Jayne Marie Dent McNutt – Born and raised in Nashville, TN resulting in my having a southern twang when I talk. I have always loved horses and the arts! I went to Nashville State Technical Institute and earned two Associate Degrees in Chemical Engineering & Technology and upon graduation went to work for GE in Owensboro, KY, where I worked my way up to a Gunn Diode Lab Manager. There are a few fun stories from that time in my life. During my time there I received my BS in Chemistry and married my sweetheart, Rick, that I met at NSTI. We decided to follow Rickʼs career which took us to Sumter, SC where we had our lovely daughter, Christina and 16 months later our wonderful son, James. Then we moved to Cary, NC, then to Memphis, TN, then onto Knoxville, TN by the times the kids were in grade school. We settled and stayed in that area for about 22 years. We lived in three different houses – the last being our retirement mini farm outside of town we had built. During this time we both dabbled in snorkeling, and scuba diving, and road coarse racing and I rode horses. Rick rode horses a little and helped me care for them a lot, but mostly my daughter and I shared the hobby of riding horses. Rick worked at Oak Ridge helping with chemical clean up and I eventually went back to work as a manager for the Watts Bar Nuclear Unit 2 Completion Project. Unit 2 was declared operational in October 2016. Did I mention Rick & I have identical degrees? At the end of the WBNU2CP Rick was transferred to that project and for the last 3 years we both worked on the same project and road to and from work together. Boy did we have some interesting conversations! We retired a few years ago. I went back to work 1x and Rick went back 3x. Guys may be slower at some things!
We eventually really retired and moved to Saint Maryʼs County to be close to my daughter and her family. Her husband, Daniel works at the base. We live in Leonardtown just a five minute walk from their house. We are expecting our third grandchild in March. That will give us two boys and a girl. We enjoy doing things with them like riding bicycles (Rick has a carrier he hooks to his bike), going on adventures, going to museums, etc. This is a fun place to grow up! We still do all our previous hobbies except for racing cars. We still like to attend races and root for others.
I grew up in a HAM family. My father was operating a station and helping to maintain repeaters in the Nashville, TN area from the early 1950ʼs until his passing in 2002. I fondly recall riding to where the repeaters were located and playing while Daddy fixed whatever needed to be fixed. I also remember going to hamfests and Daddy getting cool stuff – the biggest was a MARS generator. I remember him taking calls from the military and then calling the families. I remember the antenna which had a 3 way ladder like tower. I have his old QSL cards. My mother also had a call sign, but basically used her license to make free phone calls to my namesake aunt – Aunt Jane
At Thanksgiving 2017, my sister, Ruth said Daddyʼs call sign was still available and would I be interested in getting my license and his call sign. On Dec 3, 2017 I took and passed my Technician test and was given the call sign KC3KLR. On Jan. 3, 2018 I was given W4VJU. On Feb. 2, 2018 I passed my General test. I am currently running a small station using a Yaesu 991-A transceiver, an ASTRON RS-35M power supply, a LDG AT-200 Pro II 200W Auto Antenna Tuner, a Yaesu MD-100 microphone and a SONY head set. Rick is my partner in crime. We work together to figure out what equipment and set up to use. He put up an Alpha-Delta DX-EE dipole antenna in the attic with Rob Hoytʼs help for 10m – 40m. We have the cable and a plan to add a wire to get 80m. He also put up a Diamond X-50A unidirectional for 2m/70cm. I have a handheld Baofeng transceiver. We had a blast at the different events we attended this year and hope to help promote the amateur radio hobby. I have a lot to learn, but it is fun figuring things out and also getting to know the friendly amateur radio folks in Southern Maryland!
73 DE – Jayne – W4VJU
