Former longtime ARRL Treasurer Jim McCobb, K1LU, became a Silent Key on April 1 at age 77. McCobb was an active DXer and Contester and kept tabs on the ARRL's accounts for 32 years before stepping down in 2012.
Dick Knadle, K2RIW, also passed away in April. A
prominent ham in New York State, he was a technical authority on many topics,
most notably VHF/UHF propagation.
Also joining the list of Silent Keys in April was
Ronan O'Rahilly, who founded shipboard pirate station Radio Caroline in 1964. According
to Newsline, the station continued to broadcast from international
waters without a license from any particular country until 1980; and is now
back on the air, with a license from Great Britain, and occasionally operates
on the ham bands as well for special events. O'Rahilly was 79 and had suffered
from dementia.
Finally, controversial 160-meter operator Herb
Schoenbohm, KV4FZ, passed away at the end of April. He was 84. The first top-band
contact in the U.S. Virgin Islands for many hams, Schoenbohm's ham license was
in limbo for seven years, following a 1992 felony conviction on federal fraud
charges, according to the ARRL Letter. When Schoenbohm's ham license
came up for renewal in 1994, began proceedings to deny him a new license term.
The battle lasted through 2000 and he was finally re-licensed the following
year.
