As a child I became interested in shortwave listening and airplanes by hanging around my father, also named Robert Reed. I learned about the various bands and general layout of the radio spectrum before I was 11.

I learned to fly at 15 and soloed before I got my driver's license. I then became interested in other things like surfing and fooling around between 16 and 23. Then I decided to get more serious and I got my private pilots's license after which I went back to school and finished my Airframe and Powerplant License certifications.

I jumped right into two different aircraft worlds in maintenance, one being corporate jets and the other was post WWII radial engine-powered aircraft such as the DC-6, Lockeed Loadstar, Grumman Mallard and so forth. In 1983 I was hired by Lycoming, an engine manufacturer, to be a technical representative and aircraft accident investigator for their small gas turbine engine line that was just starting to penetrate the market. Work was primarily in helicopters including the Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin.

I left Lycoming in 1992 and began working locally in the Diesel trade. In 1998 I went to work for Cummins West Inc, specializing in emergency power generation through their Onan line of generator sets and transfer switches from 2.8 Kw to 1.2 megawatt products powering hospitals and other industrial applications.

I left that position in 2002 to take a part time position in a corporate aviation management company. I am working full time as a journeyman diesel tech for the Peterbilt dealership in Eureka, California.

My ham radio activities consist mainly of assisting mariners at sea. The Pacific Seafarer's Net Website http://members.cox.net/pacseanet explains our activities. I am also a net controller for the Maritime Mobile Service Net and assist with the Hurricane Watch Net.

All of my antennas are fixed wire arrays and I run 500 watts using a Kenwood TS-830S and a Yaesu FL2100z amplifier.