Mark Beckwith, N5OT, grew up in Southern California, with amateur radio's most famous television producer, Dave Bell, W6AQ, who was his amateur radio mentor in the 1970s. Dave opened a lot of doors to Mark, allowing Mark to build up his contesting and DX on-the-air skills. Mark was a professional opera singer for over 30 years, leading to some interesting conversation both on and off the QSO Today microphone. N5OT is my QSO Today.