Seeing that several of the folks around me answered to the name of John I have been known as Jack since I was knee high to a grasshopper! I was born and raised in Woodbury, New Jersey across the river from Philadelphia. By the age of 12 I was hanging wires in tree tops. At the tender age of 14 I got my novice license - KN2JKA. In just a few months I graduated to a General Class License and graduated to K2JKA. A few months after that, on a dare, I trotted back to the FCC office and passed the First Class Radio Telephone License exam. Shortly thereafter I got my first job in a broadcast station running the board on weekends.

In 1966 I married a lady whom I met in a radio station. We moved across the river to suburban Philadelphia and I became W3ESQ. (Up until the early 1980s you had to change call letters when you moved from one district to another.) Until 1967 all you needed for all amateur frequency privileges was a General Class license. However, when the "Incentive Licensing Program of 1967“ came about, and Generals were about to be confined to only a portion of the bands, I upgraded to Extra Class.

 In 1975 Cathy and I, and by then also Judy and Christopher, packed up and moved to Chicago. I got the call W9NUU. In early 1977 I became eligible for a two letter call and got W9UK. When I moved to the Pittsburgh area in 1984 the FCC was no longer making one change call letters when they relocated to a different area of the country.

Former employment has included chief engineer of Globetrotter Communications WVON & WGCI, Chicago, chief engineer of Group W’s WIND, Chicago and chief engineer of KDKA, Pittsburgh.

In 1992 I went into business for myself. Layton Technical Services provides technical consulting services to radio and television broadcasters. Those services include due-diligence inspections, facility asset evaluations, ABIP compliance inspections for five state broadcaster associations, AM directional antenna field work including the adjustment and field intensity measurements associated with these systems and the detuning of structures near AM directional antenna systems that could become parasitic re-radiators.

 I am a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers and recognized by that organization as a Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer. I am the author of Directional Antennas Made Simple (the second edition became available in mid-2007), The Radio Chief Operators Handbook published by the SBE, The Broadcaster’s Guide to Creating & Maintaining the Public Inspection File and a regular contributor of technical articles to various broadcast trade journals.

My first writing venture outside of a technical field was published in April 2010. Exploring the Mason Dixon Line: Walking in the Footsteps of History is the result of several years of research, picture taking and on site field work. When I completed the effort I felt as if I personally knew Charles Mason and his sidekick Jeremiah Dixon even though they lived two-and-a-half centuries before me. The book is available from

The greatest adventure in my half century ham radio career occurred in February 2005 when I, along with 4 others in my age group, went on a DXpedition to operate the CW portion of the ARRL DX Contest on the Island of Montserrat. The island, a British Colony, is about 300 miles east of San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is about half the size of Washington DC. You share it with an active volcano! Our multi-operator station came in 4th worldwide in the contest. Look up VP2MUK on QRZ for details of the adventure.

Rarely will you find me on HF SSB. I can be found on one or the other of the HFCW bands almost every day that I am not on the road. I enjoy rag chewing, DX chasin and (a little bit of) contesting - in that order. 

When not hamming or involved in work activities I devote time to church activities. I was ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Roman Catholic Church in 1981. I preach, teach, visit shut ins and perform other ministries as a deacon in the church.

 I can be reached on-line, on the HF ham bands, on the Pittsburgh 147.09 two meter repeater and at 724-942-4054.

73 de W9UK