Eric Hendrickson W6HS
Co-Founder
Meet Eric "W6HS" Hendrickson. The Man Who Retired to Do Exactly What He Did Before - Eric "retired" from tech (those quotes are doing Olympic-level heavy lifting) to pursue his dream - playing with gadgets and writing about them. Wait, wasn't that already your job, Eric? This man can talk about radios "all day long" – and trust us, he will, whether you asked or not. He's the guy who gets genuinely excited about a $20 Amazon HT like he just discovered fire. "It can do PL tones!" Yes, Eric, so can the radio your grandfather used in 1987. His interests are "broad" and his curiosity "drags him all over the place" – mostly between his shack and the UPS driver delivering his next impulse purchase. After years of "working," Eric decided he needed a "more realistic creative outlet." Because apparently reviewing radios while getting paid wasn't realistic enough. Now he reviews radios while... getting paid differently? Living the dream, one firmware update at a time. 73, you magnificent radio nerd.
Robert Ewing N6MRO
Co-Founder
Robert Ewing (N6MRO) - The Mesh Ninja with a Shopping Problem. Perched atop his Santa Cruz mountain fortress like a radio-obsessed Rapunzel, Robert Ewing surveys Silicon Valley with dreams of blanketing it in mesh nodes—one stealth installation at a time. As cofounder of 73 Mesh, Robert has elevated "unauthorized deployment" to an art form, sneaking repeaters into secure facilities with the grace of a cat burglar, if that cat burglar was wearing a high-vis vest and carrying a 40-pound battery pack. Robert's tower may reach toward the heavens, but his spending habits are kept firmly earthbound by the iron fist of matrimonial economics - the dreaded "dollar-for-dollar rule." Buy a $500 radio? Congratulations, you just funded a spa day. Another mesh node? That's a new handbag, buddy. His XYL has inadvertently become the best-dressed woman in the amateur radio community. When he's not being used as a jungle gym by his two daughters (who've discovered that Dad makes excellent climbing practice), Robert can be found whispering sweet nothings to antennas and explaining to confused facility managers why there's suddenly a mysterious box humming above their server room. Callsign - N6MRO. Translation - Never 6 Months without a Radio Order
Sal Mancuso W6SAL
Co-Founder
Sal Mancuso (W6SAL) - Meet Sal, 73 Mesh cofounder and professional garage hermit. While his jet-setting wife explores the world, Sal's living his best life hiding in his shack, tinkering with radios and pretending the kids' screams are just RF interference. This bald, bearded paisano somehow convinced a woman to marry him, though she quickly learned to handle all financial decisions after the Great Credit Card Points Incident of 2025. "But honey, I needed that radio!" has become his battle cry—one he's long since lost. When not being aggressively ignored by his oversized, intellectually-challenged dog, Sal can be found defying OSHA regulations atop wobbly ladders perched a top barstools, leading scouts (who probably shouldn't follow his example), or sampling every craft beer within a 50-mile radius. His hobbies include motorcycling, camping, meat eating, sampling alcoholic beverages, and performing impressive fire pit gymnastics after said beverages. Dad by obligation, engineer by career, radio nerd by choice, OSHA's nightmare by habit—Sal's living proof that sometimes the wife should wear the pants.