TIers do amazing things every day at work and when they are out of the office. In our ongoing series, ‘Out of Office,’ we showcase the unique and fascinating hobbies, talents and interests of TIers all over the world.
TIer Bernd Geck can pinpoint the exact moment his life changed forever. He was just 10 years old when his grandfather gave him a citizen band radio (CB radio) as a present, which consists of a small transceiver with limited power and frequency ranges. Bernd became completely fascinated with not just the ability to talk to others without wires, but the electronics and science behind it. This enchantment with radios led Bernd to a career in engineering and the job he has today as a systems application manager in power management. It also led him to a lifelong hobby as an amateur radio operator.
“Amateur radio is the reason why I am sitting at TI today. I studied telecommunications in college. Everything from my professional career is based on amateur radio,” said Bernd from his office in Freising, Germany.
Bernd’s interest shifted from CB radios to the more powerful shortwave radios around the age of 13. He had to study electronics for six months before heading to a bureau in Germany much like the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take the amateur radio licensing exam. He passed, and has had his license ever since.
Amateur radio enthusiasts use shortwave radios to communicate with people from nearly anywhere in the world. Using nothing more than a transceiver and a very large antenna, an amateur radio
“New Zealand is roughly 18,000 kilometers (11,185 miles) away from Germany, which is about halfway around the Earth. It is always exciting when you can contact someone so far away,” said Bernd.operator can send a signal from their station toward space, which reflects off of the atmosphere and back down to another station on Earth. Depending upon where Bernd points his signal and other natural elements (like time of day, atmospheric conditions, etc.), Bernd can communicate from Germany with people as far away as New Zealand.
While speaking with other radio operators across the globe was certainly a thrill when Bernd was growing up, today we live in a world filled with social media, email and video conferencing on the Internet. Everyone seems to be just one computer mouse click away from being connected. So why does Bernd still correspond with others the same way Guglielmo Marconi first did more than one-hundred years ago when he discovered radio communications?
“Nowadays, we have very nice, comfortable and fast cars with the latest features. These cars have power windows and air conditioning and electronics. So why do people still drive old fashioned cars from the 1920s? Because it is something special to them, and amateur radio is something interesting and special to me,” said Bernd. “You cannot buy an amateur radio license. You have to pass an exam. You can download a voice conferencing program, but you cannot do that for amateur radio.”
At Bernd’s house in Germany, he has countless shoeboxes filled with postcards. Called QSL cards, these written confirmations from people at other amateur radio stations all over the globe shows all the connections Bernd has made. It is so easy today to reach others through the power of 21st century technology, but there seems to be something more powerful about the connections Bernd makes with a shortwave radio. In a way, Bernd doesn’t just connect with others; he’s connecting with that moment he turned on the CB radio his grandfather game him so many years ago, forever changing his life.
“That first time I connected with someone else, it was amazing. It was a feeling you cannot imagine,” said Bernd. “This amateur radio hobby has been influencing, and still influences, my career and my life.”