uncle) is also 
a ham, WA2GMM.

We recently obtained Frank's obituary, where he is remembered 
and recognized for his many contributions to the advancement of 
radio engineering, and have placed it on the Swan Net Silent Key 
page at:
http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/hamradio/silentkey.html

As I stated, we didn't know squat about the real Frank Gunther.

Stu/K4BOV