Milestones: Two Tower-Related Deaths Plus Some Good News

CQ Contest Hall of Fame member Rev. Paul Bittner, W0AIH, was killed October 31 in a fall from one of his many towers. Bittner, who was 84, was at the 60-foot level of his 180-foot tower when his safety rope broke, according to Newsline. He had been on the air from his Wisconsin superstation just days earlier during the CQ World Wide DX Contest SSB weekend, and had participated in last summer's World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) in Germany. Bittner was inducted into the CQ Contest Hall of Fame in 2009.
 

In Tennessee, a professional tower climber installing a 70-foot tower for a local ham fell to his death when one of the guy wires gave way. According to the ARRL Letter, Ken Waddell was 30 years old and left behind a wife and five children. He was installing a tower for amateur Dale Darling, W9WBA, of Cookeville.

On the good news front, ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, has been re-elected to another term as Vice President for Standards of the IEEE's Electromagnetic Compatibility Society. The League says Hare's work for the society includes leading its standardization efforts and overseeing the work of various committees, in addition to making sure that amateur radio is represented in discussions and votes on establishing various standards.