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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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