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KSØJ |
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Amateur Radio History
Next year in 2005, Skip will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his first license as a novice with call, KNØDYQ, later replaced with KØDYQ. His mentor was Bob Kuehn, a long time amateur and radio technician for Northwest Airlines. Bob was a very active amateur in the Twin Cities and introduced Skip to RACES at station WØREA, the Ramsey County emergency team. Skip remained active in amateur radio until the pressures of education, career and family took priority. During his professional career, Skip remained interested in amateur radio and was an active short-wave enthusiast. His Electrical Engineering career involved work in electromagnetic compatibility and compliance issues, standards and measurements. During that fateful day of September 11, 2001, as he witnessed the attack against our country, Skip became determined to make a contribution to the country. Skip was now fully retired from all career activities except for some Electrical Engineering consulting. Since he was too old to be a part of a commercial or military effort, he realized that amateur radio would be a good choice for public service, including various aspects of emergency communications. Skip was issued his Technician w/code license on October 15, 2001, as KCØLMR. He was issued the General Class license on November 6, 2001. Skip was a student under the guidance of Twila Greenheck (NØJPH), studying the Extra Class material and passing that exam on March 11, 2002, and then was issued ABØUG. His vanity call of KSØJ was issued April 9, 2002. Shortly after setting up his station operations, he joined the Dakota County RACES group and started work on the Dakota County Health & Welfare station. Until recently, Skip was the manager of that station and its volunteer staff of some forty-five amateurs. Dakota County has supported amateur radio perhaps more than any other county in Minnesota. The H&W station has four operating positions as well as two repeaters. It is located in a secure building with exceptional antenna locations and full time emergency power. The county has even provided emergency lodging and sanitary facilities in this building for volunteers called up for emergency operations. Twenty-four of the volunteer operators have access to this building on a 24/7 basis. Skip is a life member of ARRL and has been consulting with ARRL Laboratory Manager, Ed Hare on BPL. Skip has made presentations to radio clubs and to IEEE - EMC (Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers – Electro-Magnetic Compatibility) society on the threat of BPL, explaining how BPL is a serious threat to all HF and VHF communications worldwide. He is a member of several local clubs; including the 3M Amateur Radio Club, the St. Paul Radio Club, the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association, the Twin Cities Repeater Club, Twin Cities FM Club, The TwinsLAN Packet Radio Club, and the Quarter Century Wireless Association. Skip’s successful career as a technician, electrical engineer and manager was strongly impacted by his early amateur radio experiences. Amateur radio lead Skip to life and career path that was both interesting and rewarding. He now feels that being elected to the position of Section Manager will allow him to repay his debt to his mentor and to amateur radio. |
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Send mail to Skip@skipforhams.com with
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