Arthur J Gould, G3JKY, 25th February 2016
Arthur John Gould, G3JKY, died aged 79 on the 25th February 2016. He was known in the amateur radio community by the name Jakey, which was derived from the letters in the callsign.
He obtained his license at a time when it was obligatory to use only Morse for the first year. In this way Arthur developed a lasting skill at CW. His other passion was playing the trombone in a jazz band so it should not surprise us that he should excel at the ‘one note samba’.
Based in Beckenham, Kent he joined the Clifton Amateur Radio Society in 1957, which met in New Cross, S E London. The radio club went in for a number of contests, direction finding events, national field days and Scout Jamboree on the Air. Arthur could be relied on to support all these events. He was the auctioneer at club junk sales. He served on the committee and was Chairman for a while. In recognition of this, he is the only Clifton club member to have had Honorary Life Membership bestowed upon him.
He was also a member of RAYNET (Radio Amateur Emergency network) and was on the RSGB contests committee for a while. He was a volunteer repairer for the Talking Books for the Blind, traveling across South London by bicycle.
He was an enthusiastic constructor. He build a self-contained 160/80m CW/SSB transceiver long before the Japanese imports came to Britain. Some projects weren’t exactly electronics. He spearheaded a campaign to convert the field day generators to run on propane gas, thus obviating the need to fill the tanks in middle of the night with petrol. This featured in an article in RadCom.
Later on in his career he worked for the NHS, repairing medical equipment. By this time he was based in Lewisham. It was about this time he met his wife Joyce when playing at a gig with the jazz band. He explained the event in his laconic style: “I’m marrying my landlady!” He also learnt to drive, acquiring the Volvo estate that served as a useful workhorse on field days.
Arthur and Joyce kept a caravan at Hastings so it was only natural that as retirement beckoned they chose to retire there. Here Arthur joined the Hasting Electronics & Radio Club. With more time available they kept in contact with Joyce’s extended family, spending time in USA and New Zealand (as ZL2JKY).
Arthur was a mild mannered approachable man. His knowledge base was considerable. Many members benefited from his advice and guidance over the years. Our lives have been truly enriched his friendship. Arthur Gould, G3JKY: our thanks go to you for your contribution.
Tribute by Martin Brown, G0DCG
Category: Silent Keys
