W4SPA
Scott Poole
Amateur Extra

Email

Scott's Amateur Radio Bio
President, Montgomery Amateur Radio Club 2005,2009
Vice President, Montgomery Amateur Radio Club 2004
Recipient, MARC Most Outstanding Amateur Award 2003
Recipient, MARC W4CNQ Elmer Award 2003 and 2004
Alabama Emergency Net Golf Skywarn Controller
ARRL Public Information Officer, AL Section
ARRL Emergency Communications Course (Level I) Graduate
ARRL Registered Amateur Radio Volunteer Instructor
ARRL & CAVEC Volunteer Examiner
National Weather Service trained Storm Spotter
Member, 10-Ten International: 74196
Member, Cradle of the Confederacy: 770L

I was first licensed in 1978, at the age of 15, in Pennsylvania as KA3AVR. My first rig was an HW-101, which I built myself. Believe it or not, after going through the initial alignment and set-up procedures it worked the first time! I had as much fun building the kit as I did with it on the air. My father and I built a long wire antenna tuned for the novice portion of the 40-meter band. Over the next couple of years, I made a couple of hundred contacts using that rig and antenna! After a long period of inactivity while serving on active duty in the United States Air Force, I re-entered the amateur radio service a General class licensee in 2002 and upgraded a couple of months later to amateur extra. The two main reasons for my renewed interest in amateur radio were that I was interested in experimenting with high altitude balloons using APRS and that I wanted to become involved with the public service aspects of the hobby. The aspect of amateur radio from which I derive the most satisfaction is helping get others interested in the hobby. I truly love teaching the hobby to new people.

KJ4CJP
Ken Kohnke
General

Email

Originally, I’m from a suburb of Chicago, Illinois called Niles. My father (K9RBE) was into Amateur Radio and had a station located in the basement of our home. Even as a child I was fascinated with his radio equipment and enjoyed listening to him making contacts. He always encouraged us to get involved with radio and electronics. My father has been off the air for over 40 years so I purchased a used TEN-TEC Scout 555 radio and a dipole kit to help get him back into the hobby. I am pleased to announce that we made our first hf contact together.

I work for the Alabama Dept. of Transportation as a web developer in the Geographical Information System group, developing interactive web maps.

K4LIA
Chris Hall
General

Email

Hello and thank you for viewing the MARC webpage! Radio communications and electronics have been a large part of my life for the past 35 years. I have been an amateur for about 16 years, 12 of them here in the Montgomery area. As you can tell by my "6" call sign, I got my original ticket while in California, while employed by the Defense Department. As a resident of Sacramento, the need for emergency communications was evident everyday, even prior to my licensing. The 1989 earthquake in San Francisco and the 1990 Oakland-Berkley Hills fires were devastating. Landline and cell phones were overloaded, if not, non-existent. Interagency communications would have been almost non-existent were it not for ARES, RACES, SATERN and other amateur volunteers. This has been the focus of my interests in amateur radio since I have been licensed. I have had the privilege of serving as a U.S. Army Combat Medic (peace time) and also as a Search & Rescue Technician with Montgomery County Search and Rescue (MCSAR) for 7 years. I attained the rank of Lieutenant and also served on the Board as Member at Large and Treasurer with MCSAR. In all of these positions, I learned that alternate methods of communications are invaluable and must-have.

The MARC is a great club with a rich history. The members are some of the best people you would ever want to know. For every method and mode of amateur communications, MARC has a member that knows it, inside and out. They are more than willing to share information and "Elmer" you along. That is another great aspect of the hobby you will find. I have never found a group of people (amateurs) that are more willing and eager to help you no matter what your amateur interest is.

If you aren\’t licensed, please get licensed and join the family. You will be so glad you did. After you have been operating in your community, you will be wishing you had done so years ago. The MARC has many knowledgeable and skilled members that volunteer their time to teach the classes and test candidates to get their license quite often. Please ask any club member or officer if you have any questions or desire to become licensed or to upgrade your current license. There is a wealth of information at www.arrl.org where you can find out more about becoming an amateur radio operator. Please check the "links" tab on this site for more information.

