Following on from the sad news of the passing of the King Of Thailand and a comment by John VK2KC, I thought it may be prudent to have a look at some of the notable people who were/are Ham Radio Operators.

First, an acknowledgment to the peoples whose hard work I’ve stolen to collate the short highlight reel below – thank you!

It’s a given that many engineers and astro/cosmonauts are Hams – they work in technical fields, so it’s really not much of a surprise that they’re licenced.  Nevertheless, did you know that following people were Hams?

Ray Dolby (SK) – American engineer, founder of Dolby Laboratories, F5VBY
Akio Morita (SK) – Founder of Sony, JP1DPJ
Masaru Ibuka (SK) – Co-founder of Sony, J3BB
Bob Moog (SK) – Inventor of the Moog Synthesizer, K2AMH
Howard Hughes (SK) – Billionaire, Filmmaker, Aviator, Aircraft designer, W5CY
Leo Fender (SK) – Designer of Musical Instruments, Mr “Fender Electric Guitars”, W6DOE
Nolan Bushnell – Founder of Atari, W7DUK
David Packard (SK) – Co-founder of Hewlett Packard, 9DRV
Jack Kilby (SK) – Invented the Microchip and hand Held Digital Calculator, W9GTY

There are just too many astro/cosmonauts to name – they’re all amateurs (not really, but close).

How about some dignitaries or royalty?

Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said – Sultan of Oman, A41AA
King Hassan II (SK) – King of Morocco, CN8MH
Juan Carlos I of Spain, EA0JC
Bhumiphol Adulayadej (SK) – King of Thailand, HS1A
Francego Cossiga (SK) – Former Italian President, I0FCG
Keizo Obuchi – Japanese Prime Minister, JI1KIT
King Hussain of Jordan (SK) – JY1
Carlos Saul Menem – President of Argentina, LU1SM
Emil Lahoud – President of Lebanon, OD5LE
Prince Talal of Saudi Arabia, SU1VN
Rajiv Ghandi (SK) – Late Prime Minister of India, VU2RG
Albert II – Prince of Monaco, 3A0AG

From the ‘Well how about that?!” department:

Walter Cronkite (SK) – “The worlds most recognised” US television newsreader, KB2GSD
Patty Loveless – Country Music Singer, KD4WUJ
James Lance Bass – ‘N SYNC pop singer, KG4UYY
Paul Tibbets (SK) – pilot of the “Enola Gay” aircraft that dropped the first A-Bomb in WW2, K4ZVZ
Priscilla Presley – Film star & businesswoman. Was Married to Elvis Presley, NY6YOS
Joe Walsh – Of The Eagles & James Gang, WB6ACU
Donnie Osmond – Singer, WD4SKT
Sir Cliff Richard – Singer (USA callsign), W2JOF
Tim Allen – Actor, comedian, “Tim the Tool-Man Taylor”, KK6OTD
Marlon Brando (SK) – Hollywood Actor, KE6PZH and FO5GJ

And from the “Well, of course!” department:

Tokuzo Inoue – Founder of ICOM, JA3FA
Bob Heil – Legendary sound engineer to The Eagles & The Who, Head of Heil Sound, K9EID
Hiram Percy Maxim (SK) – Prolific Inventor & ARRL founder, W1AW
Dr “Joe” Taylor – Discovered binary pulsars, inventor of weak signal modes, K1JT

This list is by no means comprehensive, and there’s no doubt I’ve left some people off the list whose presence is more deserving; my apologies for anyone I’ve overlooked.  Regardless, I think you’ll agree we’ve got some esteemed company! 🙂  Paul, VK2ICQ