W3BW

Brian F. Wruble
Key West, FL

QCWA # 23856
W3BW - Brian F. Wruble

I am a native of Kalamazoo, MI, and I have had my amateur radio license since 1958 when I received both KN8LOT (Novice) and K8LOT (Technician) at the same time. I upgraded to General in 1959, Advanced in 1990 and Extra in 1991.

Besides the "8" callsigns, I have also held W4BIE, W2FXJ, W1HIC and P4ØM.

I tend to focus on DXing, but I enjoy all aspects of the hobby, including QRP. I have an interest in contesting, and I am a member of the Potomac Valley Radio Club. In 2011, I participated in a M/S CQWW WPX Phone effort from Aruba using P4ØM. Team members included KØDQ, N4OC and P49V.

My daughter, Zane, W2YL, now 26, received her Extra at the age of 10 in 1999. We believe she is the youngest current holder of an Amateur Extra Class license who achieved this by passing 5 written exams and a 20WPM CW test. In 2011, she graduated with honors from Harvard where she spent 3+ years as President of the Harvard Wireless Club, the oldest amateur radio club in the USA. She now lives in New York City where she attends business school at NYU.

My wife, Kathleen, is a Technician, K2KWB.

In 2010 we established our primary residence in Key West, but we still spend some time in Princeton, NJ and our summer home in Maryland. There we have a very well-equipped station on the Eastern Shore. Here is a link that should (it usually works!) show you real-time "Micro-Local Weather" at our Maryland QTH:

http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=w3bw-5&last=240

This system uses an unattended APRS station to transport contemporaneous weather readings into the internet.

The Key West station has very limited capability due to small lot size and a reluctance to put large visible antennas up in the historic district we live in. However, as of late 2013, I am able to get on the air by remote control of either the MD or the NJ station.

I make my living as an investor, and I serve on a number of boards, both corporate and non-profit. One role I play that is particularly enjoyable is chairman emeritus of the board of trustees for The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, ME. Here is a link:

http://www.jax.org/

I started out as an engineer. I had the good fortune, as a civilian, to explore the deep ocean aboard Submarine NR-1. NR-1 was the US Navy's nuclear powered deep ocean research and engineering vehicle. Here are links describing the ship which was taken out of service after 39 years, in November 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NR-1_Deep_Submergence_Craft

http://www.nr-1-book.com/

April 17, 2015