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United We Stand |
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Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club, Inc. |
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John Luce WØWY |
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John Luce was BAARC Vice President for two terms, 1991, 1992, and served two terms as President in 1993 and 1994. John was first licensed in 1956 as a Novice, KNØEEM, later became a Technician, KØEEM, which held until moving to Illinois in 1962, when he received call sign W9GKH, which he held until 1967. He then moved back to Minnesota where he has lived ever since as WØJGY. As of May 10, 2007, John is an Extra Class license holder and operates on all bands 160m through 70cm.
John was instrumental in helping to establish the club station (WØUJ) at the Mississippi Horizons Magnet Technology School at Brainerd, which provides a platform for students to learn about the art and science of the hobby. This station also provides equipment and an opportunity for hams new to the hobby, to operate under the guidance of more experienced amateurs to learn new modes of communications on frequency bands they may not be able to operate alone on.
John also is active public safety (public service) projects serving as net control operator for Sky Warn weather nets and Goblin Patrol, aiding area police departments on Halloween, from the club's operating position at the Crow Wing County Law Enforcement Center. John taught introductory classes to ham radio, for many years, helping many become licensed amateurs in the greater Brainerd area.
His home phone is 218 963 4521 and his cell phone is 218-820-3799. E-mail: w0jgy at arrl.net (replace the at with the familiar "@" sign.) This is called "munging" the e-mail address in the posting so that "spam harvesters" can't recognize it as an e-mail address.
From the November 2007
BAARCer Newsletter
Stamp collecting was popular when I was in high school back in the 1950's, and I had friends who enjoyed that and collecting other things too. Electronics of all types and hi-fi music systems were what my friends and I were spending a lot of time and some serious allowance money on as well. I enjoyed music then as much as I do now, and I built several systems from kits, Heathkits, to be sure. (They were in the front of the catalog.)
I had a friend whose brother was a Ham Radio operator. Bob Sly was his brother's name and his call sign was WØBIM. He was my first Elmer and gave me and some friends our Novice tests in 1956. My call sign was KNØEEM, the easiest CW call to send and for others new to CW to copy. I made lots of contacts on 40 and 80 meter CW with my Heathkit AT-1. ( A little farther back in the catalog.)
I soon found a neighbor on my newspaper route who was a Ham. His call sign was WØKVI, his name was Tom Wagner, and he was an engineer for Honeywell. What an inspiration both of these Elmers were to me as they were both very excited about the hobby and shared all kinds of information, both hands-on and otherwise. That's how I got my start. Since then I hope I've helped many others get into the hobby including my oldest son Andy NØREQ, of whom I'm very proud.
Over the years I've operated many modes as they have become popular and many different kinds and types of equipment, from converted military surplus to “totally from scratch.'“ DX-ing is fun but collecting certificates never seemed to interest me. I do have WAS on 3-bands, which really was fun to get mostly over one winter; but FM and public service activities seem to be the area of the hobby that I keep coming back to as the most rewarding.
I belonged to 4 organizations during the 25-years I lived in the Twin Cities that helped to develop this interest for me. They were the following: Minneapolis Police Reserve Communications Unit ,where we equipped a truck for about everything; the Mobile Amateur Radio Corps of Hennepin County Sheriff's Department (same as the police reserve) (WØPZT); the Minneapolis Radio Club; and the Twin City FM Club, which picked special events to help and coordinate, like the Aquatennial and Twin City Marathon.
In the near future, I am looking forward to getting up antennas for amateur satellites and operating more on the digital modes as I wait for Cycle 24 propagation to improve on the higher frequencies.
All in all, the best part of the hobby for me has been the wonderful people I've met through it, in person and over the air. They've come from every walk of life with as many varied interests as I can think of. All contribute in one way or another technically and non-technically.
73's John, WØJGY
Last edited 02/15/2009
