ARROW Communication Association

Serving Radio Amateurs in Michigan's Washtenaw & Wayne Counties

Author: KB6NU Page 7 of 8

Dan, KB6NU, is the chair of the ARROW Education Committee, a past ARROW president, and station manager for WA2HOM, the club station at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. He blogs about amateur radio at KB6NU.Com.

W8ZRF, SK

By

On October 30, 2018

In Uncategorized

I’m sorry to report that Roger, W8ZRF, has passed. Here’s the obituary that appeared in the Ann Arbor News:

Roger, W8ZRF, at Field Day 2006.
Photo: Dave New, N8SBE

Age 98, [Roger] passed away peacefully at his home on Saturday, October 20, 2018. Roger was born in Schererville, IN on February 26, 1920. He married Merna Patrick of Dansville, MI on February 23, 1946 at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Ann Arbor, and is survived by their four children: Maureen (Mike) Watassek of Ann Arbor, Dianna (Tim) Kellman of Ypsilanti, Bob Place of Naples, FL, and Tom (Amy) Place of Brookhaven, GA. He was blessed with eight grandchildren: Lauren (Jennifer) Boik-Watassek, Midori Watassek, Andy (Jodee) Kellman, David Kellman, Brian (Chris) Place, Sean (Robin) Place, Taylor (Carly) Place, Jessie Place. And four great-grandchildren: Luke and Noah Boik-Watassek, Adrian and Geneva Kellman. His only sibling, Vivian Peifer of Schererville, IN also survives. He was preceded in death by Merna, his wife of 57 years, on February 8, 2003, and Lauren Boik-Watassek, his first grandchild, on June 26, 2018. Roger was a proud veteran of World War II, having served his country as a Radioman 3rd Class in the US Navy, Pacific Theatre. Following his discharge, he returned to work at Argus Camera, and spent several years at The University of Michigan, Bendix Aerospace and KMS Industries prior to retirement. A devout and active member of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church and Knights of Columbus Council 587, Roger was also a proud member of the “”Ave Maria Pew Crew””, which constructed the craftsman style oak pews for the Ave Maria Oratory, Ave Maria, FL. In addition to being an avid amateur radio operator/examiner with a love for travel, he was a dedicated community volunteer, youth baseball/basketball coach, golfer, and bowler. Memories of his unwavering support of family, thought-provoking one-liners, and unending DIY home projects will always be cherished. Visitation will take place at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 530 Elizabeth St., Ann Arbor, on Thursday, November 1, 2018 from 4:00pm – 6:00pm, with a rosary service at 5:00pm. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Thomas on Friday, November 2, 2018 at 10:00am with Fr. Bill Ashbaugh officiating. Roger’s family will receive guests in the Parish Hall, immediately following Mass. Contributions in Roger’s memory may be made to: Society of St. Vincent de Paul, 530 Elizabeth St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

Here are some remembrances from ARROW members:

Dan KB6NU:

I am very sorry to hear this. Roger and Clay really kept ARROW/amateur radio alive in the 1990s and early 2000s here in Ann Arbor by regularly conducting amateur radio exams. He was such a nice guy and always ready to help out with things as he could.
I just Googled Roger and found this oral history recorded at the library just last year: https://aadl.org/aadl_argus-roger_place. I learned a lot about Roger that I didn’t know. And, here’s a picture of his QSL card from 1953: https://www.flickr.com/photos/70251312@N00/8421879190.

Bruce, KT8TD:

I’m sorry to hear that.  I took my Technician exam from them in November 2004.  Some years later after being elected Arrow president, Roger made a gift of the Extra Class license manual.  I took it as a gentle suggestion that I really ought to make the upgrade.  Five months later, in Dayton, I took and passed the exam.  I’ve always been grateful to roger for that subtle suggestion.

Jeff, W8SGZ:

Roger and Clay were like toast and tea.  Warm and comforting, never the least bit objectionable.  With both of them now gone,  there is a large empty space in the goodness of the world.

Ed, AB8OJ:

Roger and Clay were my first contacts with ARROW and with ham radio in general. They always made me feel welcome, and made sure to chat with me at my first few meetings (such as they were back then). I’m honored to have their signatures on my Tech and Extra exams.  I’ll always remember the look of delight on their faces as they told me I had passed. May we all be like W8ZRF and W8JNZ, the best ham radio ambassadors I’ve known.

