Ham Radio Contester and AR-Cluster Developer Terry Gerdes, AB5K, SK

Well-known contester and AR-Cluster developer Terry Gerdes, AB5K (ex-KX6OI), formerly of Texas, died on 13th November 2018 in Belize, where he had recently relocated and married. Terry was 69.

An Arkansas native who was initially licensed as WB5SFA, Gerdes held a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arkansas. In the 1980s, he operated from the Marshall Islands as KX6OI while tracking missiles from Vandenberg Air Force Base. He did work for Garmin, Dell, and FlexRadio Systems and performed tower work as a contractor, including much of that done recently at NR5M.

Gerdes may be best known for his development work with N1MM Logger+ and his ubiquitous AB5K AR-Cluster software, and he was among the handful of hams to work toward integrating the cluster system with the internet