W8JNE Charles W. 'Chuck' Johnston Grove City, OH QCWA # 35207 Chapter 212

I was born in Columbus, Ohio 28 March 1944, during WWII, to a set of loving parents living in a rooming house in the South End of Columbus. Times were tough and only a few good jobs were to be had. My parents later moved into Government Assisted Housing and Dad went to work for the Ohio State Highway Patrol and was assigned to the District One Headquarters in Finlay, OH and lived in the barracks and would come home on payday weekends. A year or so later, he got transferred to the Columbus facility and started construction of our plush four room (no plumbing) home with an outhouse. Times were good.

A few years later we moved to the Victorian Village part of Columbus. Dad became interested an Amateur Radio and used part of my 2nd floor bedroom as .his shack.. I would watch him as he would fine tune in and out from his QSO.s; to say nothing about learning where the .transmit -switch. was located on his homebrewed 6L6 push-pull CW transmitter. I never did operate that switch. This was the start of my Elmer. He had the authority to shut off my AC Power as well as to warm my britches.

We later moved again to the South End of Columbus into our own home on the same street as before and still no in-door plumbing. I spent enough time shadowing my father to learn the Morse code with proficiency. I was granted my first license at the ripe old age of 11 years old and I was a 5th grader at that. Time marched on and other things seemed to have a higher priority . girls, until my senior year of High School. I learned that one of my buddy.s dad had a Technician license and was active. Not to be .out gunned. but I bought a hand key for all of $7.00 from this man and the sounds of W1AW can still be heard echoing in .Father.s Shack.. By this time he had relocated to a a real shack; our first house and still no bathroom. I was not permitted to pursue the Technician License but had to tough it out and focus on the General License. At the age of 17, I spent many all-night sessions on 3.5 MHz CW using a 35 watt Harvey Wells Deluxe All Band transmitter.

I spent approximately a total of 50 years working as a Technician for WBNS-TV, St. Joseph Telephone & Telegraph, and retired from the new at&t.

I spend most of my idle time reading the mail on 2 meters, working on the Family Tree, and visiting my Doctors and my extended family at CVS.

I am a member of the QCWA Mid-Ohio Chapter 212, ARRL, Madison County ARC & CORC; as well as the Ross & Franklin County Genealogical Societies. I have spent the past 15 years researching the profiles of the Pioneer Members of the Ohio State Highway Patrol Radio/Communications Division.

25 November 1955 Licensed as WN8IHW
25 November 1956 - WN8IHW - Expired
Spring of 1962 - W8IHW - General Class license was granted.
25 January 1964 FCC was notified of 'portable operation' W8IHW/4 @ 311 Illinois Ave, Lynn Haven, FL.
1965 W8IHW/4 call letters reassigned as W4ONH
1968 W4ONH call letters reassigned as W8KWA
04 January 1994 - W8KWA - Renewed
08 January 2004 - W8KWA - Renewed - Granted
02 February 2004 - W8JNE - Vanity Call - Issued with the help of W8SU.
17 February 2014 - W8JNE - Vanity Call - Applied for renewal
19 February 2014 - W8JNE - Vanity Call - Granted

June 16, 2017