K3USZ James G. 'Jim' Gray Collegeville, PA QCWA # 36901 Chapter(s) 17 and 5

First Call: KN3USZ issued in 1962       Other Call(s): KC3EMN

From: qrz.com:
Hello Everyone,

I'm new to QRZ.COM but not new to Ham Radio. Instead of call letters, my name is my ID on QRZ, that is until I get my license restored and at that time I will hopefully be able to log in with my old call letters. Until then I'm just Jim.

I got my Novice ticket in 1961 and my General ticket in 1962 at the age of 15. Times were tough, I was a kid and couldn't compete with the numerous 1KW stations on the air nearby, other interests got in the way and eventually I let my license expire, which I very much regret having done. During that time I had the privilege of visiting the home and ham shack of the late Al (W3VR) and Mae (W3CUL) Burke of Springfield, PA when a friend and I rode our bikes to their house and just knocked on the door. Mae Burke was at home, invited us in, gave us refreshments and a then gave us a tour of their massive "shack", though the word shack in their case was really a misnomer. Mae was a very gracious lady and an outstanding representative of Amateur Radio, as was her husband Al, who we unfortunately didn't get to meet that day.

My Ham Radio mentor(s) were the late Bill Hamer, W3UWF and Marty Trout, K3UBS who both lived within a block of where I lived. I credit both of these men for helping to steer me towards the career I've enjoyed working first for the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania (Bell of PA) and eventually AT&T after the divestiture of AT&T in 1984. During my career in the Bell System and afterward I had the privilege of working on many state-of-the-art, ground breakiing technologies for customers like the University of Pennsylvania (PennNet), the New York State Government (CAPnet/PACnet) and later provided on-site technical support for Alcatel USA, the prime supplier of DSL (DSLAMs) in the networks of Bell Atlantic (Verizon), Bell South/SBC (at&t), Sprint (Century Link) and many other telcos when DSL service was generally being called "DSL Hell", finally supporting the GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) product for Alcatel-Lucent, for Verizon Communications (FiOS).

I owe all of this to Ham Radio, Bill Hamer and Marty Trout, and their families.

I'm looking forward to re-entering Ham Radio and making as many new friends and contacts as I can manage, just as soon as I can get re-licensed.

73s,
Jim
K3USZ, Feb 6, 2015

The DLARC is continuing to grow, so be sure to greet our new members, shake their hands, and give them a warm welcome to our club. We are pleased to welcome 17 new members this month. The newest members are Ron McCarty / KC3FXD; Sally McCarty / KC3FYI; Alex Smith / KC3FYI; Brian Smith / W3WOR; Tom Julius / KB3YWK; James Gray / K3USZ; Ruth Sweigart ; Judith Turner / KC3FXH; David Heffelfinger / KC3FXK; Dave Maitland / KC3FYJ; John Fenwick /KD2JUM; Elaine Smodish / KC3FYH; James Fox / KJ3FOX; Robert Terry / NM3Y; Leslie Turner / K3LLT; Bernard Ferenchak / WA3VYW; and Dean Guth / KC3FXC

Jim appeared on "The Advocates", hosted Dan Cirucci, January 17, 2019, watch the 26 minute Interview.

Stills from the interview

March 28, 2019