Lynda Jopson, G6QA – 4 April 2025
It is with a deep sense of loss that Bury Radio Society (BRS) announce that their beloved friend and fellow amateur Lynda Jopson, G6QA (Queen Anne) passed away peacefully on 4 April 2025 following a prolonged battle with cancer.
Lynda was a long time BRS member as well as being its chairperson and treasurer. Lynda filled these roles with dedication and enthusiasm, contributing greatly to the success of the Society.
Lynda’s interest in radio first began in the CB boom of the 1980s. She worked the morning channel, chatting to regular drivers and anyone else in the area at the time. She was known in those days as ‘Spectrum’ and worked with her friend Dorothy (‘Bookworm’) who looked after the channel.
She subsequently passed her City & Guilds exam in 1993 and joined her local radio club, which met at Rawtenstall fire station in Rossendale, Lancashire.
Her grandad and his friend and relative Arnold Whiteley were radio amateurs during both World Wars when not away at sea. She acquired Arnold’s G6QA callsign in April 1994, as she wasn’t able at the time to find grandad’s callsign. She felt very proud and privileged to use G6QA, even though she frequently got ‘DR OM LYNDA‘ on CW. The callsign led to her becoming affectionately known as ‘Queen Anne’ by her friends.
Lynda was passionate CW operator and was always keen to pass her skills on to other amateurs. One BRS member recalls “Morse Code was a must . . . and Lynda had a one-track mind about this. Once you started to learn Morse it was like a religion with Lynda. She would go to any lengths to help teach CW and it did not matter how long it took.”
She always used her organisational skills to excellent effect, directing many of BRS’s activities (field days, fox hunts, and NARSA to name just a few) as well as mentoring new club members. One BRS member wrote eloquently of the help she gave him as a new member “From my first visit to the club to our last phone call Lynda’s kindness and good humour shone through. I can’t thank her enough for the many happy hours that she spent teaching me morse. Our last sked was on 20M when she welcomed me onto the HF bands. She encouraged me throughout my radio journey with words of encouragement and support for which I am eternally grateful.”
BRS’s shack will be a lot quieter without Lynda and, although we shall all miss her greatly, we will be comforted by our fond memories.
Paul Anthony Stocks, M0OWS
Category: Silent Keys
