Fausto Minardi, I4EAT from Faenza, Ravenna, Italy passed away 31 March 2021, due to COVID-19.
Information received from Paolo, I4EWH:
With great sadness I must inform you that Fausto I4EAT passed away today due to COVID. He was a good friend and great DX'er not only on low bands but also on VHF.
We will miss him.
Regards.
Paolo I4EWH
Information from Fausto qrz page:
My interest into amateur radio world began in 1965 when I was 15 years old , when listening on 40M AM with the family radio broadcast, I found some strange signals, which I found later, were Amateur Radio stations.
Well, in 1966 I became SWL I1-12548 and two years later I got my HAM license but at that time I was forced, due to money problems, to opt to VHF activity which in Italy, in 1968, was limited to AM in a fixed frequency, mostly with home built equipments.
In the early seventies I bought my first Sommerkamp HF rig and a little later I built a 2M Transverter for to try SSB on that band. Working on SSB on 144 MHz was the real challenge, immediately I learned what was the DX on VHF.
During the seventies I was QRV almost only on 2M, I made first 2M QSO on EME from Italy with SM7BAE on 22/02/1978 and on 12/03/1978 I was the operator at I4PWL for the first QSO on 2M between Italy and USA with W7FN and also the operator and the VHF leader at 9A1ONU (now T7) expedition for the first QSO on 2M between San Marino Rep. and USA with K1WHS on 28/03/1980.
Not sure, but probably I was the first having used all modes of propagation on 144 MHz: Tropo, Es, MS, EME, FAI, AU and TEP (QSO with ZS3B on 31/03/1979) and also probably the first to achieve half DXCC on 2M as was reported on the IARU Reg.1 bulletin June 1979.
Just in 1979 during the regular schedules with the South Africans for TEP tests I found how good was the propagation on 10M and my HF activity really started on that occasion. Later gradually my interests expanded on the other bands, in 1981 I was active on 80M with a single full size vertical, in 1982 I had two verticals but an year later I was already QRV with the W1CF square array which I am still using right now.
I made my first TOPBAND QSO on March 1984 but for several years my chances on that band were limited due to very modest setup, only with the new century I have experienced the extraordinary performance of the beverage antennas and my score on that band really improved.
On the other edge of the Challenge list may have played a strong rule the previous experience I had on VHF as becoming QRV on 6M only on April 2001 initially only with an HM 5W transverter and few months later with an HM 200W linear, I climbed rapidly the DXCC score on that band, the first of November of that year I worked my #100 country.
I cannot claim to have taken part to any real DXpedition, anyway I have operated in the past as guest at 4U1ITU, HV3SJ, M1C, M1BS, 9A1ONU, IS0 and IG9A. I have been QSL manager of M1C (now T77C) for several years around the seventies and nowadays I am the QSL manager for the contest station IR4X for which I am also an operator and sustaining member.
In 2007 I was able to win the Clinton B DeSoto Cup, it was a very hard work but this was the final achievement of a life dedicated to DXing on almost all HAM bands,I have been in the top of the challenge list in the following years until 2012.
All my QSOs made as I1EAT, I4EAT, I4EAT/4 (VHF/UHF only), IO4EAT, IH9/I4EAT, IF9/I4EATas well as all IR4X QSOs are uploaded on LoTW.
On 7 May 2012, after having digitized the 1980 9A1ONU (Republic of San Marino) paperlogs, I also uploaded on LoTW, missed only the RTTY LOG.
Information received from Paolo, I4EWH:
With great sadness I must inform you that Fausto I4EAT passed away today due to COVID. He was a good friend and great DX'er not only on low bands but also on VHF.
We will miss him.
Regards.
Paolo I4EWH
Information from Fausto qrz page:
My interest into amateur radio world began in 1965 when I was 15 years old , when listening on 40M AM with the family radio broadcast, I found some strange signals, which I found later, were Amateur Radio stations.
Well, in 1966 I became SWL I1-12548 and two years later I got my HAM license but at that time I was forced, due to money problems, to opt to VHF activity which in Italy, in 1968, was limited to AM in a fixed frequency, mostly with home built equipments.
In the early seventies I bought my first Sommerkamp HF rig and a little later I built a 2M Transverter for to try SSB on that band. Working on SSB on 144 MHz was the real challenge, immediately I learned what was the DX on VHF.
During the seventies I was QRV almost only on 2M, I made first 2M QSO on EME from Italy with SM7BAE on 22/02/1978 and on 12/03/1978 I was the operator at I4PWL for the first QSO on 2M between Italy and USA with W7FN and also the operator and the VHF leader at 9A1ONU (now T7) expedition for the first QSO on 2M between San Marino Rep. and USA with K1WHS on 28/03/1980.
Not sure, but probably I was the first having used all modes of propagation on 144 MHz: Tropo, Es, MS, EME, FAI, AU and TEP (QSO with ZS3B on 31/03/1979) and also probably the first to achieve half DXCC on 2M as was reported on the IARU Reg.1 bulletin June 1979.
Just in 1979 during the regular schedules with the South Africans for TEP tests I found how good was the propagation on 10M and my HF activity really started on that occasion. Later gradually my interests expanded on the other bands, in 1981 I was active on 80M with a single full size vertical, in 1982 I had two verticals but an year later I was already QRV with the W1CF square array which I am still using right now.
I made my first TOPBAND QSO on March 1984 but for several years my chances on that band were limited due to very modest setup, only with the new century I have experienced the extraordinary performance of the beverage antennas and my score on that band really improved.
On the other edge of the Challenge list may have played a strong rule the previous experience I had on VHF as becoming QRV on 6M only on April 2001 initially only with an HM 5W transverter and few months later with an HM 200W linear, I climbed rapidly the DXCC score on that band, the first of November of that year I worked my #100 country.
I cannot claim to have taken part to any real DXpedition, anyway I have operated in the past as guest at 4U1ITU, HV3SJ, M1C, M1BS, 9A1ONU, IS0 and IG9A. I have been QSL manager of M1C (now T77C) for several years around the seventies and nowadays I am the QSL manager for the contest station IR4X for which I am also an operator and sustaining member.
In 2007 I was able to win the Clinton B DeSoto Cup, it was a very hard work but this was the final achievement of a life dedicated to DXing on almost all HAM bands,I have been in the top of the challenge list in the following years until 2012.
All my QSOs made as I1EAT, I4EAT, I4EAT/4 (VHF/UHF only), IO4EAT, IH9/I4EAT, IF9/I4EATas well as all IR4X QSOs are uploaded on LoTW.
On 7 May 2012, after having digitized the 1980 9A1ONU (Republic of San Marino) paperlogs, I also uploaded on LoTW, missed only the RTTY LOG.