Bill Sexton, N1IN

MARS

Bill Sexton, N1IN, retired from a busy Career as journalist in 1990. He got his first FCC license the next year after decades of wishing CW hadn’t seemed so hard to learn (which he eventually managed to do, and advanced to Amateur Extra in 1993.)

Bill’s 45 years of newspapering included assignments as resident foreign correspondent in Europe and Asia as well writing, editing and management in the U.S. He was one of the first American correspondents stationed in Beijing when the U.S. and China established diplomatic relations in 1979.

Bill was drafted during the Korean War (but served in Germany). He joined the Army branch of MARS, the Military Affiliate Radio System, in 1991. He began contributing to WorldRadio following the death of MARS columnist Lori Matthews (N4ZCF SK) that year. He holds the MARS call sign AAA9PC as volunteer Public Affairs Director on Army MARS Chief Stewart S. (“Stu”) Carter’s special staff.

On the ham bands he’s proud of just over 300 DXCC contacts and looks forward to the next solar cycle revving up so he can too.