The Sheboygan Press - Neighbor Worth Knowing Sheboygan native likes to 'ham it up' on the radio

The Sheboygan Press - Neighbor Worth Knowing Sheboygan native likes to 'ham it up' on the radio

"Neighbor Worth Knowing Sheboygan native likes to 'ham it up' on the radio
By Belia Ortega
Sheboygan Press staff
'W9SDH...CQ.'
Translation: 'Wally Shellingosky, anybody listening?'

Wally Shellingosky, amateur radio operator, gets on the airwaves every afternoon to 'ham it up' with other operators in the Midwest.

The 87-year-old Sheboygan native looks forward to his noon gossip session, where topics include the weather and gas prices, as one of four antennas on the roof of his Lakeshore Drive home transmits his conversations.

Sitting in front of the transmitter, receiver, microphone and scanner he has set up in his dining room, Shellingosky reminisces about when he first began his hobby about 70 years ago.

'The first radio I had I built myself (in 1939),' he said. 'It's a very interesting hobby, and at my advanced age I don't know what I would do if I didn't have my radio to talk to others.'

The Sheboygan County Amateur Radio Club recently awarded him a lifetime achievement award for his public service.

'He's helped so many people that everybody felt so strongly about it,' said Neil Wolf, 63, president of the radio club. 'He's helped people get their radio license and explained (radio) techniques to them.'

Before cell phones were easily accessible, Shellingosky was one of the radio club members who would volunteer his time to help during local racing events by tracking racers, communicating with the National Weather Service in Sullivan during hazardous and extreme weather conditions and assisting service people locally and overseas.



73 fer nw,
Bob AD5VJ

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.