Sophie Calvi – KI5WVD
Sophie Calvi – KI5WVD is one of BVRC’s young generation members, and we are very
pleased to have her in the club. Sophie, along with her dad, Mike-KF5RUO, joined BVRC in
2022, the same year she acquired her Technician license. She then attended BVRC’s
General license class and passed the General exam online during the Covid pandemic.
Sophie has a stellar academic resumé: She graduated early from high school with honors
and is currently attending NW Arkansas Community College, where she has already made
the Dean’s List. She is currently in her first year of community college and soon going into
the second year. After that, she will begin attending the University of Arkansas in their
business program. Through Bentonville’s concurrent college program, Sophie already has
enough credit hours to be a junior in college at 17 years of age.
Radio wise, Sophie has evolved into a very good operator, that being attributed to her
having an excellent elmer/mentor in her dad. She has operated in numerous contests
developing good operating skills, and has co-activated several parks in the POTA (Parks on
the Air) program.
Sophie said, “I got involved with amateur radio because of my father, KF5RUO. He
encouraged me to take the Technician test, and I studied hard and got it on my first try (the
General test was a different story, ha). My favorite part of amateur radio is definitely Parks
On The Air. This is because it’s quick to set up and easily accessible on road trips. But also,
I get to talk with many different people depending on the park; it can be anywhere from the
Andes Mountains all the way to Spain! It’s interesting to see what parks other people are
operating from, too. I love the pileups!”
Sophie says the most memorable radio experience she’s had was probably at the foxhunt at
BVRC’s Field Day. “I had a blast and it was fun trying an aspect of amateur radio that I
hadn’t experienced before. I am also interested in working the International Space Station
but we havent been successful in that aspect yet!”
She usually uses her father’s shack when on the air, which consists of an IC-7300 on a
Chameleon MPAS 2, an IC-2300H for VHF with a dual band mag mount on a cookie sheet,
and a QRZ1 explorer, which is her HT. When they go on a road trip, her dad packs the 7300
in a cargo crate and they deploy the antenna in a vertical configuration, vs the sloper or
inverted V at the home QTH.
Sophie also has many other various hobbies and activities that she is involved with, such as
studying Spanish, reading, creative writing, participating in acting and theater productions,
and attending comic conventions.
You can at times catch Sophie at a club meeting, so be sure and say hello to her.
Sophie, it is a great pleasure to have you and your dad in the BVRC family.
