It is with sadness that I must announce the passing of Rudy Wacht,
KB2HKI, this morning {May 29, 2009}. Rudy became ill several years ago,
and has been confined to his home since. Rudy suffered from cancer, most
recently pancreatic. I will send an e-mail with details of the
arrangements when I know of them.

Rudy was an extremely active ham. He was passionate about the hobby. One
of the most memorable things about him was his “we can do this”
attitude, and he a way of getting people excited about a project and
wanting to help. This enthusiasm rubbed off on many who knew him. Rudy
served the Skyline Amateur Radio Club as President for many years, and
by helping with and motivating people to participate in many projects
and activities. He loved to help people and to get others involved. Rudy
was active on VHF, UHF and dabbled in HF. Rudy participated in and
coordinated public service events, and along with Dan N2MRE, would show
up with radios, antennas, coax and supplies. Rudy liked to build and
experiment, and was good with computers as well. Rudy was instrumental,
with others, in getting the 147.180 repeater on the air. This included
building the repeater, climbing the pole to mount the antenna, and
providing supplies. When packet was first getting popular, Rudy and
Chris KB2FAF partnered to push the club in to building a node and
establishing links to as many locations as possible. He enjoyed
hamfests, and would invite hams to ride with him in his conversion van.
These became training sessions, as we would sometimes watch ARRL videos
on the TV in the van. Rudy liked and encouraged contesting. I recall
several VHF contests from a field on the hill on Creamery Rd. with a
tent and Rudy’s van as the operating point. Rudy is and will be missed
by many.


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Andrew C. Slaugh KB2LUV
http://mysite.verizon.net/aslaugh
145.490 Repeater {-600 PL 71.9} Cortland, NY