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W2EA is now the club call of the South Jersey
Mountain Toppers Amateur Radio Club. This club was formed
to honor the late Walter W. Schmidt, W2EA who became a
silent key in 1994. Walt was an active ham, licensed for
over 60 years. But beyond that, he was also an avid
hiker, backpacker, and camper even to an age when others
would have chosen less rigorous activities. One of Walt's
favorite places was High Knob, a 2,000-foot mountain
about 30 miles north of Marshall's Creek, Pennsylvania.
As a younger man he hiked in the area on many occasions.
Years later, he added ham radio; first, just a 2-meter
hand-held and portable antenna. Later came car-access to
the top, complete with 10-watt CW/SSB/FM rig and
armstrong-rotated an 8-element beam on a fiberglass
vaulting-pole mast. Still later, Walt recruited others to
accompany him to High Knob to participate in the June and
September ARRL VHF QSO parties. Group involvement spanned
two decades and expanded to multi-transmitter activity. When Walt became a silent key, those who had participated in these activities with him agreed that they should not end. Hence, the South Jersey Mountain Toppers Amateur Radio Club was born, the club applied for and was granted the call, was again active on the airways. |
(Members sitting left to right Joe Duffin W2ORA, Connie Duffin XYL W2ORA, Anna Schmidt XYL W2EA, Miles Brown W2PAU, standing Ken Botterbrodt K2WB, Bob Turner N2SCJ, Joe Cramer N2XYZ, Amor Klotzbach N2FY (SK), Rich Kloidt KD2KS, Mike Berezowski WA2ABF(SK), Paul Hayden KF2YX, and Bob Applegate K2UT).