Our lunchtime HF net, now on 15m, started when I contacted HO Townsend WA5MLT (later K5CX) on the 1st of September 1979. My eldest son David had just gone to Oklahoma University in Norman to take his Masters degree. I found that HO was living in Norman and he kindly offered to keep an eye on David and this led to our setting up regular skeds which enabled Stella, David’s mother to maintain a check on her 20 year old son (as mothers do).
Gradually as our regular skeds progressed, MSARS members and other amateurs joined in, and our weekend chats became a regular meeting place for US and UK participants.
Apart from HO Townsend who some of you may remember attended G5RV’s funeral as a representative of the ARRL, we had Dell Popplewell K4NBN (No Bad News) in Jacksonville, Mike Brown N4MAD in Pensacola (where I met Bob D’Imperio N4XAT who is still with us) and many others including more recently David WB1EAD in the State of Maine and Barry, SA7GDB in Sweden.
Stella and I enjoyed spending holidays with most of the US participants, many of whom in turn visited us in Cuckfield over the years to our great delight.
When I retired in 1991 the then weekend nets began to run every weekday and from a simple natter between 2 friends the net now 45 years old has continued to flourish. I have, so far filled 35 log books with my hand written records of our daily chats. That’s more than 72,000 individual entries and I hope that there are many more to come.
Age and a host of old men’s ailments have now forced me to admit that I can no longer guarantee that I will be there at 13:30 to call the net together every day and I am hoping that there will be sufficient MSARS members from now on to open the net if I am absent.
I’ll join in the lunchtime net when possible and will continue to run the Sunday morning net now on 7MHz while I can. Sean and our long term friendship is another story yet to come.
It’s been a great pleasure to run the lunchtime net for so long but nothing lasts forever and I’m sure that my absence will make no difference to the net continuing for years to come.
73 es 88 to you all,
Ken G3WYN
