The AM Forum

Guys, Uncle Willy w3duq fell and broke his hip right at the end of September. He's in physical rehab right at the moment; doing excellent and in good spirits. As requested, any general (non-sensitive) information can be relayed through me.

Regards,
-Bill 'GF

Bill:

Thanks for the info.

Lets hope 'DUQ gets bettah and back on the air soon.

Also good to hear from you. Hope you are well.

Dan

Wow!  I was aware of Uncle Willy - but how are you doing Bill?  It's been a loooooooooooonnng time sonny

I talked to him on the telefonium last week. He is at a rehab facility and getting better. His spirits are up and he sounded pretty upbeat. He says he's coming home as soon as he is comfortable walking.

I'm doing fine john. I went up to near-fest on Friday but I didn't cross paths with anybody that I knew. So, I had a stinky sausage and turned around and went home.  :(

Good to hear you, Bill.

All the best to Willie. A broken hip is no picnic.

Some doctors say that at times fragile hip bones get broken first - then the fall. Hopefully Willie's bones are still strong. Pneumonia also becomes a major problem. But glad to hear Bill is the exception and recovering quickly!

T

Sorry I missed you at the hamfest, Bill - hope to make it next year!

Anyway whoever speaks to Uncle Willie next, pls give him my best "by-gollies".

I am going to give him a call shortly and should have a full report...
Regards,
Joe, W3GMS

Well I just got off the "twisted pair" with Bill.  He sounded good and said it took him awhile to get adjusted to time passing so slowly but he is use to that now.  He expects to be home in a couple of weeks.  He said the care he is getting is very good.  He wanted me to pass along his regards to everyone.

Bill was one of the first AM stations I heard on 75AM many years ago. Its been fun knowing him all these years.  I remember when he was on the air as a kid living on Powell Lane in West Chester.   A few years later he was off clearing out some of the tree's in Icedale getting ready to move up near Honeybrook.  Then there were the parties in Icedale and that famous NAAAM Christmas Card picture.  I was not allowed to go to those parties!   Does anyone remember WRFH out of NY City?  How about Roberts and Popkins from the FCC?  The "Unilevel" circuit he built on his audio driver and the upside down tube circuit for super modulation going into a large linear.  The big S meter on his HRO-60 receiver that he got from Bob Egans. The Elmac AF-67 and the Master Mobile Slim Jim antenna.  The re-broadcast of K3GKB parachute mobile. The list could go on and on!   

Good memories.

Joe, W3GMS     

Thanks for the report Joe. Here's hoping Bill continues to mend quickly. I've found Bill to be one of the more interesting personalities on the air. He always had something new and interesting to discuss, often not about radio at all. And he did it with much joy and humor.

Yes UW is on the mend.

Interesting comments from all.

Steve, I was 8 yrs old when that QSL was issued...where did you find that?

It was from a contact between Bill and Ken (now known as W2DTC). It's on his web site. Way cool.

17 years old and pushing High Fidelity. I love it! Even more amusing, a QSL card with a section to fill out for age.

I'm glad to hear  that, and I wish him the best.  I have a good idea of what he is going through. I pretty much kept the news to myself, but this past December I had a complete hip replacement because of a nagging arthritis problem that had developed over the years from an old injury when I was 12 years old. I was laid up for a couple of weeks and couldn't navigate to the shack or even upstairs in the house, but finally was able to venture out using a walker and then a cane. After 6 weeks or so I was walking without the cane, but with a limp.  By the time I went to Dayton this spring the limp was gone and now I have to remind myself that I ever had anything done.  I'm back to climbing ladders, digging holes in the earth and doing house repairs, now without pain.  The only limitation is that I am not supposed to run, since the artificial joint is designed for motion but not for impact.  I did run once this summer when I was working on the house and got chased by a bunch of wasps.

That's the sort of stuff that belongs on the air, Don  ;D

"The only limitation is that I am not supposed to run, since the artificial joint is designed for motion but not for impact."


Don - Next time insist that you want it built using Krell metal.

T

Well you hit that one out of the park John : )

Steve,
I sure remember that DUQ card!  When I was 10 and an SWL Bill sent me one since I was trying to get my WPE SWL callsign!  I am not sure if Popular Electronics kept them or not, but that card is long gone.  Same is true for my original W3FDY QSL card.  

Bill has always been on the technological edge.  Always looking for the newer way to do something.  Once its done, he is off to something else.  He was however kind to my old buzzard rigs around GMS Radio when he visted several years ago!  

Joe, W3GMS  

Its a lot better than that crap from Talos IV.

klc

I work 75 but I don't have slopbucket capability.

Who would have thought that folks like Bill and myself would ever be old and buzzardly enough for telling of broken hips, replacements and rehab anyway?

    Talked to Bill about an hour ago on the twisted pair.  He's  hoping to break
    free of the rehab facility in a couple weeks   Right now he is going from bed
    to wheel chair to walker to get around.

    I asked him about getting his niece to bring him one of his laptop computers
    in so he could get on line and he responded that the rehab people keep him
    too busy so he is active rather than locked to his reclining chair like he was at
    home before he fell.

    He told me  he was going to get more active when he gets  back home...
    So, I'd expect we just might hear some on air activity from W3DUQ in a
    few weeks if all goes well... 

Thanks for the update Ralph.  I do hope he becomes more active on the air when he is back home.  He use to even get on my repeater from time to time to let me know how he was doing. 
 
Joe, W3GMS

Pffft! You're just late, Don. There are AMers on there around my age who have been carping about their medical ailments for some time. Funny part is, they always swore they'd never be like 'those boring old farts'.  ;)

Glad to hear the Bill is in touch with folks and doing well. Hopefully this will help get him back on the air.

Did you get the deluxe model with the external grease fitting or the standard one with the "concealed" fitting? ?   ;D  ;D

Touche' ;D

"Funny part is, they always swore they'd never be like 'those boring old farts'."



Crusty, over-ripe, cranky fudds with two letter calls are people too.... :'(

Who you callin' crusty? I know I just officailly joined the over the hill club (40 on Oct.6), but crusty? Crumudgenly, yes; crusty, no.

Then again, my 2 letter call is vanity; yours is Fecee computer....... ;)

I resemble that remark!   ;)

I can't wait to hear Bill on the air so we can old-buzzardize in gory detail all about our hip surgeries.   :D

    Aw, your all a bunch of "Johnny come lately" fuddy duddys...

    Wait (If you last this long!) till your my age and see how you feel
     after a bout with the big "C", etc......

Unfortunately, you don't necessarily have to wait to attain a ripe old age for that experience.

OK Ralph, I'll bite. What is the big 'C'? Or have I already experienced it without knowing it happened?

Walt

         Sorry Walt, I thought most everyone was familiar with the term.

         Big "C" =  Cancer (of various kinds, take your pick...) In my case,
         8 weeks of radiation plus chemo...