Scott F.

Greetings to all prospective friends and clients. Are you in need of an empathetic listener or perhaps just a comrade in arms with the added benefit of some common technical interests? Just ask me!! My name is Scott and I reside in Knoxville, TN 37934 USA. I am 53 years of age and for as long as I can remember, I have always had a big soft spot for animals and young children. I suspect it may be the nurturing they need that attracts me in the emotional sense. I have never been a hunter and it is very likely that I never will, unless I am left with no choice, due to sheer survival needs. I have been a resident of Tennessee USA for around seven years now. I actually grew up in northwest Connecticut, USA. I also resided in New Hampshire USA for two years, before finally moving to Tennessee. It is very likely I will spend the rest of my days in Tennessee. Yes, I really like Tennessee and for many reasons. But that is another conversation, reserved for another day. I have nearly twenty years of electromechanical engineering experience, serving primarily as an engineering R&D lab tech. On two particular R&D contract jobs, I actually served to fulfill the role of lab test engineer. I have also served as warranty and repair manager in a busy electronics repair and fabrication lab. At age 40 (in 2010), the engineering field in New England suffered an economic recession, so after a short bout of working on a union contract job for Asplundh Tree Experts in Westchester County, New York…I embarked upon an Over-The-Road (OTR) trucking career, hauling various freight across the 48 contiguous states. But after roughly 13 years of driving an 18-wheeler all over the USA as a commercial truck driver, I have now grown rather tired of that lifestyle. So I may very well be wandering away from the OTR trucking industry. But let’s jump into that stainless steel Delorean (time machine CAR from the movie Back To The Future) and take a trip back in time…. I got my initial start in the technical workforce by scoring very highly on the U.S. military entrance test, known as the ASVAB (Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery). This earned me the opportunity to attend my first ten months of full time tech training as an Avionics Communications Equipment Repairer (MOS classification 35L). Within the following year, I took another three month full time tech training course to become a qualified Combat Signaler (MOS classification 31K). My thirteen months of full time military tech training was rather intense and notebooks tended to be filled to the brim very quickly with tech notes, schematics, mathematical formulas and electronics theory. I had several classmates who would chase me down, to borrow my notebooks and engage in weekly refreshers with me on a very consistent basis. Much of this was due to the simple fact that I had already been studying and tinkering with electronics independently for several years. That interest began as early as 10 years old, when I obtained my very first solder iron from Radio Shack, along with analog and digital test meters and basic hand tools. Not top grade tools yet, but good enough for a very precocious kid who simply needed to comprehend EXACTLY WHY I got shocked when sticking my fingers in an empty desk lamp socket. I would not hesitate to say that my military tech training was easily the equivalent to the required course hours needed to obtain an associate’s degree; and I am stating that rather conservatively. Again, military tech training tends to be rather intense, especially in terms of actual course hours per semester. At times it was rather tiring, but always intriguing enough to capture and retain my interest. Military tech instructors and educators tended to be quite affable with all students who were making a valid effort. After all, we were all essentially embarking upon the same overall mission to become technically proficient within our job roles. Ultimately, I finished out just one enlistment term of U.S. Army reserve duty and then I never re-enlisted. I simply went back to civilian life. Military structure just was not my cup of tea. Taking orders from someone with half of my IQ was just a very tough pill to swallow and there it was in a nutshell. I independently studied and took the FCC exams to become a licensed ham radio operator, because I have always loved talking to the interesting ham operators in Europe. I took the Novice, Technician and General Class operator exams all within less than six months. So I have been active in ham radio, on all radio bands for over thirty years now. I suppose I will probably study and take the test for the Extra Class license soon, because it will give me just a bit more bandwidth on a couple of the worldwide radio bands that I find preferable. Being at the pinnacle of ham radio license privileges is also a matter of prestige and personal pride as well. For a few years, I also ran my own independent audio, video and radio electronics service and repair shop. To this very day, I still like to tinker with electronics and I get great satisfaction from troubleshooting, repairing and restoring various vintage electronics, such as collector grade vintage stereo gear, plus ham and surplus military radio gear. I have always enjoyed building plastic scale model kits, as well as painting, airbrushing and detailing them. I have quite the collection of model kits and I should probably just sell at least half of them. I will never have the time o finish them all within my lifetime. I also like building and flying radio control model airplanes, gliders and helicopters. I like to restore vintage motorcycles and dirt bikes. I also like getting out in nature with a dirt bike and/or doing some very portable backpacking style of ham radio field operations. It also provides the additional benefit of affording me the opportunity to roll over logs and rocks, to look for snakes, salamanders and lizards. I am also very adept at soldering and wiring, as it applies to electrical and electronics. I have also done a bit of manual machining on bench lathes and Bridgeport milling machines and I enjoy that very much. I hope to find the time to become a proficient welder as well. I own some good welding equipment, but I never take the time to practice and actually use it. If you need advice or collaboration in the realms of my vocational experience, hobbies and interests, then I would certainly love to confer with you, so just ask me. At any rate, thanks for reading my somewhat lengthy introduction. Have a productive day and please be safe, Scott