SARL Amateur Radio Hall of Fame

The SARL Amateur Radio have created a Hall of Fame, to honour amateur / ham radio  individuals who have made significant contributions to amateur  / ham radio hobby in South Africa. 

Operators inducted to the SARL hall of fame will be preserved in memory on a page on the SARL Web site. 
The first group of members will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the SARL AGM in May 2016.

Essays outlining the contributions of the 18 nominees can be found on the Hall of Fame page, accessible through a link on the Web site front page.

Nominees include historical stalwarts like John Streeter, Dixon Bennett and Dave Larsen, as well as modern-day contributors to our hobby.

SARL - http://www.sarl.org.za/

Hams Pass 100 Years

Two Ham Radio operators are celebrating their 100th Birthdays

UK Operator Laurie Gibson, G2BUP, celebrated his birthday on 16th March.

Laurie is an avid user of a Kenwood TS-570, and works with his friends within the hobby to maintain his antenna and shack.

In the States, Margaret 'Holly' Bevan N3MB, a member of the Anne Arundel Radio Club, celebrated her 100th birthday on 20th March.

In October 1942, she signed up to join the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), which was the World War II branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve. She was in the first group of enlisted WAVES.

Bevan took her first ham radio class in 1979 so she could communicate with her son Michael while he was onboard a Navy ship. She explained while he was home on leave, he told them (his parents) about ham radios and then told them he'd signed them up to take 12-week course to learn how to operate a ham radio and get a FCC license.

They went. "We were very obedient parents," she said.

Bevan enjoyed it and kept advancing all the way up to the "extra" certification, which is the highest level.

Radio Ham Licensed for 75 years

Jack Goldfarb W8WGO is an American Ham radio operator with 75 years of operating experience, gaining his callsign when he was 16 

“I got my license in April, 1941,” Goldfarb said. “I went downtown (Cleveland) to the FCC office that was in the old post office building. I still remember Mr. Russ was the FCC radio inspector there.”

— Jack Goldfarb W8WGO

Goldfarb interest was generated from his interest in electronics. When he was elementary school, Goldfarb would experiment t with telephones, automobile horns and lightbulbs. He also enjoyed building Heathkits, which lead to him building his first transmitter.

Goldfarb then moved on to create a radio club in high school, but it only lasted that one year, closing when he moved on.

Goldfarb graduated from Glenville High School and when the Army and World War II came calling, his radio skills put him in demand.

Full story - http://www.cleveland.com/university-heights/index.ssf/2016/03/university_heights_7.html