Tribute to Our Deceased Partners, Chuck Wells and Bob Stewart
By Fred Daniel, Surviving Founding Partner


On site at Pleasants Peak in 2008 was business partners Fred Daniel, Chuck Wells and Bob Stewart


I first met Chuck Wells around 1966, when I started my own two-way radio business.  I heard of Chuck from a mutual friend "Dan the TV Man", who had a TV service shop in Pomona.  He said Chuck knows everything about two-way and runs a TV shop in Garden Grove. Back in the day, the money was in fixing TVs, but I loved radio, not TV.  Dan said Chuck could answer my burning question in a heartbeat, so we jumped in Dan's car and drove to Garden Grove.  We entered the front door of Chapman TV on Chapman Ave, and immediately walked out the back door and across the alley [as I recall] into a windowless 2 story building, filled with long work benches.  At the time, there were several technicians working on two-way radios and Dan introduced me to Chuck, and asked if he could answer my question.  Chuck immediately gave his full attention to Dan and I, and proceeded to give me a thorough & complete explanation.  I was amazed not only at Chuck's obvious broad knowledge, but his willingness to stop while doing a repair, and provide a complete stranger his best understanding. I cannot recall the actual question, but it was one that open the door to a more complete understanding of radio for me at the time. After all, I was just a punk kid of twenty something at the time.  Chuck then took the time to show me around his operation and explain how & why he arranged his work flow to be most productive.

Over the following years, I would occasionally call or come by Chuck's shop to seek his generous and well reasoned advise. Tube radios was the technology of the day and they often misbehaved and did unexpected things. Chuck always had a simple and well reasoned answer to every complex problem. Over the next three decades of the 70's, 80's, and 90's, I had the good fortune to also meet Bob Stewart, who worked for Chuck. As time passed, with hard work and loyalty  Bob became General Manager and partner with Chuck, in their two-way operation called Mobile UHF. Bob also inherited Chuck's generous willingness to share his observations and knowledge, so my friendship also grew with Bob, as it did for Chuck. During this time, I also continued in the two-way business with a ever growing sales, service, repeater, and site rental operation. During this growth period for both of our businesses, we continued to share knowledge of radio and business opportunities. 


Then around 1995, Sprint announced they had moved all their long-distance traffic off of their microwave network and onto their new fiber optic network. This opened the door for the sale of all of their microwave network assets. At the time, Chuck and Bob had a facility on Pleasants Peak, built in 1968 on leased land which ultimately was sold to Sprint as part of their microwave network buildout. Sprint and I opened negotiations to purchase all of their microwave facilities between Los Angeles and Phoenix, which included Pleasants Peak.  Deep into the negotiations, the Federal Aviation Administration horned in and requested to purchase these same facilities from Sprint. In the end, I allowed the FAA to proceed with their purchase unopposed, provided Sprint agree to sub-divide the 160 acre parcel at Pleasants Peak and sell me all except the 3 acres the Sprint facility was built on.

After some discussion with Bob and Chuck, we mutually agreed to jointly purchase this property in a new corporation called Pleasants Peak Facility Corp. in 1997.  In the more than two decades that have followed, Chuck's wisdom and Bob's hard work has gone a long way to making this property a successful investment for all concerned and providing a quality, noise free site for repeaters, base stations, LPTV, LPFM, microwave and other shared electronic uses.  

Chuck was born on July 13, 1925 and passed away August 9, 2016, after a trip & fall at home.  Bob was born on September 7, 1951 and passed away March 4, 2018, from an apparent heart attack.  Both men were well respected in their field, and will be sorely missed.  Both gentlemen set the standard for cooperation in the two-way community on the Los Angeles area, over the past 50 years.  The families of both men continue to participate in the ownership of the facility.           




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