HaGAL

HAGAL INTERNATIONAL July 2001 Vol.15 No.7

Israel Ham News by Ahron Kirschner 4X1AT and Ron Gang 4X1MK

THE AGALEGA DXPEDITION - THE ISRAELI ASPECT

We are very proud that four members of the very successfiil Expedition to the Agalega Islands were first class Israeli. Operators. The Expedition's manager was 4X1DF Amnon Bar-Giora. Participatig was the well-known 160-meter Dxer Ricky Klein 4X4NJ. In the team were also 4X1DX Moshe Levitatz and 4Z5FL Leonid Gevin beth of them were acknowledged SSB operators of an outstanding QSO handling capabilities.

The Expedition, with all its 21 operators was the first activity ever to be on the air in ALL modes. In the few days of their stay on the Island they made more than 64.000 contacts with over 100 DXCC countries on all continents. We are proud to present you, in our next edition, two written contributions of Israelis participating. The first, from the man managing all, 4XIDF Ainnon Bar-Giora. 4XiDX Moshe Levitata wrote the second..

K3STM - A SILENT KEY

Our good friend David Wharton, K3 STM (Saba Tov Mood - or in English 'a very good grandfather'), has put hie key aside, became a Silent Key. Many of us who visited the Washington area were invited by him to his home.

One of the many visitors and his good friend is Gideon Radin 4X410. We asked Gideon to write some lines in memory of David Wharton, ~STM. Here are two epitaphs. The first written by Gideon Radin, 4X410 and the second by Avrarn Schacter N3BBF.

David Wharton K3STM is no longer with us!

I bow my head, together with all other people who knew David, in sorrow for the departure of such a dear friend, a wonderftil person and a fellow "ham". In the following lines, I will try to convey my personal view of this kind man who has recently become a "silent key".

David had an exceptionally magnetizing personality. He was, first and foremost, an enthusiastic amateur radio operator who dedicated a great deal of his time to the hobby. He also was a warm-hearted Jew, proud of the achievements of the state of Israel and an ardent supporter of the Israel Amateur Radio Club. His conduct throughout the years earned him a well-deserved honorary membership of the IARC.

I came to know him back in 1978, on a work tripto Washington DC. Friends in Israel advised me to call him when I arrived there. Upon doing so I was astonished to find out how much a visit of a "ham" from Israel meant to him.

He was fluent in Hebrew although until then he never set foot in Israel, and was very happy with the opportunity to speak the language. He seemed to like the fact that my parents were also of Lithuanian origin, and immediately classified me as "one of us - echad rnishelanu". His age was 58 then, but he did not work any more - he retired himself to be able to devote himself to his hobbies and to go through life the way he preferred.

David came all the way from Hyattsville, Md. to my hotel near the Washington DC mall to pick me up and drive me to his home. In his car he had this tape on which he recorded in Yiddish his thoughts about the holocaust and his complaints to God such as "why did we have to go through all this?".

At his home, he and his wife Bassia wined and dined me. They really knew how to make a guest feel welcome. David proudly presented his radio shack and let me talk to Israel over the radio. He contacted other local Jewish hams and urged them to give me good advice on how to conduct myself in America (this was my first and only visit to the States).

Ever since our first encounter, David and I maintained frequent radio contacts. This was his wish' and I must adrrjit that I willingly spent sleepless nights talking to him and occasionally providing him with "phone-patch" services.

This is the spot to mention that David was "king of the phone patch" for Israeli hams. He was all too happy to provide such services even to remote areas of the American continent, and you didn't have to ask twice. He, in return, asked only to be phone patched to friends in Israel that he knew from his early years in Kovno, Lithuania. His interest in friends that he didn't see for many years was true and heartfelt.

I saw David again in the early 80's, when he summoned up his strength and paid a visit to Israel. His health was still reasonable then, and he managed to detach himself for a while from under the protective wings of Bassia, his wife.

For very long years to follow I received his copy of HAGAL at my QTH and re-mailed it to him. He always told me that he read it passionately from cover to cover.

With regard to "ham" radio equipment, David behaved like a boy in a toyshop. He always purchseed the latest equipment that was offered in the market and was happy to play with it. His locat amateur equipment supply store knew him well, since he was such a good customer. I remember that once he bought a new linear amplifier, and upon opening the cardboard box at home he found just a heavy building brick inside. Needless to say that the store attendants believed his story and replaced the goods - they knew that they were dealing with an honest person.

Throughout the last few years, David's health declined (he underwent surgery at least twice), and this inevitably entailed a decline in his amateur radio activity. He resorted to corresponding with friends via the internet, and sent me jokes as well as complaints about his deteriorating health and about the excruciating pain he experienced when trying to walk.

When I talked to him on the phone last February, it was obvious that there was something very wrong with him. He sounded very different from his cheerful old self, and complained about being confined to his bed.

David's death is a tragic loss to his family and to all those who knew him well enough to appreciate the exceptionally good qualities of his character. "Saba Tov Meod" that he used as phonetics for the letters STM in his call-sign has rightfiilly become his nick-name. May he rest in peace. Gideon 4X410

Avram N3BBF wrote: It is with deep sadness and profound sorrow that I have to report that David Wharton K3STM I 4X8DW of Hyattsville, MD has become a Silent Key. He passed away on Monday evening June 11, 2001 at Doctor's Community Hospital in Prince Georges County, Maryland. He was 81 years old.

An active ham since the l960s, Dave was instrumental in changing Chaverim from a loosely organized affinity group of Jewish hams into a real radio club. Founding the Chaverim of Greater Washington in the 1970s by searching through the Callbook for all Jewish sounding names under the W3 listings he established what was to become the first and oldest chapter of Chaverim.

Dave was extremely active on the 4X net during sunspot cycles 20, 21 and 22; on the Pletzaleh net of the Brazilian Chaverim; was recognized for his efforts passing traffic during the Vietnam War and Central American earthquakes; and was a tireless champion of amateur radio within the Washington DC area. "Dave's Kosher Hamshack" was the meeting place for visiting Jewish hams from lsrael and around the world. Together with Jim Weitzman K3JW he continued publication of the Chaverim Newsletter after the passing of Hal Crystal ~BYB. He left an indelible mark on the Chaverim movement.

A native of Kovno, Lithuania, he was educated in the Tarbut schools that stressed academics, Jewish culture and the Hebrew language. Dave was fluent in English, Hebrew, Yiddish and Lithuanian. He and his wife Bassia survived the Kovno ghetto, the Auschwitz concentration camp and made their way to the United States after the war.

Chaverim and the amateur community has lost one of its shining stars. Dave was a kind and generous soul and his passing leaves us with large void.

He is survived by his wife Bassia, sister Fruma, brother Joe, sons Irving WB3EEP and Stanley

W~ZVY, and grandchildren Lisa and Matthew. Funeral services were held in the National Memorial

Park Funeral Home chapel at King David Memorial Gardens in Fairfax, VA at 11:00 AM on

Thursday, June 14, 2001 followed by a small grave-side service. Shiva was observed at his home at

6644 23rd Ave, Hyattsville, MD 20782.

Our deepest and heartfelt condolences go out to his entire fainily. May his memory be blessed.