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Nate Brightman Long Beach, CA QCWA # 16881 |
"Spark" Behind Queen Mary W6RO Amateur Station Nate Brightman, K6OSC, SK
Nate Brightman, K6OSC, called the "spark" behind W6RO, the Amateur Radio station aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, died on October 29. He was 99. An ARRL member, Brightman, who lived in Long Beach, had served as the W6RO Wireless Room Manager for 34 years, plus another 10 years arranging for the GB5QM "Last Voyage" Amateur Radio operation and establishing W6RO, which is licensed to the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach.
Nate Brightman, K6OSC
In 2013, Brightman reluctantly resigned as W6RO Wireless Room Manager, citing recent illness and his advanced age as reasons for his decision. In his farewell statement, Brightman said ham radio operations now aboard some 90 museum ships such as the Queen Mary have introduced Amateur Radio to millions of people. "This means of introducing Amateur Radio to the public is the biggest publicity stunt ever for Amateur Radio, and we should be proud that it all started with W6RO!" he said.
In the process of spearheading Amateur Radio aboard the Queen Mary, Brightman balanced the tasks of recruiting hundreds of operators, garnering equipment donations from leading manufacturers, and maintaining excellent relations with "The Queen's" management. He earned an ARRL Special Service Award for his efforts in 2004.
Much of this information is from the column in World Radio Magazine by Lenore Jensen, W6NAZ (SK). "Who's Who in Amateur Radio"
In 1967 when Nate read that the City of Long Beach planned to buy and bring the luxury liner, the Queen Mary, to its beautiful harbor as a tourist attraction, he thought, "How could we of ARALB make Amateur Radio part of the long voyage from England?" Nate initiated phone calls, paper work and official permission pleas galore to both countries. Finally, it happened: permission was granted and the ARALB club members supported a project to send club member Al Lee (W6KQI), to operate amateur radio aboard the ship for ARALB. Not only was he the first American amateur to operate a maritime mobile station licensed by the British General Post Office, using the call GB5QM, but also the first time an amateur was given permission to operate on a British vessel.
On June 20, 1974, Nate submitted a "Proposal for Amateur Radio Operation Aboard the Queen Mary" to Marvin M. Wolff, then the Operations Director of the ship. The proposal outlined how the Radio Room could be refurbished and how amateur radio equipment could be used alongside the ship's maritime radio equipment. The purpose was to restore the room to its original use, appearance and atmosphere as much as possible.
Nate Brightman - K6OSC (SK), has been in love with this Queen for more than three decades, and has seen his dream for her fulfilled. The dream of Nate and his fellow club members of the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach came to fruition in 1979 when the Queen Mary again began to operate a Radio Room aboard the ship. The go-ahead was given and Nate and his fellow club members, along with the Queen Mary staff, proceeded full steam ahead with amateur radio station W6RO. On April 22, 1979, the ARALB celebrated the Grand Opening of the Wireless Room from which W6RO would operate. "We particularly wanted the operators to be able to answer questions from the public, hoping to attract newcomers to our hobby" said Nate. Since then, volunteer amateur radio operators operate the station daily. Operators are not required to be members of the ARALB; operation is open to any licensed amateur.
Nate insists that special recognition be given to the manufacturers who have provided all the radios and antennas and particularly to Mr. Joseph F. Prevratil, CEO of the RMS Foundation/Queen Mary Seaport, (operators of the Queen Mary) who has always been very supportive of the amateur radio operation.
Answering the question of what brought Nate to his devotion to amateur radio, Nate replied, "In 1957, when his son Howard (now K6OSD) was in the sixth grade, he told me that he wanted to be an amateur radio operator. We studied together and received our calls in 1957." Nate's community work hasn't been solely with W6RO. He's diplomatically tried to keep Long Beach officials aware of amateur needs and interests, public service work and emergency abilities.
He persuaded the city to raise a 30 foot antenna limit to 60 feet. Nate offered amateur radio to the 1982 Long Beach Annual Marathon and the ARALB has supported it since. For three years Nate inspired Operation Library with demo ham stations in all the city libraries, hoping to attract people to our hobby. He has taught amateur radio to blind teens making schematic circuit boards using rope symbols glued to panels. In 1966, 1976 and 1977, Nate served a President of ARALB. From 1999 to 2001, he was President of the Long Beach IBM Users Group. He brought ARALB members into the Red Cross where Nate has been a member of the Disaster Service team for more than 26 years. He held many positions over the years including Director of Operations. For his work with W6RO in the Wireless Room, Nate received the Dayton Hamvention Special Achievement Award in 1991. For ten years, Nate, on behalf of the ARALB, has been collecting food for the City of Signal Hill's canned food drive and has collected thousands of cans of food for the needy of the City of Signal Hill.
He made headlines on March 24, 1968 when he, together with a ham on a tuna boat, arranged for a shipment of Hemophil, a blood clotting medicine to be flown to Peru for Hemophiliacs about to undergo surgery. This required holding up a TWA flight for an hour as the medication was just coming off the production line to be flown from the manufacturer, Hyland Labs, by sheriff's Helicopter to the airport. Another time he made the newspaper was in February 1969 when he was the first one to locate a tuna boat that was commandeered and taken to a Peruvian port. His information was the first time the U.S. State Department learned where the tuna boat was. He was able to do this because he regularly kept a regular early morning schedule with Martin Jacobs (WB6RKR) [SK] who was a fisherman on the boat. He gave Nate information as he heard the footsteps of the Peruvian soldier's walk to the other end of the tuna boat. This information was relayed to the U.S. State Department by the Press Telegram and was the first word they had of where the tuna boat was taken by its captors.
When the Battleship, New Jersey, was on its way to Vietnam, Nate got a call at work from the Long Beach Press Telegram asking him if could go home and run phone patches for the sailors who wanted to contact their families waiting in Long Beach. Nate spent the whole day running patches until the ship arrived. After the ship arrived in Long Beach, Nate and his wife, Evelyn (WA6ZTW), were given a personal escorted tour of the entire ship.
Nate received a ARRL Public Service Award for his work relaying messages during the Managua Earthquake, December 23, 1972. In January 1982 the ARALB presented Nate with the "Radio Amateur of the Year" Award. Nate served as President of the ARALB in 1966, 1976 and 1977 as well as many years on the Board of Directors. In 2001, Nate celebrated his 44th year as a member of the ARALB. For his dedicated service, in 2001 the ARALB awarded him a Lifetime Membership.
Nate became a Silent Key on October 29, 2016.
In the Shack, aboard the Queen Mary