Pete earned his Novice ticket in 1977 and with it the call sign WB1BUP. He and his wife welcomed the first of their three children in 1983, shortly after Pete upgraded to an Advanced-class license. The demands of a growing family, as well as an expanding career in journalism, put ham radio on the back burner until 2005. Pete's interests focus on QRP operation, including portable activities such as Summits on the Air and various QRP field contests, and antennas. He enjoys kit-building and is active in several amateur-radio organizations. He is a life member of the American Radio Relay League, serves on the board of the Straight Key Century Club, has been active in the QRP Club of New England, and is a member of the Estancia Valley Amateur Radio Association. In addition, he is a trained Skywarn observer.

In March 2016, Pete retired from the Christian Science Monitor in Boston, where he held a variety of writing, editing, and management positions during a nearly 40-year career there. During his final 22 years at The Monitor, Pete served as a science reporter, during which he was selected for a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachuetts Institute of Technology, won a national science writing award from the American Association for the Advancment of Science, and in 2014 was elected an AAAS Fellow. Pete and his wife moved to New Mexico in September 2016. Since then, he has been appointed public-information coordinator for the ARRL's New Mexico Section and is a Duke City Hamfest board member.