February 9, 2011

King Hussein, the ham radio operator known As JY1

Jordan's King Hussein died this week in 1999, after being in power for 47 years.  King Hussein was proclaimed King of Jordan in 1952, and only 18 when he took the throne in 1953. He died of cancer at the age of 63.

King Hussein was an amateur radio operator. As a ham radio operator, King Hussein was known as JY1.  I can remember hearing him occasionally on Providence area repeaters when he sometimes came to the United States to visit his son who was studying at Brown University at the time.  (Unfortunately, I never got the chance to work him on the air.)

Below is a clip of King Hussein on the radio, talking with NASA astronaut Owen Garriott in 1983. Garriott, a ham radio fan, was the first astronaut to get an amateur radio gig up in space, on the Space Shuttle Columbia. While he was passing over the Red Sea, he made radio contact with King Hussein. Listen in as Hussein ("Juliet Yankee One") talks with Garriott ("W Five Lima Foxtrot Lima").

According to the American Radio Relay League (AARL) -- Hussein was a life member -- the conversation with the space shuttle was a high point in the king's ham radio career.  You can read more background about it here from NASA.

JY1 was a classy guy both on and off the air.