BJ has been a member of the Radio Club of Tacoma since 2022. He initiated the club's monthly POTA activations, and the club's first organized special event. He was also instrumental in restarting the Mighty DK contest team. BJ currently is the club's website administrator, and also the Bigfoot special event coordinator for the club. At home he is a 'small pistol' contester, a regular Parks On The Air (POTA) activator and mapping representative for POTA. BJ is also an avid DX'er and also enjoys going on 1-man holiday-style DXpeditions and has operated from more than 10 DX entities. For more info, check out his bio on QRZ.
A dedicated club member since 2016, Wade leverages professional IT experience to help modernize the Radio Club of Tacoma. Having already upgraded club infrastructure—including transitioning the phone system to VoIP and installing high-speed fiber internet—they are focused on driving interest from younger generations. This includes championing Digital Amateur Television (DATV), hands-on soldering, electronics repair, and MeshCore, having notably built and deployed a MeshCore repeater at the clubhouse. They also practice their radio skills operating with software like Fldigi and experimental digital modes over HF.
As President of the Radio Club of Tacoma, I am committed to supporting amateur radio through education, technical experimentation, fellowship, and public service. My interests include HF, digital modes, satellites, and emerging technologies. I am especially passionate about membership growth, club sustainability, and creating hands-on opportunities for new and experienced operators. I also enjoy writing about amateur radio. Please feel free to contact me with questions, ideas, or suggestions. I would be happy to hear from you.
I first became interested in things electric as a young kid playing with my first electric train. I taught myself the code but didn't get close to getting a license until after high school, and got my first callsign KN4JSW in my freshman year at Clemson. I dropped out of the hobby until 1982 when I started over with a novice ticket, call sign KA5MGD. Within a very few months I tested up to Technician plus and remained at that level until the code went away and I was grandfathered into the General class, and soon after got my Extra class license. I joined the net and MARS (AFB4CX) and was involved with phone patching on a net working aircraft from the west coast (Travis AFB and McCord AFB) to the sandbox in Saudi Arabia. During part of that time I also took on the job of Texas State MARS director, AFF4TX. W7DK has been a good outlet for me in the years I have been here and you know how much this means to me as I know it means to you.
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