Each and every Amateur Radio licensee who joins AFCRAS has a unique story and adds so much to the depth and breadth of knowledge to be found and shared among and by AFCRAS members. The latest South Alabama ham to join AFCRAS is a fascinating and excellent example.
His father and grandfather worked in the oil industry and when he was a kid his dad had low band two-way radio equipment used for dispatching from their home. Decades later, he still owns the base station, antennas, and tower from that system, which helped spark his initial interest in radio communications.
Later, as a Scout in high school, he saw his first ham radio at a JOTA setup. His Scout leader took him under his wing, fostering and encouraging his fascination with ham radio, taking him along to many hamfests, including Dayton. It was during one of these hamfests that he happened to meet the owner of a well known manufacturer of Amateur Radio accessories — a chance meeting and encounter which led initially to a part-time job and eventually to a full time job in product development for that company, which is still in business and thriving today.
He was simultaneously working on his Electrical Engineering degree during those years, and went on to accept a position as a Navy Civilian Engineer. He currently works as an Electrical/Navigation Engineer, his profession for the last eleven year. He spends about half of a typical work day on ships under construction and typically rides most sea trials out of the Ingalls and Austal shipyards.
He and his wife have two young boys (ages 1 and 4) and his wife also has a full-time career. That’s enough to keep any man busy, but somehow he still finds time to enjoy the Amateur Radio hobby and serves as a V.E. for his local team. His latest area of focus in ham radio is DMR. He and a fellow ham (and fellow AFCRAS member) are jointly involved in building DMR repeaters and promoting DMR usage along the Gulf Coast.
With the interest in DMR continuing to grow in the Alabama Amateur Radio community (as it is throughout the U.S. and other places), the increasing number of AFCRAS members who truly speak “DMR” is truly an asset to all of us. DMR is one of the hot topics on the AFCRAS Media Committee’s list for upcoming video productions.
No matter how YOU got involved in Amateur Radio or what your areas of key interest and experience in the hobby are, you have something to contribute to the hobby as well. The members of AFCRAS invite you to apply for membership and contribute your knowledge to the broad (and expanding) repository of information to be found among our rolls. Who knows: perhaps you’ll become the star of an upcoming video, the contributing author of an article, presenter at a live program, or maybe even a hero to someone trying to resolve some issue which you have already dealt with.
If you are ready to become part of the future of Amateur Radio and repeater / frequency coordination in Alabama, visit the Membership Information page of our website and submit your application today!
