"Excerpts of this article were taken from an article by Ron ZL2TT which appeared in March 1995 Break-In DX page".
Background music Dawn's favourite hymn::  "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go."

Dawn ZL2AGX became a Silent Key on 3rd. August 1998 after a brief illness.
Have you ever met a ham who looked at your teeth rather than at your eyes when they first met you? Well this used to be the case with a well-known Radio Ham. She started work as a dental technician. Originally in her home town of Marton and then in Auckland. She used to make dentures, gold fillings, bridges, etc. Marriage and family, however, changed her occupation and hobbies. She was a mother of three daughters and grandmother of four.

A beautiful Lockwood home, with a prominent 4-element beam, right by the ocean at Raumati Beach, just north of Wellington, was her QTH.

Dawn ZL2AGX, was one of ZL's best known DX operators and award chasers. Dawn had only been licensed since 1984 but had made a considerable contribution to amateur radio since that time.

She and her OM, Dennis ZL2BFI, shared the house with two dogs, but not the shack. There were two shacks, one next to the kitchen used by Dawn and the other at the far end of the house used by Dennis.

Dawn got into amateur radio because she was so fascinated by being able to talk to people on the other side of the world. It also gave her an opportunity to pursue a hobby which she could really share with Dennis. Thanks to the efforts of the local branch running classes. Dawn went and studied for her licence. She felt as the only YL In a class of OMs that she really had to pass the exam at first attempt, or she couldn't face going back again. Even though she really had no technical knowledge before starting the course, she was able to pass with flying colours.

Then it was Morse code. Dawn learnt from Morse code tapes. She was determined to get it so she did 15 minutes of Morse two or three times a day. She originally sat and passed at 12 wpm and then updated to 15 wpm. Once she got the 12 wpm she had regular CW skeds to keep her Morse speed up and when she went for 15 wpm was able to comfortably copy at over 17 wpm.

She then had a hobby which she could truly share with her OM. That was clearly evident when you met them in person. In addition the two of them were well known at amateur radio functions all over the country. A junk sale or auction anywhere in the lower North Island was not complete without the presence of ZL2AGX and ZL2BFI.

Dawn was active in her local branch as Treasurer and lately President of Branch 69 Kapiti. And as a result of her efforts for the local branch was made a Life Member.

Dawn was, of course, very active in WARO, serving as Break-In Sub Editor, Treasurer, then President, and up until June this year as DX Sponsorship Secretary. She sponsored a number of YL operators' for WARO and especially enjoyed working them on the bands, and even having the opportunity to meet some of them in person. A special thrill occurred a few years ago when she went to a YL Meet in VK and was able to meet a number of YL�s she had spoken to over the years.

Dawn first got into DX by first of all chasing New Zealand counties. She was, an active member of, the NZ Counties Net on 3,677. She used to act as Net Control two nights a week and often took the mobile out to activate rare counties. Having achieved the 224 counties award she felt the need for a bigger challenge.

In 1986 she seriously got the DX bug, and had been chasing new countries ever since. Dawn had worked at least 299 countries with 230 confirmed. She really enjoyed that challenge of hunting for new ones, and did find that being a YL, at times can be very helpful in a pile up. Dawn was often told by DX hunters that they did not realise there were any YL operators in ZL as she was the first they had heard.

Dawn was also a true awards hunter. She had three albums full of awards. Just prior to becoming a Silent Key she had over 200 awards including just about every available award issued in New Zealand. Some of them seemed to take forever to get, like the New Zealand Post Codes award, but she continued to persevere.

As a YL operator she got a special pleasure out of working other YL operators and also obtaining YL awards. She had quite a number of YL awards in her total 200 plus awards collection.

She used the Packet system to obtain up-to-date DX information and was well known on the Friday night ZL DX group for her QSL information. No matter how obscure it was Dawn always seemed to have the QSL information for that exotic station you had just worked.

Dawn acted as Contact Officer for Kapiti Branch and was really pleased that she had been able to use amateur radio to help out in a number of minor and major emergencies. These had included a lost school party in the hills and also calling out, on a number of occasions for broken down motorists (hams).

Dawn really enjoyed meeting the YLs and OMs at the conferences. Dawn really went out of her way to meet the Hams she had spoken to on the air. Dawn really enjoyed meeting them and seeing their stations, etc.

Dawn and OM Dennis belonged to the International Ham Host Group, and as a result have had a number of amateurs from overseas stay with them.

Dawn used to have problems getting QSL cards from some of the rather exotic DX stations, at one stage, until she, appreciated that her QSLs and green stamps were not even reaching the stations concerned. Her view was that her letters were being taken out of the postal system because they had rather attractive and unusual New Zealand stamps on them. She then tore a small corner piece off the stamps making them useless for collectors and her QSL rate went up substantially.

Dawn was a member of ALARA, CLARA, YLRL, JLRS, BYLARA, DLYL, YL1SSB, 14706, and NZART. Dawn kept in touch with many YL�s from overseas on E-mail, she was so interested to hear all their news and found e-mail a great way to keep in touch as she did not have too long to wait before receiving a reply.

In 1996 Dawn was awarded (much to her surprise) the Myrtle Earland Memorial Rosebowl for the NZ WARO Achievement Award. Dawn was nominated for her outstanding service to NZ WARO and Amateur Radio.

Dawn was a very talented musician, she played the organ at her church and enjoyed going to many organ recitals with OM Dennis. She loved to knit, and her grandchildren always had some lovely creation that their grandma Dawn had knitted them to wear. The garden at the home of Dawn and Dennis was always a picture with lovely flowers, along with flowering shrubs which Dawn took great pride in.Many happy hours were spent   visiting nurseries to find something else to plant in her garden.

Dawn ZL2AGX was a very caring lady who so unselfishly gave her very best to WARO and Amateur Radio. She will be sadly missed by all her many friends both in New Zealand and overseas.

To Dennis and all her family we offer our most heartfelt condolences.