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Larry F. Skilton, K1IED SK June 4, 2018

Discussion in 'Silent Keys / Friends Remembered' started by K2HAT, Jun 10, 2018.

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  1. K2HAT

    K2HAT Premium Subscriber Volunteer Moderator Volunteer DX Helper QRZ Page

    Larry F. Skilton, K1IED SK June 4, 2018

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    Larry Fletcher Skilton, 78, of South Windsor passed away on Monday, June 4, 2018, at Woodlake in Tolland.
    Born in Torrington on March 11, 1940, he was the beloved son of the late Robert and Barbara (Palmer) Skilton and the husband of Linda (Regini) Skilton. Raised in Morris, he graduated from Wamogo High School and attended UCONN. He was honorably discharged from 4 years of service in the United States Air Force.
    He married and lived in South Windsor for almost 50 years.
    Working in the electronics field, he spent the last 12 years before retirement with Marcus Communications.

    Larry was an avid amateur radio operator since 1958 who talked to friends all over the world and did work for the South Pole Station from 1990 -2018.

    His greatest contribution was to run phone patches nightly for over 11 years so South Pole workers could talk to loved ones in the states. For that service a rock at the South Pole was named in his honor, "Skilton Ledge" in the Darwin Mts.
    His other love was as a volunteer fireman totaling 53 years of service in both Morris and South Windsor achieving the rank of Deputy Chief.

    Larry, in addition to his wife of 49 years, leaves three sons, Jeffrey Skilton and wife, Kristin (Dieter) Skilton, David Skilton and wife, Laura (Creagan) Skilton, and Craig Skilton and wife, Roxanne Lane. Along with 4 grandchildren, he leaves many nieces and nephews.

    Larry is also survived by his brother, Richard and his wife, Suzanne, of Morris, a sister, Jeanne Harvey and her husband, Porter, of Georgia, and another brother, Ron and his wife, Pamela, of New Hampshire.

    Friends and family may gather on Sunday, June 10th from 4 - 6 P.M. at Samsel & Carmon Funeral Home, 419 Buckland Road, South Windsor, CT.

    Burial will be private. In Lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the South Windsor Volunteer Fire Department, 1175 Ellington Rd., South Windsor, CT 06074 or a .

    The family would like to sincerely thank all the dedicated staff at Woodlake and Hospice for their compassionate and wonderful care.

    Please visit, www.carmonfuneralhome.com for online expressions of sympathy.
    Published in The Hartford Courant on June 6, 2018

    https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hartfordcourant/obituary.aspx?n=larry-f-skilton&pid=189213447
     
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  2. K2HAT

    K2HAT Premium Subscriber Volunteer Moderator Volunteer DX Helper QRZ Page

    Copy pasted from Larry's QRZ Biography.

    HI All

    I was first licensed in July of 1958 in Morris CT. During the first 7 years I worked mostly 2M AM with mostly home brew equipment. In 1965 I got active on 2M SSB and HF. I used a BC-610 military transmitter and a R-388 military receiver to start with. It was a great rig on AM in those days. In 1967 I got my first commercial radio a Drake T4X R4 receiver. Now running a IC-7800(NOV 2008), L7(USED FOR 20 + YRS), (Replaced with PW-1 Dec 2014) 4&5 element quad antenna (1995). Just added a 6M 4 element quad on July 12 2011. Made it 6 element in Nov 2012. Heath SB221 Modified for 6M (DEC 2011) (Now PW-1)

    In the late 60's I became interested in repeater operation. I set up a 2M AM repeater in My back yard on the MARS frequencies. 143.95 out . 148.125 input. This repeater covered almost all of CT and RI and some of the islands off Ma. My back yard was 1150 ft above sea level a wonderful VHF UHF location.

