Moderator Bios – Ham Radio University

Moderator bios for HRU 2025 current as of December 2, 2024. All times are shown in Eastern Standard Time.

Time	Forum	Moderator	Biography
Webinar	Newcomer’s meeting – an overview of HRU	Diane Ortiz K2DO	Diane Ortiz K2DO is past president of the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club, a member of QCWA, Secretary and past president of the Order of Boiled Owls of New York and is the current Vice President of the Young Ladies Radio League (YLRL). Diane was the ARRL Hudson Division Grand Ole Ham in 2009. Diane has operated from many countries including the Turks and Caicos Islands, Grenada, the United Nations HQ and from the Azores as part of the Azores Nine Island Hunt. Diane wrote the YL news column for the ARRL’s QST Magazine for 10 years and the YL Contesting column in CQ Contest Magazine. Join her as she provides an overview of Ham Radio University. She will talk about what HRU is, what to do and where to go. Diane’s insider “scoop” is certain to make you more comfortable and confident, both on and off the air.
9:00am – 9:50am	ARRL Forum	Jim Mezey W2KFV	Jim Mezey W2KFV has been the ARRL NLI Section Manager for more 10 years. He has over 50 years of experience in Emergency Communications. Jim was previously chairman of the Nassau County Fire Commission and ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator for Nassau County. He holds an Extra Class license and is a member of LIMARC, Nassau Amateur Radio Club, Nassau County Police Amateur Radio Club, QCWA, and IPARC. He is also a VE Examiner and Field Instructor. Jim was a member of the ARRL Emergency Communications Advisory Committee and is also a certified ARRL instructor who is trained in ARRL Emergency Communication Courses as well as ICS and NIMS. He has received the N2MEI Award for Outstanding Public Service from LIMARC and was the 2009 Hudson Division Amateur of The Year.
9:00am – 9:50am	Building your first HF station	Neil Heft KC2KY	Neil Heft, KC2KY, was first licensed in 1971 as WN2UDP when he 12 years old. He upgraded to Advanced at age 15. In the late seventies, Ham Radio took a back seat as Neil studied Electrical Engineering at Drexel University. After finishing his undergraduate work in 1980, his interest in ham radio started to take off again. By 1987 Neil, now KC2KY, upgraded to Extra Class. Neil is President of the Radio Central Amateur Radio Club and editor of the club newsletter, Random Oscillations. He also belongs to the Order of Boiled Owls of NY. Neil is a Founding Member and current committee member of Ham Radio University. He works as an Electrical Engineer at Mini-Circuits Labs in Deer Park.
9:00am – 9:50am	ARMY MARS – Military Auxiliary Radio System	Ron Tomo KE2UK	Ron Tomo KE2UK, first licensed in 1967 as WN2COL -> WA2COL (’68), then onto Advanced then Extra (with CW). He also held a Third Class Radio Telegraph Certificate and a Marine Operators Permit. Ron has been a MARS member for over 23 years and in the US Coast Guard Auxiliary for over 18 years as a TCO Qualified Radio Operator, Commander, Instructor, and more. He is also a member of SHARES and runs an RMS Gateway Station. Mr. Tomo received his BS in Management and a MPA in Public Administration from Long Island University (from CW POST Campus). His systems training was obtained from a full certification program at New York University. He is also a Certified Paralegal and has studied Managed Care Systems and Integrated Delivery Systems at the Harvard Graduate School of Public Health. He has the designation of a Certified Computing Professional and a Certified Network Administrator. He is currently enrolled at Hofstra Law School obtaining a MA Degree in Health Law. Ron was the 2010 Recipient of the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American Radio Relay League for his lifelong disaster communications work culminating in his mission to HAITI in 2010 immediately following the earthquake where he setup Communications and helped build Tent Hospital and support its operation. 1989 Health Administration Award Presented by: Public Administration Department, School of Business and Public Administration. C.W. Post Campus, Long Island University. Ron is retired now from a 40-year career in Hospital & Healthcare Information Technologies with his last position as VP & Chief Information Officer at the Nassau University Medical Center. Ron has studied electronics and wireless technologies for over 40 years. He has communicated with the Space Shuttles, the MIR & International Space Stations, AO-10, AO-13, and more. He is also a Certified Level 1, II, & III Emergency Communications Specialist through the American Radio Relay League.
