Doug McArthur VK3UM
RIP
L to R: G4RGK, VK3UM, G3LTF Cambridge 2012
Doug and I first met on the 20m net
around 30 years ago, in those days Doug was running 24 yagi array on 432 and I had
just built a group of 4 NBS yagis. We made many 432 EME skeds but could never
make it. Doug was not convinced his array was working well and mine certainly
wasn’t, so when Rainer DJ9BV designed a new 8 yagi array using open wire
feeder, Doug built one, the results were remarkable. I still have the plot of
Sagittarius he did with his array using his software. Shortly after this I built my own version of
the using the experience that Doug had gained in building his. Once they were
both running properly, we were easily able to exchange reports via the Moon
using these two arrays, at the time we were both using K2RIW amplifiers, Doug
managed to get more out of a K2RIW than anyone else I have ever seen, probably
by using the knowledge he gained in keeping Radio Australia’s transmitters on
the air.
Over the years we continued to meet
up on the 20m net and at various EME conferences. Doug would keep us all
entertained with his stories of his time in Darwin working with Radio
Australia, his time in the Middle East. Alice Springs and working for the ACMA.
Doug’s speciality was the effects of EMR. The EMRcalc program he wrote is used
by widely used by professional bodies to assess radiation risks.
In the late nineties he was able to
buy a piece of land and build Tikaluna on top of a hill in the wilds of
Victoria, which he did despite severe health problems. Wanting to get back on
eme, He then built a substantial mount and hydraulic system, on which he
mounted a 28ft Kennedy dish . As well as
being a first class software engineer, he was also a first class mechanical and
electrical engineer. As can been seen from his many magazine articles, papers
at conferences and the pictures on his website.
Doug and Bev came to England in 2001
and again in 2012, my wife and I were pleased to be able to spend four days
with them.
Our last qso was during the Dubus CW
EME contest last month as the Moon rose in England, there was Doug calling cq
on 432.018 (he was always on .018 on any band)
Although the 20m net was abandoned
over the last few years, we had continued to meet up a couple of times each
week on Teamtalk or Skype to discuss the latest innovation to his software and
generally put the world right. Doug was a smashing bloke and I’m going to miss
him a great deal.
R.I.P.
Dave G4RGK,
March 2016