WB6QVI
Frederick A Soderer "Fred" (SK)
Fred lived in Murphys, California
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Fred Soderer, WB6QVI
1927 - 2021
(By Charles Ahlgren - KW6G)
Fred Soderer, WB6QVI, became a silent key in December, 2021. He was a long time member of the Coffee Mug Net (CMN) and will surely be missed by everyone in the group.
WB6QVI held the record by far for longest service to the CMN. Several years ago, Fred shared with me some pages from his old logbooks that detailed some of the first on-air meetings of the formal CMN back in 1966.
According an excerpt of his original logbook shown below, he first checked in on Saturday morning, October 8, 1966. That's 55 years of service, a record that I doubt will ever be surpassed.
This fact also makes him, as far I can determine using the limited records at my disposal, one of the original (or close to it) members of the formal Coffee Mug Net.
Some of you may know, the CMN evolved from a group of hams that had a casual Saturday morning gathering on 40 meters to relay messages to and from a fellow operator's College bound daughter. One of the interesting things that happened during the early years of the net was the fact that Gene Darlington, W6TTS (SK) would make all the new members a ceramic coffee mug as a QSL card. A picture of Fred's mug is shown below.
On the bottom of the mug, there was QSO info, just like all the other paper QSL's we have.
Through all the years that I knew Fred and heard his voice over the radio on Saturday mornings and on occasion over the telephone as well, I was always impressed with his gentlemanly manner and his helpful attitude with all things amateur radio!
I first joined the Net in April, 2003 and took over as Scribe/Net Manager at the end of that year and have remained so since that time. The tradition of sending coffee mug QSL's had long since ceased, but regardless of all that, it has been a very rewarding experience largely because of the many Coffee Mug Netters who, have exhibited exemplary operating skills, knowledge, and ethics such as Fred!
Charles, KW6G
aka, 'the big kahuna'
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