Hacker Public Radio – Silent Key HPR3922

Hello this is Trey, and I am recording this in the shadow of the loss

of a good friend and mentor who helped guide me in my career and in

hobbies like electronics, aviation, and amateur radio. The amateur radio

area is what I will be discussing today.

Many terms within amateur radio find their origins from the days of

telegraph, when operators would use Morse code to send messages across

great distances using wires strung from pole to pole. The telegraph

“key” (or code key) was basically a momentary contact switch which would

close an electrical connection when pressed. Pressing the key down for a

short period of time would send a short pulse down the line, which is

referred to as a “dit” (Sometimes the term “dot” is used). This may be

written using the period “.” symbol. Holding the key down for a bit

longer would send a longer pulse down the line, called a “dash”

(Sometimes the term “dah” is used) and it may be written using the

hyphen “-” symbol.

Telegraph operators became a close knit community, even though they

were geographically separated. Often one operator could identify another

operator by subtleties in the style or personality of how they sent

their messages. This was known as the operator’s “fist” and today we

would describe it as a “behavioral biometric”. As the community of

telegraph operators moved around or were replaced, new “fists” would be

identified, as new personalities of code sending were tapped out on the

telegraph keys.

When an operator passed away, it was a loss to the community, and a

loss of someone who might have been befriended remotely by other

operators. The term of respect created for this situation was “Silent

Key” sent as the abbreviation “SK” ( … -.- ). It meant that the

particular operator would never send code again. His telegraph key would

be silent.

This tradition has been carried on among amateur radio operators or

“Hams”. This is also a close knit community of people. While some still

use Morse code to communicate (Referred to as “CW” for continuous wave),

there are many other forms in use, including voice and digital modes.

But regardless of how we communicated with them, when we lose one of our

own, we still say they are SK. Silent key. No longer able to

transmit.

Organizations like the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and QRZ.com

try to update their records when a Ham passes away. There are also

databases like silentkeyhq.com which keep records and memories of

deceased operators.

So, it is with great sadness that I have been updating the records

for my close friend and mentor KV4YD. Thank you for your friendship and

support, and for sharing your wisdom over the years. You will be

missed.

https://www.silentkeyhq.com/main.php?p=bin/NSKALookup.php&call=KF8F&uid=1111688122977783

(Note: There is intentionally 5 seconds of recorded silence at the

end of this recording as a moment of silence to remember our silent

keys)

KV4YD 73 VA E E