It was with much sadness that I read of Julian's death last Friday on Twitter and then on his blog
Like many others who have tweeted or blogged about Julian's passing, I found his blog an inspiration and there was always something of interest for me.
On the air, I think I first worked Julian on 2m CW back in the 1980s when he was still 'down south'. I remember it well, as G3ILO was local to me and working G4ILO made me smile. We didn't have many on air QSOs in recent years, although we emailled and commented on each other's blogs quite regularly.
A memorable communication from Julian was an APRS message he sent me, bounced off the ISS. We also had a nice Echolink QSO one evening, when I was on the train and he was in his shack. We never worked on DSTAR, a mode that it fair to say, did not appeal to Julian at all, and he was quite happy to say so!
Happy memories of a very interesting man who I shall miss. Sympathies to Olga for her loss.
Julian's last blog post reminds us to hold our loved ones close...
I shall miss Julian a lot.
ReplyDeleteHis radio blog was intensely practical. He never went for the expensive and flashy solution, but rather one that worked. With items bought from China and stealth antennas in the attic he offered ways for real people to achieve results without breaking the bank or annoying the neighbours.
On the blog he kept to chronicle his illness, Julian's approach to life came through again. He analysed and criticised his treatment just as he did for any technology product. But this was real life, and he had a huge following for his inspiring posts.
I guess that Julian's enthusiasm and curiosity is a major factor in me keeping up my own interest in the hobby, so I want to pay tribute to him by carrying on. I think he would have approved.
At the moment I am thinking of Olga who, like Julian, I have never met but who I feel is a friend.
Jim
GM4FVM