Qnews for April 19th 2026

Qnews for April 19th 2026

From Q-News AR News from Queensland by QNews VK4BB

April 16, 2026 · 8 min

About this episode

The episode pays tribute to Vernon Crabb VK4FVC, reflecting on his life, contributions to amateur radio, and his battle with cancer.

Vernon Crabb VK4FVC - December 1939 - April 2026 It is sad to report that Vern Crabb VK4FVC has gone Silent Key in Townsville following a long battle with cancer. Despite doctors saying that he would not make Christmas 2025 Vern proved them wrong making it past that and able to celebrate his 52nd anniversary of marrying Nell before he was taken from us. Vern was a long time member of the Wireless Institute of Australia until illness forced him to cancel his membership. Vern was also a long time member of The Townsville Amateur Radio Club, using his morse skills to support the on-air Slow Morse training net for many years before it was disbanded. Vern was also a participant in the 3599kHz Gnarly Net Morse section right up to the final days of his life. Vern was a Morse Man! Vern grew up on the family farm near Woodstock North Queensland, with the family then moving to Rollingstone to farm pineapples. Vern attended and matriculated at St Teresa's College Abergowrie and eventually took over running the pineapple farm with Nell's help. Vern was always keen to learn how and why things work, which was a much needed skill in farming life where most repairs were done onsite. He also…

Topics covered

  • Amateur Radio
  • Morse Code
  • Personal Tribute
  • Community
  • Farming
  • Cancer Awareness

Keywords

  • Vernon Crabb
  • amateur radio
  • Morse code
  • cancer
  • Townsville
  • Wireless Institute of Australia
  • farming

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wireless Institute of Australia, The Townsville Amateur Radio Club

Places: Townsville, Woodstock North Queensland, Rollingstone, Australia

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