The Utah VHF Society
  2021-2022 Officers

Officers of the Utah VHF Society are elected annually at the VHF Society Swapmeet, typically held on the last Saturday in February



About the Officers:

Mel Parkes, AC7CP, 2002-2003 UVHFS PresidentPresident:  Mel Parkes, NM7P
nm7p (ex. ac7cp)

Mel Parkes, NM7P (ex AC7CP) is the current President of the Utah VHF Society.  Mel, first licensed in New Mexico in 1991, now holds an extra class license and is a life member of the ARRL. 

Mel has also served with the Air Force MARS State Director and net control for its Administrative net, was the president of the Davis County ARC in 1996 and 1998, and presently an ARRL VE (Volunteer Examiner) for the Davis County ARC.




 Vice President:   Les Blades, W1UT

W1UT EML

Les Blades, W1UT - UVHFS Vice President

Les was born in Montreal, Canada and shortly thereafter moved to NJ in 1953 where he grew up and finished high school. His first call sign as a novice was WN2MTX followed by WB2MTX while still in NJ and remembers going to the FCC office in Manhattan, NY to get his general class license. Since then he has held several call signs and got his current call in the mid-1990s. His father was a radio operator in the RCAF during World War II and was instrumental in helping him get into amateur radio.

Les moved to Idaho in 1971 to attend Ricks College and worked at a radio station to help pay for school. Following a mission to Germany he finished school at BYU and has worked as an engineer in aerospace mainly on airplanes the flying public uses. He has lived in a number of places around the country including Seattle, near Washington DC, Pennsylvania and most recently for 30 years in northern Vermont. As a young man struggling through school he worked as a technician for a telemetry company back in NJ. It was there that he learned how to properly solder, build and test complicated electronic equipment although he had built kits and repaired old radios while still in high school. He enjoys building kits and restoring older ham radio equipment as well as dabbling in amateur photography.

Les retired in 2015 and currently lives in Heber City, Utah. His wife Cynthia is also a ham (N1MGN) licensed back in the early 1980s but is rarely on the air. They moved back to Utah to be closer to their kids and grandkids.

Les looks forward to trying to fill Don Blanchard’s massive shoes as your new vice president.


kd7mg - Mike, Utah VHF Secretary, 2015-

Secretary:  Mike Groves, KD7MG

Mike's contact

Mike was born and raised in San Jose, CA, where he rode the technology wave to eventually become a principle R&D engineer, with emphasis on designing RF/microwave power FET's and power amplifiers.

He was first licensed in 1992 as KD6PKJ. In Dec of 2000, Mike suffered a spinal cord injury from a motorcycle accident and was forced to retire from engineering. Four years later he and his wife moved to Layton where he upgraded to Extra, changed his call to KD7MG, and soon found himself immersed in volunteer work.

 
Danny Fullerton, KC7RUF, 2002-2003 UVHFS Treasurer

Treasurer:  Danny R. Fullerton, KC7RUF
kc7ruf email address

Danny, KC7RUF, has been licensed since 1996 and he currently holds a General Class license - and is currently working on getting his Extra.  Danny became interested in Amateur Radio several years ago when helping with the MS bike race, after amateur radio in action.  Since then, was joined in the hobby by is wife, Mary (KC7YLY) and his son-in-law, Gabe (KD7OGN.)

Danny works as a driver for Cream O' Weber dairy, and in his free time he gets involved with many of the aspects of Amateur Radio's community involvement - such as the Pioneer Day Parade, the Wasatch 100 marathon run, and (of course) the event that introduced him to to Amateur Radio, the MS bike race.  Danny is also involved with RACES and ERRS - organizations that train to provide communications during emergencies - training that came in handy as Danny helped out in the aftermath of the 1999 tornado and the Riverdale flood.

Danny is currently a net manager for the UVHFS Swap net as well as having duties on the weekly UARC Information Net (Sundays at 9 PM on the 146.62 repeater) in addition to being the UVHFS Treasurer.  As if that weren't enough to do, he also helped in organizing and executing the 2002 Utah Hamfest.  Danny is also a lifetime member of the ARRL.

If you have a question as to whether or not your UVHFS membership check has cleared, Danny is the one who can find out.  He may be reached at home at (801) 301-0162 during "normal" hours (that is, not after 10 pm!)

 

John Lloyd, K7JL, 2002-2003 UVHFS Frequency Coordinator.
Utah Frequency Coordinator:  John Lloyd, K7JL, (email) 

John Lloyd, K7JL, is the current Frequency Coordinator for the Utah VHF Society.  In this position, John is the clearinghouse for repeater information and frequency utilization within the state of Utah for the amateur VHF, UHF, and microwave bands.  More than half a century of field experience gives John an extensive knowledge equipment operation, repair, and modification, as well as practical knowledge pertaining to propagation and the identification and resolution of interference issues.

