Another Electronics Blog

I’m an Electrical Engineer living and working in the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota. My interest in radio began at the age of 12 when my Uncle Joe gave me a Heathkit SW-717 for Christmas to build after I had expressed a good deal of interest in electronics. That simple gift was a major turning point in my life because from that point on I knew what I wanted to do ‘when I grew up’. While in High School and College I worked as a repair technician on consumer electronics and two-way radio (as it used to be called). After receiving my degree in EE from Youngstown State University, I went to work for IBM in upstate New York. Since that time I have pretty-much spent my entire career of more than 30 years in software development of all kinds. My interest in amateur radio came about in large part because I had been away from electronics as a hobby for so many years, but had been monitoring the HF bands with a Yaesu FRG-7700 that I purchased in 1984. So in the Spring of 2012 I studied for and passed all 3 elements required for an Amateur Extra class license. That ‘refresher’ helped to get me started again in electronics which has always been a passion of mine.

In the meantime, I have been getting my skills back in order to do various analog (RF) and embedded controller designs. I have built-up a sizable lab of test equipment and an inventory of through-hole and SMD parts, some of which I am selling on eBay for the time being since it’s an easy way to casually sell things.

Russ Ramirez

Otsego, MN