A Wisconsin radio amateur lost his life on September 16 as he was performing maintenance on the 100 foot tower of a fellow ham. Killed in the fall was 59-year-old James G. Linstedt, W9ZUC, of Eau Claire, who succumbed to injuries sustained after he fell 95 feet from a tower owned by Ronald Anderson, W9RMA, in Eagle Point, just outside of Chippewa Falls, on the shores of Lake Wissota. Linstedt was said to have been an experienced climber. Although he had been wearing an over-the-shoulder safety harness, he apparently had failed to secure himself to the tower before the mishap occurred. Anderson, a former Chippewa County Sheriff, called authorities promptly.

Chippewa County Sheriff James Kowalczyk told the Leader-Telegram newspaper that Linstedt was wearing safety equipment, but did not use it. “When we use it for years, we get a little lax…,” the newspaper quoted Kowalczyk as saying. “If he had used it, we wouldn’t be investigating an accidental death.” Kowalczyk said Linstedt had been strapped in before moving 10 feet up the tower, apparently without securing himself.

An active radio amateur, Linstedt was a member of the Chippewa Valley Amateur Radio Club and once served as the club’s president. — Thanks to John Bigley, N7UR/Nevada Amateur Radio Newswire; media accounts