Ham radio in general and FOC in
particular has lost another of its
all time greats. Ted Drake, N8GZ
passed away a couple of months
ago, still active on the air after 80
years in the game. Ted was
licensed in March 1933 in
Columbus, OH, and also held the
calls W3IJZ, W9PWS, and HSØZAB
over the years. He was a DXer,
through and through, and had
394 countries confirmed at the
DXCC desk at the time he passed
away. For the last several years
I’ve had the pleasure of handling his bureau cards at the 8th Area Bureau as the G
manager. Ted was working the rare ones right until the end.
I first met Ted about 35 years ago at a DX dinner in Mansfield, Ohio. Ted was living in
Detroit at that time, but always paired up with his brother Al, W8MPW for important
ham radio events. You rarely saw one without the other until Al passed away some
years ago. That Mansfield dinner was held at a restaurant known for seafood. I asked
the Drake brothers if they had any menu recommendations In unison they replied,
“We’re eating steak no matter what the house specialty!” That was a good enough
recommendation for me, and I followed suit. If these top notch DXers were eating
steak, there must be a reason! Singly or together, the Drake brothers were terrific guys
to be around,
Ted was on top of the DXCC Honor Roll for over 40 years, but never lost his enthusiasm
for new challenges. Some years ago he called and asked me for a 160 metre antenna
recommendation. Shortly after that, he became a force on Top Band. In the past few
years, I noted he was also active on RTTY, piling up the totals. Ted liked to work ‘new
ones’, no matter how it was done.
Ted eventually received the N8GZ call in honour of his good friend and idol, Loren
“Windy” Windom, W8GZ, inventor of the Windom antenna. Ted travelled the world in
past years, operating from such places, as HS, BY, 0N, 4S7, 5Z4, VU, 9M2, 9M6, VK, and
ZL. He had moved to Arizona some years ago, and had a top notch station in place at
Sun City.
Each month we lose more of our old timers. Sadly, none of them can be replaced. I will
particularly miss Ted as a friend. RIP.