Remembered for her leadership and her personal touch as president of the North West Tasmania Amateur Radio Club, Shirley Hardstaff VK7HSC, had been immersed in amateur radio since the first day she got her licence.
A familiar face to many in the Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association, or ALARA, and at many gatherings in Tasmania, Shirley became a Silent Key on the 5th of April.
Her friends recalled her as someone with a leadership style that brought a personal touch to YL meet-ups, placing less of an emphasis on business and committee formalities and more focus on social interaction. In 2019, she organised and funded the Bi-Monthly Chat and Show which was held at the Penguin Rec Centre and later the Ulverstone Rec Centre, until 2021.
Her on-air presence embraced traditional HF as well as other modes, including Echolink, DMR, IRLP and SSTV. She often served as stand-in net control for the Mount Duncan Net and a big supporter of the Scouting event Jamboree on the Air.
Shirley, who was the VK7 representative to ALARA from 2010 to 2014, was elected president of the North West Tasmania Amateur Radio Club in 2010. She stepped down in 2023. She and her late husband, Max, VK7KY, were widely known for their travels and were familiar faces at ham radio events around Tasmania.
Shirley was 83.