K9GDF Richard R. 'Rich' Regent Milwaukee, WI QCWA # 15356

Richard Regent is a well known clarinetist playing music with many musical groups, from orchestras to Dixieland bands, located around southeast Wisconsin.

Richard joined the American Radio Relay League in 1956 while first licensed as KN9GDF and has continually been an ARRL member and active amateur. Quickly upgrading to General and then Extra, Rich became K9GDF and later an ARRL Life Member. In 1960 K9GDF helped pioneer communications using satellite ionized trails and for years was the leading Wisconsin Official Observer. He was known as an active traffic handler, sending thousands of birthday greetings to acquaintances around the country every year.

Rich has the First Phone and Second Telegraph commercial licenses with radar and aircraft endorsements. He was drafted into the Army Signal Corps to serve from 1964 to 1966. After honorable discharge he worked as a Broadcast Engineer at WTMJ-AM-FM-TV and CATV, but returned to college from 1970 to 1974 to receive B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physics. Rich taught college courses ranging from Electronics to College Algebra and Calculus. Shortly after graduating he was employed by the Milwaukee Water Works, became a Professional Engineer licensed in Wisconsin, and worked in various supervisory and management roles, then retired in 1997.

Rich is author of the Technical Coordinator Manual (online at the ARRL web site) and the Emergency Communications chapter of the ARRL Operating Manual, and was an active member of the ARRL Public Service Advisory Board. K9GDF served as Wisconsin Section Manager from 1984 through 1996, gave talks at clubs, wrote hundreds of articles, drew a cartoon called "Elmer" and was several years Treasurer for a QCWA Chapter. Rich likes contests and fast CW, for which he has earned over 300 awards, including DXCC, WAS, WAC, A1 Operator and BPL.

June 01, 2015