The unassuming Buckinghamshire village of Whaddon was the center of radio communications for the British in WW II. This BBC video celebrates the role that Whaddon played in helping the Allies win the war.
I haven’t read any of N4KC’s books, but if the guy has written 29 of them, he’s either awfully persistent, or he’s doing something right. I’d bet on the latter. Below is the press release I received today on Don’s latest one…..Dan
Best-selling author and active radio amateur operator Don Keith N4KC has just published his 29th book. The Ship That Wouldn’t Die is an epic and true World War II story about a little known incident at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. The USS Neosho was a tanker assigned to the Allied fleet preparing for the upcoming showdown with Japan in the Coral Sea. Because of her value to the fleet, the tanker was sent 200 miles to the south for safety. However, enemy scouts mistook her for one of the Allied aircraft carriers and more than 80 dive-bombers were sent to attack her. Her escort destroyer was sunk immediately. Though seriously damaged and afire—she still held thousands of gallons of flammable fuel—the tanker’s crew worked miracles to keep her afloat for four terrifying days until help finally came. Almost 200 men went into the shark-infested sea during the attack. Many of them ended up on life rafts. They drifted nine days before rescuers found them. Only four of those men were still alive by then.
Keith has written both fiction and non-fiction on many subjects including submarines, college football, broadcasting, WWII history, and inspirational fiction. His thriller Firing Point, co-written with former Navy submarine skipper George Wallace, is in pre-production as a major motion picture, set to release in 2016 under the title Hunter Killer. The Ice Diaries, N4KC’s book on USS Nautilus and her historic voyage through the North Pole in 1958, was submitted for consideration for the Pulitzer Prize. Keith headed up an amateur radio special event operation as N9N to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that event, operating from Historic Ship Nautilus in Groton, Connecticut, in 2008.
Don is active in all aspects of the hobby, is an ARRL member, and holds the Extra Class amateur radio license. His book Riding the Shortwaves: Exploring the magic of Amateur Radio talks about the captivating allure of ham radio and gives others—especially newcomers or those considering getting their licenses—ideas on how to get the most from the hobby. The amateur radio book—as well as all of N4KC’s works—is available wherever books are sold and in most common reading formats.
Keith’s web site is www.donkeith.com. His amateur radio web site, which includes many articles for ham radio enthusiasts, is www.n4kc.com.
The sound of Heil. He saved tours of the Grateful Dead and The Who, and is credited with the birth of modern live sound by revolutionizing the equipment that bands used, starting in the 1960s. In fact, Bob Heil, ham radio operator, sound equipment inventor, and founder of Heil Sound, is the only manufacturer to have equipment on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Ham ops win iAEM-Global technology & innovation award. Broadband HamnetTM, developed by amateur radio operators to provide a high speed digital wireless communications mesh network, has won the IAEM-Global Technology & Innovation Award, Division 2.. The firmware is available at no charge via the project website at www.hsmm-mesh.org.
The teenage radio enthusiasts who helped win World War II. There were about 1,500 so-called voluntary interceptors during WWII – civilians helping to intercept secret Nazi code. To mark the centenary of the Radio Society of Great Britain, one of its members recalls how the amateur organisation played a key role in a covert operation to safeguard the country’s independence.