Dave Benson, K1SWL, earned his BS in Electrical
Engineering at the University of Connecticut in 1976. After graduation, he and
his wife lived and worked in Phoenix, AZ and Albuquerque, NM in the early years.
Their home in NM was at an altitude of 7400 feet (2300m)-
a rugged and memorable experience!
He worked
in a variety of aerospace engineering programs and holds several US Patents in
the display electronics field. As his
career strayed from the creative path into ‘viewgraph engineering’ and project
management, the urge to return to a more fulfilling life won out. Dave began publishing articles in the QRP
Quarterly and QST in the 1990s. He left
the corporate world and founded Small Wonder Labs in 1996, parlaying his love
of amateur radio into a ‘cottage industry’.
He’s been on a 5-year hiatus from the creative side of amateur radio
while pursuing a lifelong dream- the design and construction of a new home in
New Hampshire. An enthusiastic
outdoorsman and naturalist, he enjoys snowshoeing and kayaking in season.
Dave’s at k1swl@earthlink.net.
Dave’s wife Kate is now Small Wonder Labs’
Production Manager. She retired from the rat-race in June of 2009 and has
joined the staff here. A dual-certified librarian and classroom teacher, she
managed public school libraries in Glastonbury, CT for a number of years. A born teacher, she started early-
volunteering as an ‘English-as-a-second language’ teacher while still in high
school. She’s an avid reader and quilter. She’s also an enthusiastic gardener
during the warmer months. She was born and raised about 10 miles from here
and is delighted to be ‘home’.
Our first grandchild, Mariella Katherine
Evans, was born on November 19th, 2010. Both of us were there to lend support and to
witness the birth. She was tiny- 4 lbs
14 oz (2.2 kg) at birth due to an early induced labor, but she’s fine. We’re
sure pleased with the new addition to the family.
How fast they grow! We can’t
wait for Mariella to join the workforce here at the
‘Labs! Here, she gets training in the
use of a Fluke multimeter. At 13 months, she’s
walking and using a few rudimentary words.
All sorts of solid foods are now on the menu. She insists on spoon-feeding herself, though.
The results are fairly predictable.
Mealtime is over when she jettisons food over the side for the dog.
We purchased a wooded 4+ acre parcel in Newport, New Hampshire in March
of 2005. I built a house there in my
spare time. [Click on the image at
left to follow the adventure.] I moved here in May 2008 and Kate joined me
when she retired a year later.
We love it here! We’re outdoors walking old wood-roads nearly every
day, and there’s no telling what we’ll see. Winter adventures (we get a lot of
winter here) reveal a wealth of animal tracks in the snow- everything from mice
to moose!