Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio

The very popular New England QSO Party will take place May 4-5, 2024. NEQP founder, and well-known ham radio operator, Tom Frenaye K1Ki joined me for a conversation about this year's event.  Did you know that of the four largest state QSO parties - California (CQP), Florida (FQP), the 7th Call Area (7QP), and NEQP - that Tom K1KI, was instrumental in founding two of them? While in high school, Tom...

As anticipated, my conversation with Kyle Krieg AA0Z in which he made the case for change in the world of contests has stirred up considerable debate. The online world responded with a spectrum of viewpoints, some in favor of Kyle's insights, while others questioned his knowledge of the facts. To dig deeper, I engaged with the Contest Crew, a group of seasoned contesters and former contest organiz...

Have you dreamt about operating from the Caribbean and being the DX? Dr. Bill Schmidt K9HZ has not only created a radio paradise for himself on the island of St. Lucia but his villa and amateur radio station are available for rent. If you're intrigued, listen to Bill talk about how he and his wife settled upon St. Lucia for their retirement home and how a simple ham radio setup eventually became t...

The Contest Crew was busy during the recent CQ WPX SSB contest. Chris KL9A brought together a multi-single team from his Montana station KM7W. Dan N6MJ was single op from ND7K in Arizona. And Randy K5ZD was part of the V47T multi-single team on St. Kitts.  You can skip the 3830scores.com comments and listen directly to the Crew talk about WPX in this episode. Since Chris was off doing a post conte...

James Gallo works tirelessly for ham radio. He seems to effortlessly, and simultaneously, support DXpeditions, Parks on the Air, and Special Events while also championing individual ham radio operators around the world. So, I wasn't surprised when James called to tell me about his recent efforts to create an international Special Event station (W2A is the American callsign) to support Autism Aware...

Christopher Hurlbut KL9A has plans to get off the contest "travel circuit" and focus on his own contest station, the "Ranch" in remote Montana.  In this eighth episode of the Contest Crew, Chris talks about his plans for the Ranch while crew members Scott Wright K0MD and Daniel Craig N6MJ add commentary about their own stations as well as Dan's contest station go-to, ND7K.  You'll hear the decisio...

Kyle Krieg AA0Z has made it clear how he feels about contests. He loves the idea of them, competes in them, and firmly believes that they need to change. And, he's not quiet about his views. You've probably heard him in online forums, on social media, and on his own YouTube channel. When I started the Contest Crew series, unsurprisingly, Kyle emerged as a loyal viewer and a persistent reminder of...

To understand world-class radiosport contester Filipe Lopes, CT1ILT, you need only look toward his father, Jose, CT1CJJ. Jose was the role model that showed young Filipe the joy of morse code, the thrill (and preparation) of IOTA DXpeditions, the value of hard work in building a station and, most importantly, the camaraderie that comes with close ham radio friends. Filipe is now contributing his o...

After one of our past Contest Crew conversations, Doug Grant K1DG, fired off an email reminding me that there are resources available to contesters - a book that he wrote (and that the ARRL publishes), and Contest University. So, I asked him to come on the show to talk about those resources. Doug is a worthy contest educator given his participation in 5 World Radiosport Team Championships (he meda...

Episode 3 brought the entire Contest Crew together from their far-flung corners of the United States: Scott K0MD from Minnesota, Randy K5ZD from Massachusetts, Dan N6MJ from California and Chris from Montana. The conversation focused on plans for the upcoming ARRL DX CW contest as well as tips to stay motivated, the art of multiplier moving, station rivalries, multi-op vs single-op, WRTC qualifyin...

A handful of top-notch ham radio contesters have agreed to join me on a regular basis to talk about their contest experiences and best practices. In this inaugural gathering of the "CQ Contest Crew," Chris Hurlbutt KL9A and Randy Thompson K5ZD  participate in a discussion about the recent North American QSO Party, Chris' experience with overcoming challenges at N9RV's contest station, and some sag...

Kevin Stockton N5DX is the unofficial winner of the 2024 ARRL DX CW in the Single Operator All Band High Power category. Like other US contesters at his level (N6MJ, KL9A), Kevin came from a ham radio family and began contesting under the tutelage of his father, Stan K5GO. Over a decade in the early 2000's, he participated in many K5GO multi-op efforts picking ups skills from his dad and his dad's...