10:00am – 10:50am	EMCOMM Forum NYC/LI	Martin Grillo W1EMR	Martin Grillo W1EMR has been involved in Public Safety and communications for over 45 years. He is a Retired Port Authority Police Officer; currently he is a New York State & New York City Paramedic & Instructor, He is also NYS Credentialed in the following Communications Unit positions as a COM L Instructor, COM T, INTD, INCM, RADO, and an AUXC Instructor. He holds an Amateur Radio Extra license (W1EMR), and a General Radiotelephone License with radar endorsement. During his career he’s responded to such incident as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Avianca plane crash in Long Island and the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on 9/11and the plane crash of American Airline Flight 587 in Queens, New York. Currently, he holds the positions of New York City Disaster Services Technology supervisor with the American Red Cross, Training Officer with the Forest Hills, Volunteer Ambulance corps, on the NYCEM CERT Radio Advisory Committee, Chief of Emergency Medical Rescue of New York City and the ARRL New York City District Emergency Coordinator.
10:00am – 10:50am	Basics of HF operating	Mel_Granick KS2G	First licensed in 1977 as a Novice, Mel Granick upgraded to Technician, General and Advanced class licenses within six months and has been an Amateur Extra since 1981. He’s been active in numerous aspects of Amateur Radio ranging from traffic handling to the early use of packet radio. With a modest station consisting of a 100 watt transceiver, 3-element tribander and 40/80 dipole up just 35 feet, he’s been successful as a DX’er (DXCC-250+), awards chaser (5BWAS) and one of the leading contesters in the 2nd Call Area, repeatedly placing in the top ten among U.S. low-power single operators in the CQ World Wide DX, CQ World Wide WPX and ARRL 10-Meter contests. Mel is a seasoned DX and contest operator and will guide you through the HF bands, modes, propagation, on-air procedures, and using rig controls to get the most out of your HF transceiver.
10:00am – 10:50am	My CW Journey	Howard Bernstein WB2UZE	Howard Bernstein WB2UZE has been an active ham since 1965 and holds an Extra class license. He graduated from SUNY Albany in 1974 with a BS in Business Administration and shortly thereafter started a company in the import and export of industrial chemicals. Being partially retired at this time gave him the opportunity along with Rich K2UPS, to co-found the Long Island CW Club in 2018. The club currently has 260 members in 37 states and 7 countries and teaches 21 CW classes weekly via internet video conference, in addition to having many local activities. Besides having a passion for CW, Howard has a vintage gear (boat anchor) station made up of the gear he wanted to have as a young ham in the 1960s but could not afford back then. Outside of ham radio Howard enjoys travel, antiques and his 1956 Oldsmobile. Howard has also written a book: Fire Island Lighthouse Maritime Communications: A History Spanning 1859-1973 which centers around post WW2 Coast Guard transmitters still miraculously remaining at the Fire Island Lighthouse.
10:00am – 10:50am	My CW Journey	Mike Padron N1CC	Mike Padron, N1CC, is a commercial pilot residing in Scottsdale, AZ. He is a 40 year veteran with FedEx, where he served as Managing Director of Flight and Technical Training. Mike has been a licensed amateur radio operator since 1974. His amateur radio interests include CW and chasing DX. He is a life member of the ARRL and the Long Island CW Club, where he volunteers his time primarily in curriculum design and development. He is a member of the team that developed the LICW Beginners Carousel Curriculum, and the new Intermediate and Advanced curriculums, a structured approach to conversational head copy and QRQ.
10:00am – 10:50am	SIX METERS EXPLODES! – F2 and Aurora events during Fall of 2024	Ken Neubeck WB2AMU	Ken Neubeck, WB2AMU, has been a ham for over 50 years, holding the same callsign WB2AMU. He has been a regular participant in annual ARRL radio contests, such as the Ten Meter contest, the DX SSB and DX CW contest, along with the three VHF contests held in January, June and September. In 1994, his book, SIX METERS, A GUIDE TO THE MAGIC BAND was published by Worldradio Books, and it has seen three subsequent editions. In addition, he teamed up with Gordon West, WB6NOA, to write a book published by CQ Magazine, VHF PROPAGATION, A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR RADIO AMATEURS, which was revised recently in 2022. Ken continues to write books on military aircraft and also continues to work on Sporadic-E propagation research with recent papers.
10:00am – 10:50am	RF Transformers, UNUNS and BALUNS	Mike Kozma WY2U	Mike Kozma, WY2U, has been an active amateur radio operator for over 38 years. He has a Master’s Degree in Electronic Engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York, and has worked as a Design Engineer, and Engineering Manager in the electronics industry for over 45 years. During his engineering career, he was responsible for the design of Communications and Radar Systems, including Transmitters, Receivers, Antennas, and Signal Processing components, as well as Signal and Communication Components to support the Commuter Railroad Industry. Presently, he is retired, prior to retirement, has had a late career as an Adjunct Professor at Queensborough Community College, teaching courses in the Electronic Engineering Technology curriculum. His primary ham radio interests are HF CW operation, and mentoring other ham radio enthusiasts, by teaching seminars and workshops at the local ham radio clubs. He is also a Volunteer Examiner for both the ARRL and W5YI VEC organizations. In addition, he holds an FCC General Radio Telephone Operator License with Radar Endorsement, and has had an Extra Class Ham license since 1990. Other interests include Optical and Radio Astronomy, and experimentation of electronic circuits and antenna systems, using both computer aided design techniques, and construction and testing. He currently lives on Long Island, is married, and has three children and three grandchildren.