John obtained his first license when he was in Jr. High School in 1967 and, by 1970 (in High School) he upgraded to an extra class.  John has been president of the VHF Society and was DARS (Deseret Amateur Radio Society) president for 2000-2001, and is a life member of the ARRL.  John is the primary force behind the Intermountain Intertie (a.k.a. the "Snowbird Link System") being the one who usually does the installation, repair, and maintenance of these (and other) affiliated repeaters along the Wasatch Front.

 Some of John's other interests include Scouting as well as building even more repeaters.

For questions regarding frequency coordination issues or about the Intermountain Intertie, you may contact John at:

Utah VHF Society Frequency Coordinator
John Lloyd,  K7JL
2078 Kramer Drive
Sandy, Utah   84092
Click here for John's email address
Home:  801-943-8830
If you interested in putting up a repeater or are considering use of a frequency in a way that might affect other users, please contact John.  Information about repeater coordination and related topics may be found on the Frequency Coordination page.


Arizona VP:  Doug Pelley, WB7TUJ

Doug has been a licensed ham since 1975 and holds an Advanced Class License. Ham radio is much more than a hobby to him, it's his social life. He is a life member of the Utah VHF Society and the Arizona Repeater Association as well as several other clubs in Utah and Arizona. He’s also very active on all HF bands, especially 40 meters.

He is heavily involved with paving the way for the Intermountain Intertie to continue into Arizona via the old “North Link” system which is owned and maintained by the Arizona Repeater Association. He provides technical consultation and support to both UVHFS & ARA on a regular basis.

Doug retired in 2018 after 45 years of self-employment in the land mobile radio industry & as a contract broadcast transmitter engineer in the broadcast industry. Most of his experience has been on mountain top tower sites for small town & private public safety, paging transmitters, business band community repeaters and low power TV & FM transmitters & translators. He also has professional experience in building and managing mountain top tower sites.

Since retirement, Doug’s “full time work” is donating much time to the amateur community as a volunteer consultant when it comes to the same, as well as elmering ham clubs with RF, antenna and electrical issues.

Doug is a Mesa, Arizona resident and also spends about 40% of the year in Spanish Fork, Utah, most of it during the Summer season.


Idaho VP:  Mike McCarthy, AG7MM





In memoriam to past Utah VHF Society Officers

Don Blanchard, WA7GTU, 2002-2003 UVHFS Vice President
Vice President:  Don Blanchard, WA7GTU  (SK)

It is with deep regret that we note the passing of long-time Utah VHF Society officer and member, Don Blanchard, WA7GTU of Cedar City who passed away at his Cedar City home on the morning of Saturday, 4 September, 2021.

Don was well known throughout Utah - and the amateur radio community in general, helping many, many people get on the air, and he had been a key figure in getting one of the first repeaters (WR7AAA) on the air in Utah - and keeping many others on the air over more than five decades.  As long-time vice-president of the Utah VHF Society, he has had a wide range influence - not only in south and central Utah, but everywhere the Intermountain Intertie has reached.

Don's technical skills, generosity and enthusiasm will be missed.

Don's obituary may be found here.

Don Blanchard received the call WA7GTU in January of 1967 and has been an active amateur ever since that time and currently has an extra class license.  His wife Linda, WA7VIN, has a general class license and tells people she got her license in BC (Before Children) - otherwise it may not have happened.  Don became a Net Control Station for the Beehive Utah Net shortly after he was first licensed and served twice for short times as the Acting Net Manager.

Don  retired from Southern Utah University in 2002 where he was a Professor of Electronic Engineering Technology for 38 years and served twice as Chairman of the Technology and Criminal Justice Department.   He continues to do consulting work in radio broadcasting.

He has built many repeaters and was instrumental in helping to develop the Intermountain Intertie (a.k.a. "Snowbird") link system, which he continues to help maintain. His other hobbies include flying radio controlled model airplanes, SCUBA Diving, Skiing, Astronomy, and Genealogy.

He does not play golf.



John Maybey,
W7CWK, 2002-2003 UVHFS SecretaryOfficer Emeritus:  John Mabey, W7CWK (SK)

John Mabey, W7CWK, was the long-time secretary of the Utah Vhf Society and was most recently in an advisory position.  First licensed in 1954 (or 1955 - he wasn't sure of the year) John held an Extra Class License.  John was one of the five original hams that started the Utah VHF Society and has served in other UVHFS positions, including Frequency Coordinator. Some of John's amateur interests were homebrew (of radio/electronic) equipment, public service, and emergency communications.  John had also been the "Simplex Frequency Manager" for the Wasatch Front (see this page for more info.)

John had retired from L-3 Communications where he was a Staff Engineer/Program Manager and in retirement he spent some of his time on his other interests which included camping, fishing, and (according to his wife) collecting junk.

John passed away on February 17, 2016 after a long battle with cancer.

He will be missed.





Donation opportunities:

Because the Utah VHF Society is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, you are encouraged to consider donation of equipment or money to the society for its ongoing support.  If you wish to do this, please contact the Utah VHF Society president.



This page updated on 20220301

Questions, updates, or comments pertaining to this web page may be directed to:   uvhfs@utahvhfs.org

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