Tribute to Donald J. Havlicek

Tribute to Donald J. Havlicek W8QHW, N8DE
February 9, 1937 - July 8, 2024

Donald J. Havlicek, passed away on July 8th after a massive stroke. Don was first licensed as a Novice as WN8QHW in 1953. Three months later he passed his Technician and another three months his General and changed to W8QHW. After getting his General license he began DXing. By the late 50's he became the Assistant Editor of DX Magazine the weekly DX newsletter Published by W4KVX, Don Chesser. In 1960 he passed in Extra. In the mid-70's Don changed his call to N8DE. N8DE was an ARRL Life Member, member of INDEXA, Heard Island DXA, Mad River Radio Club, NCDXF, and the Bay Area DXers. Don had 335/365 (current/total) confirmed in the ARRL DXCC Mixed Standings.

"Please note the sad news about Don N8DE becoming a silent key. He was a good friend of Greg K8GL, who passed the information to me. There is no question that Don was an exceptional DXer and CW operator. In addition to what Greg already mentioned, Don was the "assistant editor" of the legendary DX Magazine, which was created by Don Chesser W4KVX. Don was a math teacher by profession, and was always in demand. I believe he was pulled out of retirement at least twice, and taught in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Perhaps also Michigan! He was also athletic coach, and involved in rabbit judging. We are losing one of the most knowledgeable "old time hams". Please inform the FOC crowd of this sad event."
Don joined FOC in June 2010. He was 87 years old. K8MFO, K8GL

Way back in the late 1970s, before the advent of skimmers, dimmers, clusters, alien receiving machines, etc., a group of us used 2 meter FM to pass info on stations that we heard while tuning our receivers! (Can you imagine that?) Don was in Bolivar at the time. Also on frequency were Rick - K8ZH and Bob W8SU - then W8ISU. Those were good times. Don surely knew how to tune his receiver -- he helped by alerting us to many very rare operations.
When he worked with Don Chesser, he was known as "Little Don". One of his responsibilities was the back cover of DX Magazine, where he managed the "Drooling Corner", featuring rare QSLs.
We TRULY have lost another guy who cannot be replaced.
By the way, back in those days he told Rick and me that it was OK if we called him HONDO! K8MFO

It was an honor to know and meet Don. He was part of the Don Chesser W4KVX DX Magazine crew. With help from Don N8DE, K8MFO, W8SU, KB8NW,W4QM, K8ME, K8CX, Don Chesser W4KVX was nominated and inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame at the Dayton DX Dinner in 2012! K8CX

K8CX, N8DE
February 5, 2017 at K3LR in West Middlesex, PA.

Taken for the N8DE QRZ.com page

DX QSL INFORMATION: I will send a QSL to you, via bureau if possible, for EVERY band/mode contact. Please send your QSL most convenient manner. 54,000 DX QSLs catalogued here already. Thank you to all the wonderful ops who have sent theirs! Stateside QSLs sent ONLY upon receipt of SASE or SAE and $1.

I do not USE eQSL!

LoTW is used ONLY for CONTEST QSOs.

In 1953, when the permeability-tuned Philco tabletop radio started tuning in 160m AM signals .. I was bitten hard by the Ham Radio Bug! Took the Novice test from FCC examiner W8DX on my 17th birthday and passed! First licensed as WN8QHW, I soon upgraded to Technician after 3 months, and then General after another 3 months, with the callsign W8QHW!

My 'Elmers' were W8GFE (SK) and W8GJG (SK), but I soon discovered DX and Contests, so took lessons from the 'old masters' W8JIN(SK), W8FGX(SK), and W8RSW(SK). In 1960, long before 'incentive licensing', I upgraded to Amateur Extra, sending my 20 wpm with a straight key, and copying the entire text solid from VVV to VVV [you old-timers will remember that!].

Earned WAS as a Novice on 7178.2 ... crystal controlled. Then became a DXer when my General class license allowed me to 'roam' the bands, working DXCC on 40m in less than two years, using a Johnson Viking I [still have it!...5 of them, actually] and a Collins 75A-1 [still have it, TOO!].

