W1WH William J. 'Bill' Hanrahan East Falmouth, MA QCWA # 32386 Chapter 112

I was first licensed in 1979 but can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated by radio. As a little kid (probably about the age of 6 or so) I was intent that someday I would have a radio that I could talk back on just like my police officer dad. Later, about middle school age, I got hooked on walkie talkies and eventually discovered the Walker Tompkins, K6ATX (SK) books (anyone remember CQ Ghost Ship and SOS At Midnight?) I was also fascinated by shortwave listening, and one Christmas my parents got me a general coverage Globe Electronics "Globe 'Ceiver". (My dad was more than a little curious when an SWL card arrived in the mail from "Box 88, Moscow, USSR".) I practiced code on an old Eico code oscillator and studied the old red and black ARRL license manual, but never followed through until much later. Fast forward to 1979 when I was finally licensed as a Novice and then General at age 29. (I passed my General before I received my Novice ticket in the mail. I earned my Advanced ticket the following year in 1980 and my Extra in 2002.) Radio was magic back in the old days - and still is!

I enjoy ragchewing (especially on AM) and working DX. I'm an ARRL Volunteer Examiner and QCWA member. Upon my retirement and return home to Cape Cod in late 2016, I re-joined the Falmouth Amateur Radio Association (FARA) after a 22 year absence! Besides FARA, I'm also a member of ARRL, QCWA, FISTS and SKCC. My modest station consists of an Icom 7600 with an Icom 746 Pro and an Atlas 210X as backups. HF antennas are a 43' ground mounted vertical and a 160m-10m dipole and Palstar AT1KP tuner. VHF/UHF equipment is all Yaesu: Yaesu FT-7900, FT-7800, FT-1900 and an FT-60 handheld.

Besides radio, I love planes, trains, guns, music, cats, dogs, and kids - especially kids! (I'm absolutely blessed with eight terrific grandchildren - four boys and four girls.) I play guitar with several bluegrass groups, and also play around with my 1952 MG TD replica.

In years past, I've done stints as a trucker, limo driver, children's protective social worker, state right-of-way agent, commercial real estate appraiser, commercial real estate lender, VP of several commercial banks, police and fire dispatcher and most recently, a wireless network developer. I also served as a volunteer Angel Flight pilot providing free air transportation for medical patients and their families. In late 2016 I retired from 21 years in the wireless industry, having most recently worked on LTE network upgrades for AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Now that I'm retired, I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up.

Greatings from Capr Cod!

April 21, 2018