This: Mike Walters Nokia - Google Search showed up in my logs today. Apparently there is a Mike Walters at Nokia (scroll down to April 12th), he is (was?) the 3G marketing manager for North America.
Was he also bootlegging my callsign as a member of the Nokia radio club? Inquiring minds want to know.
If so, not nice, Mike.
The plot thickens: go here and read the bio:
Uh, uh, oh no you aren't. According to the FCC license database, I am the only Mike Walters Extra class in Texas. There is another ham with the same name and middle initial, but he's a tech in New Mexico. As a matter of fact, as of today I am the only Michael/Mike Walters holding an Extra class license in the U.S. Do the search, if you like: http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchAmateur.jsp. (Slight correction: Gary Walters, W8ZY, who goes by "Mike", is an extra class licensee.) Admittedly, the database only goes back two years, but when tickets are issued for ten years, if the other Mike held one in the 2001-2004 timeframe it is likely it would still be valid.
So what's the deal, Mike? Did you bootleg my call back in the day? Did you write the bio that claims you are an Extra class licensee? Were you at one time in the past an Extra class licensee, and if so what was your call?
I have no information that suggests that anyone has ever used my callsign on the air besides myself, but all this is kind of perplexing. I have held this call for 43 years, excepting the 5 year hiatus from 69-74, and I am a little protective of it.
12-27-2007
Important update: I have had an email from W8ZY, Gary "Mike" Walters, and he is in fact the Nokia marketing manger mentioned in the bio, and he did live in Texas at that time, and he was and is an extra class licensee. So he is in no way the person who may have been bootlegging my call, and I apologize for suggesting that may have been the case.