10:00am – 10:50am	STEM	Ed Wilson N2XDD	Ed Wilson N2XDD is the current ARRL Hudson Division Director.
11:00am – 11:50am	Practical HF Antennas	Neil Heft KC2KY	Neil Heft, KC2KY, received his first ham call sign (WN2UDP) in 1971 when he was a 12 year old lad living in Stony Brook, NY. By 1973, just barely able to copy 13 words per minute, Neil upgraded to Advanced at age 15, about a month after his Novice license expired. (In those days, the Novice license was only good for 2 years and was non-renewable.) In the late seventies, Neil studied Electrical Engineering at Drexel University and Ham radio started taking a back seat. After finishing his undergraduate work in 1980, his interest in ham radio started to take off again. By 1987 Neil, now KC2KY, upgraded to Extra Class. Neil is an active member of Radio Central Amateur Radio Club on Long Island. Today Neil is President of Radio Central and is editor of Radio Central’s club newsletter, Random Oscillations. He works as an Electrical Engineer at Mini-Circuits Labs in Deer Park.
11:00am – 11:50am	Grounding and Lightning Protection for the Amateur Station	Donald Kane WB2BEZ	Donald W. Kane, WB2BEZ, has been a licensed HAM for over 45 years (ARRL Life Member) and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of New York with over 40 years of engineering experience including: Product Safety Evaluation; Electric Utility Substation and Plant engineering; Design and Manufacture of Diesel powered generators, including controls and switchgear; rail transit rolling stock and infrastructure engineering and electrical construction and HVAC. This seminar will present an overview of grounding and bonding, as applied to the typical amateur radio installation, with regard to power, lightning protection and RF (antenna) grounding.
11:00am – 11:50am	Welcome to the ISS: Talk to an Astronaut & Hams with your HT	Peter Portanova W2JV	Peter earned his Technician license in 1964, the NY Worlds Fair was a major incentive along with listening to Jean Shepard spin his humor on WOR radio in the 60’s. Earning an Extra class ticket was something he never thought he could attain until he met N2MUN, Phil (SK) at the GSBARC in 1996. Phil and Peter immediately bonded, his teaching style was very special and down to earth as he was in life. Peter earned his Advanced and Extra Class licenses as they were classed in 2004 and every day that he’s on the air he thinks of the impact Phil had on him and so many others. Peter met another Mentor at Field Day, 2008, Neil Heft, KC2KY, who was operating the Satellite station for Radio Central and the Boiled Owls. He was making a contact on AO-51, an easy-sat, while Ritchie, KB2ZPB was rotating the antenna on both horizontal and vertical plains, and they were having a great time. Peter was, mesmerized, again and thought that you had to be a Rocket Scientist to talk thru the Satellites. Neil, again a brilliant Engineer and communicator used simple everyday language to explain what he was doing. Peter went home, put in the uplink and downlinks of AO-51 into his Yaesu FT-50R, went to the AMSAT site for the passes and made his first Satellite contact with Tim, N3TL, it’s that complicated and that easy, a year later he received his VUCC Award and the Oscar Satellite Communications Award.; Peter was a board member and is currently an AMSAT Ambassador and Congressional liaison for AMSAT. Peter has made thousands of contacts thru the Amateur Satellites and hundreds of Presentations of “How to get started in operating thru the OSCAR fleet”. Visit the HRU You Tube site for all our videos. For HRU 2023 Peter will talk about the History of Amateur Satellites, from OSCAR 1 to the exciting MEO digipeater Satellite GREENCUBE. This a presentation that has never been done in this format, you don’t want to miss this it!
1:00pm – 1:50pm	VHF / UHF	Pres Waterman W2PW	Pres Waterman W2PW is the moderator for the VHF / UHF forum.
1:00pm – 1:50pm	FT8 – Basics	William Botjer N2WPT	Bill Botjer N2WPT began his radio journey as a short-wave listener as a young man growing up in Manhattan with an antenna installed on the fire escape of his apartment. Bill went on to obtain an engineering degree and law degrees. He went on to practice intellectual property law representing tech companies since 1976 for law firms and corporations. He is now mostly retired. In the early nineties he purchased a house in Suffolk County and decided to fulfill a long-felt desire to obtain an Amateur Radio license, he worked his way through Tech. Tech plus, General, Advanced and finally Extra class licenses. He is a member of Radio Central Amateur Radio Club. His station is a modest one, 100 watts and a wire antenna in the backyard.
