This relays a post from Chapter 47, Los Angeles.
It is with sadness to announce the passing of longtime SBE47 member and past chair, Lyle Henry – The Radio Doctor. He passed away November 8th after a battle with prostate cancer. Lyle’s impact on LA broadcast engineering came in many different forms. Many senior engineers now got their start in the business from Lyle or improved their RF knowledge with Lyle’s teachings. The SBE 47 board recently sent a letter to Lyle after hearing of his diagnosis. Here was his response back to that letter he wanted to share with the group. Lyle will be missed. –Matthew Wilson Anderson, SBE Chapter 47 Chair
Here is the obituary in Lyle Henry’s own words:
I turned up as Chief Engineer at Drake-Chenault K100 (KIQQ) 100.3 on July 5, 1977, a scared but starry-eyed kid of 35 from WDOR Sturgeon Bay, WI (11 years), and KAAA (4 years) in Kingman, AZ. During those 15 years I had built 78kW 93.9 WDOR-FM, and 3kW 92.7 KZZZ. At KIQQ I moved our 58kW signal from Briarcrest to Mt. Wilson with 5.3 kW, taking our coverage with us.
After 12 wonderful years at D-C and Outlet Broadcasting, KIQQ was sold and became Pirate Radio on March 17, 1989. Took me 4.5 months to get out of that mess, with an offer of Director of Engineering at Classical KUSC 91.5 with the excellent help there of Jim Sensenbach, Chief Engineer, and Pablo Garcia as Asst, Chief. At KUSC I moved ND 25kW from Flint Peak in Glendale to Mt. Harvard with 39kW directional. First station on Mt. Harvard.
Chapter 47 was dormant when I arrived in 1977, but with the help of another engineer, Doug Howland, and especially Dick Burden, we got it cranking again.
I’d been fascinated by hidden SCA signals from my Sturgeon Bay, WI days, and modified my Zenith portable to be able to pick up those mysterious signals. Most of it was Muzak and other music for stores in the 1970’s. Later I pushed my stations to use the SCAs 67 and/or 92 kHz to make money for engineering. Somehow I became known as The SCA Guru, and when digital SCAs came along, I was there. FMeXtra showed up in 2005 with digital audio, and I helped those nice Bay Area folk as best I could demonstrating it across the country and NAB to 10 years. That also took me to China, India, and Singapore.
The most exciting thing about overseas travel, particularly China, was meeting brilliant young people who needed a good western university education. So I brought 53 students, starting in 1988, to Canada and America and helped them through. Most lived at my house for extended periods, and those who were here at the same time are still good friends, often still checking on me. For a while I had 9 at once! The last two, Vietnamese guys, fell in love and married. They are still here, along with my Honey Bunny, Richard #50, for 21 years. All those kids brought their families back home out of poverty.
Big hugs to all. I’ve had a wonderful life, and I made a difference in
this world. 🙂