Son of Bernie: EARLIER POSTS FROM 2007 THROUGH 2011 FOLLOW BELOW

November 4, 2025

EARLIER POSTS FROM 2007 THROUGH 2011 FOLLOW BELOW

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ABOUT ME

I'm an SOB - a "Son of Bernie" that is. "Son of Bernie" started out as a tribute to my late father (the finest man I've ever known) but also features my interests in amateur "ham" radio, private aviation, bluegrass guitar, military history and family. I'm "Bumpa" to my eight grandchildren and one great-granddaughter, and W1WH to fellow ham radio operators around the world. I'm also the father of three, an adult revert to the Catholic faith of my youth and a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. My wife Jane (who's usually the smartest person in the room) and I are on and off again members of Mensa (but don't take it very seriously). Our main mission in life is spoiling our grandchildren and rescuing them from the deprived lifestyle that their parents claim they themselves had endured while growing up.

Professionally, I've been a children's protective service social worker, right-of-way agent, commercial lender, police dispatcher and telecom site developer - and a few other things along the way. For the last 20 years or so, I developed hundreds of wireless and fiber optic amplification sites throughout the USA and eventually retired in 2016. Someday, I hope I'll figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

ON THE AIR: I enjoy a good ragchew, casual DXing, an occasional easy contest, and mobile HF. I frequently listen to The World Famous Toad Harbor Net guys on 1930 kHz, but I can't compete with them with antennas and power on 160 so I don't try. Sunday nights usually find me on the 20- and 40-meter Saint Max Net. At the bench, I let out my fair share of “magic smoke,” and I’ve grabbed the wrong end of my soldering iron more than once. (Old rule: "If it smells like chicken, you’re holding it wrong.")

IN THE AIR: Well, I lost my FAA medical certificate a while back. I'd rather be both in the air as well as on the air but it is what it is.

I've also played bluegrass guitar in a number of venues with a band you've never heard of and likely never will.

Oh yeah...I also love cats, dogs, planes and trains, guns, the Constitution, VDH, red meat, cigars, guitars, Stetsons and Tecovas, Tolkien, Rocky and Bullwinkle, the Magisterium, handlebar mustaches, the Corps, the USA, and my long suffering XYL Jane, who has inexplicaby tolerated my eccentricities for almost 50 years.

Bill Hanrahan, W1WH
A Son of Bernie

SOME OF MY INTERESTS

Amateur Radio
American History
Bluegrass Guitar
Cartography
Cigars
Firearms and Second Amendment issues
Guns
Handlebar mustaches
J.R.R. Tolkien
Maintaining this damn blog
Marine 9th Defense Battalion on Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands in World War II
My Catholic Faith
My Grandkids: Alexi, Brandon, Anikka, Carter, Karl, Olin, Quinn and Shay and my great-granddaughter, Prim Jane
My long suffering wife, Jane
New England Patriots
Peter Kreeft
Planes, trains, cats and dogs
Private Pilot
Red meat
St. Max
Stetsons and Tecovas
The Constitution
The Corps
The Magisterium
The USA
Victor Davis Hanson

November 4, 2025

EARLIER POSTS FROM 2007 THROUGH 2011 FOLLOW BELOW

SOME OF MY INTERESTS

SON OF BERNIE ARCHIVE

EMAIL ME

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