W2FMI - An NPARC Callsign

NPARC callsigns are normally used during a club activity where one or more club members will be operating a radio station in the name of the club. For example, each June the club participates in a 24 hour "contest" called Field Day. The objective is to make contact with as many other clubs or individuals as possible using emergency power only (batteries, generators, solar panels, etc.) During this event, rather than use our individual callsigns, we use the collective club callsign, N2XJ or W2FMI. (To learn more about callsigns, visit the About Callsigns page on this web site.)

How did we get the W2FMI callsign? Callsigns in the United States are issued by the FCC (Federal Communication Commission). The FCC normally issues a radio license applicant the next callsign in sequence; for example, KC2IBB, then KC2IBC, etc. In addition, the FCC also allows applicants to apply for specific callsigns. In particular,  a radio club can apply for the club sign of a deceased club member (we call them silent keys) with permission of the family within the first two years of the death. And that brings us to Jerry Sevick, W2FMI, a former NPARC club member but now a silent key.

Jerry Sevick is well known in the amateur radio community for his seminal work on Baluns and Ununs.  He authored a number of books and a series of articles on the area.  His work on these devices was adopted as a standard by the IEEE.

Dr. Sevick held a B. S. degree from Wayne State University and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Harvard University.  He was a Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories from 1956 until his retirement as Director of Technical Relations in 1985.