Topic: Glenn Baxter, former K1MAN, SK

[W1RC]

Glenn Baxter of Belgrade Lakes Maine passed away on Friday May 5th, 2017.

Glenn was K1MAN until 2012 when the FCC rejected his application for renewal.

In a nutshell, Glenn was bagged for unattended station operation. His real sins were, of course, he was a pain in the ass.  Glenn was assessed a forfeiture (fine), was able to have it reduced but refused to pay up. The FCC rejected his application for renewal because he had an outstanding debt.

Timtron and I knew Glenn personally.  He wasn't a bad guy back in the day but in the mid-1980s he got into a dispute with the QST advertising manager over his classified ads advertising his Collins Radio repair services.  Glenn made his living doing this.  He claimed to be a "former Collins engineer" which in itself wasn't totally false but was misleading because he worked for a short time in their computer division and had nothing to do with RF whatsoever.  Regardless it was because of his unclear pricing policies that QST refused to run his ads.

Them came the lawsuits.  Contrary to the myth Glenn was not an attorney nor a wealthy man.  He and his wife lived modestly on his family's forme summer place in Belgrade Lakes Maine, a beautiful spot.

Glenn used the courts to settle disputes that could have easily been resolved with a phone call.  He lost cases many times because of procedural defects,   Glenn even sued a neighboring girls camp over some stacked cordwood.  He was a classic example of the old maxim: "he who defends himself has a fool for a client".

He also ran afoul of the Maine Department of Education because he was calling his academic institution a "university."

His IARN broadcasts were made using a venerable Collins KW-1 AM transmitter.  Despite thenfact that he was a "former Collins engineer" it was another well-known AMer who redesigned his audio.  Then came the IARN "bulletin" broadcasts and his notoriety.  It was clear that Glenn was using his "bulletins" to battle with the League.  His first mistake, in my opinion, was his choice of frequency.  His second mistake was challenging the authority of the FCC and personally attacking Riley Hollimgsworth, K4ZFH, who was at the time in charge of Amateur enforcement.

When the FCC inspected his station they found it transmitting unattended.  That was the beginning of the end for K1MAN.  Glenn was able to remain in the air because he kept the case pending in the courts and through administrative action but in the end he finally lost and his application for renewal was rejected.

I understand K1MAN is now assigned to someone in NY.

More details on Glenn Baxter may be found here:

http://k1manthefool.blogspot.com/

However now that Glenn has passed away all I can say was he was an interesting individual.  When I knew him he was very hospitable to me and I found him very entertaining.  That was in the 1970s and early 1980s.  I did not have any contact with him after that.

May he Rest In Peace.