kf4hay
09-04-2002, 08:11 PM
" The Signal That Faded Away "
John Safina, KF4JFV, was more than a cheerful friend and
an amateur radio operator. He was a living testimony to
the amateur radio service and hobby, and the art of cw as well.
He was a young man of 43 years and a quadrapalegic, due to a motorcycle accident 12 years ago. John was bedridden and the only movement he had was limited to
his right shoulder. He lived at home with his mother in Louisville, KY.His mother cared for him and would put his radio within reach when he was ready to get on the air.
We became hams about the same time, back around 1997. I had gotten to know John on CB before he was a ham. We were in the same ssb group and I always liked talking to John. Then John got his tech no-code license and I thought that was great. Wasn't no time until John passed the 5 wpm code test and I thought that was great too.
But, John wasn't only cheerfull and a ragchewer, he was smart too. He went on to pass the General,Advanced, and Extra class exams. John didn't claim the medical exemption for the code, he passed the 13 and 20 wpm cw test as well. I couldn't believe it, I was learning the code too, with a lot of effort and pounds of writing paper, and here's John copying cw in his head well enough to pass the test.
John learned to send code by laying his hand on the key and jerking his shoulder to send the dits and dahs. Boy, did he love that cw, there he was on the radio everyday making contacts and new friends. He would usually get on 40 meters early in the morning to check into the Rotten Apples, then go to 2 meters till about noon time, then switch to cw.
He would do cw everyday. I live about 35 miles down river from John, so sometimes, we could copy each other well enough on 15 meters to have a qso. And I could hear some of John's qso's where he was copying and sending about 15 wpm and at times it seemed a lot faster than that.
It amazed me how he could do all that in his head, most of the time I still have to write my copy down just to keep track of the qso. John was a FISTS member too, his number was 5821. He couldn't write, so he didn't keep a log or keep track of contacts for awards or anything. His mother was kind enough to fill out any qsl cards he sent out.
Then, one day we started hearing less of John, his heart is giving him trouble and some days he is to weak to get on the radio. Then his kidneys slowly failed, until one day John wasn't there anymore.
John passed away in the night, July 16 2002. Thanks for being a ham John and showing us all what can be achieved. Your friend Neal KF4HAY
John Safina, KF4JFV, was more than a cheerful friend and
an amateur radio operator. He was a living testimony to
the amateur radio service and hobby, and the art of cw as well.
He was a young man of 43 years and a quadrapalegic, due to a motorcycle accident 12 years ago. John was bedridden and the only movement he had was limited to
his right shoulder. He lived at home with his mother in Louisville, KY.His mother cared for him and would put his radio within reach when he was ready to get on the air.
We became hams about the same time, back around 1997. I had gotten to know John on CB before he was a ham. We were in the same ssb group and I always liked talking to John. Then John got his tech no-code license and I thought that was great. Wasn't no time until John passed the 5 wpm code test and I thought that was great too.
But, John wasn't only cheerfull and a ragchewer, he was smart too. He went on to pass the General,Advanced, and Extra class exams. John didn't claim the medical exemption for the code, he passed the 13 and 20 wpm cw test as well. I couldn't believe it, I was learning the code too, with a lot of effort and pounds of writing paper, and here's John copying cw in his head well enough to pass the test.
John learned to send code by laying his hand on the key and jerking his shoulder to send the dits and dahs. Boy, did he love that cw, there he was on the radio everyday making contacts and new friends. He would usually get on 40 meters early in the morning to check into the Rotten Apples, then go to 2 meters till about noon time, then switch to cw.
He would do cw everyday. I live about 35 miles down river from John, so sometimes, we could copy each other well enough on 15 meters to have a qso. And I could hear some of John's qso's where he was copying and sending about 15 wpm and at times it seemed a lot faster than that.
It amazed me how he could do all that in his head, most of the time I still have to write my copy down just to keep track of the qso. John was a FISTS member too, his number was 5821. He couldn't write, so he didn't keep a log or keep track of contacts for awards or anything. His mother was kind enough to fill out any qsl cards he sent out.
Then, one day we started hearing less of John, his heart is giving him trouble and some days he is to weak to get on the radio. Then his kidneys slowly failed, until one day John wasn't there anymore.
John passed away in the night, July 16 2002. Thanks for being a ham John and showing us all what can be achieved. Your friend Neal KF4HAY