Neville Cheadle, G3NUG, 14th January 2018
Neville Cheadle, G3NUG (SK) (photo courtesy of G3TXF)
Eric Neville Cheadle, G3NUG passed away unexpectedly on the 14th January 2018, reportedly from a suspected heart attack following a routine knee replacement operation.
Neville was an amateur’s amateur. A gentleman of the airwaves, he was also a terrific and prolific operator. Chairman of CDXC (Chiltern DX Club) for many years, Neville was a keen contester and the driving force behind numerous DXpedition operations, many of which he went on himself. Four of his major DXpeditions involved more than 90 amateurs from 14 different countries and produced over half a million contacts. He was a big figure in DXing, had a quite amazing station at home and showed great generosity to amateur radio. He was the co-author of DXpeditioning Behind the Scenes, the definitive handbook on planning, setting up and operating a successful DXpedition.
Neville (R) accepts a generous donation to the Five Star DXers Association from Martin Lynch (L) at the 2010 RSGB Convention
One of the things G3NUG was very good at was raising funds for DXpeditions. At the 2010 RSGB Convention he accepted a generous donation from Martin Lynch (left) to the Five Star DXers Association, for which Neville was a driving force. Neville’s abilities to raise funds for DXpeditions were legendary, and thousands of amateurs worldwide got their first contact with various entities thanks to his efforts.
Neville, G3NUG with some of the T32C DXpedition team (from RadCom January 2012)
Neville was closely involved in the T32C DXpedition to Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in 2011. He’s seen here, front and centre (wearing light-coloured trousers) in a crop from the team photo. A full report on the T32C DXpedition was in the January 2012 RadCom and that article includes the full photo with everyone’s callsigns.
He had confirmed well over 360 DC countries and around 1000 islands – many as the activator.
In 2009, in his 50th year of amateur radio, Neville was inducted into the CQ Hall of Fame, arguably one of the highest honours that can be bestowed upon a radio amateur.
If you have any memories, anecdotes or photographs of Neville that you would like to contribute, please email sk@rsgb.org.uk
Note as of 13.30 on 16 January 2018: This rather brief entry will be replaced by a more comprehensive tribute as soon as possible.
Category: Silent Keys
