Robert Sudock - WB6FDF

Anchor Desk

Los Angeles-based Robert Sudock, WB6FDF, has been sharing the anchor desk at the Amateur Radio Newsline since June, 1983. But the relationship with Newsline's founder, executive editor and producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF existed for nearly ten years before that. Pasternak, then WA2HVK, had recently moved west and was one of newly-licensed Sudock's first QSOs. The friendship of three decades endures.

From 1974 to 1976 Sudock edited and reported the MWRA News. This QST aired weekly as a service of the Mt. Wilson Repeater Association's VHF repeater. Mt. Wilson, at 5,700 feet, is the home of most of Los Angeles' television stations and the principal location for many of L.A.'s FM transmitters. The site provided wonderfully broad coverage to most of Southern California. MWRA News was heard from Santa Barbara on the north to San Diego and the Mexican border to the south.

"In those days, we relied on the Amateur Radio printed press for much of the hard news we included in our newscasts. Joe Schraeder's (W9JUV) "HR Report", Wayne Green's (W2NSD) "73 Hot Line" and, of course bulletins from the ARRL, were our major sources of information," Sudock said. "Unlike Newsline, MWRA News was a regional service, so we always included submissions of regional club activities."

"Newsline has taken the QST format to a professional level. In comparison, MWRA was downright primitive. Newsline strives to provide its listeners with the quality they expect from a broadcast network in both editorial and production terms. Newsline's reporters throughout the world regularly enterprise and submit completely produced packages. As you'll see on these pages, many of our reporters and anchors are broadcast professionals who are also Hams. Newsline also forged news exchange alliances with Amateur news services around the globe. I'm very excited about this as we now receive international material customized for Newsline," Sudock said.

As a result of this alliance Sudock was asked to co-substitute anchor the March 12, 2000 edition of "Q-News" from The Wireless Institute of Australia - Queensland Division while producer-anchor Graham Kemp, VK4BB, took a short vacation. "I guess I could best sum up my Ham activities not so much as 'in QSO with' but more as 'in QST,' Sudock concluded.

Sudock has been involved in the Los Angeles area broadcast and production industry since 1965. He has been heard both on-air on local FM stations and in voice overs for a number of industrial productions.   He was a member of the broadcast frequency coordination group formed by ABC, host broadcaster for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Since 1988 continues to serve as a board member of the Southern California Frequency Coordinating Committee, Inc., the recognized Part 74 coordinator in metropolitan Los Angeles.  In 1983 Sudock joined KTTV Channel 11 in Los Angeles as an engineering manager. He retired from the company in 2009 as Assistant Director of Engineering.

Bob Heil (K9EID) began a Ham Radio-oriented webcast on TWiT.tv. It originates live each Tuesday evening at 8:00 p.m. Amateur Radio Newsline was asked to contribute.  Sudock writes, produces and hosts the five minute segment

Contact: mailto:robert@sudock.com

Callsign	WB6FDF

Jim Meachen - ZL2BHF

Reporter, Anchor Desk

Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF was first licensed in 1967. Jim is active on HF, VHF and UHF. A member of Upper Hutt Branch 63 of NZART since joining as a schoolboy in 1967, he served on the Branch Executive continuously from 1967-79. In 1972-74 he was Branch Secretary and in 1975-76 was Branch President. Jim is a Life Member of the Upper Hutt Branch.

Jim was the Upper Hutt AREC Section Leader during 1973-80. He was sub-editor of the AREC Column in Break-In from 1974-90 and was appointed Deputy to the OC AREC in February 1980, an office held until 1989. In 1980-92 he was AREC Secretary.

  

A member of NZART Council 1977-85 and again 1989-92, was elected by Council in 1991 to be the Vice-President. In April 1992 he became the Association’s President upon the resignation of the then President. Jim was the NZART President for five years to 1997.

    

Jim was involved with the establishment of the former Astral Towers premises of NZART HQ in Upper Hutt and was Chairman of the Headquarters Secretarial Committee 1982-92. He was made an Honorary Life Member of NZART in June 2000. He is the Editor /Presenter of the Association’s Official News Broadcast a role he has held and enjoyed for over 25 years. Jim was the founder Editor of NZART’s two weekly bulletins, HQ-Info-Line.

     

On leaving school in 1970, Jim joined the then NZBC and spent 10 years in the technical areas of television, then followed 15 years in Television Operations Management plus a further 15 years in TVNZ MCR Operations.

     

Now some 40+ years later, Jim has semi-retired and resides in Nelson the Sunshine Capital of New Zealand on NZ’s South Island.