    I got married in 1968 to a woman I had met on 2M 10 years before and moved to South Windsor Ct. At this time I pretty much gave up all HF work and worked only repeaters, I got very involved with repeater clubs and the technical part of setting up repeaters. I joined the PVRA repeater club in 1974, 3 years after it was started and have been on the Board of Directors until 2008 except for a 3 year stretch in the 70's.. I was President for about 10 years on and off. The club runs 15 repeaters, links etc and has had a membership of as high as 500 members. With the proliferation of repeaters and the addition of the 145 section many have formed their own little groups so membership is down to the 200 region now.

    The HF bug really bit me again in 1989 and I started to put a station together. In 1990 I got on with substantial antennas, a Kenwood TS-830S, Heath SB221, and a lot of operating time. I changed the transciever to a FT-1000D in 1994. I started with a 88 ft tower and several mono band yagies. Sometime the next year(1991) I started a relationship with the station at the South Pole. KC4AAA . I started a nightly schedule to run phone patches and traffic . I continued that schedule until 2002. During that time The stations at Palmer Station (KC4AAC) and McMurdo Station (KC4USV) became regulars with the group that had formed on 14.243. Another station started with me in Iowa, N0OJO. She handled the traffic when I couldn't hear or I was gone. Glenna really cultivated some long lasting friendships with the Antarctic group. Glenna's husband retired in the middle 90's and they left Iowa and I continued on until 2002. At that time their internet equipment upgraded enough and the technology increased enough that the use mostly voice over IP which took away almost completely the need for phone patches. Prior to that I was running about 500-600 phone patches a season. (Sept.-Mar.) Plus other types of traffic. I have been the QSL manager for KC4AAA, KC4AAC, and KC4USV since 2000. I try my best to get the cards out but logs are slow in coming and many contacts are not even logged so if you work them work them again on another night to make sure.

    The National Science Foundation has rewarded my 11 + years of continuous nightly service to the Antarctic group by naming a geographic area there after me. It is called Skilton Ledge. As far as I know I am the only Ham that never went there to have this done for them. I consider this a great honor.

    Presently I am still quite active. My present equipment is IC-7800 (put on the air 10-30-2008 ) (used a FT-1000 from 1995) a Drake L7(replaced with PW-1 DEC 2014) amp and the antenna is a large Quad. It is 4 ele on 15, 17, and 20 and 5 ele on 10, and 12. It is 33 ft long and the boom is at 80 FT. Custom built by Lightning Bolt Antennas in 1995. (ALMOST NO MAINTAINENCE UNTIL OCT 2011). I added a 6 meter ant in July 2011 and a KING CONVERSIONS 1500W 6M amp in Dec 2011. (replaced with PW-1 DEC 2014)

    I also had been a Firefighter for over 54 years (43 in So. Win.). I joined the fire service in 1958. I retired as a Deputy Chief with the South Windsor Ct Fire Dept. I had held that position for 30 years. I was a line officer. I retired from that on March 11 2012. All had been with a volunteer Dept.

    AS OF JUNE 30, 2011, I AM RETIRED FROM MY REGULAR JOB (AGE 71).

    AS OF MARCH 11 2012, I AM RETIRED FROM THE SOUTH WINDSOR FIRE DEPT. AFTER 54 YRS OF FIRE SERVICE 43 WITH S. WINDSOR, 30 YEARS AS DEPUTY CHIEF (AGE 72). NOW I CAN BE ON THE AIR ANYTIME I WANT.

    73 to all

    Look for me on 17 or 12 mostly but I might be on any band SSB, DIGITAL, LITTLE CW
     
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  3. K1FBI

    K1FBI XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    That explains why I haven't heard him.
    Larry was always throwing out a call on 6 meters and very active.
    Larry turned me on to King Conversions.
    It's really sad to read this.
    My condolences to his family.

    My first 6 Meter contact from LoTW with Larry on my new Yagi.

    Call sign Worked Date/Time Band Mode Freq QSL
    Details K1FBI K1IED 2013-01-01 01:30:00 6M SSB 50.15500 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2018
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  4. W1MM

    W1MM Ham Member QRZ Page

    Just came back from the wake. Very sad to say goodbye for now, my friend. See you on the other side. Not too soon, though. Hi hi.

