Robert Sudock - WB6FDF (SK)

Anchor Desk

Los Angeles-based Robert Sudock, WB6FDF, shared the anchor desk at the Amateur Radio Newsline since June, 1983. But the relationship with Newsline's founder, executive editor and producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF existed for nearly ten years before that. Pasternak, then WA2HVK, had recently moved west and was one of newly-licensed Sudock's first QSOs. The friendship of three decades endured.

From 1974 to 1976 Sudock edited and reported the MWRA News. This QST aired weekly as a service of the Mt. Wilson Repeater Association's VHF repeater. Mt. Wilson, at 5,700 feet, is the home of most of Los Angeles' television stations and the principal location for many of L.A.'s FM transmitters. The site provided wonderfully broad coverage to most of Southern California. MWRA News was heard from Santa Barbara on the north to San Diego and the Mexican border to the south.

"In those days, we relied on the Amateur Radio printed press for much of the hard news we included in our newscasts. Joe Schraeder's (W9JUV) "HR Report", Wayne Green's (W2NSD) "73 Hot Line" and, of course bulletins from the ARRL, were our major sources of information," Sudock said. "Unlike Newsline, MWRA News was a regional service, so we always included submissions of regional club activities."

"Newsline has taken the QST format to a professional level. In comparison, MWRA was downright primitive. Newsline strives to provide its listeners with the quality they expect from a broadcast network in both editorial and production terms. Newsline's reporters throughout the world regularly enterprise and submit completely produced packages. As you'll see on these pages, many of our reporters and anchors are broadcast professionals who are also Hams. Newsline also forged news exchange alliances with Amateur news services around the globe. I'm very excited about this as we now receive international material customized for Newsline," Sudock said.

As a result of this alliance Sudock was asked to co-substitute anchor the March 12, 2000 edition of "Q-News" from The Wireless Institute of Australia - Queensland Division while producer-anchor Graham Kemp, VK4BB, took a short vacation. "I guess I could best sum up my Ham activities not so much as 'in QSO with' but more as 'in QST,' Sudock concluded.

Sudock was involved in the Los Angeles area broadcast and production industry since 1965. He was heard both on-air on local FM stations and in voice overs for a number of industrial productions.   He was a member of the broadcast frequency coordination group formed by ABC, host broadcaster for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Since 1988 continued to serve as a board member of the Southern California Frequency Coordinating Committee, Inc., the recognized Part 74 coordinator in metropolitan Los Angeles for many years.  In 1983 Sudock joined KTTV Channel 11 in Los Angeles as an engineering manager. He retired from the company in 2009 as Assistant Director of Engineering.

Bob Heil (K9EID) began a Ham Radio-oriented webcast on TWiT.tv. It originated live each Tuesday evening at 8:00 p.m. Amateur Radio Newsline was asked to contribute.  Sudock wrote, produced and hosted the five minute segment when Ham Nation first began.

Sadly, Robert became a Silent Key in July 2021. He will be missed.

Callsign: WB6FDF