Published on Sep 23, 2015 Dave Sumner, K1ZZ - CEO & Secretary for the ARRL (Soon to be Retired) is interviewed by Tim Duffy, K3LR during Dave's visit to DX Engineering in Tallmadge, Ohio on September 14, 2015
He is on a very short list of the greatest benefactors of amateur radio. A great ham and a great guy.
I agree with what has been written. His skills will be missed and he is a very nice guy. Never have met him but have been in e-mail contact and worked him a few times on CW during contests. I am proud to say that I became a lifetime member of the ARRL while Mr Sumner was CEO of the league.
I've had the privilege of working Dave on the air many times and meeting and talking with him face-to-face at the Dayton Hamvention several times. I served on a couple of ARRL committees over the years and those who work at ARRL HQ tell me Dave's ability to recall ham call signs is remarkable and legendary in Newington. Almost a photographic memory, they told me. Faces? Not so much. Many years ago (30-plus) I lived in Michigan and was active on 2 meter SSB and CW. I worked Dave on 2m CW during an aurora. It was our first QSO. A week later at the Dayton Hamvention, I saw Dave and he instantly remembered me, saying, "Hey, we worked last week on 2m during the aurora." Thus began several such on-air and Dayton-related meetings in later years. At Hamvention, I could walk up to Dave. I would see him quickly shift his eyes to my call sign badge, thus engaging that great memory of his and he would say, "Hi, Dave, great to see you again." He recalled the different places I had worked and lived. And there were several since I moved around a bit to get ahead career-wise. A tremendous memory and very gracious person. Another year at Dayton, I was sitting in the Hara Arena seats taking a break. In came Dave on a break and we ended up having a very nice visit for quite a while. One of the things I have admired about Dave, besides his great memory, is that he's active on the air. There are many who work at ARRL HQ and we seldom hear them on the air. Not Dave. If there's a DX contest, he's on the air. And I worked him several times while he was over in Europe operating 4O3T and 4U1ITU. On another occasion, from my current KY QTH, I was on 6m CW during an e-skip operating and had a small pile-up of West Coast stations calling me. Suddenly I hear someone on frequency send, "Dave Dave de K1ZZ K1ZZ." Dave knew how to break a pile-up! A very able administrator, his skills and passion for ham radio will be missed at ARRL. - 73, Dave, N4KZ
AS WRITTEN BEFORE, A GREAT GUY AND GREAT HAM. GOOD LUCK TO YOU & LINDA IN RETIREMENT DAVE. 73, Jim, K4SQR
One of my earliest QSL cards was from a certain Dave Sumner K1ZND for my 28MHz CW contact of 27 December 1967. I was running 3 watts DC input with a 6AM6 PA stage using my then call GC3WMR/A. GC was much nicer to send on the key than GJ which tends to get anticipated as G1. From what N4KZ has said, Dave might even remember that QSO! He wrote "Ur 3 watts FB, here, Frank". Naturally, as soon as I realised that K1ZZ was the same Dave Sumner, I followed his career with personal interest and knew exactly where to find his glossy green card with black text today. 73, Frank G3WMR
