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K7LG Larry G. Gabriel Van Nuys, CA QCWA # 34917 Chapter 7 QCWA Treasurer 2022 - Present |
I got my Novice and upgraded to the Technician license at age 24, in 1978, WB7PZE, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and slowly upgraded over the years to General, Advanced and then an Extra. When we were allowed to apply for a Vanity Call about 1995, I applied for K7LG. I've been a member of ARRL also since about 1978. Over the years I've worked everything from 160m to 440, and CW thru digital modes (WSPR). Over the years I've helped with field day, helped with antennas for all sorts of ham friends, and also experimented with very long wire antennas laying on the ground.
I worked in the communications industry starting in 1978, when I hired on as a radio technician at the Union Pacific Railroad in Los Angeles, eventually transferring back to Las Vegas, Nevada and worked
there until 1985, when I started work on the road with Harris/Farinon installing microwave equipment all over the US for the next two years. I discovered that I didn't like life on the road, and started to work for Los Angeles County Dept of Public Works in 1987, also as a radio tech. I was promoted to supervisor of the shop 8 years ago, after the previous supervisor retired, and had 9 tech's working for me. I was responsible for 65 sites of SCADA, 5 microwave sites, and about 45 base stations. I was also responsible for maintaining 140 FCC licenses. Our shop supported our HQ complex and 50 field offices with network and telephone services (another group handled the network routers), and the monthly phone bill was for a little over 3000 lines. We were also responsible for 30 locations that had security cameras and recorders, which were slowly being upgraded by two new staff members that had recently transferred over from the Desktop Support Unit. My Telecom Unit budget was $2.4 million.
Since retirement in June 2021, I've spent more time on the air and have most recently been helping get our local QCWA Chapter 7 active. I have also been the QCWA Certificate Custodian since August 2021 and have worked with President Ken Oelke and Roberta Cohen in processing the various requested certificates for members.
October 16, 2023