When the FCC allowed Extra Class Hams to 'select' their own callsigns, I chose N8DE ... because every good ham knows what DahDiDit Dit means! Made DXCC HonorRoll in the late 1980's .. but three tornadoes tore down my towers in 1982,1985, and 1992 .. hadn't worked much DX since then. In 1995, took a 2m rig and a HF rig to Europe and operated as OK8BDE, SO8DE, OM9ADE, and HA/N8DE, thanks to my hosts: OK1KT, SP8BJU, OK1TW (SK), and HA5FA(SK), who helped with licensing and operating!

In the late 1950's, I became Assistant Editor of DX Magazine, Published weekly by Don Chesser, W4KVX(SK), who became my mentor on DXing. At the time, I was known as Little Don, and W4KVX was called 'Big Don'. Loyal subscribers will remember that my finger was almost cut off by the large Weber printing press and it is still deformed after 50 years.

A retired professional educator with BS and MA in Mathematics, specializing in Probability and Statistics, I taught HS Mathematics for 40 years, finally retiring [for the second time!] in 2002. Also coached Football, Baseball, Track & Field, and Swimming, though no more than two in any one school year.

My goal is to get many towers and antennas up and enjoy my retirement as soon as I retire the third time! Presently, I travel extensively, as a licensed rabbit show judge [the only person in USA to hold both Amateur Extra Class and rabbit judging licenses!).

At the present time, I am dilligently working to get the Czech Frosty Rabbit accepted as a show breed in North America.

Now at the new QTH in Michigan, I am in the process of planning and then constructing my dream antenna system. This will consist of monobanders for 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10m, on 4 separate towers, with 3-el, switchable, vertical arrays for 40m and 80m. A extended double-zepp will be used for 160m except during Winter contests when a 3-el vertical array composed of balloon-supported verticals will be erected on the acreage immediately to the North of the QTH, thanks to a friendly neighbor. Goal is to have most of the antennas up and running by the Fall of 2022.

The A3S is now up on the small tower at 10 meters.

Hope to have more yagis up soon!

Next up will be the "North" tower with monobanders for 30m, 17m, and 12m.

Spring or Summer of 2022 will prove interesting, with plans to put up the 80' tower with stacked monobanders for 20m, 15m, and 10m in an inverted Christmas tree. In addition, if things go as planned, another 60' tower to the far West of the house will hold a 40m Moxon yagi and KT-34 tribander, and another 60' tower to the East will support a 5-band quad.

Monobanders for 20m, 15m, and 10m will be fixed on the Caribbean for contests and side-mounted on the three towers nearest the house.

STAY TUNED!

The 3-el vertical 40m array has been erected, but the phasing lines and remote switching will be finished during the Summer of 2022.

The station equipment consists of a Kenwood TS-590SG, FIVE NCG 10/160M transceivers and a Dentron DTR-2000L amplifier with Heathkit (SA-2040) and Dentron (Monitor) antenna tuners.

To the left of the operating position is a 84 drawer index file of ALL my contacts since March, 1954, [now over 535,000], much like a library card file, as I keep all logs on paper and do NOT use a computer for that purpose. I AM, however, using my laptop for contest logging to simplify the entry process. After the contests, logs are printed for insertion into my paper logs. This file replaces the 50-drawer file previously used.Memberships include: ARRL Life Member, Past-president of the Montcalm Area ARC (This club is now SK), Past-president Ohio Valley ARA, Past-president Northern Ohio ARS, INDEXA, Heard Island DXA, Mad River Radio Club, NCDXF, Gratiot County ARA, Bay Area DXers, and contributor to many DXpeditions, though I have never been an operator on one .... that is on my 'Bucket List'.

Two of the 80m verticals are now up. Sixty [60] radials now down and spread evenly around each tower.
Third tower must wait until a crane can place it in position - hopefully SOON. It will be interesting to see how they play!

The photo above shows the coax connection at the base of one tower. Simple!

Here is one of two towers to be used for holding up wire antennas, as it was being erected with the help of Dan, KC8LIM, shown on the tower.

Tribute courtesy of K8CX, K8MFO, K8GL, K3LR