I am both humbled and honored to serve you as club secretary. I am privileged to know you, the MARC members, and learn from your vast experience and knowledge in amateur radio. I respect you for all you have accomplished in amateur radio and given back so freely. I know that no matter how hard I work, I will only be able to give back only a small portion of the wonderful things amateur radio has so richly given me. In times of emergency and natural disaster, amateur radio is a lifeline for you, your family and your community. When things are calm and otherwise quiet, it is a great opportunity to learn more about the service and hobby. It’s also an opportunity to get to know a very diverse and rich cross section of people you would never otherwise have the privilege to know and learn from. I hope we get to see you at the next meeting. If not, I hope we "see you on the radio" and 73!

K4APG
Paul St. John
Amateur Extra

Email

KI4OZW
Bruce Jenkins
General

Email

KR4JY
Jim Eiland
Amateur Extra

Email

KU4PY
Rik Doll
Amateur Extra

Email

K4PO
Phil Salley
Amateur Extra

Email

WB5NMZ
Mark Wintersole
Amateur Extra

Email

Mark's Amateur Radio Bio
President, Montgomery Amateur Radio Club 2008
President & Trustee, Montgomery EMA Amateur Radio Club
Montgomery County Emergency Coordinator
MARC Field Day Chairman 2006
MARC Public Service Award 2006 and 2007
MARC Most Outstanding Amateur Award 2006
MARC Presidential Award 2005
Governor's Certificate for Katrina Support 2005
ARRL Certificate of Merit for Katrina Support 2005
Net Manager, Central Alabama SkyWarn/AL Emergency Net Golf 2006-pres
National Weather Service Trained Storm Spotter
Member, Amateur Radio Emergency Service
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Registered Amateur Radio Volunteer Instructor
FEMA IS-100/200/546/547/700/800a Certified
Member, Quarter Century Wireless Association
Member, Straight Key Century Club
Member, European PSK Club

I have been continuously licensed since the age of 15 (January 1975). After a period of relative inactivity due to military service, I re-energized myself and upgraded a few months after retirement to Amateur Extra.

My background in the electronics arena is fairly broad, beginning as a SWL in the early 1970s. I performed engineering work for a 2-way communications firm and was a disc jockey for a local radio station while attending High School. In college, I studied Electrical Engineering and was employed as an engineering trainee for the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company. Upon graduation, I served 22 years in the US Air Force in the command/control, acquisition, and communications career fields. I earned a Master's Degree in Computer Resources/Information Management. Following retirement from the military, I became active again in amateur radio and have become an avid DXer. I can be found pounding brass on the HF bands almost daily [when I'm not fishing, of course]. I also enjoy public service and operating on the many digital modes available on the HF bands.

K4TK
Tim Moore
Amateur Extra

Email

Tim's Amateur Radio Bio
W4AP Trustee, Montgomery Amateur Radio Club
Former Vice President, Montgomery Amateur Radio Club
Former Trustee, Montgomery Amateur Radio Club
ARRL Technical Specialist, AL Section
ARRL HF and VHF Field Checker for QSL cards and WAS awards
ARRL & CAVEC Volunteer Examiner
Member, 10-Ten International: 10473

I was first licensed in 1987 in South Carolina as KB4YWI. But I did about 3 months of operating in the beginning of my Amateur career from the club station K5TYP at Keesler AFB, MS.

In a matter of just a few months after obtaining my initial Novice license, I upgraded to General. Then about one month later I upgraded to Advanced and changed my call to KK4TK. And not too many months after that, I upgraded to Amateur Extra. The code test for Extra was the only Amateur test I have ever taken I didn't pass the first time around. I got it on the second try.

Since all Extra class call signs of the 1x2 and 2x1 format were taken, I elected to keep my existing call at the time. In 1989 I went on temporary duty (TDY) with the Air Force to South Korea and obtained the call sign HL9TK for the short period of time I was there. Two years later in 1991, I was stationed at Osan AB , South Korea for a year. During that time I again held the call sign HL9TK and worked many, many enjoyable hours of HF DX operations. Working on "the other end of the pileup" was most rewarding and helped build valuable operating skills. During this time, I was able to get my code speed up into the high 30+ wpm. My wife, N4URO, acted as my QSL manager for the thousands of QSL cards flooding in from my DX operations. I worked several hours of HF every weekday, and countless more hours during the weekends!

Several years after returning to the states, the Vanity call sign program began. After a couple of years searching for a call sign I would want, I finally found a Vanity call sign I would like to have. I obtained K4TK and will keep this call for the rest of my ham career.

The aspect of amateur radio I derive the most satisfaction is working CW DX contests and “snagging” a new country. I have long ago obtained my DXCC and 5 Band DXCC awards. The only thing left to achieve is DX Honor Roll!