The Maintenance Crew
The firms and folks below were active in maintaining boat communications and radar gear prior to 1995. These folks hopped on many a boat to do the installations and repairs required keep the communication "lines" open.
The YEARS listings below are total years in marine radio service not years with the firm shown. Where hot links shown they are to that person's recollections.
| Great Lakes - Marine Radio Maintenance Personnel | ||
| NAME | FIRM & HOME PORT | YEARS |
| John Carroll Peabody W8ADK (SK) | Lorain Electronics Service Tech./Dispatcher | Mid 40s -1977 |
| John Paul Jones ; WA8CAE | Radio Link Comm. - Elyria, OH | ? |
| Charles Reynolds ; WA8WUU | " | 1972-2006 |
| Chester Dobeck (SK) | Lorain Electronics - ?? | ? 1950s ? |
| Frank Bako (SK) | " | ? |
| Jim Burns | " | ? ? |
| Robert Welsh (SK?) | " | ? 1950s ? |
| Dennis Widdows ; W9VHN (SK) | Lorain Electronics - Chicago, IL | 1962-79 |
| Gary Good | Lorain Electronics - ?? | ? |
| Jim Scott (SK) | Lorain Electronics - Duluth | ? |
| Jerry Ketchey (SK) | Lorain Electronics - Chicago & Other | ? |
| Harvey Ball W8FYX (SK) | Lorain Electronics - Sioux St. Marie | ? |
| John D Flood | Lorain Electronics - Toledo | 1972-75 |
| Bob Hermann | Lorain Electronics - Chicago | ; |
| Kevin Covell | Sperry Marine - Cleveland, OH | ? |
| Don Masa | " | ? |
| David Reynolds | Sperry Marine - Toledo, OH | ? |
| Bruce Chalmers | Sperry Marine - Chicago, IL | ? |
| Gary Thompson | Sperry Marine - Duluth, MN | ? |
| Al Wolfe | Ramar - Cleveland | ? |
| Rick Mutschler | " | ? |
| Jack Towner | Ramar - Toledo | ? |
| Randy Martens ; AB8LO | Ramar - Rogers City, MI (Also WLC) | ? |
| Rick Eichmuller | Ramar - Duluth, MN | ? |
RAMAR - One of the maintenance companies serving the lakes ceased operations in 2002(?)
| Mississippi River System - Marine Radio Maintenance Personnel | ||
| NAME | Firm & Home Port | YEARS |
| Charles Siroka | Lorain Electronics - St. Louis | ? |
| Dennis Widdows W9VHN (SK) | ;Lorain Electronics - Chicago, IL | 1962-79 |
The names of living crew members and/or their (disguised) e-mail addresses will be removed from the listings at their request.