In memory of
M8XGO — Richard — Silent Key
Richard
Silent Key · July 2026
A familiar voice on the air, a friend on the fells and a valued part of the Cumbria amateur radio community.
M7MGO → 2E0XGO → M8XGO
Remembering Richard
Richard, M8XGO, was a friend and a great supporter of CumbriaCQ and the local amateur radio community.
Many of us knew Richard from the repeaters, the 2 metre nets, 145 Alive, Workington Radio Club and, of course, from hearing him operating portable from the Lake District fells.
Richard embraced amateur radio properly. He experimented, built antennas, took radios onto the hills and was always willing to try something new. He even bought a digital radio so he could use the CumbriaCQ network.
His voice is greatly missed on the air and his absence is still very noticeable to those of us who regularly spoke with him.
Richard went silent key in July 2026 after a short illness.
This page is here so that Richard, his callsign and his contribution to amateur radio in Cumbria are not forgotten.
His amateur radio journey
- October 2021 Foundation licence
M7MGO - 23 November 2022 Intermediate licence
2E0XGO - 2026 Intermediate callsign M8XGO
He kept the XGO suffix so operators who knew him as 2E0XGO would still recognise him. - July 2026 Silent Key
After a short illness.
Radio from the fells
Richard loved the outdoors and became heavily involved with Wainwrights On The Air (WOTA), Summits On The Air (SOTA) and portable amateur radio after joining Workington Radio Club. He wrote that it fitted in nicely with his love of the outdoors and got him back out on the local fells.
WOTA and SOTA
Richard was a regular activator and chaser. Most SOTA summits in the Lakes are also WOTA summits, and he encouraged others to register — even a Wainwright crossed on the way to a SOTA only needs one contact to qualify.
He wrote on the SOTA Reflector. Robinson, 26 July 2022, still M7MGO. Other activators logged him as 2E0XGO/P and later M8XGO/P, often with 2E0LDF/P.
Some SOTA logs
- 26 July 2022 Robinson G/LD-021 · M7MGO — his own report
- 21 May 2023 Blencathra G/LD-008 · 2E0XGO/P
- 15 June 2023 Hallin Fell G/LD-043 · 2E0XGO/P · 40 m SSB
- 31 July 2024 Seat Sandal G/LD-022 · 2E0XGO/P
- 31 January 2025 Illgill Head G/LD-029 · 2E0XGO · S2S
- 18 October 2025 Seatallan G/LD-025 · M8XGO · LD SOTA weekend
- 2 May 2026 Dent G/LD-045 · M8XGO/P · 2 m SSB, with 2E0LDF/P
145 Alive
145 Alive was one of the events I particularly remember Richard from. We supported and worked a number of them together, and it was exactly the type of activity Richard enjoyed — getting people back onto 2 metres and seeing how far we could work.
Lee · M5LEE · CumbriaCQ
Workington Radio Club
MX0WRC
Richard was a top supporter of Workington and District Amateur Radio Club. He joined after getting his foundation licence, and it was through the club that he found SOTA and WOTA.
Always experimenting
Richard wasn’t just someone who bought radios and used them. His QRZ page says his VHF/UHF and HF antennas were homemade, except the Diamond X50. On the CumbriaCQ forum he wrote about a homemade dual-band flowerpot, an EFHW on a 6 m pole, and a 17 m dipole at the house.
Richard’s station
He didn’t have room for lots of large radios. What he had mostly served two roles: used at home in the shack, then unplugged, bagged and taken into the field, the car, or the mountains for the day.
- Anytone 779
2m / 70cm - Yaesu FT-65
handheld - Senhaix 8600
handheld - Xiegu G90
- Yaesu FT-710
- Yaesu FTM-200D
GB3MX & GB3WU, including Fusion
In his own words
“I hope retaining the suffix still identifies me readily with previous contacts.”
“It fits in nicely with my love of the outdoors and it has got us back out on the local fells.”
“Living on a main road and having an EFHW propped up on a 6M pole at the back and a dipole for 17m, the X50 was as much as I think I can get away with on the house!”
Photo memories
On the fells
Around Cumbria
A personal memory
Richard was one of those callsigns you became used to hearing regularly. Whether it was on the repeater, during 145 Alive, talking antennas or hearing that he was out on another fell, M8XGO became part of the local radio scene.
He supported what we were trying to do with CumbriaCQ from early on and even bought a digital radio specifically so he could join us on the network.
Radio is noticeably quieter without him.
73 Richard.
Lee · M5LEE
CumbriaCQ
Callsign of remembrance
The station may be silent,
but the callsign will not be forgotten.
73 Richard
RIP Richard · M8XGO — on behalf of CumbriaCQ, Workington Radio Club, SOTA and WOTA.