Biography

Thanks for stopping by to check out my bio page!

My interest all began with many evenings on the sofa with my Dad, twirling the dials of his Hallicrafters SX-43 receiver in our little Michigan bungalow. Hams, VOA, and clear-channel AM stations all copied warmly from its R-44 speaker into my young ears. I was fascinated by unfamiliar music fading in and out with announcers bursting through in foreign languages. One cool fall evening while carefully tuning around 20 megacycles, we heard the scratchy chirping of Sputnik mixing with the familiar WWV time pulses until it dissolved into static. The signals from space led to scratch-built "foxhole" radios with razor blade and pencil-lead detectors, selectivity modifications, then to resurrecting a dead National SW-54 receiver that captivated me for months. Since my Dad was a broadcast engineer, visits to his local radio and TV stations with pilgrimages to WLW and VOA-Bethany permanently hooked me on radio and electronics. While teaching me to solder on scrap TVs and through many Allied, Knight, Heath, and GE Transistor Manual project assemblies, my Dad became my Elmer. Just prior to his untimely passing, he even tried to tutor me in Morse from his hospital bed to help me pass my Novice license exam. By teaching and instilling in me his knowledge of radio and electronics, his influence in determining my future is immeasurable, and for that I am fortunate and eternally grateful.

After studying electronics at Muskegon Community College, I earned my FCC “First Phone" (now "GROL"); PCIA, and iNARTE certs; my Ham ticket and my Bachelor's degree from Northwood University in Midland, Michigan. My subsequent 40 year communications career has gone from Mil-Spec certified assembler/inspector to freelance radio tech, commercial broadcasting, Land Mobile "two-way" radio and repeater servicing, avionics, managing and selling for the Land Mobile shop, then to a decade of positions as a network RF Engineer for Nextel, Ericsson, and Sprint.

Despite my interest in radio from childhood, working professionally at the mike of a half-million watt FM superstation during the 1970s (WJFM/93.7, now WBCH/B-93) rather overshadowed any interest I then had in amateur radio. Consequently, I didn't get around to earning my original KB8BMF 'Novice' 5WPM license until 1987. My current General vanity callsign was issued to my Dad when he was first licensed in 1948, but he had eventually let it lapse. After the call had been reissued to others for years, as soon as it became available I quickly obtained it to sustain a respectful tribute to his memory. Retired since 2016, I'm currently relaxing and enjoying my family, life, and the stress-free pursuit of those little daily miracles that we can so easily miss. After a long hiatus, I’m now remodeling my shack and dusting off the mikes. My 1970s-1980s equipment needs some restoration attention, but eventually I hope our signals will meet!

73

DE W8CGR

(NOTE: I do not have equipment for sale, and I do not participate in online swaps or e-mail sales of any sort)