K0GE
Bruce Wahlin
As
a boy I was fascinated with radio and listened to am and FM stations all the
time. In middle school I was introduced to shortwave radio and then built a
Heathkit GR-64 Shortwave receiver for a science fair project. Then I started
getting interested in Ham radio. Don Berggren K0OAV (Arms Glory Net) gave me my
novice test where I went to high school at Washington High School in St. Paul,
MN. My first call was WN0WHK! Later it became N0DIX when I upgraded to General.
Radio and those in it influenced the course of my life! Later in college I
majored in Geography, World languages and cultures and double majored in
Spanish. Later I would work on a masters in bilingual Ed. At that time they
thought we would become like Canada and be completely bilingual. Now we are
maybe the third largest Spanish speaking country in the world!
I
went to work in St. Paul Public Schools for some almost 40 years teaching
students English, helping high school dropouts to return and finish their GED's
or their diplomas and most of all giving them career orientation. I also worked
with students in Special Education and even set up a station at Jefferson
Alternatives High School with Ham radio in the curriculum! Later in my career I
was placed in charge of our district protocols and kept them organized and up to
date while I went out to various schools dealing with or evaluating different
problems before a team would meet and conclude the best way of handling the
problem!
I
would eventually get my Extra and study abroad in Spain and Israel as well as
helping out Missionaries in La Paz, Bolivia. I would run phone patches and I had
hams run patches for me! This triggered my early involvement with the ARMS Net
in the early 80's! In 1983 I met Roger Stubbe (W0ZMU) at his office as
Communications Director at HCJB Radio in Quito, Ecuador, SA! We have been
chatting on the Midwest Section of ARMS ever since! Roger went home to glory
recently and we will miss him very much! Roger connected me with the Spanish
department at HCJB and they interviewed me in Spanish and put me out worldwide
with a bit more power then Ham Radio! That was fun and Lead me to get to know
Bill Berntsen (NW0G, Arms Glory Net) and former President and Chancellor of
Northwestern College in Roseville, MN.) Bill Had a TS-930 Kenwood with the 922
full power linear Amplifier and a TH-7 seven element beam. It was a great
experience to have an armchair chat with Sweden (I am Swedish) and then with an
A4 station in the Sultanate of Oman who said we were the most powerful station
that night coming in from the states!
In
recent years I have been active with Tom (AA0LF) and Craig (KC0YHU) and our
local Midwest Section Arms Net and calling the net once a month if I can or
filling in for those who could not make it.
I
look forward to serving as the Midwest Director of Arms and know I have a
wonderful group of men on 3905.50 MHz!
Sincerely
and by God's grace,
Bruce
Wahlin (K0GE)
Updated 7 January 2024