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History Happens: WB4FFV Bio
de Gary, K4EXT (May 2012)

On 25 October 1982 he worked Dale, WB9YCO/mobile in Outagamie County, Wisconsin for #1. On 19 March 2012 he worked Ron, KB6UF/mobile in Limestone County, Alabama for #3077. Over those nearly thirty years, Ralph Wiley, WB4FFV worked a lot of counties as well as passed out a lot of counties.
Ralph drove his own 18-wheeler (aka, Big Rig to County Hunters) hauling meat and produce. He generally ran from the Midwest to the West coast and back. He also ran into upstate New York and into Boston on a few occasions, as well as into the Southeast (NC, SC, AL, MS, and LA). He racked up between 140,000 to 160,000 miles per year until 2001, then cut back to 120,000 miles per year. Ralph finally got off of the road in December 2007 saying proudly "I did it with no accidents and no tickets."
Ralph's transmitted county total includes all 99 counties in Iowa, all 105 in Kansas, all 66 in South Dakota, and all 23 in Wyoming. Many folks benefited from Ralph's Big Rig travels ... helping Ralph finish up became a priority for County Hunters. In recent months, trips by N4AAT, N4CD, KB6UF, and KBØBA/NØXYL made it possible for Ralph to git-er-done!
On 13 April 2012 (aka, Friday the 13th) Ralph Wiley, WB4FFV received USA-CA number 1225 from CQ Magazine. Ralph commented "I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that gave me a new county ... they were as important as the last county."