Callsign	ZL2BHF
E-Mail	Jim.m@clear.net.nz

Frank Haas - KB4T

Anchor Desk, Reporter

Age 61/Ham nearly 47 yrs since age 14 - Born in NJ. FL resident since 1967.
Still working: RF Voice & Data Comm Systems Tech & Interference Investigator for large FL electric utility. Active on SSB/ESSB. Devoted to traditional CW sending methods.

Licensed since April 1965, I enjoy CW ragchewing and experimenting with High Fidelity SSB (some call it Enhanced SSB.)

I'm either ragchewing on 40M SSB (7150 +/- 20 kHz) or lurking the around the higher end of the CW subband on 40, 80 & 20 meters after 10 PM Eastern time any night of the week. I'm always looking for a good ragchew. I enjoy using bugs and straight keys. If lucky enough to get into a High Speed CW QSO (30-45 WPM) either a bug, electronic keyer or CW keyboard (or all three!!!) will be used.

As an RF Tech, I like to talk TECH. As an Interference Investigator, I'm happy to answer your questions about POWER LINE INTERFERENCE and other forms of RFI.

There are few things in life that are more satisfying than getting to know the operator at the other end of the QSO and creating a new friend in Ham Radio.

Since 2009, I've been a newsreader and occasional anchor for the AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE. Please support AR NEWSLINE by making a donation to this valuable ham radio news service at http://www.arnewsline.org. Listen to the program each week for the latest news in Ham Radio.

Since February 2006, I've been active in the Straight Key Century Club (http://www.skccgroup.com) and have expanded my collection of straight keys and bugs. One of the great pleasures of hamming for me is mastering these machines. My goal is to send code on a straight key that is as close to perfect as I can make it. I hope to be able to send nearly perfect CW on a bug at 35 to 40 WPM. I have a long way to go!

Another favorite aspect of the hobby is Mobile & Portable HF Operation. Getting out of the house, promoting ham radio and just having fun is what it's all about.

I travel around northeast Florida in my work van equipped with HF. I especially enjoy Mobile HF CW. My work brings me into contact with many hams in the region. Some of my best encounters have been with Hams for whom I have been able to resolve serious power line interference issues.

Radio has been and always will be my passion. Other interests include recumbent tricycling (mostly on paved trails) and aviation. I'm an Instrument rated Private Pilot but don't fly much anymore.

Home Rig: Flex Radio Systems Flex 5000A (E/SSB) or Icom IC-756ProIII (CW) or Icom IC-756ProII (Digital), Alpha 78 Amp (1500W), DXBlaster 40M Cage Antenna at 35 feet or PalStar BT1500A Balanced L Tuner & Ladder Line-fed Full Wave 80 Meter Loop Antenna (Rectangle shaped & height averages 30 feet.)

HF Rig Audio Rack includes: RE-27ND microphone, Symetrix 528e Voice Processor, TC Electronic DBMAX 5 band Level Maximizer/EQ/Limiter, Lexicon MPX550 Reverb. Output of the rack is fed directly to the Balanced Line input of the Flex or via a W2IHY iBox to the Balanced Modulator Direct Input on the rear of the Icom IC-756ProIII (when the Flex is offline.)

I use Ham Radio Deluxe for logging and basic rig control. For digital modes, I use a variety of programs but MIXW is my favorite.

Mobile Rig: IC7000, 100W HF, Hi-Q 4/80 screwdriver style antenna on 2004 Ford E250 Van. Operate Mobile HF CW almost exclusively using the Palm Radio Code Cube Keyer with integrated Mini-Paddle.

Ham Radio has provided so many satisfying moments in my life that I could never repay the debt I owe to this avocation. The world of joy, good friends, public service and technical involvement cannot be matched by any other pursuit.

My thanks to the many hams who have made the last 46 years so much fun!

73,

Frank N. Haas KB4T

ARRL Life Member -- more than 45 Years

A1-Operator, Rag Chewers Club

Daytona Beach Amateur Radio Assn, Life Member

SKCC 981T

FISTS 10283

SOCARS 3955

Flying Pigs 881

Adventure Radio Society 1862

SOC 706

QSONet (Ask me about this!!!)

Hamsphere (Ask me about this!!!)

