Hello, my name is Scan Astafan and welcome to my Web site, which, of course, is dedicated to the magic of radio. In 1963 I became fascinated with two-way radio when I discovered the Citizen's Band. Back then I was a teenager and too young to be licensed by the F.C.C. so I used my father's call, KPQ2562. I spent most of my radio time making friends and chatting about radios & antennas. To this day I still have an affection for vintage C.B. rigs and enjoy collecting them along with old microphones & tubes.
Anyway, my enthusiasm for radio continued to grow and I became interested in a career as a professional radio announcer. However, back in those days a license was needed to operate a commercial radio transmitter and do station maintenance. So, at the tender age of sixteen, I went on a trip to New York City to take the test for 3rd Class Radiotelephony at the F.C.C. office... and passed! Shortly after, I became an announcer for a local radio station and could be heard on the air under the stage name "Sandy Parker".
Throughout my career I have worked for many different radio stations across New York State. Among them are WUFM-FM (located atop the beautiful Hotel Utica), WBVM, WRUN, WTLB, WALY (Herkimer), WLFH (Little Falls), WOTT-AM & WMCQ-FM (Watertown), WXUR (Herkimer) and presently I am a part time newscaster for a local station. In addition to being a professional radio announcer and disk jockey, I served in the U.S. Army Reserve (from 1974 to 1977). I was also a New York State Workers Compensation Investigator (in Rochester), a radio dispatcher for the New York State Thruway Authority (in Albany), an aid to Utica Mayor Edward Hanna (in 1973), an armed guard for a well known armored car service (in 1981), an elected member of the Frankfort-Schuyler School Board (from 1994 to 1998), an elected councilman for the Town Of Schuyler (from 1998 to 2000) and a member of the Upper Mohawk Valley Water Board (from 1998 to 2000).
In 1978 I became a Novice Class amateur radio operator and was issued the call "KA2CHX". By the time 1981 arrived I had progressed to Extra Class (with the 20 word-per-minute Morse code endorsement). Over the years which followed, my fondness for amateur radio gave me the opportunity to achieve the Worked All States (WAS) Award many times with many endorsements. Also, my passion for working DX stations rewarded me with awards from both the ARRL and CQ for working all continents and all countries. In 1986 and 1989 I was the winner of the Western New York State Division for the ARRL 10 Meter Contest and in 1990 I was one of the few Western New Yorkers to ever win the Atlantic Division.
While contesting and DX hunting can be a lot of fun, the most noteworthy QSO ever written into my log book was W5LFL, NASA Astronaut Owen K. Garriott (Ph.D.) aboard the Space Shuttle Colombia. The contact took place on November 29th, 1983, and I used a Yaesu FT-480R two meter rig, a Heathkit home-built amplifier and 22 element stacked Cushcraft beams at 60 feet. Another memorable contact took place on April 25th, 1986, when I worked the chief radio operator of the USS America which was located in the Persian Gulf. They had just bombed Libya and were longing to chat with people back home. I was very proud of them and felt privileged to be one of few to talk with them after their triumph.
In the later part of 1989 I requested a call sign change from the F.C.C. and was randomly issued the call "WS2W" (or, as I like to phonetically say, "West South To West"). Once in a while I can be found on the local VHF & UHF repeaters but I truly prefer HF and enjoy working DX stations on the 10, 15 and 20 meter bands.
Some of my other hobbies include hunting & fishing, gun collecting, being a participating member of the National Rifle Association, photography, electronics, motorcycles (I love my Harley Road King!), computers, the Internet, eBay and gardening.
A Few Photos:
Some QSL Cards:
Interesting Links On The World Wide Web: