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Let’s Meet . . . Mr. Eric Scace, K3NA
1. How I got started in ham radio:
When I was 9 years old, I found two interesting books on my father's bookshelf: "A Pilot's Guide to the Weather" "The Radio Amateur's Handbook - 1947 edition" Both were very influential in my life. I studied atmospheric physics at Cornell University and later worked at the National Weather Service headquarters in Silver Spring MD. (You can find my home weather station reports posted continuously on the maps for Boston at And, of course, I got interested in radio. It was several years before I learned enough to take my Novice examination, when I was 14 years old.
2. What ham radio means to me:
Ham radio changed my life. Although I was very interested in tornado and hurricane forecasting, while at college I began working professionally on telecommunications networks for computers. All of my knowledge about telecommunications first came from my experience with radio (and with radio-teletype machines). Even while working at the National Weather Service I spent most of my time on computer communications problems. In 1978 I left the weather industry and worked full-time on computer communications networks until my retirement in 2000. Much of my career revolved around the development of what eventually became the commercial Internet. Ham radio also exposed me to the world at large, and helped interest me in international travel. In 1978 I changed employers in part because I wanted to travel internationally for business. During the rest of my career my work always involved international business and communications. Wherever I traveled for work, I tried to contact local amateur radio operators that I knew from "over the air" contacts. In this way I made many in-person friendships, and learned much more about the countries and cities that I visited. Now that I am not working full-time, I have more time to do research in radio technology. I am particularly interested in shortwave antenna systems, and have started publishing papers on my findings. As with any scientific investigation, answering one question seems to create two new ones for more research! In spite of all the technology, radio still remains magical to me. Ham radio is one of my "neighborhoods" - a global one - where I can always find some of my friends.
3. DXpedition experiences
This is difficult to answer in just a few paragraphs :-)! Of course one fascinating part of a DXpedition is to see a part of the world that few other people see. Uninhabited islands like Clipperton, Jarvis, and Mellish are hidden treasures of our planet. Other DXpeditions have taken me to cultures different from middle-class America: to Iran, Azerbaijan, Rotuma, Syria, Albania for exampe. Despite many different living conditions and traditions, at the bottom I have always found people to be fascinating and friendly. It is wonderful to make new friends in these places, and always sad to leave ... knowing that, for those without ham radios, it will be hard to stay in close touch. Even though I have visited many places, there are many more that I am curious to see... and many I wish to visit again.
73, -- Eric
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Our Classroom Visit with Mr. Don Greenbaum, N1DG, and Mr. Eric Scace, K3NA
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Mr. Don Greenbaum, N1DG, and Mr. Eric Scace, K3NA, surprised us with their fancy clothes! |