My story of radio, huh? Okay, here we go!
Just your typical radio geek through the 1970's, but then I got a break!
My senior year of high school, I had an English class and an electronics class that I was an aide in, having taken beginning, intermediate, and advanced sessions in the prior three years).
I also signed up for two classes at the college preparatory high school that had just started two years prior. One was a two-hour electronics technology course, and the other was an internship course.
The electronics stuff was cool, got to do some fun things. One of them was down in the deep, dark cellar, there was a booth set up. We'd heard that once upon a time, there could have been a carrier-current setup as part of Tucson High School, nobody knew for certain.
What was really entertaining was the internship. I got the honor of meeting Bob Scholz, and the process of changing the station from daytime only to fulltime, and licensed in South Tucson. Had the opportunity to meet Barry Mishkind...what a character.
The best part was one of the saddest. On October 26, 1978, an an Air Force A-7D jet crashed just south of the University of Arizona. The studio was literally blocks away. Rich 'Brother' Robbin and I jumped in the vehicle and headed over to get some information and reactions from those who saw it. Once he was done, a mad dash back to the station to finish the process.
After about a month there, I had the opportunity to head downtown to another station. That's where I'd be for about six months. I only had to put in two hours, but it was easy to hang out three or four hours and watch the magic happen.
On one trip with the CE (I just don't recall who it was...) to get the transmitter back on-air, he asked me if this is what I really wanted to do. I didn't exactly give a good enough answer, but he did encourage me to go back to school.
I signed up with the local community college, and after three semesters, took a chance with the major aerospace firm as passed the exam for an entry-level technician job. I worked my into an engineering position when all of those that worked on the systems I had also worked on retired over the years. That total career lasted a bit over 35 years.
I've been 'on the beach' for the last five years, and quite content.
Just your typical radio geek through the 1970's, but then I got a break!
My senior year of high school, I had an English class and an electronics class that I was an aide in, having taken beginning, intermediate, and advanced sessions in the prior three years).
I also signed up for two classes at the college preparatory high school that had just started two years prior. One was a two-hour electronics technology course, and the other was an internship course.
The electronics stuff was cool, got to do some fun things. One of them was down in the deep, dark cellar, there was a booth set up. We'd heard that once upon a time, there could have been a carrier-current setup as part of Tucson High School, nobody knew for certain.
What was really entertaining was the internship. I got the honor of meeting Bob Scholz, and the process of changing the station from daytime only to fulltime, and licensed in South Tucson. Had the opportunity to meet Barry Mishkind...what a character.
The best part was one of the saddest. On October 26, 1978, an an Air Force A-7D jet crashed just south of the University of Arizona. The studio was literally blocks away. Rich 'Brother' Robbin and I jumped in the vehicle and headed over to get some information and reactions from those who saw it. Once he was done, a mad dash back to the station to finish the process.
After about a month there, I had the opportunity to head downtown to another station. That's where I'd be for about six months. I only had to put in two hours, but it was easy to hang out three or four hours and watch the magic happen.
On one trip with the CE (I just don't recall who it was...) to get the transmitter back on-air, he asked me if this is what I really wanted to do. I didn't exactly give a good enough answer, but he did encourage me to go back to school.
I signed up with the local community college, and after three semesters, took a chance with the major aerospace firm as passed the exam for an entry-level technician job. I worked my into an engineering position when all of those that worked on the systems I had also worked on retired over the years. That total career lasted a bit over 35 years.
I've been 'on the beach' for the last five years, and quite content.
