Keith Haverfield

In 2010 the club lost a great supporter Keith Haverfield VK4APQ.
The following is a brief history of Keith's life, service and friendship towards the Bundaberg Amateur Radio Club.

Keith was born in Bendigo Vic in August 1927.
After completing only 1 year High School his family and removed him to a Technical School where he found his calling.
After only 2 years of 'Tech' he joined his father at Allen's Music Store where his father was a repairer, servicing whatever radio and radiograms the shop sold.

Keith loved electronics and began building radios from scratch and gained an apprenticeship in Melbourne with Radio Corporations, also known as Astor, who built receivers and transmitters for the army. During that time he did some study at RMIT.

In 1945 the family also moved to Melbourne and the family home at Morabben had a large workshop out back where Keith spent much of his time, still building radios and high quality sound equipment - he sold a total of 3 units.

He began work with Lindsay Masons Radio atHamption as a radio technician and remained with them for 20 years, until they promoted him out of the workshop into sales, which he hated. He preferred the workshop to the customers.

He married Veronica in June of 1952 and moved to Beaumaris. The Radio business boomed with the introduction of TV so he left Masons and started Personal TV Services

After having two sons with Veronica they parted ways and he moved into a house in a scrap metal yard and Keith saw great possibilities in the discarded rubbish.

He'd previously built a 6m molded ply boat with his brother and now began to work on a 40ft steel yacht and completed it using much of the scrap from the yard. He named the boat Solar Gay intending to sail away, once he taught himself how to navigate. He built a precision sextant and finally sailed away from Melbourne into Bundaberg in 1980, where he settled at Innes Park and married Gaynor VK4FGAY in 1982.

On 7th May 1982 he attained his Amateur Radio licence, 1st August 1982 joined BARC & 5th August joined the WIA.

From the club's point of view having a member with over 40years of radio experience was a real boon and in 1983 he began researching building a tower for the club on Mt Goonaneman to replace the 70ft one erected in 1978.

He wrote to the Department of the Army and to Hills regarding the tower section specifications which were becoming available as army surplus and they would form the basis of our tower.
He had a friend draw up and certify the plans for the tower and saw its final commissioning in 1985.

He served as club secretary 1984 & president 1985-1990 and has always been a real backstop for the club always offering a helping hand to members with an electronics problem.

Like all of us he mellowed over time and where his sons remember him decrying beards and jeans in the 60's... he spent his latter years proudly sporting a beard and wearing jeans.

He wasn't into sports, saying "Why would you waste energy on sport when you can be designing, building or repairing something?"

In Keith's long list of things he designed, built or repaired are; TV's, stereo, radios, a welder, movie projector with sound, battery chargers and a couple of boats... Although he agreed that a boat was just a hole in the ocean into which you poured all your money.

A celebration ceremony of Keith's life was held on Friday 16th July 2010 in Bundaberg attended by BARC club President, Rusty McGrath VK4JM and other members

Keith will be greatly missed by all.