They say that nothing is impossible however, achieving DXCC on the VHF or Lower HF bands is very difficult indeed. 160M DXCC is very rare in New Zealand. In 2009, Jim Robertson, ZL2JR hung his 160M DXCC up on the wall with a 131 entity total. I had the pleasure of looking through Jim’s cards a few years ago and some of them are difficult to work on 20M let alone actually working them on 160M. Jim had a passion for radio as far back as the early 1930s. As a schoolboy he constructed a crystal set and then used the old family radio used to listen to the shortwave stations around the world.  Jim arrived home one day after school one day 1935 and heard two stations in Bolivia  and LR5  LR6  LR7 in the Argentine. The local DX club said it couldn’t be done. Later he received a magnificent large certificate from  LR5  which proved them wrong.

Eventually Jim entered the world of amateur radio and passed his examinations in August 1939 just before the Second World War started. Callsigns and Registrations were not being at that time as amateurs throughout the world were not allowed to operate in wartime.  He was “called up” a month later at age 18 and was assigned to the radio section at RNZAF. When the war was over Jim was registered as ZL4DC in Dunedin 1946. During the past 50 plus years he has been, ZL3PK in Christchurch 1969, ZL2ANR in Wellington (Plimmerton) 1974 and was offered ZL2JR by the local retiring Radio Inspector in the mid 1980s if he paid the $10.00 registration. Jim is well known around the world for his booming signal which is due in part to his superb location on top of the Plimmerton Hill with 360 degree views and no obstructions. He was a frequent participant in the Stew Perry “Top Band” contest giving rare ZL 160M contacts to participants on both SSB and CW.

It takes years of dedication and sore ears to finally get that elusive 100^th card. Greg, ZL3IX is the only other recipient of the award on the current DXCC list with over 150 countries confirmed. It is rumoured that Roy ZL4BO has over 200 confirmed on 160M and the late Peter Watson, ZL3GQ certainly achieved that milestone with DXCC on all nine bands. Perhaps there are others that I am not aware of. At the other end of the scale a VHF DXCC is perhaps even more difficult especially from ZL at the bottom of the world. Bob ZL3TY has earned a VHF 2M/6M DXCC with some moonbounce thrown into the mix. Bob Sutton ZL1RS has been working moonbounce for years on the VHF bands and is probably close to the 100 mark. Chris ZL2DX has been working 2M moonbounce for a few years and is up around the 65 country level using WJST software. I fully believe that there will be a 2M DXCC issued to a ZL sometime in the next few years

Written for Break-In in 2009 by Lee ZL2AL

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There will be many amateurs around the World that have ZL4 “Blue Ocean” in their log books on as many as 5 bands as well. Roy is one of the renowned DXers of New Zealand. Vernon Roy Jackson was born during WW1. Educated in Southland, he joined the RNZAF in 1941 and trained as a pilot at Taeiri airfield near Dunedin. Roy was mentioned in dispatches for his numerous sorties in C47 (Douglas DC3) aircraft in Southeast Asia.

Roy writes,

“I was making an approach to an airfield we called Aberdeen behind the enemy lines in Burma when a jap night fighter took out the port engine and other bits and pieces. Fortunately I was able to put the old girl on the ground with only casualty being a broken wrist on one of the army boys on board. We stripped the aircraft of all the valuable bits and left it there. Nobody ever said anything about the loss of that aircraft!”

He did more than 700 sorties in SE. Asia during the war in DC3 unarmed transports. Flying Officer Jackson was discharged from the RNZAF May 1945.

Roy started collecting “countries” when amateurs were allowed back on the air and made many contacts on the bands 80/40/20/15/10m. His “deleted entity” total is 40, one of the highest in the World. Many ZL hams joined Roy on 80m, or 40m at grayline to enjoy working into Africa on the low bands and many can thank Roy for his kindness and assistance on these nets. Val and Roy retired from his building business and life style block and moved into Invercargill. Roy still had access to DX with his holiday home shack in Alexandra, with the TH6, and various dipoles strung in the trees.

In 2002 Roy took ill and most thought that he would not recover. His family had a premature clean out of his effects and when Roy recovered he found 60,000 QSL cards and 100 logs books had been dumped! Fortunately, his records of the awards 5BDXCC, 5BWAZ had been retained, including his last 4 log books. Help came from ZL3JT and Roy was able to get the last cards he needed for “Top of the DXCC Honour Roll” in 2003. The last entity he confirmed was VP6DIA Ducie Island. Roy could be heard every now and then from Alexandra, DXing as always, with a pile up on 40m! The last entity Roy worked was YV0D Aves Island in August 2004. Roy had finally confirmed all 335 entities on the current DXCC list for DXCC No1 Honour Roll.

