Great stories Jeff. I first met Stu at K1EA's place in the summer of
1988, when I first moved to W1-land. Ken had just put up his 4-yagi
stack for 10m and Stu would be operating CQWW SSB from there in
October that year. My first thoughts were "now, these guys are pretty
laid-back and cool." Stu and I had butted heads in various contests
prior to meeting. Contesters always seem very different in person
than when we compete on the air.
Stu and I (and Ken, K1AR, K1DG, K1GQ, KC1XX, KT1V, and many others
here in the Boston/Southern NH area) would go on to become good
friends who operated many incredible contests together. Whenever I
operated together with Stu it was a magical experience. We just
seemed to be in sync for 48 hours straight - if we shared a band,
neither one of us ever felt like we would be leaving anything unworked
if one of us needed a little rest. Stu knew all the bands, but was
especially competitive on 20 meters - he knew how to keep a frequency
clear and work the pile down to the last layer. Stu's 1985 CQWW SSB
Single Op 14 MHz record still stands and is the oldest CQWW SSB USA
record in the books.
He always knew how to make me laugh. And laugh hard usually. Stu
had a way with people - a gentle way, but always with a tiny dose of
sarcasm here and there to keep things real. And I have met few people
more dedicated to family, both his wife and kids, and his parents,
especially his dad, Bill N1AU. When they created KC1F they broke the
mold.
We went to WRTC 2002 Finland together as roommates and referees. A
fun, really memorable trip. Stu was really psyched to be able to go
on that trip, as he was for WRTC 2006 in Brazil.
So, my small tribute to Stu...this recording came off a cassette tape
I have had in a drawer for 20 years (given to me by K1EA)...
Stu running a 221 hour in the 1988 CQWW SSB Contest, which he won
Single Op All-Band High Power:
http://www.km3t.org/kc1f-cqww-ssb-1988-28mhz.mp3
Running a 221 hour in CQWW on any band from the U.S. in 1988 was a
feat that, to our knowledge, hadn't been achieved. So this is very
notable. With the strong supply of European stations this is now a
somewhat frequent feat accomplished by top stations. I learned a lot
of my own running techniques from listening to and operating with Stu.
A strong influence, indeed.
We have all lost a good friend and a tough, highly skilled competitor
who also had a heart of gold.
73 es RIP Stu - we will miss you.
73,
Dave KM3T
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