Early Interests In Radio
I first became interested in radio back in the mid 1970s when during the summer months and school was out, my Dad would often allow me to go to work with him. The well drilling company for which he worked had some old GE Progress Line VHF low band two way radios on 35.96 MHz. Although I didn't understand what was happening at the time, it was fascinating to me that we could be out of range of the company's base just 40 miles away and yet, we could hear signals from a cable television installation company over 2,000 miles away!
Amateur Radio
Later, I got interested in shortwave radio and spent many hours listening on the Kenwood R-600 my parents got me for Christmas in 1984. (In fact, I have the R-600 in my shack and it still works!) After graduating from high school in 1985, I entered vocational school, studying consumer electronics repair. I spent 12 years in that field before changing careers in 1998. While in school, I met Larry Pierson, WD4CEB (now SK) who helped me study and prepare for the Novice exam and in June, 1986, I received my first call sign, KB4TOW. In 1996, I upgraded to Technician Plus and in 2006, I passed both my General and Extra exams.
Call Sign Change
I applied for and received my vanity call sign, K0HWY in November, 2006. I get a lot of inquiries about why I chose a 0 call although I'm located in Region 4. My call sign was originally held be Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke, who was the primary tenor saxophonist and occasional vocalist for the Glenn Miller Orchestra between 1938 and 1942. Tex passed away in 2000 and much to my surprise, I learned that his old old sign was available under the FCC's Vanity Call Sign program. Being a part time band leader and fan of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, I thought it would be a great idea to be able to tie my love for music and amateur radio together while keeping the memory of Tex Beneke alive.
The Bruce Long Orchestra
I organized my first orchestra in 1989 and kept the band together until 1992. Eventually, In 2004, I decided to return to music and formed the second generation Bruce Long Orchestra. Unlike other modern big bands, we play only music of the big band era (roughly 1935-1945) including the music of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and others. Come out and hear us if we're in your neck of the woods. |
