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Bernard G. 'Bernie' Huth Riverview, FL QCWA # 33794 Chapter 69 |
FPAC Node W4BGH-8 and Winlink Gateway W4BGH-10 (145.030 MHz)
FBB BBS System W4BGH-1 (145.030 MHz)
FISTS: 12972 SKCC: 2889 10-10: 6102
Bernie grew up in North Canton, Ohio and got his novice license, KN8BVB, in 1956. His first station was a Hallicrafters SX-99 receiver and a World Radio Labs Globescout transmitter. The antenna was a Windom, and Bernie was usually on 15-meters. See an account of his Novice experience at http://novicehistory.slafetra.org/1956-60/w4bgh.html . He graduated to a General Class License and operated during his high-school years as K8BVB. He was also active in the RACES service in Stark County, Ohio.
He graduated from Case Institute of Technology in 1963 with a BSEE and moved to Palo Alto, CA to attend graduate school at Stanford. He worked the first summer at the Radio Science Laboratory and helped with Round-the-World propagation experiments. He occasionally used one of Stanford's log-periodic antennas on 20-meters. During this time his call was WB6MCR and he used an SBE-34 transceiver.
After graduating from Stanford in 1967, Bernie relocated to Gaithersburg, MD and was involved with laser R&D with IBM's Federal Systems Division. He became WA3MFQ, and upgraded his license to the Advanced Class. Living in a deed-restricted community interfered with his radio hobby, but he used a Hygain 18 AVQ vertical as a 'stealth' antenna which could be erected after sunset.
He transferred back to California in 1971 to join IBM's Research Division in San Jose, and found a home with enough room for a 40-foot tower and a three element tri-band beam. The radio was now a Swan 500CX and it was usually tuned-up on 20-meters.
In 1977, Bernie traded his call for a 1X3, W6TIV and during the 80s let his radio participation slide as his three children became the center of activity, with Little League, soccer, and swimming,.
As the decade of the 90s rolled around, the Ham Radio spark was rekindled and that three element beam was put to work with a Kenwood TS-950SD and a Ten-Tec Titan amplifier. He was also active in VHF/UHF repeater clubs and took advantage of some extra IBM PCs to become active with RTTY and AMTOR.
Career and new hobbies again crowded out amateur radio in the mid-90s and Bernie got a junior college certificate in video production. In addition to his full-time employment as engineering Project Manager and then Vice President at Quantum Corporation, he became involved in a number of video productions as well as the brand new 'desktop video editing' capabilities of the home computer.
After Maxtor purchased the hard disk drive business from Quantum in 2001, Bernie pursued his video activities full-time as an adjunct to his wife;s portrait photography business. After 34 years in San Jose, CA Bernie and his wife Betty relocated to Riverview, FL in 2005. For several years he edited the Haywood Henson show on WXPX in the Tampa bay area.
Interest in amateur radio was again rekindled, and Bernie acquired a vanity call sign, W4BGH (his initials) and is back on the air with a Kenwood TS-950SDX, a Flex 3000, Flex 6700,an Expert 1K-FA amplifier, and a Palstar AT-Auto tuner. He has added a Yaesu FT-8800R for VHF/UHF and a Yaesu FT-857D for the car. The antennas are a modest Alpha-Delta DX-EE shortened dipole for 40-20-15-10 meters and an combination trap-dipole/fan dipole for 80, 40, 17, and 12 meters. He is a member of the Brandon Amateur Radio Society (BARS) (http://www.brandonhamradio.org ) and the MidFlorida DX Association (http://www.w4fdx.com ).
Bernie is active in Hillsborough County ARES/RACES Emergency Communications and is an AEC for Digital Communications. He is also an AEC for Digital Communications in the WCF Section of the ARRL.
