Wayne Green, W2NSD, SK

The Amateur Radio term "SK" means "Silent Key", and is sent as a "Prosign" at the end of CW (Morse Code) transmissions when the station is going off-the-air.

It's also used to describe a Ham who has passed away.....their key is now silent forever.

Well, I just heard that Wayne Green, W2NSD (Never Say Die), noted publisher of "73" magazine, among many other things, has passed away a few days ago at age 91.

Wayne has a rather short Wikipedia entry, considering all he did, so courtesy of the AMSAT News Service, here's a listing of some of his accomplishments:

* started one of the first personal computer software companies
   (Instant Software).
 * opened computer software stores - eventually sold a national chain
   of 58 stores.
 * while in college started a broadcasting station (WRPI) which is now
   the largest student activity.
 * served on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Board of Overseers
   and RPI Council.
 * served as the First Executive in Residence at RPI.
 * served as a consultant for the RPI Business Incubator - which won
   the 1996 prize as the best in the country.
 * been a licensed amateur radio operator as W2NSD since 1940.
 * pioneered amateur radio repeaters since 1969, starting with WRLAAB
   on Mt. Monadnock NH.
 * established amater radio in Jordan in 1970 and wrote their rules and
   regulations.
 * supplied and installed the first repeater in Jordan, J-Y73, in 1973.
 * helped radio amateurs pioneer FM, radio Teletype, single sideband,
   and slow scan TV.
 * bounced amateur radio signals off the Moon from the big dish at the
   Arecibo Observatory, PR.
 * been editing and publishing amateur radio magazines for 47 years.
 * a state-of-the-art digital recording studio.
 * four record labels and produced over 150 CDs.
 * helped re-popularize ragtime music and personally knows all of the
   top ragtime performers.
 * started 25 successful publications in the radio, computer and music
   fields.
 * published over 100 books.
 * wrote one of the first books on digital communications.
 * been on an African hunting safari.
 * visited the ruins of Ba'albek in Lebanon, the Queen of Sheba's water
   catchments in Aden.
 * visited the Pyramids, the Sphynx. the ruins in Athens, the Taj Mahal
   and Katmandu.
 * visited the head-hunter longhouses in Sarawak.
 * helped organize and lead trade groups of around 250 people to yearly
   electronic shows in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
 * given keynote addresses to radio, educational, computer, and music
   conferences.
 * helped invent a new kind of loud speaker - borrowed $1,000 on my car
   to start a manufacturing company and within two and a half years it
   became the largest speaker manufacturer in the country with seven
   factories.
 * performed in The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance in high school
 * served as president of radio clubs in high school and college.
 * served in Navy 1942-1946 in WWII - electronic technician on USS Drum
   SS-228 (which is on display at Mobile, Alabama) for five war patrols.
 * been a radio engineer and announcer in North Carolina, Florida and
   Virginia.
 * been chief cameraman at WPIX-TV (11) in NYC.
 * produced and directed network TV shows in Dallas and Cleveland.
 * a reputation as a gourmet cook.
 * served as president of Porsche Club of America.
 * raced my Porsche on the Nurburgring and Solitude race tracks in
   Germany.
 * both driven and navigated in many national SCCA car rallies.
 * served as a founder and first secretary of American Mensa.
 * a Ph.D. in Entrepreneurial Science.
 * lectured on entrepreneurialism at Yale, Boston University, Case
   Western, Babson College, RPL and many other colleges.
 * been on the first commercial airline flight between Philadelphia and
   New York in 1927.
 * flown with father since 1922.
 * served on the FCC's National Industry Advisory Committee (NIAC).
 * served on the FCC's Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC).
 * testified before a Congressional hearing on the music industry.
 * had the usual toys: airplane, Porsche, yacht, Jaguar, Mercedes 600
   Pullman limosine.
 * worked on a Guggenheim grant on a color organ for the Guggenheim
   Museum on 5th Avenue.
 * graduated Bliss Electrical SchooL Tacoma Padc MD.
 * attended Radio Materiel School on Treasure Island, San Francisco and
   graduated as ETM2/c.
 * served for five war patrols on SS-228 USS Dnun, made ETMI/c.
 * taught electronics at Submarine School, New London CT.
 * organized and run successful mail order Elm Stamp Company at age 12.
 * sung in St. Pauls Church choir as boy soprano.
 * sung in Philharmonic Choir of Brooklyn.
 * sung in Erasmus High School Choral Club.
 * pioneered the 6-meter ham band as the first New York City station on
   that band.
 * run a 6-meter beacon station for several years in cooperation with
   the Radio Amateur Scientific Observations (RASO) program.
 * for years had a VHF/UHF station on Mt. Monadnock NH; regularly heard
   for over 600 miles.
 * been Excutive Secretary of the Music Research Foundation, Madison
   Avenue, N.Y.
 * worked for GE as a test engineer on Army radio equipment.
 * been an engineer at Airborne Instrument Laboratories in Mineola NY
   developing radar equip.
 * tried marijuana in 1948 to see what it was like.
 * tried LSD in 1960 to see what that was like.
 * drunk with shipmates on liberty while in the Navy. Have seldom drunk
   since.
 * tried smoking as a teenager, thought it was stupid. Ignored peer
   pressure.
 * know the real dope on Amelia Earhart's last trip.
 * been convinced that NASA had to have faked all of the moon landings.
 * driven from Brooklyn NY to Peterborough NH (250 miles), averaging
   100 mph one night - including a gas stop.
 * interesting friends such as Barry Goldwater, King Hussein, Steve
   Jobs, Bill Gates, and Rod McKuen.
 * been convinced that with proper nutrition and avoiding poisons we
   can dependably live to over 100.
 * ridden Starlit Night, the Ringling Brothers top show horse.
 * a professorship of horsemanship and taught riding instructors.
 * a Hubbard Dianetic Auditor certificate and has processed over 100
   patients, with some remarkable successes.
 * swum the three mile length of Coney Island many times.
 * investigated crop circles and a UFO hovering over a house in nearby
   Francestown, NH.
 * drove a snowmobile 50 mph in the White Mountains of New Hampshire at
   age 82.

Some of his beliefs were decidedly NON mainstream, and there were times I thought he'd gone completely off his rocker, especially in his later years.


Still, I admired his tenacity, even though I didn't agree with 90% of his writings.


So farewell, Wayne, and may your final journey be enjoyable.


I'm sure he'll be arguing with St. Peter until they let him in.....


******UPDATE******

From the ARRL Bulletin, as posted on the eHam website, with various comments from the Amateur Radio community.