Paul Holman, 2E0PKH – 26 June 2023
Paul became interested in electronics and radios as a youngster when his father made him a crystal radio set, but living in Leigh-on-Sea in the 1960s, all it would pick up was the Pirate Radio stations in the Thames Estuary. Later, his father gave him an old MW/SW/LW valve radio with a long wire antenna and he used to spend hours listening to Short Wave radio stations and trying to write down the morse code he could hear on it.
In 1979/80 Paul got interested in CB and met his XYL Gill after he and friend used a DF loop to locate some lady operators. The couple eventually left Essex and settled in a small village on the Norfolk/Suffolk border.
Paul made the transition to Amateur Radio in 2017 and was an excellent radio operator who actively participated in local nets, club nets, club events and chased dx around the globe. He regularly attended rallies across East Anglia and enjoyed chatting with the people he met there.
Paul was a member of both the Norfolk Amateur Radio Club and the Bury St Edmunds Amateur Radio Society. He helped at the Norfolk Tank Museum with the Radio Room and attended all the MX0MFR Field Day events. He was always willing to help and befriend other amateurs, and to share his knowledge. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him. He regularly monitored the local repeaters and several amateurs remember him as one of the first people they spoke to when they first got their licence.
Paul was a talented engineer who designed and built his own antennas, the “pièce de résistance” being his HF mobile antenna with its large, well-designed coil. He liked to go to the seafront at Aldeburgh early in the mornings where he worked a lot of mobile dx including VK stations, with this antenna.
Paul always had many stories to share from his working life including time spent as a sea fisherman, kit car mechanic and gas engineer. His last job was delivering and collecting laser surveying equipment from sites around East Anglia, which came to a halt with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
His other interests included Formula 1 motor racing, Wildfowling and owning a weather station from which he uploaded data to his own website, and to Windy Weather, from which the Met Office among others, collate their information.
Paul passed away on his 65th birthday on 26 June 2023, following a short illness. He was a good friend to everyone who knew him, and is greatly missed.
A well-attended Memorial net was held on the evening of Tuesday 27 June on GB3EZ where participants shared their own memories of Paul; a fitting tribute to this active amateur.
Compiled by Andy Collins, 2E0DIQ; Cathy Houghton, M0DFL and Nyall Davies, G8IBR
Category: Silent Keys
