Rich Whiten x wb2otk sk

have just received word Rich passed last night.

 

Wow!

Rich and I were friends 30+ years ago back when he and Idene lived in Poughkeepsie, NY. Their daughter was maybe 4 years old.

Are you in touch with Idene?

 

contact

no i am not. but the ham who emailed me about him passing has contact with her

 

Rich and I met back in 1989 on 20 meters when all of the bad stuff was going on,seemed like folks were just going out of control!I know that most will say that Rich was a part of the blame but we all must know that it takes two to tango!There was alot of people that fueled the fire for their own twisted humour.I will tell you that I have spent time in his home and met his family and he and Idene visited my wife and I at our home.
Since things calmed down on the radio,Rich and I kept in touch every day by phone or email,I prayed for him when he was fighting cancer and it seemed to draw us togather.I don't care what others will say but I want all to know we were friends and he will be missed.

 

Sorry to hear this. Rich and I had a good "radio fun" relationship. I liked him.

 

Rich, Idene and their daughter Leslie operated with me at WB2WIK/4 in Chincoteague, VA (FM27) in June 1987, when we set a new high scoring record for the VHF contest from that Division. He was my primary 6m operator, and Rich had a feel for six meters unlike anyone else I'd ever met. He could smell a band opening and loved six meters. Idene and Leslie weren't hams and didn't operate but supported the operation a lot, including cooking, setup, teardown, etc.

In his Poughkeepsie, NY attic back in the 70s he used to homebrew VHF amplifiers, including big ones using 8877s, at a rate of about one amplifier per week and he'd keep one and sell the rest to locals to get them on VHF QRO. It was really a good service for local guys who had the desire to DX on VHF but lacked the skill or time to build a big amp.

We were good friends for many years, and I did visit him twice in SC after he moved back from Jacksonville. His family also stayed with me more than once at my home in NJ back then. He ran 200W PEP to a homebrew turnstile on his SUV on 2m SSB and I could work him starting 200+ miles away as he would drive up to my place. A great enthusiast, and he will be missed.

 

I never met him in person, but we spent many an hour on the telephone, as well as the air.

 

FYI:

http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2005/k1man_apology.htm

BBC

 

That is disturbing.
Anyone who knows my philosphy and politics knows that I am diametrically opposed to hate mongering and racism. When I knew Rich, he was very much "anti K1MAN". Maybe, knowing my feelings he never spoke that way around me.
:shrug:

 

Interesting .....I thought anything "K1MAN" or "Glenn Baxter" is considered verbotten territory on QRZ ......... moderation staff must've had a change of heart I presume.....

 

My post had nothing to do with any of the stations you mentioned. Just wanted to point out that perhaps this chaps ham-life is not much to celebrate.

bbc

 

Rich did get himself in trouble in the 2000's...I think he was in some sort of midlife crisis or something, because he was always a very nice guy and good operator any time we worked together (mostly in the 1980s). Listening to some of the reports of the 20 meter antics many years later I would have thought he was drunk, but the whole time I knew him he never drank. Even at our contests, everyone would have a beer but not Rich, he didn't like it and drank soda.

He had some physical problems which led to cancer, and may have been on prescription pain killers that altered his personality. I've heard about such stuff but don't know much about it.

He ultimately turned in his license, and even sent me a copy of his letter to the FCC saying he was volunteering his license and they could cancel it. I was shocked to see that. This is a guy who moved to SC and put up a 100' tower and stacked 36' long six meter yagis so people all over the world could work his (at that time) rare grid square, and he'd be up at 6AM every day working meteor scatter (way before WSJT made that a lot easier), making a lot of six meter enthusiasts very happy to get the new grid.

Someone with that much energy and enthusiasm for ham radio was a great benefit to the hobby for years. I was amazed when it all went downhill years later and figured he must have been taking some mind-altering drugs since I knew for sure he hated alcohol and they never had any in the house.

To replace ham radio, he got very heavily into high-end audio systems and had an amazing home theater system at home years before anyone I knew had anything like that. Always tweaking to remove the last 1% of distortion, or extend the fidelity somehow. He was still home-brewing amplifiers, but this time audio amplifiers, and making big ones that were better than anything on the hobbyist market.

 

My interaction with him was on 75m in the late 80s and early 90s. I had heard stories about 20m, but that situation was something I did not want to be associated with, so I am not aware of any details.

 

I'm really not, either, except for a few things I've read and heard. In the 80s I was mostly into VHF weak signal work, and for many years so was Rich. He was very good at it, and that takes a lot more talent than working DX on HF, unless you're doing that with QRP and a whip.

I remember being in Rich's attic in NY, building amplifiers with him. He started out making common mistakes and I worked with him to correct those, and he never made them again (stuff like winding RF chokes that would blow up because they were just wrong for the job, etc). I traded him a very good grid dip meter (Measurements 59) for a pair of 4CX250Bs he had (reasonable trade) and he immediately learned how to use that just fine.

This is making me sad, I have to find Idene's phone number and give her a call.

 

If i knew that my posting of rich passing away would have caused so much confusion i would not have posted it. i knew rich from 75 meters. i even met him a few times. he was a man just like the rest of us and he made mistakes like all of us have. so if you are with out mistakes go ahead and throw stones. he will have to answer for himself just like all of us will at some point in time.