Dana Atchley was a specialist in communications technology, amateur radio ham, and President of Microwave Associates, Inc., a company with expertise in building sophisticated electronics equipment. Upon hearing of preparations for Project Ozma, as a result of Otto Struve's publicity for Drake's work, Atchley donated one of the world's first parametric amplifiers to the project. He was also an attendee at the seminal Green Bank conference on SETI in 1961.