Interview With Gordon West (WB6NOA)

I had the pleasure of having an informal interview with Gordon West, WB6NOA. Gordon has been a Ham for about 50 years, and is a wealth of knowledge. In this interview we discuss some of his favorite contacts as well as ham radio in emergencies.

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I was able to talk to him on the phone recently, made my entire day. Gordo is just a super nice person and an ambassador to our hobby!

 

Some may not be aware that Gordo has a cool way of congratulating new Techs/hams...he uses a horn at conventions to let people know when a new 'pass' drops by his booth

 

Heh. He was doing a class in Plano, TX on teaching the license classes. We were all outside waiting for the previous class to let out, and Gordo was standing there chatting with some folks.

A number of younger people started crowding the door, even though other people had been waiting much longer to go in. I fired up an audio generator on my phone, and set the frequency high enough to annoy the young ones, but likely out of the hearing range of the rest of us.

All the sudden Gordo starts messing with something on his belt, which I assume controlled his hearing aids. I turned the signal generator off, and he stopped. I turned it on, and he started messing with it again. I did this several more times just to make sure I was correct in my assumption.

Future plan was to record a Morse code message at a high frequency, and play it during one of his lectures to see if he reacted.

WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS??

I'd MUCH rather be called Jazz Man than Big Dummy, Cement Head, Moe-Ron or Jackass.

By the way, what's the difference between a jazz sax player and a 16-inch cheese pizza? A 16-inch cheese pizza can feed a family of four.

HEY-OH!

Definitely was worth a try. Oh well.

Absolfogginlutely. If someone accused me of this, that, and the other, and if the world was only getting the other guy's side of the story, I'd love the opportunity to stand up and say it ain't so.

And the brutha can say whatever he wants here in his defense because the FCC isn't going to get on here and refute anything he says. No, I seriously encourage him to tell us his side of the story.

But then again, I want to see the Ravens get to the Super Bowl, and that ain't happenin' either.

I see precisely what you did there.

 

This is really antisocial.

Can we get a moderator to remove this please?

 

Chip, removing things you don't like is entirely anti social! Why not leave it there and let others make up their own minds?

 

Hiram, nice spot.

I used the ARRL books for Technician and then General, aced both exams. I started to use the ARRL book for Amateur Extra, but I found it to be horribly written and organized. I bought the Gordon West book and studied for about a month and a half; I got 2 questions wrong on the exam. Gordon West, or his organization/corporation, sent me a little certificate after I passed and a coupon for HRO, and I thought that was a nice touch.

Gordon, if you read this, thanks for writing such good training books.

See you lads on the _|_ 73s Hank KQ1V

 

I used "The 21 Day Novice" by Gordon West, WB6NOA back in 1987 and passed my novice exam. At Orlando Hamcation in 2019 I finally met Gordon and had my picture taken with him...truly one of my proudest moments as a ham!

 

See post #4.

Anyone with tinnitus or hearng loss understands that the higher frequencies have the ability to cause additional hearing damage with hearing aids in use. Advocating this alleged prank against any fellow radio amateur is anti-social because the outcome can be potentially harmful.

It's not a matter of opinion. It's a matter of confusing a prank with apparent intent to harm.

Why does anyone have to defend this senseless act as a matter of opinion??

BTW, SOME old people CAN hear those higher frequencies. Its is not acceptable to target individuals, with hearing issues, with deliberate sounds to impair them.

Have a nice day.

 

I consider Gordo one of the original powerhouse movers in Amateur Radio. He maintains a smooth, supportive attitude to the Amateur Radio Community!

He is just an astonishing ambassador for our hobby. He is very humble about his many awards and accomplishments. He was named Amateur of the Year once at Hamvention.

His positive spirit is motivating. What a great interview! Thanks Gordo for pushing on.

W8CI Michael

 

Yes, that!

 

I drove around for weeks with Gordon's audio course for the Extra Exam playing through my audio system. Between that and the ARRL Flash Cards (eliminate the one's you know and concentrate on the others) I passed first try. Gordon sends out a nice certificate when you pass. 73, Jim W4FJT

 

Hamcom 2015. Always there to entertain and inspire.

 

I had the pleasure of attending Gordo's classes to get all the way to Extra. I have acted as VE with several of his classes before he cut back on the regular classes to teach others how to hold license classes. He is a great guy to know and helpful to beginners to get their ticket and be successful in the hobby. He even got the XYL to get her Tech ticket. Wonderful elmer