On The Cover: September 2004

On the Cover

Many of you may recall the tragic death of one of ham radio’s great contributors a few months ago, Bill Fisher, W4AN. This month we’re proud to share a part of the energy and enthusiasm Bill had for our great hobby, as can be seen by the impressive 40-meter Yagi atop of one of his towers at his mountain-top contest QTH in Dahlonega, Georgia. Much has been written about Bill in recent months—his contributions via contesting.com and eham.com (both of which continue to thrive after his passing), his operating excellence, and his desire to always give something back to ham radio.

Bill had many friends in the hobby, and I’m proud to say that I was one of them. In the sport of contest operating, our competitive nature brings a peculiar element to our relationships. Bill and I would often talk on the phone about our careers, family, and other matters, but more often than not, we would engage in a not-so-subtle series of head games with one another, especially as the time for “battle” approached.

As it turns out, one of Bill’s favorite contests was the CQ WW DX CW, covered in this month’s issue. One of the great shootouts in the CQ WW actually took place between Bill and me in the 1999 CW contest. As the contest timeframe approached, Bill was quietly focusing on one goal—winning the contest. While I certainly took Bill seriously, I had the advantage of operating from premier New England superstation K1EA. In my mind, there simply was no way that a station in Georgia could ever overcome that challenge. However, challenges such as that were exactly what motivated Bill. On that memorable weekend in November 1999, Bill delivered one of the contest’s greatest performances as he demonstrated to all of us how hard work, desire, and discipline, when combined with skill, can allow one to reach one’s goals. Yes, Bill “cleaned my clock” that weekend. It was not only impressive on its own merit, but the fact that it was such a conscious and deliberate effort makes it one of the great victories in the history of the CQ WW. Rarely before had a station that far away from the dominant Northeast racked up such an impressive victory (nearly 4300 QSOs and 9 million points). All I could do was scratch my head, tip my hat to Bill, and stand in awe.

A few months later at the Dayton Contest Forum, Bill and I had the opportunity to break down the results in a little more detail for those who were interested.While he clearly had won the operating battle, the reality for Bill was that that particular contest had actually started years earlier when he set out to build a world-class station up on the mountain with his own two hands and bring it to victory as he did in 1999. That’s the person who is on this month’s cover—a competitor, a gentleman, and a friend. We’ll miss you, Bill, more than you could ever know! —John, K1AR

(Photo by Larry Mulvehill, WB2ZPI)

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