I've tried to get news of him a few times - all to no avail so far .

I emailed him before my April trip to Christchurch hoping for some insider guidance to touristy locations there, but to no avail. I hope he is well.

No sign of him down here, the man is harder to spot than Waldo.

I have not read thru all of his correspondence, did he ever post his email address and if so has anyone tried to contact him directly using it?

He is very security aware & uses extensive protective programs for his computers, I don't recall him ever posting his email...

His post total 4554 & 222 good answers, could have lead him to with draw or take on a new persona?

One of the administrators told me that he was hesitant to use the email that he had out of respect for Sparkstation's right to privacy.

I sorely miss Sparkstation.

He one time told me to shut up and go to bed.

Since we do know his town, I have wondered if it would be possible to buy a classified in the local paper there.

Some on the site actually have Ham radios, and I have wondered if they might be enlisted to convey some sort of proper message.

I believe that a little detective work is not out of order since if nothing else all of us are in agreement that it would be proper and respectful if all in Mr. Sparkstation's town knew that one of theirs was internationally loved and respected.

Are there any records which shows sparkstation only sign in but do not post anything? I mean had anyone recorded him on CR4,s who is online,

Here's his member profile: http://cr4.globalspec.com/member?u=11216

Which shows his last post & visit...

funny, this group becomes a family. I hope he is OK.

Yeah, that's right. CR4 has become a family. Some of us might be dysfunctional, but still a family.

S^2, I hope y'all are OK as well.

Hello johnnybravo,

Hope you and Sparkstation are alright!

Yes it is a weird thing................... we start off complete 'unknowns' and gradually people start to rely on us, and they back us up and, we in turn back them up. Kinda friendly don't you think?

Take care.......

bb

Yes his last post was wishing everyone a happy new year, and it did not look like a goodbye notice, I hope he is well and in good health.

Regards JD.

I guess we post him MIA (Missing In Action) until further notice.

Look after yourselves out there. Cyber space is tough but the real world takes a heavy toll.

BAB.

Hi all

He was maybe head hunted and had to sign a waver not to spend time on CR4. His knowledge and ability to find sources was really incredible, much needed in this day and age. He is missed here but is maybe doing work for others or has found his master, which I find hard to believe.

I did send him a PM half a year ago but no response.

I think he must be OK because if he would be any tougher, he would rust. Ky.

I have emailed Moose and asked him to try and contact him on his REAL email address....

Regards

AG

There was a previous thread called lost members where I posted this:-

________________________________________________________________________

"I did some research on the Internet and discovered that 10 out of 10 people die."
- Roger Bennet

Sorry, that's not supposed to come across as cynical: it's a quote included in this post: "Is your online life in your will? (Backups, passwords, etc.)".

This is probably a subject which is only recently becoming important. Maybe we should all consider writing an "If you are reading this" post with instructions to a close friend/acquaintance to send it to CR4 (and anywhere else relevant) in the event of what is, after all inevitable.

________________________________________________________________________

I hope Sparky is OK: his posting rate suddenly slowed down a lot in the couple of weeks coming up to new year.

His absence passed my mind few times but I did not realize that it has been so long.

We have a date together for him to visit India.

I'll offer my prayers for his good health.

Not the only "old hand" who has gone missing and is missed.

Goodbye messages from some, some wander off.

But when you have numbers like his there should be a board of honor.

Name on a plank

Pipe him ashore.

We can only assume he passed away, or a very long hospital stay. It happens to everybody. BTW, europium was last "seen" march 6th, and I haven't heard JohnJohn for a very long time.

Or he's been at the pole?

Europium presumably moved out of the city and into ranch-life in Texas. He wrote some of us just to let us know he was well.

All of us know Sparkstation is one of best contributors to this forum. His splendid answers for questions in every field of enginnering really made him a hero of this forum. It is really unfortunate that we have no information about one of our respected family member, If he is unwell, let us all pray for his speedy recovery. Hope he will come back and join us again .

I wrote a message to the Official Site of ChristChurch New Zealand.

I asked for the name of the local paper.

Nice move Trans, see what happens. Really hope all is good with him, Ky.

I was just down there last week for a tradeshow, I believe the main local paper is the Christchurch Star.

http://www.starcanterbury.co.nz/

Dear Jack and others, I see that the classifieds at Star Canterbury are free.

"Online Friends from CR4 wish missing member who lives in Christ Church, good health and prosperity."

-proposed copy.

I think it's one word:- Christchurch

Yes, Christchurch is one word, apart from that it looks good.

