[SFDXA] From QRZ: Do you have a plan to become Silent Key?

[Bill]

      Do you have a plan to become Silent Key?

    Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News
    <http://forums.qrz.com/index.php?forums/amateur-radio-news.9/>'
    started by KH6OWL
    <http://forums.qrz.com/index.php?members/kh6owl.314149/>, Sunday at
    6:40 AM
    <http://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/do-you-have-a-plan-to-become-silent-key.542669/>.


    No one wants to think about death but it will happen to all of us
    and most want know it’s coming until it’s at the door. You should
    make it as easy on your family and loved ones as you can by being
    ready for it.

    In the HAM community we call that going Silent Key. All that HAM
    gear you have, does your spouse or family know anything about it?
    How do they get rid of it? How much is it worth and who to sale it
    to? Who will disconnect all that gear and who will take down your
    antennas? Maybe you have a mobile set up in your vehicle(s), if so,
    who can safely remove it without damaging the vehicle? Help them
    answer those questions now. If your family is anything like my
    family, they don’t even know how to turn the equipment on or off.
    I’ve attempted to get my family interested but they currently have
    no interest in learning or getting licensed.

    You might be surprised at how much radio gear you have. From cables,
    to connectors to the big items like radios, amplifiers, turners, SWR
    meters, antennas, keys and on and on. My stuff is scattered in two
    closest and two chest.

    What to do? If you are lucky and have a good friend that is a HAM
    then I would recommend you make a deal with that HAM. Whomever goes
    last will help the friend’s family with the with the HAM gear. Now
    that doesn’t mean to just let them handle it. Help you friend and
    write down all the equipment with model numbers, serial numbers, and
    what a fair value is. Update that list Annually and share it with
    your friend and your family. Your family should now that your friend
    has promised to take care of it and they should contact him/her when
    they are ready to move forward with the sale or disposal. On that
    list put the name and phone number of the person that will help with
    the HAM gear so your family knows whom to call when the time comes.
    Also give your friend the name and number of the person in the
    family to contact.

    If you don’t have that friend then maybe ask at a local club if
    someone handles Silent Key equipment for the club members. I have
    handled two and one was planned and the other was not. The one that
    planned wasn’t easy but at least the wife knew who I was and was
    expecting me to handle it. We found stuff for 4 or 5 months from the
    time she called me after the funeral and she was ready to go through
    it all to when we finally got it all organized. He had an antenna in
    his attic attached to the beams, antennas on his roof and in the
    back yard. Stuff in boxes hidden behind other boxes. We ended up
    cleaning most of the garage to find those items. I would get a phone
    call thinking she had found more HAM gear but it was either camera
    gear or boating gear. She had no idea what was what. In this case I
    was able to bring the gear to my house and sale it out of my garage
    as people wanted it. The other spouse would not let me take it out
    of her home so if someone wanted to see it I would make the
    appointment and drive by to be there to show the items and if they
    purchased it she got the money on the spot. This was harder on me
    but it was how the spouse wanted to do it even after I explained all
    that was involved. I guess it was trust issue. I had not meet this
    Hams spouse before but I had meet the other Hams spouse.

    If you are a member of a HAM Club, ARRL Member, QST Magazine, or
    other magazines, you should make sure either your family or that
    friend knows to cancel your memberships, magazine subscriptions and
    reporting yo SK. You don’t want your family getting that renewal
    notice in the mail or that monthly magazine. Every time they get
    those it will remind them of you. That may be good or bad.

    What about Social media accounts. In my example above, I still get
    LinkedIn notices of his birthday. She has no idea how to deactivate
    and it doesn’t bother her because she doesn’t use a computer.

    All of this can result in a significant amount of money to your
    family or loved ones at a time where they may need that extra
    income. Luckily in my example above the spouse was well taken care
    of and was not in need of that money but we made more than $3000
    dollars on his items.

    Your family will be dealing with a lot during this time and you
    should make the process of disposing of your ham gear as easy as
    possible.

KH6OWL, Honolulu Hawaii

http://www.hamradiohawaii.com

KH6OWL <http://forums.qrz.com/index.php?members/kh6owl.314149/>, Sunday 
at 6:40 AM 
<http://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/do-you-have-a-plan-to-become-silent-key.542669/> 
Report <http://forums.qrz.com/index.php?posts/4018873/report>

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