AR Newsline Reader & Occasional Anchor

Callsign	KB4T
E-Mail	kb4t@kb4t.us

Jim Davis - W2JKD

Anchor Desk

Jim Davis, W2JKD, a native of Buffalo, New York is currently Vice President, Clear Channel Broadcasting of Sarasota Florida. Davis is a second generation and life long broadcaster. Following in the footsteps of his mother who was a singer on WKBW/Buffalo, Davis began his career as an air personality in the Western New York area. He had a successful run at some of the nation's biggest radio stations; including WOR/FM/New York; KHJ/Los Angeles; CKLW/Detroit; WLS-AM/Chicago. While employed by RKO General Broadcasting, Davis was twice nominated for Billboard Magazine's "Major Market Air Personality Of The Year." Davis entered radio management in the early 1970's as Operations Manager of American Broadcasting Corporation's owned and operated Chicago outlet, WDAI-FM. During the next decade, Davis's programming career encompassed several major market management positions including WPEZ/Pittsburgh; WXYZ (ABC O&O)/Detroit; KLIF/Dallas and the flagship station of Gene Autry's Golden West Broadcasters, KMPC/Los Angeles. In 1981, Davis entered senior management by becoming Vice President/General Manager of Radio Station WVAF/Charleston, West Virginia. He served the National Radio Broadcasters Association as State Director; He was on the Board of Directors of the West Virginia Broadcasters Association. Davis received a Federal Appointment as State Chairman of the Emergency Broadcast System. He functioned as President of the Kanawha Valley Amateur Radio Association. In 1982,Additionally, Davis served as coordinator and host of the annual March of Dimes telethons on WVAH TV-23/Charleston where he also hosted a Saturday night weekly broadcast of "The Movie Club." Next, Davis became a partner in radio station WNFI/Daytona Beach, Florida where he was VP/General Manager. Following the sale, Davis remained with the corporation, functioning as interim GM for WCOA/WJLQ/Pennsacola and WPAP/Panama City, both Florida. In 1988, Davis joined Regional Broadcasters of Michigan as General Manager of WGRD AM/FM in Grand Rapids, Michigan. WGRD was voted as "Station of the Year" by the Grand Rapids Radio Broadcasters Association. Davis served as Vice President of that organization during his last year in Grand Rapids. During this time, Davis was appointed by President Warren Potash to a blue ribbon panel of the Radio Advertising Bureau to serve on its New Business Development committee. In early 1991, Jim Davis was appointed Executive Vice President and General Manager of Radio Station WZVU (Oldies 107.1) in Monmouth/Ocean, New Jersey, the nations 44th radio market. Davis returned to Floida upon the sale of WZVU and became General Manager of WFKS in Daytona Beach, the same station he co-owned in the 1980's. For four years, Davis acted as Vice President/Market Manager of WSRQ,WSPB,WCTQ,WAMR,WDDV and WSRZ in Sarasota Florida for Clear Channel Communications. Currenly, he is Vice President and General Manager for Vero Beach Broadcasters, LLC which operates a cluster of four FM's (WGYL, WGNX and WOSN) and an AM (WTTB). Davis has authored a book entitled "The Sales Success Spectrum-A System Of Radio Sales" which is used as a teaching and training manual at the stations. In his spare time, Davis is a licensed Multi Engine Commercial Instrument rated pilot and owner/operator of a twin engine Aero Commander. As a Civil Air Patrol member he participates and has been trained as a Search & Rescue pilot, looking for downed aircraft survivors. He has been an amateur radio operator since age twelve holding an "EXTRA" class license - His call letters are W2JKD.. He received a "designated examinor" status from the American Radio Relay League in 1985.

Callsign	W2JKD
E-Mail	jameskdavis@bellsouth.net

Jim Damron - N8TMW

Anchor Desk

Jim Damron, N8TMW, is an ARRL Public Information Coordinator--WV Section; Member of Kanawha Amateur Radio Club and Net Manager of KARC Two Meter Net. Jim is a member and Net Control Operator of West Virginia Amateur Radio; Net Manager of Mountain State Emergency Net; Net Control Op for Hamtalk ARES/RACES Net; Member, W.Va. State Amateur Radio Council; Member, Tri County Ham Radio Club; Assistant EC of Kanawha County, WV; Official Emergency Station; President, Charleston WV Area Hamfest & Computer Show; Volunteer Examiner; Member of Royal Order of the Wouff Hong. Jim is a member Army MARS (call AAT3DQ). DXCC,CQDX,WAS and WAC Awards; Named "Kanawha Valley Amateur Radio Operator of the Year 2001". Named "West Virginia Outstanding Amateur of the Year 2000". Has operated an audio production business full time since 1990, after two and a half decades in radio broadcasting. Appears in radio and TV commercials, training videos, and film. Acting credits include the movie "Forrest Gump". Regular anchor on the weekly international ham radio "Newsline" program. Hobbies are walking, shooting, and ice skating.

Callsign	N8TMW
E-Mail	n8tmw@arrl.net