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- Subject: Re: [IRCA] John Bryant R.I.P
- From: Mark Connelly <markwa1ion@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2019 06:21:59 +0000 (UTC)
- Delivered-to: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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A John Bryant article on any subject was always a great read.
Not only was the level of knowledge and research always first rate but his style was always enthusiastic and down to earth as well, even when the subject was a complex one.
Unlike some other hobby writing I've run across, there was no air of superiority or sense that most other DXers were "peons" or "plebeians" who could not possibly comprehend the esoteric concepts of electromagnetic communications phenomena.
Rather John got right to business with a clever, easy-going, and sometimes humorous style that got the ideas across to beginners and experts alike. There was no belittling of others' efforts (as we've seen elsewhere) even when some of those others were clearly barking up the wrong tree.
His articles in the Fine Tuning Proceedings books were legendary. His knowledge in other realms (architecture, art, cars / industrial design, workshop tools / practices, world cultures, languages, books, music, food, etc.) informed his writings about exotic DX and high-tech receivers. This cross-pollination of knowledge bases was vastly enriching, the stuff of top shelf novelists.
John is missed for sure. At least we can take some solace in that he inspired Gary and numerous others to carry on with similar dedication, expertise, and helping-hands mentoring that avoids pomposity and 'snark'. This is true whether today's DX keepers of the flame use ultralights, SDRs, or traditional desktop radios with knobs.
Fortunately some of John's writing is still online.
This one about the Kaz antenna is quite useful:
http://www.dxing.info/equipment/kaz_bryant.dx
To the best of my knowledge, he never got to test-drive Neil's next development, the DKAZ. If he had, it would have been a great article.
R.I.P. John
Mark Connelly, WA1ION
South Yarmouth, MA
<<
The 9th of February is the 9th anniversary of John's untimely death,
following a fall from a ladder at his home in Stillwater, OK. I still
think of John often. He was a good friend, mentor, teacher, and first rate
DXer. Rest in Peace, John. Please take a moment for some thoughts for
this amazing gentleman.ÂÂ Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC.
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Thanks Walt,
John was a co-Founder of our Ultralight Radio group, and we lost a major part of our leadership with his untimely accident.
We still miss him greatly, especially as an ocean coast DXer willing to push his luck with Ultralight radios. He did set in motion a very creative trend, though, with experimental breakthroughs in FSL antennas, ocean cliff propagation discoveries and "Frequent Flyer" travel DXing. John probably would have been an eager participant in all these activities.
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
>>
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