Jeff, Thanks for the great writeup about Jack. Although I didn’t know him as well as you did I had the pleasure of meeting him several times and saw many pictures of the old setup. Logged him from Navassa on both trips, he not only had a booming signal, he was always courteous operator. RIP VE1ZZ
73, Tony K2SG > On Oct 19, 2018, at 1:10 PM, k1zm--- via Topband <topband@contesting.com> > wrote: > > Hello Gang > > > I am truly saddened to have to pass along the contents of an email I just > received from Carl Leahy who was one of Jack Leahy, VE1ZZ's sons. > > > It is short and sweet - but I will add some personal comments after sharing > his note to me. > > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++= > > > > > > Carl Leahy carl.leahy1@gmail.comHide > > To > k1zm k...@aol.com > > > > Jeff, our family wanted you to know that dad passed away last evening. If you > could let the people in the ham world know we would really appreciate it. It > was a very big part of his life . He had just been talking about you and the > book you gave him a few years ago.. > > > Carl Leahy > Signing off for VE1ZZ 😞 > > > > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > > A few comments from my memory now follow - as best I recall them: > > > VE1ZZ was not only a personal friend to many of us - he was probably one of > the finest Topband Dx'ers ever to have lived. He goes back to not long after > W1BB came back on the band at the end of WW!! - and was one of the strongest > signals I have ever witnessed on Topband. His signal was almost LEGENDARY > all over the world. EU stations used to say - "He is almost as loud when he > calls in Asian pileups as the EU callers are over here"...and that says it > all! > > > Jack Leahy was personally responsible for my migrating to VY2ZM and was here > at my home twice - once is 2002 and once in 2012. I last visited him and > Opal (his XYL) in August of 2014 with Mike OE6MBG who wanted to meet Jack and > see his QTH . > > > When I finally had the time after building my house here on PEI to visit > Jack which was probably in July of 2003 or 2004, at first blush his place did > not make a huge impression on me because it had only a short triangular > portion of land at the road in the Head of Jeddore NE of Halifax - and the > land rose rapidly behind his home. One initially wondered "How does he get > out so well from here down at the road?" > > > The answer came shortly thereafter - Jack took me out behind the house - and > we climbed that hill - up and up and up for something like a MILE - it was a > pizza slice in shape and very wide at the top of the hill in the woods - with > only about 100 feet (if that) at the road front side of the parcel. > > > Some distance up the hill was Jack's 160m 4sq array - which was made of ROHN > 6 tower - that was sitting on 18 wheeler truck tires as base insulators. The > towers were not tall - perhaps 55 feet or so and the rest of each radiator > was wire - so it was really a WIRE inverted L 4sq. Jack was the "ultimate > scavenger" and his radials were all 1-2" diameter pieces of HARDLINE!!! > Hundreds of them all over the hillside I think he had a friend in CATV or at > his local dump - but he got most of it for next to nothing he said. > > > From that point of his land, he could reach around the HILLTOP on 160m to > acquire a clear shot to EU and the South was wide open and to the SW was > also clear looking over the water. Looking straight up the hill was probably > blocked to some degree - but often this does not matter all that much on > Topband. > > > The day I was there was shortly after Jack had managed to communicate across > the pond on what I think was 600m - I may be wrong about the frequency - but > the antenna he used to make the SLOW SLOW SPEED CW contact was something out > of this world! > > > It started about 1/3 of the way up the hill - and ran all the way to the rear > of the property to near the furthest reaches of his land - and this was a > LONG LONG LONG walk to get there - through some land that I recall was > swampy. It had to have been at least 3000 feet long. > > > Part way up the hill, Jack had built a small shelter in which he placed the > BIGGEST homebrew loading coil I have ever seen. It was about 4 feet tall and > about 8 feet in diameter and wrapped around some kind of coil form he had > created. > > > Jack explained that it took him awhile to resonate the system to his desired > operating QRG - and this was done by taking a pair of alligator clips and > through trial and error he tapped the coil he made - trying to use a DC > ammeter to find the point of peak current into the system - which he > explained seemed to indicate the system was reasonably matched. > > > His was among the first to work across the pond with that antenna - just one > of his many achievements. > > > When I was in the US Navy stationed at Bremerhaven, Germany I used to listen > to Jack and W1BB on 160m. W1BB would