Radio Handbook 16th Edition William I. Orr, W6SAI (Editor) 1962 Editors and Engineers, Ltd. |
SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX003 ARLX003 Amateur Radio Giant Bill Orr, W6SAI, SK ZCZC AX03 QST de W1AW Special Bulletin 3 ARLX003 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT January 26, 2001 To all radio amateurs SB SPCL ARL ARLX003 ARLX003 Amateur Radio Giant Bill Orr, W6SAI, SK Amateur Radio legend William I. ''Bill'' Orr, W6SAI, of Menlo Park, California, died in his sleep January 24. He was 81. An ARRL member, Orr was best known for his numerous amateur radiobooks and reference works, many aimed at beginners. His titles include The Radio Handbook, The Beam Antenna Handbook, The Quad Antenna Handbook, The VHF-UHF Manual and The W6SAI HF Antenna Handbook, some written in collaboration with Stu Cowan, W2LX. Licensed in 1934 at age 15 as W2HCE in New York, Orr graduated in electrical engineering from the University of California in the early 1940s. In his younger years, Orr was a well-known DXer and DXCC Honor Roll member. He also was involved in DXpeditions to various exotic locations, including St Pierre and Miquelon and Monaco, among other locales. From the 1940s through the 1980s, Orr was a frequent contributor to QST, writing about tube-type amplifiers, Project OSCAR, and other topics. Orr constructed some of the amplifiers once used at ARRL Maxim Memorial Station W1AW. For many years Orr worked with tube manufacturer EIMAC. Orr's application notes for EIMAC products were favorite reading within the amateur community. In later years, Orr penned columns for Ham Radio magazine and, more recently, for CQ. In 1996, Orr was named the Dayton Hamvention Technical Excellence award winner. Chip Margelli, K7JA, of Yaesu, said Orr's readers always could build his projects knowing that Orr had tested them in the field first to be sure they worked. Long-time friend Willard ''Tiff'' Tiffany, W6GNX, said Orr had a knack for making technical topics easy to follow and understand. He remembered Orr as ''a friendly, helpful guy who wrote from the heart because he enjoyed doing it.'' Another friend, Marv Gonsior, W6FR, says Orr ''had a great sense of humor, a lot of wit about him.'' Orr owned a condominium in Maui, Hawaii, and operated from there two or three times a year as KH6ADR. Orr's wife, Sunny, died about five years ago, and he lived alone. He is survived by four daughters and a son. Arrangements are incomplete at this time. NNNN /EX |