01/10/2024

Avid radio amateur, Marty Engstrom, N1ARY, of Fryeburg, Maine, has become a
silent key. Generations of New England television viewers[1] may know him as
Marty on the Mountain from his weather reports on camera for WMTW-TV from the
station's transmitter site on Mount Washington in Gorham, New Hampshire.

Engstrom was known to quip that he was not intentionally in the weather
business: "I'm a TV engineer, not a meteorologist!," he would say. Engstrom
served the viewers of New England for 38 years. He began at the station in the
mid-1960s, after a career in the United States Air Force, according to a
memorial on the WMTW website[2]. He retired in 2002.

In 2003, Engstrom released his autobiography, Marty on the Mountain: 38 Years
on Mt. Washington[3], in which he discussed his passion for amateur radio.

As a well-known radio amateur in his area and beyond, Engstrom's voice was
easily recognizable. According to Bill Mann, W1KX, "You could recognize his
heavy Maine accent before he even identified."

According to those who knew him, Engstrom frequently served his community
through amateur radio. After a major ice storm in 1998, hams in Oxford County,
Maine, banded together to form an emergency communications group. "Marty's
low-key approach to various situations, even the more stressful ones, helped
the group stay focused. His wealth of knowledge of transmitters and antennas
certainly was a tremendous benefit to the less experienced hams," said Wayne
Strout, N1YIS. "Marty actively worked as a member of our group with drills and
training for both CERT and ARES."

Engstrom served for some time as the Treasurer of the Yankee Amateur Radio Club
and had been a longtime ARRL member at the time of his passing. He was 86 years
old.

[1] https://www.sunjournal.com/2024/01/05/marty-on-the-mountain-longtime-mount-washington-weatherman-marty-engstrom-dies-at-age-86/
[2] https://www.wmtw.com/article/marty-on-the-mountain-long-time-wmtw-employee-dies-age-86/46290306
[3] https://shop.mountwashington.org/products/marty-on-the-mountain

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