North Florida Amateur Radio Society
W4IZ Jacksonville FL
nofars.net
Editor: Billy Williams, N4UF
n4uf
By Ross Goodall, WD4NJV & Billy Williams, N4UF
FAMOUS HAMS AND EX-HAMS
W1AW Hiram Percy Maxim ARRL founder, silencer inventor
K1JT Dr. Joseph Taylor 1993 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics
KB1NXP John Baldacci former Governor of Maine
W1ZE Irving Vermilya first licensed radio amateur in the US
K2AMH Robert Moog inventor of Moog synthesizer
W2BML Dr. Harold Beverage inventor of Beverage antenna
K2GL Hazard Reeves inventor of stereo sound system
KB2GSD Walter Cronkite newscaster
K2ORS Jean Shepherd writer, humorist
NE2Q Jay Kolinsky electronic siren inventor
W2SGG Robert Cusumano co-inventor of printed circuits
K2ZCZ George Pataki former Governor of NY
NS3T Jamie Dupree radio news correspondent
W4CGP Chet Atkins singer, composer
WB4KCG Ronnie Milsap singer, songwriter
K4EB Larry Junstrom 38 Special band member
N4KET David French CNN news anchor
W4LAA Paul Kangas co-anchor of Nightly Business Report
K4LIB Arthur Godfrey TV personality
WD4LZC Larnell Harris country & Christian music singer
WB4MCJ Carl Rochelle news columnist
WA4SIR Ron Parise astronaut
KD4WUJ Patti Loveless singer
W4XAA/K2AES Tom Kneitel magazine editor, columnist
K4ZVZ Gen. Paul Tibbets WWII Enola Gay aviator
WA5AVA Dale Seidenschwarz (Clyde Clifford) Beaker St. radio host
KF5BOX Doug Wheelock ISS astronaut
K5CSG Peggy Sue Gerron (Subject of Buddy Holly hit song)
W5GLJ George Marti remote broadcast technology pioneer
W5LFL Dr. Owen Garriot astronaut
N5QWL Jay Apt astronaut
N5RAX Linda Godwin astronaut
WB6ACU Joe Walsh singer, composer, record producer
W6BNB Robert Shrader Electronic Communications text author
K6DUE Roy Neal TV personality, news correspondent
W6EZV/K0GRL General Curtis Lemay 1968 VP candidate
N6FFT Ray Briem radio talk show host
N6FUP Stu Cook bass player Creedence Clearwater Revival
W6FZZ Samuel F.B. Morse III great grandson of code inventor
KA6HVK Burl Ives singer
NN6JA John Amodeo TV Producer
N6KGB Stewart Granger actor
KB6LQS Dick Rutan pilot of Voyager airplane
KI6M Stu Gilliam comedian
W6OBB Art Bell syndicated radio personality
KD6OY Garry Shandling actor, comedian
KE6PZH/FO5GJ Marlon Brando actor
WB6RER Andy Devine actor
W6UK Alvino Rey musician, band leader
KA6UXR Dr. Alexander Comfort author
N6YOS Priscilla Presley actress
W6ZH Herbert Hoover, Jr. IARU & ARRL President
W6ZH/W6APW Herbert "Pete" Hoover III AMSAT fundraiser
W7EQI Greg Walden U.S. Congressman (1999-2020)
KA7EVD Donnie Osmond singer
NK7U Joe Rudi major league baseball player
K7UGA/6BPI/K3UIG Barry Goldwater Senator 1964 Pres. candidate
8CR Powell Crosley broadcast pioneer, founded WLW
W8OK Frank Schwab Mr. Hamvention
9ALD Edgar Johnson founder of E F Johnson Company
9DRV David Packard co-founder of Hewlett Packard
W9EGV John Frye columnist Carl & Jerry, Mac's Service Shop
K9EID Bob Heil concert sound engineer, inventor
W0CXX Art Collins founder of Collins Radio
W0FQY Carl Mosley founder of Mosley Electronics
DG1KIM Ulrich Walter astronaut
EA0JC Juan Carlos King of Spain
HS1A Bhumiphol Adulayadej King of Thailand
I0FCG Francesco Cossiga President of Italy
JY1 King Hussein of Jordan
RV3DW Sergei Avdeyev astronaut
TI2DR David Ruben M. D. author
VU2RJ Rajiv Gandhi Prime Minister of India
YN1AS General Anastasio Somoza President of Nicaragua
9N1MM Rev. Marshall Moran Jesuit Priest, Educator (Nepal)
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W6XRL4 Herman Munster
KA0XTT Mike Baxter
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CHET ATKINS: Born in 1924, Chester "Chet" Atkins is remembered for his country guitar picking. Chet was also a lifetime radio man. He was an ARRL member and his first call sign was WA4CZD. He traded that for a vanity call sign containing his "initials" W4CGP (Country Guitar Picker) in 1998. Chet died from cancer in 2001.
He was born near Knoxville, Tennessee and started performing on a Saturday morning show on WRBL in 1941 after the host heard Atkins playing on a farm.
Next he picked his guitar on Jumpin' Bill Carlisle's program on WNOX in Knoxville. He moved to RCA Records in 1947 as a recording artist, studio musician and eventually a producer.
He was an RCA VP from 1968 until 1982. Most of Chet's songs were instrumentals. In the late 1950s and early 60s, his tunes played on Top 40 radio stations as regional favorites. Strangely, these early songs never even made Billboard country music charts.
WA4CZD's biggest hit was "Yakety Axe" from Summer 1965. It peaked at #4 on Billboard's C&W survey. "Yakety Axe" was a remake of a 1950s Coasters hit. Boots Randolph adapted it in 1963 as "Yakety Sax."
DE N4UF
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Editor: Billy Williams, N4UF
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