Peter B Dodd, G3LDO, 17 November 2015
Peter Dodd, G3LDO (SK)
It is with deep regret that the Society announces the passing of former RadCom Technical Editor, book author and Antennas columnist Peter B Dodd, G3LDO, on 17 November 2015. He was 83 years old.
Peter was first involved in amateur radio in the mid 1950s and he held several callsigns around the world including VQ4HX, VQ3HX, VQ1HX, 9L1HX, PA9APV, ZK1XE and 7Q7PBD. He was an early adopter of 73kHz and other low frequency bands. He made the first two-way contact on 73kHz and was part of a very early two-way transatlantic contact on 136kHz.
His career covered many fields including working in the oil industry, one reason he held so many overseas callsigns. He was an advertising and copywriter for 15 years before joining the RSGB staff as RadCom Technical Editor in early 1994, a post he held until late 1997. He started writing the very well-respected Antennas column in January 2002, concluding in December 2015. He also wrote a number of articles for the ARRL publications QST and QEX, and many of his RadCom articles were translated into other languages and republished by other amateur radio national societies. He published many books through the RSGB on antennas and low frequency operating, three of which are still in print (Amateur Radio Mobile Handbook, Antennas Mastered and Building Successful HF Antennas). In the Antennas column alone, we estimate that he wrote over a quarter of a million words (that’s about three full length novels), plus he produced countless diagrams, antenna simulations and photos. He always delivered well-written material of the right length well in advance of the deadline. Shortly before the onset of his final illness, Peter became a member of the RSGB Technical Panel.
Peter was rightly regarded as one of the antenna ‘gurus’ and his presence will be sadly missed. We are grateful that Peter shared his vast knowledge of antennas for many years and we will enjoy his expertise in the future through his column and articles.
Our thoughts go to his family and friends at this difficult time.
[RSGB]
I was very sorry to hear that G3LDO passed away 17.11.15.
He wrote very interesting articles about antennas – his theories was excellent, but his practical approach was even more interesting and understandable and was a pleasure to translate into Norwegian language. At one point I sent him an email to ask about a missing article, and he cleared it within 5 minutes. He went all out to enlighten us all of antenna topics on all bands. His knowledge and writings will be missed in Norway.
Thorleif, LA3JT
Technical editor, Amatørradio
on behalf of NRRL
Category: Silent Keys
