.: About me:
Mike in his 1966 Plymouth Barracuda FIA-GT class
vintage race car, Laguna Seca Raceway
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Previous calls:
WN6HKP (1974), WA6HKP (1974-1983), KW6C (1983-2007), and
WA7MR (2007-2008). The W7VO callsign goes
back almost 100 years, and you can learn about the original history it by clicking on the
HISTORY
button on the left
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Member of the
ARRL since 1974,
and a Life Member since about 1978
-
Elected as the ARRL Northwestern Division
Director in November 2018, taking office on January 1, 2019 for a
three year term
-
Elected to the ARRL
Foundation Board of Directors (the ARRL's scholarship and grant arm), in
January 2019
- Founder/trustee for the
Columbia River DX
Club (WW7E),
which he started to help foster interest in HF operation and contesting in
his local ham radio community
-
Served three terms as
President of the of the
Willamette Valley DX Club
- Past member of
Northern
California Contest Club, and
also past
President of the
Santa Cruz County Amateur Radio Club
-
Mike and his wife Shelley,
W7VOX also hosted station K6O for the
1996 World
Radio Team Championship,
(WRTC) with Trey,
WN4KKN, (now N5KO), and Tree, N6TR, as guest operators, and Pat Bacon,
WA7NIN,
(now W7UA) as referee
-
In 2014 we were honored to
be part of the ARRL Centennial Celebration, representing Oregon as W1AW/7.
Our team of local hams made some 1,100 contacts from our station
- DXCC- Qualified for Phone, CW and Digital
through LoTW
Past and
Current Contest Records Held:
- ARRL DX Phone, Multi-Two, Oceania,
@ KH6LC, Finished #3 in world, 2012 (record broken by KH7XX in
2014)
- 7th Area QSO Party, SO HP Phone, Oregon, 2009
(broken by KK7YC in 2015)
- 7th Area QSO Party, SO LP Phone, Oregon,
2008 (as WA7MR, record still standing!)
- Earlier in his
amateur radio career Mike was
the ARRL ARES Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Santa Cruz County, CA, and is
now currently the ARES Deputy Emergency Coordinator for Columbia County,
OR
  - Mike is also an ARRL
Registered Instructor, and has provided many educational seminars and
programs at club meetings and conventions across multiple states. He is also
an ARRL Accredited Volunteer Examiner
- Mike wrote a well received
article on "The Storied History of the Ham
Radio Callsign, where he examines the entire history of our important
moniker, tracing it back to before there even were callsigns! (Click on the
title above to download a copy for yourself!)
Other hobbies
Mike enjoys include racing a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S in vintage road races
and hillclimbs, (when he's not busy with amatuer radio!). More information on his vintage racing hobby can be found at his racing
website,
www.teamstarfish.com
(NOTE: Website currently down for refurbishment,
PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER!)
.: The Early Days
Mike mostly grew up with his grandparents and has had a keen interest in in
electronics since age nine. He used to dismantle everything mechanical or electronic he could find,
spent afternoons after school building electronic projects, and using a wire
tied to the VFO from an old 1937 Zenith short wave radio to completely white screen
his grandparent's TV whenever he was in trouble and sent to his room. Luckily,
they never discovered what was causing the interference that wiped out the TV in
the middle of their Saturday LA Dodgers baseball games. (The TV repairman
couldn't figure it out either!)
Introduced to ham radio by long time friends
Jeff Glassman,
WA6ENI, and Michael Goldberg, WB6DPG, Mike was given his Novice test in 1974 by
mentor Mike DeWey, WB6VSE,
(now
K5VSE). After earning his Technician, then Advanced Class licenses, he obtained his Extra Class in 1983 thanks to the
shameless dogging of his good friend Lloyd Cabral, AA6T, (now
KH6LC), who encouraged him
to get his code skills up to the frightful 20 WPM.
His first HF rigs were the
Hammarlund HQ-170C receiver and Hallicrafters HT-37 transmitter. Boat anchors,
both then and now!
.: Professional Career
 
Holds degrees from Foothill College , and San Jose State University, both
Cum Laude
Spent 35 years in high technology field (microwave and digital
telecommunications), first as an engineer and engineering manager, then moved
briefly into product
management. Mike finally took on role of Director of Product Marketing, where he focused on strategic
relationships with OEM suppliers,
collaboration between international business units, and strategic/business plan
generation and execution. He was also a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on telecom
network timing and synchronization, and frequently lectured on the subject at
seminars. He retired in 2014 to focus on building his amateur radio contest
station, and working his 2 acre hobby farm with his wife Shelley, W7VOX, (and
two horses, a dog, cat, and a varying number of chickens).
  
Mike also has a FCC General Radiotelephone Commercial license
from when he worked at radio manufacturer Sideband Engineers (SBE) very early in his career. His job there was repairing all the customer
owned amateur and marine radio equipment that came in for service. Nothing like
being a young ham and spending your entire day working with amateur radio!
It's interesting to note that ALL of the jobs Mike has had in life were all the
result of amateur radio!
Mike's 1966 Plymouth Barracuda FIA-GT Class vintage race car:
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