    73,
    Mark, W1MM
     
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  5. N4GNR

    N4GNR Platinum Subscriber Platinum Subscriber QRZ Page

    I have worked Larry on 6 meters and a few HF bands.... He always was upbeat and had a great signal on ANY band !!
    Rest in Eternal Peace of Our Great Lord Larry Dan Cisson N4GNR
     
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  6. W1BR

    W1BR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Wow, that is sad news.
     
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  7. W0PV

    W0PV Ham Member QRZ Page

    Shocked and sad.

    Larry's always friendly voice had been a loud beacon on 6 meters down here in FL.

    Many 50 Mhz K1IED log entries and memories of good conversations during band openings. A few years ago he was my first and probably only RTTY QSO on 6m (data mode before the FT8 epidemic hit).

    73, John, WØPV
     
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  8. W4POT

    W4POT Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    I had 1 QSO with Larry on 17m. He was typically one of the stronger stations I'd hear on that band when it was open and I remembered the sound of his voice and callsign. I'll miss hearing it.
     
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  9. K9ASE

    K9ASE XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    I just checked the log I worked him on 6m in 2013.
     
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  10. K1FBI

    K1FBI XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Italy Echo Delta...me too:(
     
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  11. KX1W

    KX1W XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    QCWA #36771.

    Ron Fish, KX1W
    QCWA Silent Key Administrator
     
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  12. MI0SAI

    MI0SAI Ham Member QRZ Page

    Sad news !!

    I remember having some great long Qso's (( last one bout 12 weeks ago )) over years with Larry mostly on 17m,
    but worked him from 10m to 40m ssb & rtty.
    He was always strong with his big Quad and loved talking about Quad's & telling me some FB storey's .
    I always knew his voice on the bands.

    He be very sadly missed by all God Bless de UK
     
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  13. G8CYK

    G8CYK XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Sad news indeed . We knew he was not well, and feared this news was coming.

    Larry was pretty much the only US station into Europe on 17m from one week to the next. This is a sad loss to the hobby - he gave many of us our first transatlantic 17m contact.

    73 and RIP.
     
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  14. W5FJG

    W5FJG Ham Member QRZ Page

    I was stationed at the South Pole (KC4AAA) from 2013 - 2014 and as most Hams know, Larry was the QSL manager for all three of the United States Antarctic Program's (USAP) stations. He did a wonderful job of handling the cards, but for us that Wintered-over, he was the glue that held the South Pole station together. He knew what was broken, and what had been tried before. This into helped us to get on JT-65, RTTY as well as regain the ability to use CW from inside the station. When I arrived at the South Pole, I saw that there was a 3 element Mosley antenna sitting on the ice near one of the towers. No one knew why it was there, if it was broken or fixed and ready to be put back up on the tower. Larry knew, and because it was still Summer at the South Pole we were able to get that 17 Meter antenna back up and working before the antenna riggers left for the season. When I arrived, paper logs were still in use! With Larry’s help we switched to electronic logs and with that he was able to get KC4AAA on LoTW.

    He told me once that he and another Ham used to provide phone patches for USAP stations on an almost a nightly basis for years and years. While we didn’t need phone patches any longer, because of the Satellite systems, I can only imagine what it must have been like for a Winter-over in those days. Months of isolation, with 30 or 40 of your closest work buds, and the only connection to home and friends was a phone patch. No Facebook, no Internet, only Larry and few other Hams who could provide this connection. Each patch must have been so important to those guys.

    He was a great guy, an excellent Ham who did a lot for others and I’ll miss him.
     
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  15. K2HAT

    K2HAT Premium Subscriber Volunteer Moderator Volunteer DX Helper QRZ Page

    I saw Larry in Feb 2014 at Orlando Hamcation and asked him to Please get LOTW working, he groaned about it.

    I said Larry, I have a blind Ham friend that uses N3FJP and LOTW. You live near Newington, h0w about if I say Pretty Please. :)

    He replied "Okay I will see what I can do".

    73 K2HAT
     
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