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Friend : Geoff West (VK2BT)

It is with great regret that The Manly-Warringah Radio Society
records the passing of Geoff West VK2BT. He was 76. Born at the time
when shortwave broadcasting was just beginning, throughout his life
Geoff maintained a constant interest in amateur radio. His workshop
was an Aladdin's Cave, reflecting as it did the extraordinary era of
radio development through which he had lived. In 1941, during World
War II, he raised his age from 16 to 18 and joined the Merchant Navy.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour (Dec.7th, 1941) Geoff was
on a ship that was sent from Australia to Pearl Harbour to assist the
Americans in the immediate evacuation of women and children to the
United States. Fires from the attack were still burning when his ship
arrived and there were considerable anxieties by the fact that no one
knew the whereabouts of the Japanese fleet. Geoff did a second trip
from Pearl Harbour to the US and continued to serve in the Merchant
Navy for a few years after the cessation of hostilities. In 1950
Geoff met his future wife Betty. She was then a bus conductress
aboard the 190-bus route, a well-known trek to the people of the
Barrenjoey Peninsula north of Sydney. In the space of three months
Betty and Geoff were married, a marriage that during its 51 years
brought them four boys and a girl and the blessing of grandchildren.
In 1994 he gained his first call as VK2MOF which spurred him on to
learn CW and get a full call. For anyone of his age that was no mean
achievement but Geoff had a particularly strong characteristic -
tenaciousness. In this case it paid off handsomely and he became the
proud owner of the full call VK2ADW. Later, in 1998, he changed this
to VK2BT thus becoming a member of the elite of call holders - those
with two letters after the digit. Geoff sometimes said that his one
and only regret was that he didn't become a ham earlier in life. In
his mind he equated being a ham with holding a call but Geoff had
always been a ham and a first class one at that. When he built
something he built it properly. With the Merchant Service he worked
in the engine room and it was within that environment that he
developed his superb craftsmanship. Witnesses to this are the
excellent QRP transceivers and hand keys that he built, two of those
keys now in permanent use by the Society. Geoff spent his working
life in the hardware trade, and acquired a formidable expertise in
relation to plumbing and plumbing parts. Despite all the ups and
downs of the economy he was never ever out of work and until his late
sixties he enjoyed excellent health. He and Betty then retired to the
Central Coast where he joined the Westlakes Amateur Radio Club.
Then, in 1992, Geoff had a quadruple bypass after which he took
things more quietly. In order to be close to a hospital and family,
he and Betty moved back to Sydney and settled in Narrabeen which is
when he joined the Manly-Warringah Amateur Radio Society. It was rare
for him to miss a Society meeting and at 1630 every day he was a
regular on Westlakes' 40-metre 'Footloose' net (7070 kHz). To Betty
and family the Society offers its deepest sympathy. Geoff will be
sadly missed.

Contributed by : Dominic Bragge (VK2JNA)

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Friend's CallsignVK2BT
Friend's NameGeoff West
Date DeceasedDec 2001
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