Dear Friends,
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Elwood Downey WB0OEW, SK, on Thursday of this week. He was the one-man developer behind Ham Radio’s most popular freeware visual display: HamClock. Like Geochron, HamClock’s server and interface brings together multiple data sources. It appears that before his passing he built a dead man switch into HamClock, which will activate later this year. This will leave HamClock’s screens blank, unless someone can save it... And I did try. I corresponded with Elwood in December to see if Geochron could develop a low-cost hardware option around Hamclock, replacing Innovato's discontinued computer. He politely declined.
There are so many solitary heroes in the ham radio community that give their time and talents on tools that connect us all together. As the owner of Geochron, I can certainly appreciate work of maintenance and support that comes with these complex products, and as volunteers? That’s amazing.
His email autoresponder says plainly, “Elwood Downey ended his own life on 29 Jan 2026.” No one wishes for that. Love those that are still with you.
Peace to you, Patrick KJ7ZSU Head Wrangler Geochron |