Contents
Contact Information
Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ
112 Main Street
Westford, MA 01886
kb1oiq@arrl.net
Biography
Andy was introduced to the idea of Amateur Radio while teaching a Linux class for Chelmsford Community Education. Two of his students were licensed amateur radio operators who convinced him that his Linux skills would be useful in the amateur radio community. Andy passed his Technician License exam in January 2007, and now holds an Amateur Extra license.
Shortly thereafter, he became a member of the Police Amateur Radio Team (PART) of Westford, and was elected to the office of President in September 2009. Twelve years of previous experience founding and running two Linux Users’ Groups prepared him well for this role in PART.
Andy’s elmers showed by example that one should share one’s time, knowledge, and tools with others. He decided to share his interests in Linux and amateur radio by creating “Andy’s Ham Radio Linux” in 2011. This is a complete Linux operating system remastered from Ubuntu, and tailored for the needs of the amateur radio operator. This software collection can be downloaded from Sourceforge. Updated approximately every 6 months, this software collection has been downloaded many thousands of times. Andy has given many talks about Linux and amateur radio to local clubs, the annual ARRL convention in Boxboro, and at the ARRL Centennial Convention in Hartford, CT in 2014.
Andy is currently a member of SKCC and earned the Senator award (#6265S). Besides CW, he enjoys QRP, outdoor operating, building kits and wire antennas, and writing amateur radio software. Andy’s shack is battery powered and frequently recharged via solar panels. Andy has participated in several activities over the years:
- One of the K3Y/1 operators for SKCC’s K3Y event in January
- One of the K2H operators representing Massachusetts in the 13 Colonies event in July
- K2H QSL manager for several years, including 2016
- Boxboro Convention Committee for two years (2015 and 2016)
- Teach fox hunting techniques to local Boy Scouts for their ham radio merit badge
- GOTA station lead at Field Day
- Modified BITX40 and uBITX QRP transceivers for accessibility by visually impaired hams
Professionally, Andy is a digital logic verification engineer, which means he lives in simulated reality. Using computer simulation, Andy tests simulated logic circuits to verify that they function according to the specification. All of this is done prior to any circuit fabrication. Andy has a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.