Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Ed Bigbie - Silent Key

It was with much sadness today that I learned of the passing of Mr. Ed Bigbie (W4MMQ) of Richmond Hill, GA.

Ed was a very kind and generous man and he was a best friend and mentor to me in the field of amateur radio and electronics for the 29 years that I have known him.

Ed Bigbie received his Amateur License in 1946. He has been a member of ARRL since 1946 and QCWA since 1975. He received his First Class Phone License with Radar Endorsement in 1945 and has been an ARRL Technical Specialist since 1996. Ed was a Senior Member of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) until it merged with The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and became the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Ed was a Senior member of IEEE and a Senior Member of The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE). He was also a charter member of the Association of Communication Technicians (ACT). Ed had been a Registered Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of Georgia since 1965 and authored several articles on antennas, transmission lines and matching units.

You could frequently find him on 3.995 early every morning where he put out a "broadcast quality" signal from two IC-756 PROIII's, a IC-PW1 amplifier and an 811H amplifier.

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