nofars.net

FAMOUS HAMS AND EX-HAMS

W1AW            Hiram Percy Maxim ARRL founder

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, invented electronic siren

W2SGG           Robert Cusumano, co-inventor of printed circuits

K2ZCZ           George Pataki, former Governor of NY

W4CGP           Chet Atkins, singer composer

WB4KCG          Ronnie Milsap, singer-songwriter

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

W4MET           Tex Kern, SSTV pioneer

WA4SIR           Ron Parise, astronaut

KD4WUJ          Patti Loveless, singer

WA5AVA      Dale Seidenschwarz (Clyde Clifford) Beaker St. radio host

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

K6DUE           Roy Neal TV personality, news correspondent

W6EZV           General Curtis Lemay, VP candidate (Also K0GRL)

W6FUP           Stu Cook, bass player Creedence Clearwater Revival

W6FZZ   Samuel F.B. Morse III, great grandson of Morse Code inventor

KA6HVK        Burl Ives, Singer

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          Marlon Brando, Jr  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

KA7EVD           Donnie Osmond

NK7U              Joe Rudi, major league baseball player

K7UGA          Barry Goldwater, US senator,1964 presidential 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

W0CXX           Art Collins, founder of Collins Radio

W0FQY           Carl Mosley, founder of Mosley Electronics

DG1KIM           Ulrich Walter, astronaut

EA0JC            Juan Carlos, King of Spain

FO5GJ          Marlon Brando, American actor

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

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FAMOUS DECEASED HAM: 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