SILENT KEY: DXPEDITIONER, CONTESTER DIEGO THOBIE, F4HAU

Diego Thobie, F4HAU, loved to operate portable from the islands and added to the team spirit of many of those DXpeditions over the years.

Diego, a member of the Radio Club de Provins F6KOP, was killed in a motorcycle accident on the 23rd of August. According to a social media post from his friend Patrick F2DX, he was killed in a head-on collision with a truck on a small rural road and died on the scene. His 13-year-old son is reported to have survived but was taken for hospital treatment..

In social media posts, Diego's friends and fellow amateurs recalled him as an adventurer and a proud member of many DXpedition teams, including last year's FP5KE trip to St. Pierre & Miquelon.

A licensed amateur since 2012, he had also been part of the teams in such major DXpeditions as 9L5A to Sierra Leone in 2024, XW4DX to Laos in 2023, 3B7A to St. Brandon in 2018 and FT4JA to Juan de Nova in 2016.

Diego was 48.