About myself

Who I am? Well, as most may already know, my name is Hans Utne, a Norwegian, born in 1948, and a retired Royal Navy Officer as of 2006.

My ancestors came from Lofthus, or Ullensvang, in Hardanger (West Norway), a place I often visited as a child. But, I grew up in the city of Bergen on the West coast of Norway.

I joined the Royal Navy in spring of 1968 for my national military service. As things turned out, I signed a 3 year contract, obtained a Royal Navy Communications education, and a Merchant Navy Radio Officer’s certificate.

The plan at the time was to end my Navy career following the contract-period and head out to the seven seas, but that never happened. Instead, I stayed on, and worked my way through the required courses and ranks, ending up as an Officer.

Besides sea-duty, most of my career has been ashore, of which more than 14 years were spent in the Stavanger region.

Summer of 1996 I was assigned a three year NATO tour to Keflavik, Iceland, giving us an opportunity to get abroad and explore this beautiful country. Following these three years, in August 99, we returned to Norway, settling down just outside the capital Oslo. This time working for the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization (NDLO/CIS), previously known as NODECA.

In 2002 we were extremenly pleased to yet again return to Iceland, now for our second tour, something we were really looking forward to! The plan was for another three years, but in 2004 we got an extension of one extra year. However, this adventure came to an end in August 2006 when the base closed, and we headed back to Norway.

We finally had to settle down somewhere where we should stay for the rest of our lives. As a result, we ended up in an area about 35km south of Stavanger city, in a local community called Naerbo, on the south-west coast of Norway. After 7 months of “survival training”, living in minimal temporary quarters (only 120 sq ft total), our new house was ready for us in February 2007, and we could finally move in.

At end of August 2008 it was time for me to retire from active duty in the military after 40 years of service, and we could finally look forward to having more spare time on our hands, theoratically, that was.


Amateur Radio

A few milestones:

  • Obtained my amateur license (LA6IM) in May 1969
  • Chairman of LA1B Bergen Group of NRRL (1979 – 1980)
  • Chairman of LA Packet Radio Group (LAPRG) (1994-1995)
  • Established a national webpage for APRS in 2005/2006
  • NRRL Digital Network Manager (2007 – 2010)
  • NRRL Digital Manager (2010 – 2012)
  • NRRL VHF Manager, and NRRL’s C5 representative to IARU Region 1 and NRAU (2016 – 2021)
  • Acting NRRL Repeater Manager (2018 – 2020)
  • Vice chairman of LA1J Jaeren Group of NRRL (2019-2021)
  • Deputy Emcomm manager LA1J Jaeren Group of NRRL

Family

I got married back in 1976, when living in Bergen, to my wife Eli. We have two children, our daughter Eirin, and our son Ørjan, both now living within 30 minute drive from us.

Between 1980 and 1986 we moved a few times between Bergen and Stavanger, before settling in Stavanger. When we left for Iceland in 1996, Ørjan stayed behind to complete his education as a Cook, and to undergo his national military service, also in the Navy. In November 2002 he joined us in Iceland, staying with us for a while, before returning to Norway in spring of 2003, due to lack of suitable job oportunities. Summer of 2007 Ørjan married Karin, and in late August 2008 our first granddaughter Malin was born, followed by her sister Tuva in October 2009.

And finally -, in August 2016, our daughter Eirin gave birth to our third granddaughter, Mirabel Sophie, so now we are blessed with three granddaughters 🙂

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