 John
F. Reynolds, W5JFR
MARC President: Jan/1999-Current
Board Member
Welcome to my corner of the MARC Web Page.
I am John F. Reynolds.
I have been President of MARC since January 1999.
I have also been the voice of MARC net control since
1999. I currently
reside in Rialto, California.
My Ham Radio call is W5JFR and I can also be contacted by
e-mail at johnw5jfr@roadrunner.net.
I am originally from New Mexico, but as a youngster, my
family moved to Southern California where I lived in Maywood,
Bell, Huntington Park, Escondido and Pacific Beach. I returned to Socorro, New Mexico to finish high school and
enrolled at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
It seems that higher education didn’t work out for me
at that time, so, at the age of eighteen, I enlisted in the
United States Air Force. My
first fourteen years service was as an
Air (Security) Policeman, both Law Enforcement and
Security. The
remaining six years, prior to my retirement as a Master
Sergeant, was as an Education and Training
Specialist/Superintendent.
While in the Air Force, I was fortunate and traveled to
many parts of the world to include France where I met and
married my wife, Marie-Josèphe.
Presently, I am enjoying my retirement from the Air Force
and the General Electric Company. There, I was employed as a maintenance electrician and
environmental health and safety technician.
I have been a member of MARC since 1992.
As a MARC member, I have participated in numerous charity
events to include the 1995 - 2006 Multiple Sclerosis 150K
bicycle ride from Newport Bay to Mission Bay in San Diego.
The ‘96 & ‘97 Challenge Cup Relay Race, ran by
sworn police officers from around the world. The race is from Baker, California to Las Vegas, Nevada, 120
miles in 20 stages, and is ran on smaller roads through the
desert. This race
is sponsored and conducted by the Los Angeles Police Revolver
and Athletic Club. I
have ridden in Love Rides 11 through 23. I have been a member of the planning committee for the last
eleven Love Rides, which benefit the Love Ride Foundation, the
Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the Los Angeles Times
“Read by Nine Foundation”.
I have escorted the 1994 through 2001 Inland Empire Tour
de Cure, which benefits the American Diabetes Association in
Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, the 2000 through 2006 Los
Angeles/Orange County Tour de Cure and the 2006 Tri City/Ventura
county Tour de Cure. In
1999, as a MARC member, I escorted bicyclists from Ontario,
California to Palm Springs, California, (150 kilometers) a two
day event known as the “Palm Springs Get Away,” which also
raised funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Association.
I have also ridden twice, as a MARC member, in the Ride
for Kids, sponsored by American Honda for Pediatric Brain Tumor
Research, and I have ridden twice in the Orange County Heart and
Sole Classic to raise funds for heart disease research.
I am very proud of MARC and what it does to assist these
charities and many other community organizations in their
fundraising efforts.
I presently own a Metallic Yellow 2001 Gold Wing, the
cycle was purchased from Chuck, KG6NJP, in the fall of 2006, an
upgrade from the 1997 Goldwing SE which I previously owned.
The
motorcycle is basically stock, except for a luggage rack which
has been added to accommodate antennas for communication.
I have been a General Class operator since May of 2000,
and obtained my original Technician license in September of
‘92. Presently, I
have a Kenwood D700A mounted on my motorcycle.
The radio is mounted in the trunk and the control head is
remote, mounted between the faux gas tank and the ignition
switch, which allows for easy control of the radio while riding.
My head set is a standard J & M headset fit inside a
Nolan N102 flip front helmet and modified to interface with the
Kenwood radio. It
works quite well, as many people have told me that they cannot
believe that I am transmitting from a motorcycle.
I normally use a Comet HP-32FHN high gain/high power
antenna (lovingly referred to as the “Rhino Killer”).
However, when on MARC events requiring a slightly higher gain
antenna, I change to a Comet SBB7 for a bit more range.
The Kenwood D700a is connected to the Honda radio system
with a Kennedy FRS communications set. By using an APRS system, I can be tracked during our
MARC events at http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=w5jfr-10.
My wife’s name is Marie-Josèphe, or Mijo, as she
prefers to be called. Her
call is KF6BEB. She
is the 50-50 person at our monthly MARC meetings and also helps
to coordinate our door prize giveaways and “Special
Drawings”. She
was born in St. Mihiel, France.
I met her when I was stationed there, about a mile from
her house. We were married in 1966 and have two children. Our
daughter Jean, a graduate of Cal State San Bernardino and Loyola
School of Law, is presently a Research Attorney with the Fourth
District Court of Appeals in Riverside, California.
Our son John C. also a graduate of Cal State San
Bernardino is employed by the county of San Bernardino as a
Veterans Affairs Specialist.
Mijo, is also a graduate of Cal. State San Bernardino and
she is a French teacher at Rialto High School.
She teaches French I, II, III and IV, quite a challenge.
I am looking forward to many more years with MARC and to
cycling with a ham radio on my Goldwing.
I also look forward to hearing from you on the e-mail
network.
John
F. Reynolds, President
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