RF & Radar Associates, LLC is helping to design and maintain weather radar networks and RF circuitry from the Plano, Texas area for academic research facilities. We sat down with owner David Giba to learn more about why he started his business and his experience using CoverWallet.
The RF part of my business stands for radio frequency. We can design and maintain all types of RF circuits for our clients based on their needs. A big focus of our business is in weather radar, we specialize in providing those systems to academic institutions where they can study and analyze different storm systems.
I worked in the RF industry for about 27 years and in the radar industry for about 23, specializing in legacy radar, which is an older type of radar but is still used in some places today. I was working for the FAA on all their radar systems from ASR-9/Mode-S air surveillance radar to TDWR weather radar and surface radar using TDOA radio detection systems reinforcing a frequency hopping spread spectrum configuration.
I was contacted by the professors of the Atmospheric Research Center at Texas A&M to install a new coaxial magnetron output amplifier*. We decided that after the installation I would sign a long -term contract, which required me to be a vendor/contractor. Since I love radar work I made the decision to try it as a business.
It’s definitely been a life-long passion. When I was little, I was fascinated by the weather radar I saw the local weatherman use on the news. I actually never went to school for this, I’m completely self-taught! When I was a kid, I got myself a ham radio and built my own radio station so I could talk to people around the world, but it was mainly a lot of trial and error.
The weather radar systems that I help build and maintain allow researchers not only to track storms, like tornadoes, but also allow them to warn communities ahead of weather events so they can stay safe. The data from the systems then helps researchers get a deeper knowledge of how these storms work, how they form, and how they’re able to cause so much damage. That information then gets shared with the National Weather Service.
Do the best job that you can. Even if you have to do work for free, that's ok because it gets your name out there. I would also say that you have to be very knowledgeable about what you do.
At first, I couldn't get insurance anywhere because it’s very hard to describe what I do. A friend of mine actually mentioned you guys. CoverWallet was able to understand my industry needs better than anyone else and got me the proper coverage. I was able to get a quote very quickly, it was great.
You can find RF & Radar Associates LLC on West Park Boulevard in Plano, Texas and you can check out their website here.
*Editor’s note: for those unfamiliar, an output amplifier is a tool used to increase the amplitude of the voltage output of a generator and control it at a specific level.