Tribute to William J. Roberts, Jr. - AA4NC
SK October 21, 2021

 

 

Will Roberts, AA4NC, from Apex, NC was killed in a plane crash late Thursday afternoon (October 21st) near Holly Ridge, NC. Will was the pilot of his Mooney M20J aircraft and was taking off from a small airstrip when his plane crashed. Apparently the plane struggled to climb and crashed into trees at the end of the runway. Will was a very experienced pilot and had been flying for decades.

Will was a member of PVRC. Will loved DXpeditioning and contesting. Will always said; " I prefer being on the DX end of the pileup". Will was an operator at the 1st WRTC, 1990, in Seattle, WA. and at the Goodwill Games. In 2018 he was a judge at the WRTC in Germany.

 

Will was a very interesting guy and was a good friend. He operated from all over the world, had a pilots license, and was an accomplished guitar player and singer. I worked him from many of his DXpedition locations. We had many good conversations at the Dayton Hamvention. Will AA4NC will surely be missed. RIP my good friend. K8CX

Will was a member of our DXpedition team and was already signed up for both CY9C and CY0C in 2022. Our DXpedition team is just stunned and devastated by what happened. WA4DAN

OPDX and its readers send out our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of AA4NC.

The following was taken from Will's QRZ.com page:

I was first licensed in junior high school (1976) as WN4PSL. I upgraded to Extra and received AA4NC, (one of the first US 2x2 calls) in 1977. I have been interested in contesting and DXing my entire ham career, and prefer being on the DX end of the pileup. I've operated from all over using callsigns such as:

I am now living at Topsail Island, N.C. most of the time. I have a very small station here...100 watts to a multiband OCF dipole up about 65 feet at the center. It seems to work fairly well due to the proximity to the ocean and sound.

I am a part-time DXer (DXCC Honor Roll, 9BDXCC, VUCC - 6 meters) and I enjoy RTTY and chasing grids on 6 and 2 meters as well.

I am a member of PVRC, and am the trustee of the W4MR callsign which is used occasionally in contests from my QTH. My station is set up for single op and multi-single. I have two towers (120' and 80') on a one acre property. You can find the current configuration at www.conteststations.com.

I find that meeting new friends is one of the best parts of being in the amateur radio fraternity. I have had the pleasure of making friends all over the world who share my fascination with this crazy hobby that affects us "hamaholic mutants". The magic of worldwide communication without wires still holds a fascination for me. I will never forget the many happy hours spent in front of a crappy old radio pulling out weak, watery CW signals from strange lands when I was a kid.

My other hobbies are flying and playing music. I hold a commercial pilot's license and own a Mooney M20J (N3933H). I am a guitarist/vocalist and play solo acoustic shows in coastal North Carolina and South Carolina where I currently live (www.reverbnation.comwillrobertsnc). I am a member of the Flying Musician's Association. Professionally, I am an electrical engineer specializing in Telecommunications.

 

 

Will in the basket doing repairs to his 40 meter beam!

 

 

One of Will's QSL cards. Apex, North Carolina

 

Will operated from Navassa Island in 1992.

 

 

Will operated from St. Eustatius when The Netherlands Antilles broke up in 10/10/10.

Listen to Will operate from St. Eustatius on 20 Meter CW on 10/11/10.

 

 

The following photos were taken at the Dayton Hamvention by K8CX

 

Dayton 1997

WA4KXY, AA4NC

 

 

Dayton 1999

AA4NC, WB9Z

 

 

Dayton 2000

K7BV, AA4NC

 

AA4NC, KI7WX

 

 

Dayton 2003

AA4NC

 

 

Dayton 2007

AA4NC

 

 

Dayton 2008

AA4NC, W4DTA

 

 

Dayton 2010

AA4NC, W6PH, KW8N

 

 

Dayton 2012

AA4NC

 

 

Dayton 2013

K1XM, AA4NC, K8CX, K0TV

 

 

Dayton 2014

AA4NC

 

G0KSC, AMY, K9IG, K9PG, AA4NC

 

 

Dayton 2015

K4BAI, AA4NC, K1BG, W1VE

 

 

Dayton 2016

K8CX, AA4NC, W9RE, N5OT

 

 

Dayton 2017

AA4NC

 

 

Dayton 2018

AA4NC

 

W2SC, AA4NC

 

The new band formed by Ward Silver N0AX, "Working By Numbers", played Friday night in the Crowne Plaza Banquet Room in 2018 with standing room only.
The band members were N5OT, WY7YL, W4PA, N0AX, AA4NC, KJ9C.
This is truely a high light event not to be missed!
Their songs were wrote by N0AX, recorded and put on youtube.com by N6TV. They can be seen here on Youtube!
Wards previous band was called "The Spurious Emissions Band".

WORKING BY NUMBERS BAND at Dayton Hamvention 2018

N0AX, KJ9C, AA4NC

 

N5OT, K0PC, WY7FD, WY7YL, W4PA, K0AD, N0AX, AA4NC

 

N5OT, WY7YL, W4PA, N0AX, AA4NC, KJ9C

 

N5OT, WY7YL, W4PA, KJ9C, N0AX, AA4NC

 

N5OT, WY7YL, W4PA, N0AX, AA4NC

 

N5OT, WY7YL, W4PA, N0AX, AA4NC, KJ9C

 

N5OT, WY7YL, W4PA, KJ9C, N0AX, AA4NC

 

WORKING BY NUMBERS BAND at WRTC2018 (World Radio Team Championship) in Germany

W4PA, N0AX, AA4NC, N6AN

 

W4PA, N0AX, AA4NC, N6AN

 

W4PA, N0AX, AA4NC, N6AN

 

 

Dayton 2019

AA4NC

 

Tribute by K8CX
Comments by K8CX, WA4DAN, OPDX
Info and hamshack photo from Will's QRZ.com page
WP1 & PJ5 QSL cards K8CX Collection
Dayton Photos K8CX Collection
Band photos from WRTC courtesy of K5ZD, Tnx N0AX

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