Ric Jung

Director of Engineering

KHCC was only five months old in the fall of 1979 when I joined the staff. It's been quite challenging through the years constructing the Radio Kansas network.

Raised in South Dakota and Wisconsin, I was fortunate to befriend in my high school years a ham radio operator whose elegant hand-crafted radio equipment went back to the 1940's or earlier. This electronic gear, with glowing tubes and dozens of adjustments, sparked my career interest in radio. So I attended Moody Bible Institute in downtown Chicago obtaining a 4-year degree in Missionary Radio Technology. As a part of this, we studied broadcast equipment and high-powered short wave transmitters. Immediately following graduation in 1977, I moved to Newton to work at the Anderson stations including KJRG and KOEZ. It was there that heard KHCC's first transmissions.

I had always listened to Classical Music in my youth. Between Wisconsin Public Radio's classical offerings and the family's LP records, I had plenty to enjoy. After moving to Chicago, WFMT provided the world's finest music for me. At the time this station was also the epitome of high quality broadcasting. So when Dave Horning asked me to join this brand new classical music station in Hutchinson, I was fascinated.

A few years after joining KHCC, 1983/84, I had the opportunity to fully design our current studios and then build them. 1986 brought the two-year job of building KHCD. This involved system design, all FCC work, finding property, purchasing a tower and all the electronic equipment and finally installing it all. 1992 brought the KHCT station project built after the design of KHCD. HD Radio arrived in 2006 which required significant installations at all of the transmitter sites and full upgrades to the network microwave system. In 2007/08 I supervised the purchase and construction of the new 1300' KHCC tower and moved all transmission equipment to the new site.

In 1994 I completed a Masters of Science in Management at Friends University. This led to starting a Web business with my wife which she still runs today.

Interests are plentiful for me. Since high school I've studied the prototypes and modeled Colorado narrow gauge railroads in HOn3. I have a particular interest in collecting brass locomotives and rail cars. In 2008 I extended my railroad interest to train crew work running trains at the Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad and joining the Friends of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad in Chama, New Mexico. You might say I'm magnetized to cinders, coal smoke, steam and hot valve oil. I also enjoy music very much playing at several instruments and leading my church worship teams. Above all, pursuing my faith in Jesus Christ and serving people through my church are my highest interests.

I have a wonderful wife, Sandra, and three young adult children. The oldest is working China, the middle married to a Pastor and serving in Plevna and the youngest still at school in Chicago. Alas, none are interested in radio or trains.