In August of 1994 I appeared on the cover of Electric Radio Magazine. At the time I was quite active on 3870 AM running multiple “heavy metal” AM rigs including a Collins KW-1, 30K-1, and the mighty FRT-24 made for the Navy.

My neighbor then, Ron, KD6WLP (now KE6NHK), is a great photographer with great equipment and took several pictures of me at the various operating positions.

While it was very gratifying to be an ER “Cover Boy,” the photo selected by the editor that was published, was in my mind, the worst of the lot.

That experience, in conjunction with dialing into Ron’s eye for composition, helped me cultivate a more discerning eye for “cover-worthy photographs.”

After Ray Osterwald, N0DMS, took over Electric Radio from its founder, Barry Wiseman, N6CSW, I started submitting some stories to Ray for his consideration. Ray ended up publishing over a dozen of my contributions to date.

The problem was that many of these stories took well over 40 hours to  research, write, and prepare the supporting photographs/graphics. Then after publication, with virtually no readership feedback, I quickly discovered that taking pictures for the cover was far easier and more gratifying. And it helped ER look good on the magazine rack in the Ham stores.

So I’ve made it a point to keep an eye open for cover photo opportunities. To date, I am delighted to have contributed 17 covers to Electric Radio, published over the past four years.

These covers appear below in chronological order of publication . . .

                         Above
The 20th Anniversary cover girl is from a Miller High Life serving tray from the 50ies. She was “Photoshop’d” off the moon and her glass of beer was replaced with a D-104. She was then overlaid on a photo of my 1930’s room.

                          Right
Mr. Ham was found on an advertising tin hanging on the wall in the garage of Cliff, N6ZU. He was carrying a Maple Farm ham, which was quickly replaced with an Eimac 450TH. This became the Christmas cover for the 2009 issue.

Left
The 21st Anniversary cover girl is my favorite picture, which happens to be of my daughter Caitlin. It was fun for both father and daughter. Also shot in the 1930’s room.

And just to prove I’m not completely biased here, this cover has received more positive comments than all other ER covers combined!