This Section was added to off members a place to share the stories of themselves, It could be a “life story” how and/or why you got into this hobby, what other hobbies you are interested in or just your experience in this or another club. possibly a memorial profile of a TCARA Silent Key? Basically You write any story you would like.
I will kick this page off with my personal profile (Life Story):
I am Ken Mixon KC6WOK (QRZ), I was born and raised locally, Claremont CA. went to Clremont public schools lived in Claremont until I was 19, I grew up on the south side of Claremont just two houses from the George Dines family (Long time TCARA member known for his 6 meter work) later the family home near Towne and Foothill was originally owned by the Lee family having a son named “David Lee” (yes David Lee, Writer/producer/director). I was always interested in anything mechanical, electrical, you know everything “magical to a child. In High School I became interested in cars, how they worked, how to fix them etc. Of course that lead to a career as mechanic, first with a car dealer, Liberty Ford in La Verne, famous at the time for being the oldest Ford dealer in California. I moved on to being trained as a welder, that new career served me well for seven years but each position I held as a “Welder” I was asked to do any job requiring “Mechanics” knowledge. As such the machinery was much larger and more complicated than a “car”. I spent time as a Assembler in a truck mounted cement mixer factory. All these diverse jobs lead me to a position as a “field mechanic/warranty technician” with Hakker equipment company servicing Municipal Equipment including Street Sweepers, Sewer rodder/vacuum trucks, Refuse collection vehicles, road maintenance equipment etc. Being a field mechanic working in the service departments of many of the cities in Southern California it afforded me insights into civil service careers and which municipality offers the most lucrative compensation during and after my service. I focused on Los Angeles as the highest wages and generous benefit package along with their persistence that I leave my current employer and join their “Team”. I did take a one year break from City Service in 1988 to work for a Wind Energy Start-up in the Tehachapi mountains, It was originally named “Zond Systems” but sold out to Enron that failed leaving the company to be auctioned off, two bidders Caterpillar and General Electric, Now Named GE wind Energy. I returned to Los Angeles with a different division, Department of Water and Power (LADWP) it was a lucky landing and I met many very talented folks, some were Ham Radio Hobbyists one owned a repeater on Oat mountain above Chatsworth, Another Rick WB6WFH owned and maintained the SFV BBS packet Bulletin Board, He was an avid CW operator and Serious ambassador for the hobby. Rick had been actively campaigning to add Amateur Base Stations to each DWP facility and recruit Amateur operators through a volunteer training program. One of my co-workers and myself eagerly jumped at the opportunity. Being in the early days of “No Code Technician” the Seasoned hams frowned on that, ranting about “Ham strung Hams”. we all practiced feverishly to learn CW at 5 WPM and were trained as if we were all going for General class on our first try. Well in the early 1990’s technician class was a general test, without code gave you “no code technician” with 5 WPM gained you a Tech + and 13 WPM would reward you a General Class ticket. I gained my Tech +. The group with LADWP mostly worked evening shift and while driving home communicated on the Oat Mt Repeater, it was nightly during the week and once a month met at a Denny’s near Roscoe Blvd at the 405 fwy. to our surprise we filled the large back room, we did not know how many listeners we had on our nightly round table. I heard a conversation at one table about the “WOK and WOL” net, curious I had to ask what they were talking about. The response was “This Net of course” Confused I asked How it came to that name, they replied “KC6WOK and KC6WOL” (myself and my co-worker) the two newest hams in our roundtable. I owe a lot to that entire group of “Elmers” for their patience and sharing their knowledge. Unfortunately at the time I had little interest in HF radio so did not take advantage of all those friends had to offer. Work and Family taking Precedence, my Licensed bride and I let our interest in the hobby slip away until 2017 when we both Retired from City Service. With lots of time and less expenses due to no longer commuting we could easily afford what could be a costly hobby. within the hobby we found many interests and tried to find our place in a Radio Club, The Clubs interests and ours were not a good match so Kathi KD6CAF and I along with some friends Founded a New radio Club more focused on the Social aspects and comradery of this hobby. Kathi and I were VERY Surprised at the reception and growth of a fledgling radio club and a website with world wide recognition and hundreds of daily “hits” the Club was showcased on HamNation, mentioned several times by Dave Casler and even interviewed on Amateur Radio Newsline. We have been to many Hamfests, met lots of Recognized Hams, Gordon West, Bob Heil, Dave Casler, Dr. Tamitha Skov, Jeri Ellsworth and Amy Henron plus Ray Novak etc. etc. the Amateur Radio Hobby has been a wonderful retirement past time and we have learned a lot and helped many hams along the way. I have Recently returned to serve TCARA as “Publicity” which is a Broad description. It will afford me the opportunity to create New club Badges, some nicely personalized Coffee mugs with TCARA logo, and club branded pens with stylus, I understand it has been some time since “Badges” were distributed. I plan on bringing my Knowledge of Team Building, and understanding of “Social Selling” to help carry this organization into its next century. It is Lots of work to create a website with useful and relevant, fresh and timely content but it seems to be worth the effort and I do enjoy it Hopefully you are enjoying the ride, stop by often as I dream up crazy new additions regularly. Thanks for wading through my ramblings ’73 Ken KC6WOK
Now, I showed you Mine, Lets see yours (c;
Send your Bio to kc6wok@gmail.com