Al Tirevold, WA0HQQ Silent Key

United States

Website Administrator · Community Archivist · Silent Key, July 2021

Al Tirevold, WA0HQQ, is one of the most quietly indispensable figures in the modern history of the R-390A community. For years he supported and administered the r-390a.net website — the definitive online reference for owners, restorers, and admirers of the Collins-designed military receiver — hosting its archives, maintaining its document structure, and ensuring that the collective knowledge accumulated by hundreds of contributors over decades remained accessible to anyone who needed it. Without Al’s patient stewardship, much of that knowledge would simply have been lost.

Al passed away in July 2021. He was confirmed SK after list administrator Larry Haney attempted to contact him in August of that year without success. The r-390a.net homepage carries a brief acknowledgement: “Al L. Tirevold, WA0HQQ, supported and administered this website for a very long time. He is SK in July, 2021, and will be missed.” It is a modest tribute to a contribution that deserves considerably more.

The Pearls

Among Al’s most significant contributions was his work on the Pearls — the celebrated multi-volume compilation of the best technical posts from the R-390 reflector mailing list. The Pearls were not a static document; they required continuous curation as new knowledge emerged on the reflector, and Al took on the work of reformatting and updating them to make the collection navigable. The revised Pearls v2.0 was made possible directly through Al’s hosting and publication effort.

The Pearls remain today the most comprehensive single technical reference for the R-390A family. Every restorer who has opened those documents and found the answer they needed owes a debt, in part, to Al.

The Specification Documents

In collaboration with Tom Marcotte, Al also obtained and cleaned up the MIL-R-13947B military specification documents for the R-390A — not previously available in clean, searchable form. These documents covering the official performance and acceptance standards for the receiver were subsequently posted on r-390a.net where they remain available today.

The Quiet Backbone

Al’s role in the community was never loud. He did not seek recognition for the administrative work he quietly performed. His contribution was infrastructural — the kind that becomes most visible only in its absence. When the website needs updating, when a document goes missing, when a new collector asks where to find the references, the answer almost always traces back to work that Al did.

The R-390A community is small by the standards of any online hobby group. It persists because people like Al Tirevold chose to spend their time keeping it alive.

Mike Peace VK6ADA / r-390a.net Administrator
Boatanchor Legends Tribute Series — Preserving the History of the R-390A Community