KC9OMS

Doug Schipull

Doug Schipull, KC9OMS, from Melrose Park, Illinois, was originally licensed in 1969, but let his license expire when he joined the USMC and got married. His previous call sign as WBØCLF in southeastern Nebraska, which he held from 1969-1976. He now holds an Amateur Extra Class license and joined ARMS in 2008.

The KC9OMS HF station is built around a Kenwood TS-530S augmented with MFJ gadgets. The 2-meter station is built around a Kenwood TS-711A and again augmented with MFJ gadgets as you can see in from the photo above. Doug's antenna farm includes an MFJ rotatable mini-dipole for HF (10-15-20-40 meters), a 5-element Yagi for 2 meters CW and SSB, and an MFJ 5/8-wave ground plane for 2 meters FM. The antenna farm is still being assembled with plans to attach it to his 35' chimney.

Doug's main interest in Ham Radio is "playing with the toys." He enjoys getting a new piece of equipment (or an old piece as well) up and working in the radio shack, which he says is a collection of gadgets.

Although Doug says he has no operating awards at this time, he is an active Volunteer Examiner for his radio club, the York Radio Club in Elmhurst, Illinois. When he was still WBØCLF in Nebraska, he helped his radio club in Falls City, Nebraska put in operation the first 2-meter FM repeater in the area. They had a lot of fun setting it up on the Falls City water tower.

Doug is retiring this summer from full-time teaching in the Lutheran school system of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. By August, he hopes to be listed as a "Teacher Emeritus" on Synod's roster of Commissioned Ministers. He was a Called Lutheran teaching minister beginning in the Fall of 1969 to the present. During this time he also served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a commissioned officer flying in the A-6E attack bomber. Plus, he spent a few years teaching in the public school sector as well. He earned a Ph.D. degree in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in elementary education.

In his home congregation, Zion Lutheran Church, Norridge, Illinois, Doug is on the board of Elders serving as the communing elder. There is a good chance that he will become the congregational president this Fall as well. He also teaches the adult Bible study on Sunday mornings and preaches a few sermons as needed.

Doug and his wife, Nona, are the proud parents of one daughter, Rachel Lynn. As of June 9th of this year, Nona and Doug have been married 35 years. They have lived in North Carolina, Florida, and Illinois during their married years.

During the summer of 1992, Doug and his family participated in a short-term mission trip to Riga, Latvia to help assist Lutherans there recover from Communism. Again, in 1994, they participated in an another short-term mission trip to Slovakia to aid Lutherans there in their return from Communism.

Doug's two favorite Bible verses are Isaiah 43:1b ("Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.") and Isaiah 6:8b ("And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'").

18 October 2022