His individual band confirmations tell the story: 80m 274, 40m 323 , 20m 331, 15m 323, 10m 294. Mixed , but mostly phone. On CW Roy writes, “I could probably rake up 100 entities in CW from my escapades in the BERU contests alone, I won it a few times, but I never kept a count. Without my logbooks I couldn’t possibly work it out!” Roy was well known as a net controller on the ANZA net on 15m. The longest running net in the World initiated by the late Percy Anderson VK4CPA. Roy always delighted in working Africa… “ They were the hardest to work!”

73, Roy ZL4BO

 

From Derek ZL1BOQ
Let me tell you what a guy Roy was. Back in 1980, we decided to go for the 40m leg of WAZ, as we both liked 40m best. We co-operated with each other of course. When we both need zones 2 and 34 to wrap it up, Roy rang me late one night, when I was in bed to say he had VO2CW waiting for me !! I got up and worked it. We both needed just the one more. At 1605Z, or five past four in the morning, I worked DF3NZ/ST2, in the Sudan, and promptly rang Roy, who also worked it. I told Roy to send his card up to me, and I would get the QSLs. A couple of weeks later they arrived. I rang Roy to tell, and I said jokingly. “I will send you yours next week, while send off my application now” I forget the exact words but it went like this.”You Bastard!!”.I told Roy that I would toss a coin, and if he won the toss, I would hold off sending mine away for a week. He did win the toss, and Roy got award #9 and I got #10. After that we went on to complete the 5BWAZ together, helping each other. Roy went on holiday overseas, and on his way home stopped in LA. I got a parcel from Henry Radio containing two 572B linear tubes!!! That is the sort of Guy he is.

ps. I also rang ZL3GQ when zone 36 was on 80m, which helped him finish first.

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Looking back through QSLs and logbooks, the years 1976 – 1980 were some of my best years for collecting countries.  Amongst these were some rare Africans picked up through advice from the Friday evening DX Group on 80 metres run by Ivor ZL1AGO and Art ZL2HE.  Also of great assistance was the ANZA net for information and the odd rare African station on the net like ZS8MI Marion Is etc.  The Pacific DX net, Caribbean net, VK9NS 220 net and Arabian Knights nets helped too.  No internet then! By 1980 I had collected about 280 countries and it was slow from then on, relying mostly on Dxpeditions.  A good burst of about 7 countries in 2002 helped the score.  This was during a good season of DXpeditions like C9 and was while I had a beam up in the air.  The tribander had odd use over the years in temporary short-term situations but was finally up on a tower in 2002 until the neighbours complained to the City Council who found that it did not comply with the new District plan.  The elements rotated through ‘disallowed’ space which was still over 3 metres on my side of the boundary.

The vast majority of QSOs were made over the years on wire antennae – mainly dipoles with an 80 metre dipole filling in on the bands that I didn’t have a dipole for. At times there were top reports of 40 over 9 and other times it was a matter of waiting until the end of the pileup!

Like many I have a QSL for Romeo’s P5RS7 North Korea which is useless. But there are good QSLs for all but 1 of the current entities and some deleted ones like 8Z4 Neutral Zone, Canal Zone, the HK0s and a few others.

My first contact with ham radio was hearing local blind ham Tom Taylor ZL2GP over riding the local broadcast station (only 2YZ on am in those days) on my crystal set. From this set I progressed to the famous Lamphouse Hikers One set which used a 1Q5GT octal valve with 45 volt B battery plus filament battery. On that set I was able to tune the broadcast band and after some experimenting, the shortwave bands too. Soon I found that the Hikers 1 and Hikers 2 being regenerative made good transmitters which could reach a friend down the street. I did quite a bit of broadcast band and shortwave listening and QSLing broadcast stations during this time.

I joined the local radio club in Napier at age 15 while still at school and finally passed the amateur exam late in 1958 gaining the callsign ZL2AHC in January 1959. I spent the first year on 80 metre CW using a borrowed rig and then went through a series of modified finals on a ZC1. This was followed by a homebrew Geloso VFO with 807 final using various forms of modulation. There was also much experimentation with 19 sets. Best DX in these early days on 80 metres was VK6.

My first field day was 1956 and I have been in most since, having missed a few in the 1960s. The early days were with Ron Morgan ZL2GQ and the Napier Branch and I later teamed up with Ron in an unaffiliated team at Titahi Bay after transferring to Wellington in 1962. Immediately after one Field Day with lots of CW operating I went into see the radio inspector and passed the 15 wpm test to get onto the bands above 80 metres. After moving back to Napier in 1976 it was back into Field Day with the Napier group and over the years as the numbers fell, a hard core of Lee ZL2AL, John ZL2QM and Reid ZL2TXK remained as the nucleus of the team. We did well too and when I became manager of the event I took more of a back seat.

When I first moved to Wellington, I built a 2 metre converter and am transmitter to become active on 2 metres, having contacts, from there, Palmerston North during a short stay and Trentham plus Maungaraki in the Hutt Valley. Our Maungaraki location had a good lookout to the south and while there I obtained the VHF Worked All Districts certificate No. 72. It was however the first one issued for 2 metres WAD (the rest were on 6 metres and other bands). Later I converted the transmitter to 6 metres and had one contact with VK before becoming more interested in HF.

