Greater Beloit Amateur Radio Club              January 2012

 Paid up members in good standing.

and many more to come.                                                                                           

Memories of Long Ago  (September 26, 2003  Excerpt from The Beloit Daily News.)
    

John, W9FCY, age 92, views photos with Conrad Herold,            John receives a plaque from radio club President,

W9DL, a Beloit Amateur Radio Club member.                                      Paul Monroe, W9MEH.                                              

Conrad presents a cake to John during the celebration.    John worked for WCLO, Janesville.  He earned a first class

                                                                                                              commercial radio license.  Equipment at right is WWII surplus.

John Purcell, W9FCY, of Beloit earned an amateur radio (Ham) license in 1928.  He has made radio contacts around the world.  "It's a very interesting hobby," Purcell said, "It's changing all the time." 

John worked at commercial broadcasting station WCLO in Janesville.  One incident he remembered was that the station power supply went bad.  John had to bring in his ham radio power supply to keep WCLO on the air.

Purcell's interest in amateur radio remained constant over the years.  He headed up the local Civil Defense program for decades and was one of several radio operators who assisted emergency personnel in Beloit during the flood of 1974.

In addition to giving, Purcell also received a meaningful gift from radio operation.  "I was talking with a guy in Africa and it just happened that he was in the same town as my daughter and son-in-law", Purcell recalled.  Through that ham radio contact, Purcell was able to regularly keep in touch with his family members who served as Christian missionaries to the Cameroons for many years.