1:00pm – 1:50pm	Computer and Microcontroller Based Radios. A Look at Modern DIY Radio Technology	Neil Goldstein W2NDG	Neil Goldstein W2NDG has been tinkering with radios since the early seventies when he used to hang out in his uncle’s ham shack in CT (W1PVC sk). These days he can be found in the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains with a QRP radio, or sitting at his workbench amidst a cloud of solder smoke. After first getting licensed in 2011 as KD2APZ, he started looking for ways to merge his two hobbies: computers and radio. Now, a holder of an Extra Class license, he experiments with SDR, rig control, digital modes, and has a well-used soldering iron. Neil is active in local Ham clubs, has written for AmateurRadio.com as well as The Spectrum Monitor, and frequently presents at various club meetings on computer-related subjects. Neil maintains radiokitguide.com, the complete list of radio kit sources on the Internet, and hosts the Long Island CW Club’s weekly Makers Forum.
1:00pm – 1:50pm	Parks on the Air	Dennis Boyé AH2O	Dennis Boyé AH2O was first licensed in 1978 and is a Radiosport enthusiast. He has lived and operated from several states and countries. Dennis is an active DX Chaser achieving 8-Band DXCC, DXCC-SSB, DXCC-CW, DXCC-Digital, DXCC Challenge. He has achieved 8-Band WAS, WAS-SSB, WAS-CW, WAS-FT8, WAS-FT4, WAS-RTTY, WAS Triple Play. He is also an active contester with numerous wins / top-ten placements in the New York Long Island Section / Hudson Division / 2nd call area: ARRL Sweepstakes SSB, ARRL DX SSB, ARRL DX CW, NAQP CW, NAQP RTTY, CQ World Wide DX, CQ World Wide WPX, CQ World Wide RTTY, IARU HF World Championship SSB, and NY QSO Party SSB. The thrill of contesting led to Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) operations. Dennis is the current president of The Order of Boiled Owls of New York Amateur Radio Contest and DX Club.
2:00pm – 2:50pm	DC Power for Ham Radio	Stuart Cohen AF2SC	Stuart Cohen AF2SC is currently serving as the Vice President of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club. He holds an extra class license. Stu is an electrical engineer with 35+ years experience in power supplies, DC power distribution and power management, including battery system design and charging for critical care and portable medical devices.
2:00pm – 2:50pm	FT8 – Advanced	William Botjer N2WPT	Bill Botjer N2WPT began his radio journey as a short-wave listener as a young man growing up in Manhattan with an antenna installed on the fire escape of his apartment. Bill went on to obtain an engineering degree and law degrees. He went on to practice intellectual property law representing tech companies since 1976 for law firms and corporations. He is now mostly retired. In the early nineties he purchased a house in Suffolk County and decided to fulfill a long-felt desire to obtain an Amateur Radio license, he worked his way through Tech. Tech plus, General, Advanced and finally Extra class licenses. He is a member of Radio Central Amateur Radio Club. His station is a modest one, 100 watts and a wire antenna in the backyard.
2:00pm – 2:50pm	Software Defined Radios / Devices and Tools To Make Frequency Observations	Dustin Finn KE2EFX	Dustin Finn KE2EFX is a 20 plus year Information and Security Engineer experienced with Embedded devices, IOT and Kiosk Engineering as well as currently an Infrastructure Security Engineer. In the last 5 years the curiosity for Radio Frequency from WiFi, BT and recently the ISM and then Ham Bands led to a recent Technician license – KE2EFX.
2:00pm – 2:50pm	CONTESTING: All Your Questions Answered	Mel_Granick KS2G	First licensed in 1977 as a Novice, Mel Granick upgraded to Technician, General and Advanced class licenses within six months and has been an Amateur Extra since 1981. He’s been active in numerous aspects of Amateur Radio ranging from traffic handling to the early use of packet radio. With a modest station consisting of a 100 watt transceiver, 3-element tribander and 40/80 dipole up just 35 feet, he’s been successful as a DX’er (DXCC-250+), awards chaser (5BWAS) and one of the leading contesters in the 2nd Call Area, repeatedly placing in the top ten among U.S. low-power single operators in the CQ World Wide DX, CQ World Wide WPX and ARRL 10-Meter contests. His forum will provide contesting basics, discuss strategies and tactics, and answer the most commonly-asked questions about contest operating.