Hobbies and Interests
Amateur Radio
Both Susan (KC8AFA) and I (N8JXO) are Amateur Radio operators. We have
in the past
been very active in community activities involving communications with the local
R.A.C.E.S. group. After it dissolved we continued to work with
A.R.E.S. and
Wood County
Emergency Communications inc., the originator of the
D.A.R.E.N. (Digital Amateur
Radio Emergency Network) system. WCEC provides communications for
local emergencies, theParkersburg Half Marathon and events held in the Parkersburg area each year.
Land Rovers
We both own Land Rover vehicles and are members of The Blue Ridge Land Rover club which is an association of Land Rover owners who enjoy exchanging information and experiences associated with these unique vehicles. Mostly from the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina, members meet at Rallies to show off their vehicles and test their driving skills in off-road situations
Computers
I have been involved with computers since my senior year in high school when I wrote a final paper on digital computing devices for my vocational agriculture class enumerating the uses of computers in modern agriculture.
I went on to collage to study computer programming and during my years of service in the military I studied and worked in computer repair.
Now that I am retired from the trucking industry, I occasionally repairs someone's personal computer or build them a new one, and develop websites for small businesses that can't afford a high priced web developer.
Photography
My interest in photography started sometime in the mid '50s and continues today. Using my parent's Kodak Brownie Bull's-Eye (c. 1954-68), I started out taking family photographs and quickly became interested in landscape and nature photography. Receiving a Kodak Hawkeye Instamatic 126 camera (c. 1963-78) in my High School Junior year spurred me on to save money for my first Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera with interchangeable lenses. After wearing out the Canon FTb, I purchased a Canon F1 and a Canon A-1 (c. 1976-86) while in the service. Although the A-1's meter doesn't function, both these cameras still take pictures. In 2004 I progressed to digital photography and purchased a Canon EOS 20D. I have a collection of Kodak, Minolta and Canon cameras and lenses.
