Frank Gates Background

Frank Gates The WordCutter

Hi, I'm Frank Gates! 

Welcome to my background page. I spent four years in the US Army in electronics. In and out of college, graduated from DeVry Institute (Telecommunications) and ended up working for a brand-new cable TV company in L.A. named Theta Cable.

Hugh Hefner's Video Tech

As a cable TV tech, working in the Beverly Hills/Bel Air area, Hugh Hefner hired me as his video tech working in his mansion. I was in technical heaven playing with all the latest audio/video technology.

Comcast Dir of Engineering

Back into cable TV and I spent several years building new coax systems in LA and the San Fernando Valley. I was Comcast’s first West Coast Director of Engineering and as fiber optic technology started to emerge, I was right in the middle of designing and constructing the first fiber/coax networks on the west coast.

Gates Engineering

In 1988 I started Gates Engineering doing contract design and engineering for cable companies. I loved it but during the fourth year (1992) the economy slowed down and capital dollars for new construction dried up and I shut down the business and went back into cable TV.

CAD (Computer-Aided Design)

In 1993 as Times Mirror's Director of Design, I headed up the Cable TV industry's entry to the world of CAD and created the first CAD Layering scheme for the industry.

Fiber Networks

For the next 10 years, I engineered and constructed new fiber/coax networks from one telecommunications company to another in most of the large cities in North America and Australia.

After 9/11, capital for new fiber network construction stopped overnight and the need for people with my skills stopped with it.

Technical Writer (The WordCutter)

I reinvented myself as a technical writer. I wrote repair procedures for HP, and software instructions for casino machines, avionics hardware manufacturing documents including Test Plans, Quality ISO 10007 & AS9100, MIL-STD, CDRL/SDRLs for a government avionics contractor in northern California.

Today

Today I am semi-retired, hugging my wife, riding my motorcycle, some contract writing, doing some website stuff, walking the dog, and enjoying my life. I hope you enjoy my site.