The President’s Corner
John F. Reynolds, W5JFR
MARC President:
Jan. 1999-Current
16 Sep 09
Welcome to my corner of the MARC Web
Page. I am John
F. Reynolds. I have
been President of MARC since January 1999.
I have also been the voice
of MARC net control since 1999. I
currently reside in Rialto, California.
My Ham Radio call is W5JFR.
I am originally from New Mexico, but
as a youngster, my family moved to Southern California where I
lived in Maywood, Bell, Huntington Park, Escondido and Pacific
Beach. I returned to
Socorro, New Mexico to finish high school and enrolled at the New
Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
It seems that higher education didn’t
work out for me at that time, so, at the age of eighteen, I
enlisted in the United States Air Force.
My first fourteen years service was as an Air Policeman
(Security Police as it is now called), both Law Enforcement and
Security. The
remaining six years, prior to my retirement as a Master Sergeant,
was as an Education and Training Specialist/Superintendent.
While in the Air Force, I was fortunate and traveled to
many parts of the world to include France where I met and married
my wife, Marie-Josèphe.
Presently, I am enjoying my retirement
from the Air Force and the General Electric Company.
There, I was employed as a maintenance electrician and
environmental health and safety technician.
I have been a member of MARC since
1992. As a MARC
member, I have participated in numerous charity events to include
coordinator and assistant coordinator for the Love Ride,
coordinator for the Baker to Las Vegas Relay Race, and coordinator
for the Inland Empire Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Assn.
I presently own a Metallic Yellow 2001 Goldwing, the cycle was
purchased from Chuck, KG6NJP, in the fall of 2006, an upgrade from
the 1997 Goldwing SE which I previously owned. The motorcycle is
basically stock, except for a luggage rack which has been added to
accommodate antennas for communication.
I have been a General Class operator since
May of 2000, and obtained my original Technician license in
September of ‘92.
Presently, I have a Kenwood D700A mounted on my motorcycle.
The radio is mounted in the trunk and the control head is
remote, mounted between the faux gas tank and the ignition switch,
which allows for easy control of the radio while riding.
My head set is a standard J & M headset fit inside a Nolan
N102 flip front helmet and modified to interface with the Kenwood
radio. It works quite
well, as many people have told me that they cannot believe that I
am transmitting from a motorcycle.
I normally use a Comet HP-32FHN high gain/high power
antenna (lovingly referred to as the “Rhino Killer”). However,
when on MARC events requiring a slightly higher gain antenna, I
change to a Comet SBB7 for a bit more range.
The Kenwood D700a is connected to the Honda radio system
with a Kennedy FRS communications set.
By using an APRS system, I can be tracked during our MARC
events at http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=w5jfr-10.
My wife’s name is
Marie-Josèphe, or Mijo, as she prefers to be called.
Her call is KF6BEB.
She is the 50-50 person at our monthly MARC meetings and
also helps to coordinate our door prize giveaways and “Special
Drawings”. She was
born in St. Mihiel, France.
I met her when I was stationed there, about a mile from her
house. We were
married in 1966 and have two children. Our daughter Jean, a
graduate of Cal State San Bernardino and Loyola School of Law, is
presently a Research Attorney with the Fourth District Court of
Appeals in Riverside, California.
Our son John C. also a graduate of Cal State San Bernardino
is employed by the county of San Bernardino as a Systems Analyst
in the Veterans Affairs office..
Mijo, is also a graduate of Cal. State San Bernardino and a
retired teacher. She
taught French I, II, III and IV, quite a challenge.
I am looking forward to
many more years with MARC and to cycling with a ham radio on my
Goldwing. I also look
forward to hearing from you on the e-mail network.
John F. Reynolds,
President
