When I was a youngster, my mother and grandparents would speak about a
relative who was a "Sparks", a ship radio operator, and an amateur radio operator.
Whenever he would contact a ham in our area, Harry would have the local ham
phone us with greetings. Harry maintained mail contact with our family. When
I got my first ham licence in 1965, I exchanged letters with Harry WA6JTM, but
we never got to make an on-the-air contact.
Years sped by, and in the mid-90's in the haydays of the great OSCAR 13 satellite
I made contact with a San Francisco station, and it turned out he was a friend of Harry, now retired, and they both were volunteer operators of the ham station on the Queen Mary liner docked in the harbour there. We made a sked for the next week, when OSCAR 13 would be in sight of both of us, and Harry would be present. At long last, Harry and I would be able to talk on the air.
The day of the sked came with excellent signals. (Where else could I obtain Q-5 signals between Israel and California for a solid SSB QSO with only 100 watts and a small antenna array, but via OSCAR 13.)
But, alas, Harry wasn't present for the sked. My contact sorrowfully told me that WA6JTM had been ready and very enthusiastic awaiting the contact. But alas, a few days before our appointed sked, Harry passed away.
May the sould of Harry, wherever he is, be blessed. Maybe we still have a sked awaiting us, but in a different plane of existence.
If anyone knew Harry, and could tell me anything about him, I'd be glad to hear from her/him.
Ron Gang 4X1MK gang@urim.org.il