K8MMM

It was 1974, I was not a Ham. I bought a 5 element Antenna Specialists CB Beam Antenna, and wanted to stack it. I called Antenna Specialist Company down in Ohio. (I lived in Detroit at the time). I was given to Tom Baker K8MMM, who patiently answered all my questions, then asked me THIS Question "Why are you not a Ham" ?
He told me stacking 5 element 11 meter antennas was an "exercise in futility", because the 11 Meter band was much too crowded.
He told me all about Ham Radio. I "blame Tom" for my becoming a Ham.
I will never forget you Tom
Thank You for taking the time to talk to a Kid.
Ka7niq

 

Wow, I didn't know Tom had passed away.

I knew Tom even from the 1960s. When I first got on 6m SSB in 1967-68 he was one of the stations I could work literally every night on 6m SSB meteor scatter from NJ -- he did a terrific job on the band.

RIP, Tom.

 

I think he passed away 2-3 years ago. His call now belongs to the K8MMM Memorial Radio Club, Lee KZ4RR is custodian. They put station on the air at Dayton Hamfest every year.

I have known Tom and his family since the late 60's. When I was 13 or 14 years old, Tom, K8TVD and WA8EJP and I rode up to Buffalo to upgrade our licenses. I was the only one to pass the code test, but then flunked the theory! A bust for all of us.

Used to talk to him on the way to and from work, on 75 meters, when I got home from school. He used to drive to Ashtabula County to work at Antenna Specialist testing range at K8DOC's place, for a short while.

Many more stories to share, if I had the time to write them all down. Good times!

 

Tom was an "Elmer" to a lot of guys before the term was even coined.

I first met Tom in 1974 through mutual friends. I was already a ham at the time but pretty much inactive. Tom got my interest in ham radio restarted, introduced me to a lot of good folks in this area (including my future father-in-law), taught me alot about antennas that helped me greatly in my professional life, and was just a great all around guy.

Tom again touched my life even after his death. I'd dropped out of ham radio in the mid 1980s - even let my license lapse. I was living in Sacramento, CA, and one day while at the library I picked up a copy of QST on the rack and was leafing through it when I hit the "Silent Keys" page: there was a call that just jumped off the page and slapped me up side the head - it was Tom's call K8MMM. Said to myself, "wow - you aren't getting any younger and it is time to get your act together and get active again". And, as that old phrase goes, the rest is history. Left the insane asylum known as California, moved back to Ohio (I presently live about 1 mile directly north of Tom's old QTH in Novelty, OH), got licensed again, and got active again in the club I once belonged to (and that Tom has helped start).

Really miss Tom; very few folks, ham or not, understood antennas and propagation better than Tom. Any time you where at his house he made you feel like you where family, and yes, I can tell stories about the oft-rumored "cloud warmer" he had (yes, it DID exist - I saw it "in the flesh" and in operation). Tom may be gone to the big "ham shack in the sky" but he sure will NOT be forgotten.

Bill Bowen
K8WHB

 

Thomas A. Baker archived
THOMAS A. BAKER, age 67, of Novelty. Loving son of the late Alonzo and Elsie (Sholle) Baker. Mr. Baker was an amateur radio operator, station call K8MMM. Family and friends will gather on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 at St. Anselm Church, 12969... More

Published in The Plain Dealer on November 2, 2008