If we give an advt in a prominent local news paper in Christchurch, some one close to him may come out and respond.

Hi Trans

Maybe we should create a right up and suggest it to the local paper. They could use it as an editorial half page sort of a thing. It could be styled in a discrete way and should not be too intrusive on any one.

The problem is that we are interfering with some ones private life and have no right to make a big thing about an anonymous person. That we are still trying, proves, that we care and if we care, some thing will come out of it.

See what I can come up with while not trying to rock the boat. He is not the person who would reject good company and that we are, I hope.

I don't know. I put out the classified. Frankly at this point I'd prefer that some Hams ask after him. As I said, I don't know any.

Got a note: The two papers in ChristChurch are The ChristChurch Press, and The Star.

What would a proper note be from us?

Possibly we ought not write a classified that says, Looking for Sparkstation, but post something like CR4 members miss a member?

I'm sortah wondering if someone in the Ham club might nose around some descretly.

I am eagerly looking forward to a breakthrough in our search.

Mentioning Sparkstation does not seem bad as then the search can be narrowed down. Probably somebody who knew him and his relationship with CR4 would respond.

I'm an "on again, off again" reader of CR4. I remember many posts from SparkStation, but I don't recall all the details. If some sort of a "Looking for SparkStation" classified is being considered then his postings should be reviewed (remembered) for details that would mean something to others. Did he ever state that he was "acive" vs. "retired"? Did he state that he was an engineer vs. professor vs. someone who worked in other areas and was a CR4 person as a hobby only.

His signature "The number of inventions increases faster than the need for them at the time" might sound familiar to someone in Christchurch.

His user profile biography and postings suggest he had a very high IQ and far more time on his hands than most of us. Possibly the biography would help a newspaper reader recognize the person that might only be know as SparkStation to the CR4 community.

His biography from his user profile:

Family and Friends; Computer Security; What's REALLY happening in the World today - HEAVEN is my Home, I'm just passing through; Various Internet Communities; Posting; Medical Investigation; Internet and General Research; Common + Statutory Law Research; Engineering of all kinds; Construction & Contracting; Electronics & Radio; Fishing; Shooting; Hunting; Tramping; Books; 4 Wheel Driving; Chess; Cryptic Crosswords; Sudoku; Puzzles; Photography; Classical Music; Country Gospel; Bluegrass; plenty of others too.

Just a wild guess, but law related to medical devices seems like one of the better "long shot guesses" that can be derived from this biography. Patent law with with at least one case related to medical devices seems like another good "long shot". All the other items in his biography seem a little easier to pick up as hobbies.

Also, I would guess that his financial position was better than average and that he was either retired or had an on and off job such as a high priced consultant or a high profile lawyer.

Or, I could be totally wrong.

The problem is that he is only known to us as Sparkstation.....

Moose needs to trust a member in NZ(?) with his name and aproximate location, so that he can be looked for in a telephone book.....its the only way.....

Another Big hint is

I decided early in our marriage, not to compete with my wife, who plays piano, organ, acoustic guitar (my old one), folk guitar, banjo and others - she used to teach music too.

In fact I tried to look at his postings, he had been highly irregular for about 6 months with only one or two posts per month.

I've registered with the local paper and will post some sort of note, when registration is complete.

Otherwise I have notice that his personal and (secret) email is still active.

In his profile there is note of "Radio", so I do wonder if any of our friends on the site, who are Hams, might ask after him.

That would explain his logon name quite well........

There is a distinct possibility that he may use his "Nom der Plume" for Ham radio as well!!!

<...may use his "Nom der Plume" for Ham radio as well...>

It's not permitted in amateur radio. The transmitting station has to use its allocated callsign, a combination of a few letters and numbers.

Understood completely for the call sign but are they not allowed to have name of their own choosing as well?

(Not that I know much about Ham Radio, it comes from pigs and forms a large proportion of Spam!!!)

I vaguely recall, when we were interested in Magnetic Island's whereabouts, that I Google Earthed the town, and through some information and pictures that he posted, I was able to locate an area where his residence might be. I have no idea what topic heading it would be under. Does this jog any memories? Maybe a Google Earth search could turn up a property with antennas.

I wrote to the personals of the Star a message that basically goes: CR4 members miss the interactions of the Gentleman known as Sparkstation. We hope that he is well.

I am not positive it took.

I unfortunately do not have a Ham License or radio, or any friends with such capability. If I did I'd give a try using that equipment.

Ham! Ham! Ham radio.

Transcedian has a gut feeling that this can help. So guys! somebody please come forward.

Nice move with star though.