Episode 531 Norm Cantin WA1NLG
From QSO Today Podcast - Interviews with the leaders in amateur radio by Eric Guth, 4Z1UG
November 2, 2025 · 1h 1m · Season 1 · Episode 531
About this episode
Norm Cantin shares his journey from discovering amateur radio to a successful career in navigation electronics and his current activities in the hobby.
Norm Cantin, WA1NLG, discovered amateur radio at age 14 through Boy Scouts in Massachusetts, got his Technician license in 1969 so he could get on 6 meters, and that early exposure led directly to his career in navigation electronics. Amateur radio Elmers in the Framingham Radio Club helped him get his first job at Northstar, a startup building LORAN navigation equipment, where he spent almost 30 years rising to Vice President of Engineering, later working on GPS development, differential GPS, and aircraft landing systems. After a period at Outerlink building satellite tracking systems, he spent more than a decade at Raytheon working on Patriot modernization and activities that contributed to Iron Dome. Now retired on Cape Cod, Norm is focused on VHF weak signal work, homebrews LDMOS amplifiers, is building a second tower for 2-meter EME, is active in the Barnstable Amateur Radio Club, youth outreach, public service, STEM, Boy Scouts, and believes ham radio is still a "hobby of a thousand hobbies."
People in this episode
Host: Eric Guth
Guest: Norm Cantin
Topics covered
- amateur radio
- navigation electronics
- VHF weak signal
- youth outreach
- public service
- STEM
- Boy Scouts
Keywords
- amateur radio
- navigation electronics
- LORAN
- GPS
- VHF weak signal
- homebrews
- Iron Dome
- Boy Scouts
- STEM
- public service
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Framingham Radio Club, Northstar, Raytheon, Barnstable Amateur Radio Club
Places: Cape Cod, Massachusetts
More episodes of QSO Today Podcast - Interviews with the leaders in amateur radio
- Episode 536 Marty Young W4MY · April 12, 2026 · 1h 21m
- Episode 535 Michael Goldstein VE3GFN · February 22, 2026 · 1h 10m
- Episode 534 Cory Sickles WA3UVV · January 12, 2026 · 1h 25m
- Episode 533 John Simmons NI0K Final · December 14, 2025 · 57 min
- Episode 532 Ian Flemming G3ZDQ Final · November 23, 2025 · 1h 14m
- Episode 530 Jack Schuster W1WEF · August 31, 2025 · 1h 5m
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