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Paul Bock You must sign into your myHangout account in order to contact Paul Bock.

Born in Richmond, VA, and raised on a farm. Started teaching myself banjo in 1956. Competed in the North Carolina State Fair Folk Festival banjo contest and took 2nd place in 1962 and 1st place in 1963. Played with local groups between 1960 and the late 1980s but had to quit due to injuries to the fingers of my right hand and then breaking my left wrist in 2014. I've been working diligently to get back "playing form" since 2020 and I'm encouraged by progress so far, but it's a long road and slow going. I also dabble occasionally with classic finger-style using nylon strings. My instruments include a 5-string banjola by Victor (formerly EVD) Instruments which is a lot of fun for folk music, jazz, classical & Irish pieces. **************************************************************************** In the real world, I'm a retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9) and a retired electrical engineer with over 25 years experience in radio broadcasting, defense electronics and telecommunications. I have B.S. and M.S. degrees, am a Life Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and co-holder of a patent in telecommunications equipment design. I also hold several commercial radio operator licenses (Radiotelegraph, Radiotelephone, and GMDSS Maintainer, all with the Ship Radar Endorsement. ***************************************************************************** My other hobbies include Amateur Radio (licensed as K4MSG since 1957 and have always been an avid radiotelegraph operator). I've also spent time dabbling in various digital modes including meteor scatter and Earth-Moon-Earth (aka "moonbounce") communications. I'm also a sporadic amateur astronomer. I love to read, especially history, and have dabbled in historical research on topics of interest including evolution of the 5-string banjo, development of certain types of telegraph keys, wireless telegraphy, the Revolutionary War involvement of my ancestors, etc. My wife & I enjoy travel, especially cruising on Princess Cruise Lines (21 cruises so far, including 8 transatlantic crossings).