[Elecraft] [QRP-L] Tom Hammond, N0SS, silent key

[Mike Baker]

RIP Tom.
We'll all see you soon enough.
Keep the coffee pot on, the rig warmed up and a chair ready for us when we
meet again.

Best 72, 73

Mike Baker  K7DD
K7dd at cox.net
All QSO's are uploaded to LOTW and EQSL.


-----Original Message-----
From: qrp-l-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:qrp-l-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick
Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 10:24 AM
To: Elecraft Reflector
Cc: QRP-L
Subject: [QRP-L] Tom Hammond, N0SS, silent key

Elecraft is fortunate to have some of the best customers--and friends-- a
small company could hope for. And then there was Tom Hammond.

Tom was there nearly from the beginning, in 1999, gently but firmly pushing
us in the right direction. He helped us test and refine K2 and
K3 hardware, firmware, and documentation. He wrote or edited many of our
early application notes. Helped specify parts and tools. Spent countless
hours volunteering in our booth, demonstrating radios. He celebrated our
victories, and felt our pain.

Tom was relentlessly positive. He drank the Kool-Aid, but if it was sour,
he'd spit it out, then smile and tell you how much sugar to add.

Many of us have felt Tom's pain over the past few years. He was always a
survivor, but by the time Dayton, 2011 rolled around, he was little more
than a friendly ghost. We knew he was suffering. Now, we're counting our
blessings that we were able to see him one last time.

About ten years ago, Tom and I drove together to the Ft. Tuthill QRP
gathering in Flagstaff, Arizona. We were in a small pickup truck without air
conditioning, and when we left Phoenix, it was a blistering 122 degrees in
the shade. But we made the best of it, rolling the windows down, sailing
along the freeway at 75 MPH, cracking jokes and powering through bottled
water. I never had a better road trip.

That's how I'll remember him: taking the heat, in style.

Here's to Tom, N0SS/M, wherever he may be.

73,
Wayne
N6KR





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