Love of radio, earns local man award Spirit/Guide staff photo / SCOTT Warminster resident George Brechmann sits at the home radio station he uses for work and play. His love of amateur radio has earned him the 1998 Edward A. Jefferies Award for outstanding commitment to Warminster Township. By Cary D. Beavers Staff Writer George Brechmann is blind. If not for his two seeing- eye dogs - one retired, one active - you'd never be able to tell. He sits in his Warminster home listening to a radio for both work and play. His job as the "voice of the repeater" requires him to keep in touch with local police and fire companies. He informs them of accidents which have been called into him. "If someone sees an accident," explains his wife, Elaine, "they call George because they know he's always within a few feet of his radio." The radio is also his hobby, his passion. A licensed amateur radio operator, Brechmann holds the call sign N3HBT issued by the Federal Communications Commission. "'There are so many aspects of the hobby that I could fill a phone book," Brechmann says. "I have fun,to say the least." This hobby brought him recognition earlier this summer from the Warminster Park Recreation and Conservation Board. Brechmann was the 1998 recipient of the Edward A. Jeffries Award for out-standing commitment to Warminster Township in the provision of leisure services to the community.Brechmann is a member of the Warminster Amateur Radio Club. His duties there include helping the communications efforts at the annual air show. He became legally blind in 1975 due to a disease called retinitus pigmentosa. Shortly thereafter, he was forced to leave the corporate world, but has started a new life. Included in that is Elaine. She often spends time with George as he's talking with someone from out of town, out of state or out of country. For each state or country he speaks with, Brechmann gets a "QSL" card as proof of the connection. Conversely, Brechmann sends a card, complete with his call sign, the aforementioned N3HBT. The "N" stands for November, which is the prefix indicating United States. The "3" is the third call district, which includes Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia. "HBT" is Brechmann's suffix, and he says it stands for Half Baked Turkey. Elaine's is N3TMP (Too Much Pizza.) Of course, all of these radio days are not spent in front of an average transistor. Instead a large antenna winds its way past Brechmann's window. Also, there are countless feet of unseen wire that travels under Brechmann's floor out a crawl space and under the ground outside. All done by Brechmann, of course. "He's not your average blind person, whatever that means," Elaine said. Soon Brechmann was showing off both his communication acumen and his popularity, as Denise happily responded within seconds of Brechmann's call. "KB3ANO over," said Denise, from Warminster. "Hey George!" She's part of the Warminster club, too, Brechmann explained. Soon, he was off to the Caribbean, in search of someone from a rare island. Brechmann heard him, but was not recognized. The Caribbean caller was in touch with someone from Europe at the time. The doorbell rang, and the dogs exploded from the room, serving as a reminder that Brechmann was blind. It's easy to forget while listening to him talk about his hobby, his work, or his wife. And how the pair meet? Elaine and George answered in unison when asked the question. "Blind date." Published by the Public Spirit September 9, 1998