Author name: Christopher Bunce

Hey there, I’m Christopher and I’ve been tinkering with all sorts of radios for over 20 years at this point. The first time I ever got to use a radio was my dad’s Yaesu FT-757GX back when I was just a 14-year old. I remember adjusting the dial knob a little bit and noticing a dip in the reception quality of the transmission that was currently being received. While it may not sound like much, I look back at that experience as a profound moment that would go on to define my life. Over the course of the next few years, I urged my dad to teach me everything he’d learnt in the army about radio communication. He taught me basic ham radio operations and used to take me to ham radio contests as a teenager. I wouldn’t be the one to participate in those contests since you need a technician’s license in order to take part. I’d urge my dad to participate in them so that I could go out with him and take part vicariously. These contests were where I would meet several like-minded individuals that wanted to learn as much as they could about communication. Being around such enthusiasts only made my passion burn brighter and this passion would continue as I grew older. My father urged me to get a technician’s license when I turned 18, which I did. My mom gave me a ham radio as my 18th birthday gift and that was that. I became a licensed ham radio operator and started participating in ham radio contests across New Jersey. I spent about a year after high-school simply participating in different ham radio contests and meeting other communication enthusiasts. During the course of that year, I won over seven ham radio contests and placed 2nd in three more. After spending a year simply fiddling with different types of ham radios, I decided to do a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Rutgers University. After that, I immediately opted to go for a Ph.D in Media, Culture and Communication from NYU Steinhardt. For the past few years, I’ve been working as a media consultant for several local radio stations as well as a few television networks. I also conduct seminars related to the latest emerging communication technologies and you can often find me at most talks related to media in the New Jersey area. Even though I conduct all these fancy seminars and work as a consultant, my favorite thing to do, still, is to host ham radio contests in my home state of New Jersey. This is because New Jersey is home to some of the most passionate radio operators out there. It’s the place where I met so many wonderful people in my teenage years when I used to attend these contests regularly. The main reason why I go through the trouble of organizing these contests is so that I can meet all the new and exciting people working in the world of communication. This includes both amateur hobbyists and people with long careers in the industry. As a teenager, these ham radio contests were the sole source of meeting other individuals (besides my dad) who were interested in ham radios. It’s where I could freely talk about what interested me most without being called “the weird kid”. This sense of camaraderie is something that all ham radio operators cultivate when they communicate to each other over radio signals. It’s that shared sense of achievement that one feels when they set up their own radio to talk to other operators. This feeling is something that’s palpable at these ham radio contests and that’s why I love attending as well as arranging them. Furthermore, this is the feeling that I wanted to instill when I first came up with the idea of starting Military Radio. I wanted it to be a place that, not only ham radio operators but all other types of radio enthusiasts as well, could call home. A place where they can find answers to their common problems without having to waste time tinkering and tampering with their devices. Furthermore, another reason why communication devices have always fascinated me so much is their ability to bring people closer. You could say that the internet does a much better job of doing that but I’m a little old-fashioned so, my passion has remained with radios. After all, it was radio signals that first connected the distant parts of the world with each other before the internet came along. Where would the internet even be if not for its precursors such as radio and satellite communication. Lastly, I just want to say that I want Military Radio to really be the place I hope you can come to any time you run into any issue with your CB, ham, AM/FM or car radio. We hope that whatever issue we face, we’ll already have a written post detailing its solution. If we don’t, I urge you to reach out to us through our Contact page with your query and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible with a solution.