HAL Communications Cofounder, President Bill Henry, K9GWT, SK

One of the cofounders and later president of HAL Communications, George W. “Bill” Henry, Jr., of Monticello, Illinois, passed away on 17th July 2019. An ARRL Life Member, he was 78. HAL Communications formally got its start in 1972 among hams and graduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana, but the company’s history goes back a few years before.

Henry once explained that the name HAL was chosen by partner George Perrine, who picked the name because it was “one letter ahead of IBM.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the job. There are not too many occupations where you get to pay yourself to do exactly what you always wanted to do.”

— George W. “Bill” Henry, Jr, 2013

HAL Communications grew into a successful supplier of RTTY and digital communications modems, terminal units, and software, including CLOVER. Henry sold his stock in the enterprise to Barrett Communications in Australia in 2012, which continues to operate HAL Communications as a standalone business unit.

104-year-old Radio Ham who Helped put Humans on the Moon

A newspaper reports on the contribution of scientists and radio amateur J. Cary Nettles W5SRR to the US space program. Cary celebrated his 104th birthday on 8th July 2019.

Cary was licensed 74 years ago in 1945 and is currently active on the 40m, 2m and 70cm bands.

“At 103 [article published July 7], Nettles works on rebuilding steamer train engines in his basement. He spends an hour or two on ham radio each day. He watches his beloved Atlanta Braves, makes himself lunch and gets around the house just fine, often without using a walker.”

Nettles, believed to be the nation’s oldest living rocket scientist, helped save the U.S. space program that put humans on the moon 50 years ago.

More Information - https://tennessean.com/story/news/2019/07/07/moon-landing-1969-rocket-scientist-j-cary-nettles/1499131001/

Hiram Percy Maxim 150th Birthday Celebration

The ARRL is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of ARRL’s first president and co-founder Hiram Percy Maxim (HPM), W1AW, born on 2nd September 1869.

The ARRL will hold an operating event this summer to celebrate HPM’s legacy from 0000 UTC on August 31st, and continue until 2359 UTC on 8th September 2019. It is open to all radio amateurs.

W1AW and all ARRL members will append “/150” to their call signs during this event (DX operators who are ARRL members may operate as <call sign>/150, if permitted by their country of license.)

More Information - http://www.arrl.org/news/view/arrl-announces-happy-150-hiram-percy-maxim-birthday-celebration