George LeDoux - Repeater Pioneer K1TKJ

It is estimated that the median age of amateur operators is now 60+. So, it is no surprise that the monthly list of Silent Keys continues to grow. Each of those hams undoubtedly deserves a special note. However, it is with a lot of personal sorrow that I tell you of the passing of one of ham radio’s legendary repeater pioneers. George LeDoux, K1TKJ of Modesto, California. Originally from Litchfield, Connecticut, in the late 60’s, George became transmitter supervisor for Spanish TV station WXTV with it’s tower located atop the 55 story City Service building at 70 Pine Street in midtown Manhattan. George was an early adopter of 2 meter FM and viewed the opportunity to build a repeater in the nations largest city at 500 feet in the air as irresistible. And so, the WA2SUR repeater became a reality. George didn't invent repeaters. That was accomplished by the late Arthur M. Gentry, W6MEP, almost a decade earlier. What George did was to bring them from mere signal repeating devices to the level of early ham radio social networking on 2 meters. A place where a ham could go to forget for a while life's day to day drudgery. And his WA2SUR repeater was among the first if not the very first to adopt this “lets have fun attitude”. Soon, the “Sewer” as it became known, had over 500 active amateurs and wide coverage throughout New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. However, it was affable George LeDoux’s personality that spearheaded what became a social group of repeater users’ rarely paralleled before or since.

If you ventured onto 2 meters in the late 1960's and lived anywhere within 100 miles or so of Manhattan, then you quickly found WA2SUR and bought a set of crystals to get on that fun meeting place. While most other systems prided themselves on emergency preparedness or the distance they could cover, in the case of WA2SUR, the pride for K1TKJ was in knowing he had created a place in ham radio for folks to just have fun.

And have fun they did. Not only were their multiple layers of conversations 24 hours a day, but also picnics, parties, dinner gatherings and the like. And George oversaw it all from his perch atop 70 Pine Street in New York City and from where his voice could be heard daily, usually laughingly saying what became his well known fun signature line of: "Shut up. Shut up. Get off my frequency." If George hurled that barb your way, you knew that you had been accepted as a member of the WA2SUR family.

After leaving WXTV George moved west to California where he became the Chief Engineer of another television station. In April of 1984 he began an in house manufacturing operation for the station to supply its own needs for a new UHF transmitter.

It was a good design and word spread. Soon that station was building two, and then three transmitters with George’s highly efficient design. After satisfying their own needs and the needs of the other stations, George's employer decided to stick to broadcasting and to get out of the manufacturing business. A deal was struck in which the assets were transferred and Astre Systems Inc. which was formed in July of 1986 with George Ledoux, K1TKJ, as its president.

At the time of his passing he was upgrading the modulators and transmitter control circuitry for the 14 one hundred thousand watt transmitters at shortwave station WYFR in Okeechobee, Florida owned by Family Radio. Because of this, K1TKJ was making frequent trips to Florida and to his suppliers to build his custom made boards.

On Sunday morning, December 28th, he was about to board a plane in San Francisco to Salt Lake City to investigate delays from one of his suppliers. He was in the waiting area at the airport when he suffered shortness of breath. Others in the waiting area tried to calm him, but soon, he fell into unconsciousness and was not able to be revived.

George LeDoux, K1TKJ, is survived by his wife Cindy and 5 grown children. His son George was a partner in the Astre Systems business. A memorial service was held on Friday, January 8th at Grace Lutheran Church in Modesto. Ironically, George's daughter Christine LeDoux is a world renowned Country folk singer and had written several songs about her Dad including a somewhat prophetic one about his failing heart called “Angel you’ve come too soon”.

George LeDoux, K1TKJ will be missed by many of us such as myself who knew him well.

 

I didn't know your dad, but.....

I certainly want to pass my condolences to you, and your family. It sounds as though he was truly a pioneer, a term all too often misused to describe Elmers.
I hope his friends and family have enough fond memories to fill the rest of their lives.
73,
Dan
W3RXO