Don heide W7MRI

PictureInstalling the Belmont Repeater
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Jim Town fire communcations 2003
   He didn’t like it when other kids at school took things from his desk, so eight-year-old Don devised a spark gap with a D cell battery and a transformer that shocked anyone who opened the lid. That worked pretty well until the teacher opened his desk! Don was always dabbling in electronics. For his tenth birthday his dad gave him a soldering iron. That enabled him to build a quiz board that lit up for right answers. His teacher liked that invention better. During his high school years Don couldn’t stay after school for the ham club because the family ranch was too far from school, and he had to rely on the school bus. But he did rig up a friends net by using 15kv neon transformers and then watching the interference on nearby TV sets, much the annoyance of family and neighbors.

   He went on to earn his associate degree in electronics, and then become a civilian employee of the Navy, working at the Mare Island shipyard. His expertise in radar and sonar was vital in installing and maintaining equipment on board ships and submarines. Twice he went out on test runs, experiencing life on a submarine.

   After the Navy and after a year in Hawaii, he started working for Picker International Corporation, then known as Picker X-ray. He installed and maintained the X-ray equipment at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, which has since been closed and demolished. In the ensuing years the Picker International Corporation became a leader in advanced medical diagnostic imaging equipment, and Don was a part of that. During his long and successful career with Picker, he lived in San Francisco, Portland, Medford, and Great Falls. Finally, in 1989 he moved his family to Helena where he installed the first MRI and CT (computerized axial tomography) scanners at St. Peters Hospital.

     Don earned his first amateur radio license in 1976, with the call sign WB7ETT. Today one of his favorite activities is working with repeaters, and he was just appointed Montana Repeater Coordinator. Most of his transmit-receive time is spent on DMR and 2 meter. He also enjoys building equipment, providing emergency communications when needed and collecting antique cars. He belongs to the Capital Carriages Car Club and often tinkers with his 1950s Fords or his 1920 Model T touring car.

   Now retired, Don is a leading electronics expert in CCARC and - in the spirit of hams everywhere – generously helps others. He can be counted on to support club activities, including Saturday morning coffees, the Governor’s Cup Race, and Field Day, among others.
(Photos by Don W7MRI, except where noted.)
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October 2018
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Don working on a repeater in the 1980s
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Don with small CT scanner he installed.
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Bill NC7MT and Don W7MRI installing antenna. Photo by Julie KG7LZZ.