BVARC Officers
Ray Vilnit – KC1HQB
President
Ray Vilnit (KC1HQB) earned his Technician and General Class licenses in May/August 2017 and his Extra Class license in August 2018. Ray retired from Raytheon Company January 2016 after a thirty-seven year career working in various engineering and management positions. In addition to Ham radio activities such as Field Day, Consortium and Club Meetings, Ray enjoys photography, hiking/walking, gardening, travel and spending time with his six grandchildren’.
Paul Fontana – KC1IEN
Vice President
Paul was first exposed to HAM radio in his father's(N1GFF) shack, where he learned the basics. He got his tech and general licenses in 2016 and earned his EXTRA in 2023. Paul mainly is interested in EMCOM, QRP and digital modes like FT8 and APRS. He maintains an APRS weather station KC1IEN-9. He has worked in IT for 30 years, focusing on network and server infrastructure. Paul also works with kids as a mentor and board member in the RI FTC robotics league. He and his wife Giovanna have two dogs Puff and Ice.
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Lloyd Merrill – W1LBM
Treasurer
Lloyd Merrill, W1LBM, earned his Technician license in 2016, upgraded to General in 2017, and then to Extra in 2018. Lloyd enjoys working the HF bands, especially DXing using digital modes and SSB as a POTA hunter. He is also working on getting on the air with CW. He is also an ARRL member.
Married to his wife Gail for 42 years they have 3 children and 5 grandchildren and live in Cumberland.
Lloyd’s professional background has been in IT management for three New England retailers spanning 49 years and is now semi-retired.
Lloyd’s other main interest is amateur astronomy and is a member and former officer for the Astronomical Society of Rhode Island (Skyscrapers) in North Scituate. Lloyd was a three-term treasurer for that organization. Other interests include photography, woodworking, yard work, and restoring vintage radios.
Board of Directors
Jim Johnson – K1GND
Stay tuned for more info!
Judson Mitsock – W1JMZ
Secretary of the Board
Judson joined BVARC in 2008 two days after getting his Tech and General class license. He wanted to do ham radio all of his life and is now trying to make up for lost time. He enjoys CW and got his Extra class. He is an avid DXer and also enjoys restoring old AM tube radios. Judson has a Bachelors degree in Music from Boston University. He works as a IT Developer at Amica Insurance. He created the current BVARC website and is the club's webmaster.
Ken Trudel– N1RGK
Former President
Ken Trudel, (N1RGK) was originally licensed as KA1LIV in the 80’s. He is the former President of BVARC and the Enfield Radio Amateur Group (E-RAG) and is a Life Member and Diamond Club Member of the ARRL.
Married 41 years to his wife Carol, they have two sons Christopher, (KC0EES) and Scott. They enjoy vacationing throughout Europe and local Bed and Breakfast’s throughout New England.
Ken has been in the IT industry for the past 44 years holding various Executive Management positions and is recently retired.
Besides Ham Radio, Ken is an avid car enthusiast restoring his 1929 Ford Model A Leatherback and enjoying his Model S Tesla.
Mickey Callahan – K1WMC
Chairman of the Board
Mickey has been a Ham since 2015, first earning his Technician and General tickets before upgrading to Extra in 2017. He enjoys working HF SSB and is striving to become proficient in working CW also. He maintains a modest shack in the finished basement of his house and uses a wire, end fed antenna for HF along with other antennas for VHF/UHF operation that are mounted off the peak of his house in Bellingham, MA.
Mickey has been a professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years and is currently employed with Woodcraft in Walpole, MA as the resident woodworker and Educational Program Director and chief woodworking instructor. In addition, Mickey is the co-founder and past president of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (www.sapfm.org) and served on its Board of Directors from 1999 to 2014. Prior to his woodworking career, Mickey was a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army and in civilian life as an electrical engineer employed by both Bell Labs and IBM.
Besides ham radio, Mickey also enjoys building and flying radio control model airplanes and occasionally can be found in his back yard with his telescope looking at the moon, planets and deep space objects. He also enjoys tinkering with building simple circuits and has a goal of building a QRP rig from scratch.
Trustee and Board Member
Patty Vilnit – W1AUT
Patty received both her Technician and General license in 2008 and her Extra Class license in August 2018, receiving her first call letters of KB1QOT. In 2009 after her dad Normand Thibault, one of the original founders of the BVARC radio club & her special "Elmer", passed she took his call letters of W1AUT and is very proud to hold them because of his involvement in ham radio for more than 50+ years! She likes chasing DX on SSB but also enjoys working special event stations especially the unique ones. She says she is proud to be part of the .2% ham operators but also to be a YL in Ham radio and meeting so many nice people on and off the air. Besides Ham radio, she enjoys photography the challenge of always trying to improve her skills. She especially likes wildlife photography. Patty also enjoys gardening, antiquing and traveling around the country with her husband and most of all, she loves spending time with her grandchildren, all six of them!