Radio Ray WA9SXJ

friday heart attack

no public service

dam it
this hurts

Ray always
had
big signal on 75 phone

73 Ray

de mac

 

73 Ray! Find the power grid wherever you are and fire up, I'll always be listening. N9LAP

 

73 ray,,,
i will miss you man,,,
peace to your family,,,
w0trd

 

Turn up the amps on #7 Ray....We sure had fun tearing up the spectrum..
73 Jet W9OS.........................

 

73 to The Santiago

I met Ray back in 1966, on 3803 KHz. I was a rookie General class, 13 years old, running my first SSB rig, a National NCX-5. Ray was running Collins of course, and still in school in Menomonee.

Although I was just a pip-squeak (literally), in best big brotherly fashion, Ray would drive all the way over to my family QTH in west Hennepin county in his dads powder-blue Caddy to pick me up, and we’d go visit all the other 3803 guys in the Twin Cities and surrounding area. One of the most memorable times I had with Ray was one year he took a carload of us up to the St, Cloud ham fest. The 75m mobile field-strength contest was hotly contested!

I once rode the bus over to Wisconsin for the privilege to stay a weekend at Ray's family home, with his mom and dad, both wonderful generous people. Occasionally when he was in the Twins Cities, we'd end up in west St. Paul hanging out with his mischievous Lebanese cousins!

Then the ARRL’s idiotic “incentive licensing” scheme and subsequent realignment of the bottom of 75m broke up our 3803 group. Simultaneously, I gave up ham radio for a while and drifted away from Ray and the other guys. When I got back into it again about 1986 I upgraded to Extra and started hanging with a group on 3770. But I still occasionally would hear from Ray, either dialing up the band late at night, or he would drop in on us surreptitiously.

Occasionally we would go out to River Falls to pay him a visit too. He built quite a little empire for himself, in the tower business, and at his home stations.

He was a tough cookie, in his day built like a bull. But if you got to know Ray well personally, you’d also know what a brilliant, well educated, and interesting guy he could be too, with an eclectic and far ranging scope of interests. Extremely witty, humorous, and colorful, he always brightened up any QSO, on the radio or in person.

Since I moved to Florida over 15 years ago, we were not as close as we used to be. Still I am very saddened to know Ray is gone from my life now. Wish I had checked in with him a lot more often.

73 mi amigo Santiago! - waaaw waaaw !!

de John WØPV a.k.a. “The Ivanhoe” – (ex-WAØPEV)

 

Just found out about this from Skokie Bill W9ERG.
Ray and I have had our differences in the past. I respected that. He certainly will be missed on the Bands with that whopping signal.

73' RIP Ray
Vaya Con Dios



"Toledo" Steve KB8GFF

 

Tribute to Ray Galep: 1948-2011

More fascinating info about Ray.

http://hosted-p0.vresp.com/572548/0cb195c199/ARCHIVE

 

gee still expect him to show up on 3875

he would always say " hows my signal "

unless band was broke

it was ALWAYS BIG

heck how many ops used SB-200's as drivers

along with some BIG BIG 80 es 40 meter antennas

sometimes it seemed

like Ray was on around the clock

would hear him late night on 75

next day hear him check in to midcars on 40

this keeps up

there will not be any big signal ops

worth talking to on 75