Some time ago, myself and Layne, AE1N, thought it important and relevant to our club for its members to provide bios of ourselves. It’s useful to know where our collective interests lie and what our backgrounds are, so we can forge better connections with each other. In that spirit, I’ll pretend that someone asked me some questions and I’ll provide my response. And, like all bios, I suppose that it’ll be a cathartic release of what’s on my mind.

1. How did you get involved in amateur radio? Totally by accident. I had a buddy (who got licensed as well) tell me he was driving through Salem, NH and saw a store called the HRO and asked if I wanted to check it out. After I walked in, I realized I was “in” about 50%. I went home, jumped online, and looked for local clubs. At the time the Nashua ARC site wasn’t exactly easy on the eyes, but I liked what I saw anyway so I attended my first meeting in Jan 2016 — project night. I felt like you guys were my people. I was “in” the remaining 50%. One year and change later, I earned an amateur extra license and am on the Board for the Nashua ARC. Not too shabby. I suppose you can say when I’m in, I’m all in.
2. What’s your background and what other hobbies do you have? I suppose I identify as a physicist. At least that’s where all my training came from. Other young fellas growing up had posters of athletes, movie stars, and bikini models on their walls (full disclosure: I did have the model posters too), whereas I had Einstein, Feynman, and other physics giants. I read physics books and science lit whenever I could and nurtured the idea of being a professor of particle physics. I’ve been fortunate enough to at least get the particle/nuclear physics bit down. I’ve learned a lot of cool math and cool particle physics (like Quantum Chromodynamics, and some string theory), but that was a lifetime ago. Or so it feels like. When I’m actively not trying to figure out how to make a black hole swallow the Earth, I can be found in the kitchen or on the track. It’s true that I haven’t cooked as much in the past 2 years, but I have a TON of cooking equipment, and make a mean Chicken Tikka Masala.
3. What are your goals in amateur radio? I don’t know if this is cliched or not, but I really enjoy building/improving my station and chasing DX. In fact I am VERY much looking forward to finishing my station this Spring (stupid impending Noreaster tomorrow). What I didn’t expect to find though was an opportunity to reignite my interest in teaching by being part of the club. I have been a part of teaching the license classes and am currently helping design a curriculum for the club’s HAB project with local area high school students. Lastly, I am trying to foster an ability in homebrewing electronics relevant to my shack. I’m looking forward to getting back to this after we launch the balloon.
4. What do you like about being a member of NARC? Ok, this answer is certainly going to be cliched. It’s getting to build a rapport with the members and get the benefit of elmering from some incredibly talented and experienced people. Sometimes, I don’t always walk up to someone new at club meetings etc., because I’m not sure what to say. But if you can forgive any apparent awkwardness, I’d like to get to know you better. Camaraderie is an important aspect in the health of this club; it’s important (IMO) to nurture that.
5. What should the Club’s priorities be in the next 12 months? At our March meeting, the Board outline the club’s goals for 2017. I won’t go through all of them again here. I will saw, however, that I believe it’s important to create a niche for as many diverse interests as we can. I’d like to have a “homebrewing” group, a “DXing” group, and other potential groups that I can’t ascribe a name to yet since I don’t have a sense of all the activities that you, our members, are interested in. I think it’s important that people find others within our club to gravitate towards with common interests. It’s another avenue for the club to organically grow and remain healthy.

That’s my brief not-so-impromptu bio. Please forgive the photo of me in the featured image. Not because I haven’t shaved in a dog’s age, but because I don’t want to come off egotistical. I simply want to let you know what I look like so you can say “Oh I’ve seen that funny looking guy around before.” Thanks for reading. Now it’s your turn. Tell me about yourself.

73,

Brian, AB1ZO