Use KiCAD to design printed circuit boards

By

On September 14, 2018

In Meeting Notes

On Wednesday, September 12, 30 ARROW members heard Joe, AC8ES, give a fine presentation on KiCAD, a free, open-source PCB design software package. Here are his slides:

Amateur radio well-represented at Ann Arbor Maker Faire

By

On May 25, 2018

In Events, News

By Garry, W8GMD

Jerry Anderson, WB8FXY, and I manned a table at the Ann Arbor Creativity & Making Expo (formerly known as the Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire) in the downtown library on Sunday May 20th while everyone else was basking in the warm sunshine in Xenia, OH 😉 .  We had a fair number of visitors with most of the younger children having fun with the Morse Code keys. There was some interest in the remote demonstration of FT-8 on 40 meters until the band washout around 3:00 pm. I did make a few contacts at the beginning of the day but nothing later in the afternoon. To make these contacts, I was remotely controlling my ICOM 7300.  Everything else went well and we also talked to a couple of inactive hams and others concerning what Amateurs do, and have done  in times of need. 

I was told that we would be outside but as is seen in the pictures we were not.  I’m thinking they think of the area we were in as “outside” the general library area.  It was good that we were inside since it did rain a bit at the end of the day.  Jerry and I were also going to demonstrate 2-way communication on 2 meters but were not able to make it to any of the local repeaters in the location we were in. 

We were also helped by the AACME committee by making us one of the stops the kids had to go by to get their cards stamped.  This did generate interest in some that I think would not have stopped by if it wasn’t for that.  They got some sort of prize or something for having all the things stamped.  So all in all, I’d say everything went well and Radio Amateurs were well represented at the Expo.

April General Meeting: RemoteHams

By

On April 1, 2018

In Events

This month, we’ll hear from Scott Bicknell, W1BIC on RemoteHams, a community of amateur radio operators that share their stations with one another over the Internet. These are not the expensive “super stations” that you sometime read about, but rather a grass-roots kind of effort by real hams for real hams.

Date/Time: Wednesday, April 11 at 6:45 pm.

Location: Rm #2424 Space Research Building
University of Michigan
2455 Hayward St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

The doors at UM automatically close at 7:00 pm. So please plan to arrive 5-10 minutes early. If you are locked out please give a call on the 146.96 (-ve) repeater frequency.

Maps and Parking info: https://w8rp.org/news/change-in-general–meeting–location-for-march-2017/

 

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

Clay Mitchell, W8JNZ, SK

By

On December 15, 2017

In News

Clay, W8JNZ, at the 2005 Holiday Brunch. Photo: Dave New, N8SBE.

From mlive.com:

Claybourne (Clay) Mitchell, Jr., physicist, inventor, and avid amateur radio operator (W8JNZ), died December 8, 2017, in Reston, VA from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 94 years old and formerly a longtime resident of Ann Arbor, MI. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Clay was the son of Ethel and Claybourne Mitchell, Sr. He attended Flint Central High School, Flint Junior College, and the University of Michigan, where he received a BS in Physics in 1950 and MS in Physics in 1959. During the Second World War, he served as a Master Sergeant in the Army Air Force, Engineering Aviation Battalion, Pacific Theatre (1943-1946). Before retirement, Clay was employed at Bendix Aerospace Systems Division, Udylite Corporation, Controlled Power Corporation, Elcoat Systems (PPG Industries), and Detroit Edison (now DTE Energy), where he retired in 1988 as Vice President, Planning, Research, and Environmental Protection.

He was active for several years in the Optical Society of America and the Engineering Society of Detroit. He also served on several advisory committees, including for the Argonne National Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute, Michigan Technological University, and the University of Michigan. He was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Detroit Science Center and the Michigan Energy and Resource Research Association. He also held several physics-related patents. In retirement, Clay enjoyed world travel, cycling, creative writing, fellowship with Detroit Unity and the Ann Arbor Friends, and supporting amateur radio licensing. He was preceded in death by his wife Isabella Ophelia Mitchell (2003) and is survived by his daughter Faith (Archie Brown), granddaughter Alexis Brown, and other relatives.A memorial service will be held January 13, 2018 in Northern Virginia.

On a personal note, I always considered Clay to be one of the “lions” of our club. He, along with Roger, W8ZRF, continued to hold test sessions, even when there wasn’t really an ARROW. In that way, he helped keep amateur radio alive in Ann Arbor.

He was always a joy to talk to. He was thoughtful and intelligent and had a subtle sense of humor. We will certainly miss him.

–Dan, KB6NU

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