Amateur Radio Hall of Fame
Amateur Radio attracts people from all walks of life and this diversity in interests, expertise, cultures and opinions is one of the 'draw cards' of the hobby.

One of the strangest facets is the fact that many famous people participate in the hobby of Amateur Radio, yet they rarely make others aware of their status on air.

Many times I've discovered too late that the interesting person I've been speaking to on the radio over the years about day to day projects and other technical interests, has made enormous contributions to electronic, scientific, or other historically significant discoveries or events of the past, but was too humble to say so.  

There are many Web Sites attempting to catalog such 'significant' amateurs and I won't attempt to replicate them.   I will include a few examples though.   A Google search of 'famous hams, notable hams, astronaut hams or famous amateur radio operators'  will reveal many more.

James M. Moran  K1AKE

Donald H. Menzel Professor of Astrophysics, Chair Dept. of Astronomy at harvard University and Senior Radio Astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Dr. Moran is a leading researcher in the field of astronomical masers and black holes.

http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~jmoran/
Hiram Percy Maxim  W1AW (Silent Key)

Hiram Maxim was an inventor, scientist, writer and humanitarian.

He is often revered as "The Father of Amateur Radio," but he also pioneered in the automobile industry, aviation, air conditioning, space research.

He is equally rememberd for inventing the famous Maxim gun silencer after designing early mufflers for combustion engines..

Dr. Joseph H. "Joe" Taylor

Ph. D. in Physics; co-winner with (Russell Alan Hulse, ex-WB2LAV, KN2ITQ) of 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovery of binary pulsars.

Author of the groundbreaking WSPR, WSJT and JT44 Weak Signal Mode software


http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1993/taylor-autobio.html
Wilson Greatbatch  W2QBO

Inventor of the cardiac pacemaker

Compared with Prof. Christian Barnard of South Africa, who was successful with the first heart-transplant on December 3, 1967,  inventor Wilson Greatbatch is not as well known to the public as Barnard is.

He has more than 150 patents on different inventions

http://www.greatbatch.com/
Arthur M. Young  3BEC  (Silent Key)

Inventor, helicopter pioneer, cosmologist, philosopher and author.

Young was the designer of Bell Helicopter's first helicopter, the Model 30, and inventor of the stabilizer bar used on many of Bell's early helicopter designs.

He founded the "Institute for the Study of Consciousness" in Berkeley in 1972.   His theories attempt to integrate the realm of human thought and experience with the realm of science so that the concept of universe is not limited to that which can be physically measured.




Peggy Sue Gerron-Rackham  K5PSG

The namesake of the late Buddy Holly's 1957 "rockabilly" hit "Peggy Sue"-- Rackham went to high school with Holly and later married the drummer in his band, "The Crickets." After participating in special event station W5B she was excited enough to want to get her ham license!


http://www.peggysueonline.com/inthenews.htm
General Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr.   K4ZVZ   (Silent Key)

Paul Tibbets is best known as being the pilot of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare.

The bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

He fought the Japanese in 1944 and 1945. He spent the next 62 years fighting to defend the atomic bombings.

http://www.japanfocus.org/-Peter_J_-Kuznick/2642
Priscilla Presley.   N6YOS

Priscilla Presley - Beaulieu is the famous ex-wife of Elvis Presley.


http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=kJi&q=priscilla+presley+elvis&btnG=Search&meta=
Marlon Brando.   KE6PZH and FO5GJ   (Silent Key)

One of the best-known names in cinematic as well as Amateur Radio circles, actor Marlon Brando, died in Los Angeles July 1 at age 80.    Known to hams worldwide as KE6PZH and FO5GJ, Brando is listed on the FCC database as Martin Brandeaux.

He was on the air occasionally through the years with his FO5 callsign from his private island in French Polynesia.

http://images.google.com.au/images?q=marlon%20brando&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi
King Hussein of Jordan   JY1  (Silent Key)

King Hussein was a very active amateur radio operator; highly regarded by all the radio amateurs around the world and universally acclaimed as being a wonderful guy interested in everything and everyone.

Pat Kilroy, WD8LAQ, says he enjoyed a three-minute contact on 20 meters with the King in the fall of 1995.

"JY1 was traveling aeronautical mobile, enroute to the United Nations.   He insisted on me addressing him simply as 'Hussein'," he said.

http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/biography.html
Monday, 22 June 2009 22:30
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