Paul is a United
States Air Force Veteran, having flown over 5,000 hours onboard the
AWACS E-3A Sentry, stationed for the most part at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma
City between 1981-1984, and is currently an Officer in the United States
Air Force Auxiliary. His duties include volunteering as a Pilot,
Communications and Public Affairs Officer. One of the main functions of
the Civil Air Patrol is to perform Search and Rescue for the Air Force,
but also maintains an extensive Communications network. K2FX is
also a member of the Air Force MARS Program, and functions as the Public
Affairs Officer for Region One
(AFA1ND/AFF1P).
Paul
earned a B.S Degree in Communications/Broadcasting from the State University of New York College at Brockport. He works
Full-Time as a Television Station Manager, and is also the owner of Laser
Sound, one of Western New York's largest Professional DJ Services.
In addition, Paul has worked as an On-Air Radio Personality since 1975
at a variety of stations around the country, including at one time
hosting a show heard on over 40 affiliate stations around the
Northeastern U.S. He can currently be heard on Rochester Radio
Station "Legends 102.7FM, WLGZ" Paul is a member of the Society of Broadcast
Engineers. K2FX can also
be heard around the country and the world via Repeater, Satellite,
and Shortwave broadcasts as a News Anchor for "This
Week In Amateur Radio", a weekly news magazine bringing it's
listeners the latest in Ham Radio information.
The Callsign
K2FX was previously issued to Durwood "Dee" Finch who was also
an On-Air Radio Broadcaster!! One of the team of "Klavan and
Finch", radio personalities on NYC station WNEW. Dee is credited
with doing the first true Radio Morning Show, and was originally paired
with TV Game Show Host Gene Rayburn! **See the Original Famous Ham Page
and check out K2FX at: http://users.tellurian.com/gjurrens/famous_hams.html
(Like me, Dee also LOVED CW!)
Since 2006, Paul
has been active in the Masonic Organization, and is a member of the
Damascus Shrine in Rochester, NY. He and his wife Cynthia are both
Volunteer Firemen with the Pultneyville, New York Fire Company.
K2FX was
first licensed in 1973 as a Novice(WN2SNU). He later became WA2SNU, a
call which was used until November of 1996 when it was changed to K2FX.
Paul is an avid CW operator, a member of the Rochester Amateur Radio
Association (RARA), Rochester DX
Association (RDXA), and works
professionally in the Radio/Television Broadcast industry. His interest
in Amateur Radio still remains strong after spending 35 years in the
hobby. K2FX is an ARRL Official Observer Station, and an Extra Class Volunteer Examiner for the ARRL and
W5YI Groups. K2FX IS NOT AN ADVOCATE OF THE NEW LICENSE RESTRUCTURING
POLICY. CW should remain a valuable part of the FCC
testing process, and should especially be required for those who are
seeking an Extra Class License.
K2FX is a
multiple handgun owner, and holds a New York State as well as Pennsylvania
Concealed Carry Permit.
He is also Licensed as a New York State Armed Guard.
Finally,
Paul is a
classic car enthusiast, and owns an award winning 1970 Chevy Chevelle
that is driven mostly to local Cruise Nights and Car Shows.
Paul is married to Cynthia (K2SKY), and they reside in Ontario, New York, a suburb of Rochester.
They have a daughter who attends college.
December 15, 2006 was a day that will forever change the way Amateur Radio applicants will be tested in the United States. On this day the FCC in its infinite wisdom announced that the CW or Morse Code requirement would no longer be required to gain a license of ANY CLASS! So what does this mean for the future of Ham Radio? Having been licensed since 1973, and living through many of the changes over the years, I personally believe that this will be the beginning of the end of Ham Radio. Statistically, I've been tracking with great care the conditions of our HF frequencies since the mid 1980's when the FCC went to the Volunteer Examiner Program. By statistically I mean the number of complaints of malicious interference, abusive language, personal threats, jamming, intentional QRMing, and Notices of Apparent Liability (NAL) that have been documented. The results clearly show that since we went to a no-code license, and volunteer examination process, the bands have been in a steady state of decline. Many of the applicants are not nearly as technically versed as they should be, nor are they the proficient operators that are required to fulfill the Public Service role that we all play. That's right. Ham Radio is a Public Service first and foremost. Too many times we forget that part! We are called upon to provide emergency communications during times of natural disasters. That takes trained operators.
The new operators of today seem to want to have everything handed to them with very little effort on their part to actually earn the privileges they seek. All of the whiners who just DID NOT WANT to learn the CW because is was too time consuming, or just too hard. The eventual drop to 5WPM in itself made the CW requirement a joke, plus the advent of the "10 Question" multiple choice test you had to take if you didn't copy the 1 minute solid as required just added insult to injury. Let's see......You are monitoring HF, and hear a distress call on CW from a maritime mobile station with an urgent situation. You answer the call, but find that your CW skills can not keep pace in order to get the needed information. So you ask the distressed station to send the information again, but this time, do it in such a way that the information is sent so that you can "guess" at the right answer. See how crazy that sounds, but that's what was happening with the CW Testing method before being dropped from all license class requirements.
In 1973 when I was licensed, you studied electronic theory, and you learned the CW. 5WPM for Novice, 13WPM for General/Advanced, and 20WPM for Extra Class. Then you went to your nearest FCC Examination Office, and sat down for the code test. If you passed by copying 1 minute solid, you were then given the theory test. If you failed the theory, you waited 30-days to come back and do it all again, including the CW test. There were NO question pools. No way to just MEMORIZE the answers like you can today. You either knew the theory or you didn't, and passed the test based on your knowledge, not your memorization skills. That is what I experienced, and today you have adults all crying because they say the code is just too hard to learn, or too time consuming. When I was first licensed, I was just 13-years old! Thirteen years old, and I DID IT! So did many others. So why in today's society is it suddenly too difficult for everyone? Why, because people today truly believe that they have a right to take part in the hobby, no matter what! We all want instant gratification. So I guess that means that if I now want to get a PhD from Harvard University, they should just give it to me with no studying or classes required because I deserve it. I won't be qualified for it, but by God, I deserve it, so you should just give it to me! Do you see just how ludicrous that sounds, but as sad as it is, that's today's mentality.
I do not want to see Ham Radio go the way that CB Radio did in the late 1970's. Since 1973, I've been very proud to have been a Ham Radio Operator, and I really hope that I am wrong in my estimation of things to come. Only time will tell, but as long as I am able, I'll fight to preserve the technical standards we need to have, and to TOUGHEN the written testing required for all licenses in order to make up for the removal of CW. I would like to see all test questions pools go away and get back to actually learning the material required to perform our role as Amateurs for all test applicants. Let's teach the theory, but like the days of old, base all tests on that theory WITHOUT actually publishing the exact questions and answers. That takes the memorization aspect out of the equation. You either know the theory when you sit down for a test or you don't. That to me would be the perfect stop gate for unqualified individuals in the absence of a CW test.
SOUND OFF!! WHAT DO YOU THINK??? I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENTS.
Write to me at:
usafpilot@rochester.rr.com
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