A Tribute to A Master Boatanchor - W5PYT Bob Hohertz

[Brian Carling]

Not sure if any of you saw this yet. I think it is highly appropriate
material for this group!
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Forwarded from Usenet:

It is with heavy heart and fond memories that I learned on this net
last evening of the passing of W5PYT, Robert "Ozona Bob" Hohertz of
Ozona, Texas.  Bob was not a member of this net but there was no more
avid collector of boat anchors or proponent of tube based equipment
than he. He was not a collector.  He assembled the tremendous
collection of receivers, test equipment and transmitters that he owned
because he used them, every day.  They were each and every one a
friend about which he knew in intimate detail from the time it was
first purchased until it came into his possession.  Operating from
what was once an Air Force base, his station occupied a one storied
concrete block transmitter site now owned by a gas company for whom he
worked for over forty years. >From this station he supercharged the
ether on the 75 meter band with both his wit and wisdom on pure AM for
most  the past twenty that I know of.

    I have visited Bob on many occasions because we shared a passion
    for
the old gear we knew from our first days in amateur radio and he could
expound for hours on the beauty and features of a particular receiver
as well as the rotten design of another.  He had a wall of receivers,
ranging from Ameco and Morrow convertors to Hallicrafters, Racal, TMC,
National and Collins; each and every one of which was fully
operational and superbly aligned. One receiver that he does not have
is a National NC300 which he gave to me one evening simply because I
expressed a desire to own one.   And his transmitters were legion,
ranging from Tech Rad, a Johnston Killowatt and a BC610.  The last I
checked he had six 32V transmitters of various generations.

    If any man was a radio institution, it can surely be said of Bob
Horhertz.  Although well into his 70s, his every memory was expertly
cataloged, the subjects and facts indexed and cross referenced
perfectly to be recalled instantly whenever required.  He could
remember dates of manufacture, model numbers, part numbers,
specifications and shipping weights of a broad array of communications
equipment and assessories and could recall the place, date and time
almost to the minute that he had seen, acquired, or worked on one.
And he knew that no matter how fine or large your transmitter, or how
fine and sensitive your receiver, you could never be heard and you
could never hear without a good antenna. So Bob had five acres of
antennas, the surface upon which he had laid out and pinned down miles
of #2 aluminum wire to serve as a ground screen above which he erected
beams and wire designs of every possible shape and configuration until
he knew each and every one of its capabilities and weaknesses.

    And he was generous.  He never failed to offer a nights rest for a
passing visiting fireman and you could not leave until he had taken
you into the heart of Ozona for a chicken fried steak covered in cream
gravy.

    Ozona Bob will be missed by a multitude of people but we hams who
value the old gear and the old ways sense a particullarly great
disturbance in the Force with his passing.  He was an institution of
all the good things in BA land.  After all, even his name meant High
Frequency.

    Bill Ross K5LLK

BTW, his voice can still be heard in The AM Window
http://www.thebizlink.com/am
Go to the audio section for a Real Audio clip
of a part of one of Bob1s famous 3old buzzard² transmissions.
****************************************************
*** 73 from Radio AF4K/G3XLQ Gaithersburg, MD USA  *
**  E-mail to:  bry at mnsinc.com                     *
*** ICQ 6124470  ***
**  http://www.mnsinc.com/bry/                     *
****************************************************
AM International #1024, TENTEN #13582. GRID FM19. Rigs: Valiant, DX-60/HG-10, FT-840, TM-261A, Harvey Wells Bandmaster, Drake 2C.
TEN-TEN #13582, DXCC #17,763 Bicentennial WAS

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