Propagation was outstanding during the second weekend in February 2024 and, by all accounts, the ARRL DX CW contest was one for the record books. Dan Craig N6MJ was operating SOAB HP from the ND7K superstation, Randy Thompson K5ZD was also competing in the SOAB HP category from his impressive station in Massachusetts, and Chris Hurlbut KL9A was on the 15 meter desk at perennial Multi-Multi winner...

Marty Sullaway, NN1C, gives me hope that the amateur radio hobby will endure long into the future. He is technically savvy, operationally sound, and willing to commit the hours needed to be extraordinary. At a very young age, he’s already attained an envious level of proficiency. Marty joined me to talk about contesting in general and the recent ARRL 10 Meter contest specifically.  For that contes...

Veteran Ham Radio operator and contester, Fred Dennin WW4LL, explains the planning, strategy and execution behind his very successful (winning) ARRl 10 Meter contest entry.  Fred explains that despite a last minute change in operating stations, moving to low power, and antenna issues, good planning and skills was able to overcome those obstacles. His team, operating remotely as PJ4LL from Bonaire,...

Jeff Pulver, WA2BOT, agreed to talk to me about his experience operating a remote super station in the 2022 ARRL SSB Sweepstakes. Not only did I get interesting insight into ham radio contesting, and the Sweepstakes specifically, but I also heard a fascinating story about how ham radio opened up an amazing, unimaginable, world of success for Jeff.  Join our conversation to hear exactly how a 9-yea...

If you're interested in where the next wave of ham radio operators will come from, you need to meet Vicki Carnes, AD3I. Vicki is known as the "spark plug" in her local club, the York County Amateur Radio Society, and nowhere is this more true than in her work with the youth of South Carolina. Whether a chance encounter with a Cub Scout troop while on a Parks on the Air activation, developing a for...

Eric Olson, KD9TEZ (now KH6WI), is on active duty for the United States Navy in Hawaii. With 13 years of military comms experience, and the desire to add an engaging pastime to his schedule, becoming a licensed amateur radio operator was a natural. Given strict restrictions to operating from his home QTH, Eric immersed himself in Parks on the Air. This was fortuitous for all of us who needed a par...

John Gendron, NJ4Z, recently returned from a 7-day DX Parks on the Air activation at K-0066 Virgin Islands National Park, St. John, USVI. John also operated with his club callsign, KP2/K4YTZ, while putting over 2300 contacts in the log. In this interview, John talks about the impetus to activate St. John, the preparation involved, the gear he chose to take on the plane, and the lessons he learned...

Iliyas Campbell, MM0MMN, has been traveling Scotland to activate parks, many for the first time, for Parks on the Air hunters everywhere. The photos and videos that he takes along the way are stunning and another reminder of why many ham radio operators enjoy operating portably. Iliyas talks about specific activation locations, the gear that he takes along, and how he operates from his home near G...

Curtis Turner, KB3CMT, first responded to a Parks on the Air activator, KB3WAV, in 2018. After learning more about the program by listening, observing and making contacts with activators (hunting in Parks on the Air parlance), Curtis eventually made a decision to go to a POTA approved park, setup a portable ham radio station, and make the 10 QSO minimum required to have an official POTA activation...

Bob Farquharson has 543 Parks on the Air activations placing him 43rd worldwide (at the time of this interview) on the all-time top activator’s list. He is also one of only six amateur radio operators recognized with the Bailey-Sprott award for those few activators that have activated a park every day in 2022. In addition to POTA, Bob is passionate about Summits on the Air (SOTA). In this conversa...

Jim Cruz is currently at the top of the Parks on the Air leaderboard for number of unique parks activated in 2022. Jim has activated a mind-boggling 633 unique parks this year with two more months to go. When I saw his callsign on the POTA website with his associated statistics, I knew Jim's insight would be invaluable for my own POTA journey. Like POTA founder and president, Jason Johnston, W3AAX...

Jason Johnston is the founder and president of the wildly successful Parks on the Air (POTA) program. With over 325,000 participants since the program’s inception in 2017, Parks on the Air, and it’s underlying principles, clearly resonates deeply within the ham radio community. Parks on the Air encourages amateur radio operators to develop the expertise to operate portably while visiting qualifyin...