Inducted May 1998
Richard “Dick” Frey, WA2AAU, grew up in Tannersville, NY; a small town in the Catskills where his parents ran a B&B. He graduated from RPI as a BSEE and went to work for Motorola in Schaumburg, IL. He opted to return to RPI for his MSEE. He joined the General Electric Research & Development group, where he worked on new ways to use satellites, including methods to learn your exact location on the earth, before the availability of GPS satellites.
Frey and several of RPI students began operating VHF contests in 1969. Their first adventure was Slide Mountain in the Catskills. After a wet and rainy June, they ended up on Mt. Greylock in September, along with the Northern Berkshire Radio Club, and ran into an epic tropospheric opening! The group had found its home, and, with Frey as their leader, has operated there every available June and September ever since using the call W2SZ/1.
Presentation by Richard Frey to students at RPI in February 2024.