sit around 1801, KV4FZ often was around > 1803 and Jack was down at the low end as well - calling CQ listening QSX up > at around 1825-1830 in what was then known as the "DX Window". > > > Jack had a huge signal even then - using equipment that was popular in that > era. I recall a Hammarlund HQ 160 Rx or something close to that model - > there is a photo of that station from the late 1950's in my book "Dx'ing on > the Edge." > > > Jack's More Recent Station - Inside > > > When I first visited Jack in 2003/2004, it was in his old house - not the > newer one he built further up the hill some years later. The station was > vintage (much like my own on Cape Cod) - and Jack used a TS830 driving a HB > amp to something around a KW DC input. Jack's operating table gave me a > chuckle because there was only about 4 inches of space between the front > panel of the radio and the edge of the table. Jack was a "leftie" and placed > his paddle parallel to the front of the TS830 and did his best to keep his > forearm on the table while he sent. > > > Jack's keying system triggered a bunch of interconnected relays as he > operated and he had quite a number of vintage antenna switches which selected > his many Rx antennas. > > > After visiting his shack, Jack later showed me around other parts of the rest > of the house - and I recall several rooms CHOCK FULL of stuff most of us > would die for. One room was full of EIMAC xmitting tubes - 4-400's, some > 304TL's, some 4-1000A's etc > > > Another room had shelves loaded with vacuum relays and vacuum variables he > had collected over the years. Not one or two - but something like a 100 of > them. There were also rotary inductors for HB design and many other things > that made me drool. > > I think I remember a third room full of vintage ham radio gear as well. > Older stuff he had used previously over the years I guess. > > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > > I will relate one story about Jack when I was operating at 7O6T over in Yemen > in 2012 I think it was. I was calling CQ arond 1823kHz waiting for SS to > occur in NA - and this bone crushing signal came at me that almost blew me > out of my chair. You can listen to this clip on my VY2ZM website - and you > will see what I mean. > > > I told Jack that I was operating in the snippet - and later asked him to > please tell me when OTHER NA stations were calling. I said, please do NOT > tell me the calls - just tell me that USA stations are now hearing me and > calling me. Jack did as I asked and about 15 mins later a very weak in the > noise caller was Dave Patten, NN1N who was probably 3-4 S units down from > Jack's signal. Dave's station is first rate - but there is something truly > magical about operating from the Maritimes along oceanfront property. It is > just how things work - Jack had what I call the "front door" to the NE path > and it often shows up as it did that evening at 7O6T. > > > Here's how to listen to what I heard: > > > 1) Go to http://www,vy2zm.com > 2) Select the sound bites tab > 3) Click on Sound Bite #4 and play VE1ZZ - Booming. > 4) If you also wish to hear NN1N's piece look further down the list to hear > the difference in signal levels. > > > JACK's last years > > > I last spoke with Jack in the summer of 2016. He told me he then had COPD > and that his amp needed repairs and that his antennas were largely broken. I > had heard him sparingly in 2015 and probably not at all in 2016 - and that > explained why. > > > > > JACK's 160m DXCC Achievements: > > > For many years JACK held the #2 position WORLD in the Topband DXCC rankings. > He finished his legendary Topband career at 334 countries confirmed at > position #6 in the current rankings. This is only a HANDFUL of entities > below that necessary to have qualified for DXCC HONOR ROLL - single band > 160M. His mild, unassuming manner was also the measure of the man. He would > stop DX'ing and work ANYONE who called him - which says alot as well. His > was a special person and I have always admired him and what he managed to do > in HAM RADIO. > > > Not only did he make DXCC on 160m - in the summers he got me hooked on 6M and > he had a 6M DXCC as well - just to keep himself occupied during the summer > doldrums on 160M. > > > I will close now and stop reminiscing about Jack - but I think it is > altogether fitting that we stop and pause a moment to remember this fine 160M > operator and gentleman and what he achieved on the band we all love to > operate. He will always occupy a special place in our memories of Topband! > > > 73 and thanks for the bandwidth. > > > JEFF K1ZM/VY2ZM > > > Email: k...@aol.com > > > > > > > Jeff Briggs > DXing on the Edge: The Thrill of 160 Meters > Available worldwide through BookBaby, Array Solutions, DX Engineering, Royal > Society of Great Britain, & Amazon > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________ > Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
