Joe received his Novice class license in the Summer of 1966 at age 14. To pass that exam, you had to take a basic radio theory exam as well as demonstrate you can send and receive 5 WPM CW. Within a few months, he upgraded to the General license. That required a more detailed theory test and demonstrate that you can send and receive CW at 13 WPM. At that time, a General class operator had all Amateur Radio privileges. Some years later, incentive licensing came into existence and the General license would no longer give you full Amateur Radio privileges. Joe upgraded to an Advance class license which required a more difficult theory test but the CW requirement was still 13 WPM. The Advance license allowed about 95% of all Amateur Radio privileges. A few years later Joe decided to upgrade to an Extra Class license which required the advance theory exam as well as sending and receiving 20 WPM CW.
Joe had a wonderful career in Electrical Engineering. His first job was with Burroughs Corporation. Years later Burroughs bought Sperry Corporation and the two merged companies became Unisys. Joe retired as Group Manager of worldwide Power Solutions Engineering which involved power supply design, power system design, power control design, electromagnetic compatibility, electromagnetic Interference compliance and both system and component safety compliance. Joe is a multiple patent holder.
Joe was founder and CEO of Control Products Unlimited Incorporated. CPU specialized in programmable battery charges and conditioners. Those products were used both commercially and with the US Military. In addition to that product line, Joe developed some power products for the Telecommunications Industry.
Joe also had pleasure of serving as Chief RF Engineer for Spectrum Communications. In that role, Joe was responsible for all new product design as well as to obtain FCC Type Acceptance for its legacy products. Spectrum Communications provided VHF and UHF transmitters, receivers, transceivers and repeater systems.
Joe retired in December 2008 to enjoy some free time that he is still looking for!
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W3GMS REPEATER in Parkesburg, PA 
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