Michelle RICHARDSON kd7dvm
​TOM MUNSEY kd5bzz


 Tom and Michelle very kindly agreed to answer these questions:
Here are the questions:
1. How did you get started in radio and why?
2. Do you use radio in your job? Is it strictly a hobby?
3. What radios do you use most? What was your first radio?
4. What is your favorite radio activity?
5. What goals do you have in amateur radio?
 
Dr. Michelle:
 
1. I got started in radio so that I had a way to communicate during the commute from Helena to Great Falls. I work in Great Falls as a veterinarian, and there are sections of the drive that have no cell coverage. Being able to communicate by radio gives me a way to get help if needed.
2. I don't know that I consider it a hobby. I consider it an important communication tool. Hopefully, I will never have to use it in case of emergency, personal or otherwise, but I like knowing that I have the capability and equipment to come to the aid of others if needed. 
3. I have a Yaesu mobile unit in my vehicle. We also use handhelds when we are out in the field.
4. I have enjoyed volunteering at the Elkhorn races. I have been a trail runner and an ultramarathoner, so I know how important volunteers are to race promoters and participants. I still hope to run the 15K race in the morning and provide radio support in the afternoon. 
5. My other goal: I'm still waiting on the ballroom dance lessons Tom promised me when I agreed to get my General. 
Tom:
I became interested in radio in junior high school and listened to broadcasts on a multi-band receiver. I also had some handheld CB radios and a base station and dabbled in different antenna types for the base station to see the differences in capability that they would provide. Much to my mother’s chagrin, my father allowed me to put up a 25-ft tower on the south side of our house in order to conduct these antenna experiments. While in Cheyenne, I had an Elmer who was a wonderful fellow with an incredible  shack. I had learned Morse code, got my speed up, and was ready to take the test for my novice when my family moved from Cheyenne Wyoming to Sheridan Wyoming. The amateur radio and focus to get my novice went on the back burner, but I continued to dabble in CB radio, even mounting a mobile unit on an Enduro motorcycle that I used to take on fishing adventures in the Bighorn mountains. It is amazing how far you can talk on a 5-watt CB with a 2-ft loaded antenna when you find yourself looking down from 9,500 ft!
Fast forward many years later, after becoming a police officer with the Albuquerque Police department, one of our commanders who was in charge of the communications section selected a few officers including me to get our technician license and issued us Motorola MT1000 handhelds that had been programmed for 2 meter amateur use. It was part of an expansive plan to enhance the police department's resiliency for emergency communications. A few months after my group was licensed, we had a full communications system failure with our existent EDACS radio coms and the outbound phone service in the dispatch center. The group of freshly trained technicians each went to a police substation and as the calls for service came in to the 911 group, runners went in and out of the building with dispatch information on 3x5 cards, giving them to an officer with a 2-meter radio and they relayed that information to us via our handheld 2-meter units. We then gave the information out, dispatching officers from the substation parking lots that day until the other comms were restored.
Currently, in my role as Montana State Government's Emergency Preparedness Program Manager and Statewide Interoperability Coordinator (SWIC), all things radio are broadly embedded in my work.
Michelle and I use our Yaesu FT-7900 mobile units along with other mobiles in different vehicles and handhelds in our house to communicate while commuting for work to Great Falls utilizing the Belmont repeater.
At present, our ham shack in our home is not currently operational due to home space reorganization. I have been pining away, trying to decide what kind of hole needs to go through the wall to accept all the cable I want to put through it.
As a future goal, I hope to get the ham shack in our home back in operation to include HF work so that I can utilize the beautiful Heil microphone that Michelle gave me as a gift.

May 2021