73, Stan ZL2ST

About Stan….
Stan is one of those quiet hard working individuals that you often find in the “back room” of ham radio. If there is a Committee, Office or Quango, Stan will put up his hand to help. Anywhere, anytime. It is the measure of the man that he has given so much time to our hobby that he didn’t have  time to apply for DXCC Honour Roll until a few years ago. After looking for and sorting all his cards he now has the Honour Roll “Wood on the Wall” and is only one entity away from having worked them all and No1 Honour Roll.

You get to know your mates when you work with them in the Jock White contest. It’s been over 25 years that we have operated together. It is my privelage to call Stan a good mate, and great ambassador for our hobby.
Lee ZL2AL

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It was all my science teacher’s fault! In 1951 during a science class he demonstrated the magic art of crystal set making. I went home and set about building one for myself. The coil was on a toilet roll tube, the chassis was a wooden box, wires were twisted together and to my amazement it worked. There was no going back. My upstairs bedroom was transformed into a junk shop and my mother was transformed into a nervous wreck. Things got worse. While erecting an antenna, I managed to give the neighbours a fright after getting stuck in the top of the old elm tree at the end of the garden. Next day they had another fright when I climbed onto the house roof to attach the other end of my new antenna wire to the chimney. My mother let out the spare room of her house to supplement her income. One young lady lodger who worked at GCHQ spoke Russian and possessed a Hallicrafters SX28 complete with headphones. She used to let me listen in and introduced me to a whole new world of exotic sounds and voices.

I still had time to build one and two tube radios which never worked particularly well and which produced clouds of smoke from time to time. Mum managed to get me an interview with GCHQ and I started out as a Scientific Assistant. They had me building and testing all sorts of electronic stuff, all tubes of course, I think the biggest project was a 19 inch panel with about 40 tubes on it. Anyone who has built anything with 4 tubes knows how it felt wiring up 40 let alone laying it all out and then drilling all the holes! Naturally I had no idea of what I was doing, but I did learn to build things which did not smoke. I saved enough money to buy an R1155 aircraft receiver to do some serious listening with my own gear.

National Service came along and much to my surprise I was drafted into radar installation. I spent some leisure time (when not at the local) in the ham radio shack on the camp and made a resolve to obtain my ham ticket when I got out of the service. After demob, it was almost ten years before I was able to really get moving again, Married by this time with four young harmonics in the house, my pay as a radio / TV serviceman never being enough I made some pocket money restoring AR88’s for a local Government Surplus Store, and incidentally acquiring enough spares to build one of my own.

I was able to listen to the world better than ever before: I recall hearing quite a number of ZL and VK amateurs while having breakfast. Studying at LowestoftTechnicalCollege, I eventually passed the amateur exam but fate took a hand and we took the opportunity of building a new life here in New Zealand. I realised that I was entitled to apply for a NZ licence on the strength of my UKexam. So in Napier during 1976, it was along to Lew Sharman, ZL2IC for some Morse tuition. This was magic! I really enjoyed this and when the licence appeared in the mail box, I set out to do plenty of CW. The first rig was a KW Viceroy TX and a Drake SSR-1 receiver with an inverted Vee on the roof. I saved enough to buy a new TS930S I was a happy chappie!

NZART Branch 25 beckoned and I became involved in club activities. Field Days were enormous fun! Starting their ancient one cylinder generator was a challenge despite being taught to start generators in the RAF. Luckily Lew ZL2IC or Stan ZL2ST usually had some beer in the car as reward. A change in personal circumstances made a change of QTH necessary and more room on the edge of town made antenna erecting much easier, QRM became much less of a problem; TVI worries disappeared as well.

Two DXpeditions toChathamIslandwere a great experience and apart from the buzz of working pile up’s the local beer was brilliant too! After many years of good service TS 930S had to go, and was replaced by a FT1000 (Mighty machine). A change to NZART Branch 13 around this time also took place. Amateur radio has been and still is a great hobby, One never knows what is waiting out there in radio land – each day is different. Now retired and able to watch work taking place without feeling guilty. Smoke still comes out of homebrew projects – never mind – there is always something to learn. Other activities include digital photography, theatre audio and audio editing, both a challenge at times but always fun.

Peter Dingley ZL2LF

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The election of John Shaw, ZL1BYZ as the 8th inductee to the NZ DX Hall of Fame recognizes his extraordinary abilities as a contester and DXer. Licensed in 1983, John has proven to be a prolific contest operator with nearly 70% of his operations on CW. He usually places highly in major international contests and generates enormous pileups when he operates from his Pukekohe farm. John was a member of the ZL6QH contest group, ZL7T DXpedition, ZL6LH Light House team and a long time active member of the Papakura Radio Club. He has recently joined the ZM4T East Coast Contesters in Napier and joins us whenever he is able to get away from his farm.

He has won the Doug Gorman Frequency measuring contest and numerous Jock White Field Day contests. He was recently made a member of the ARRL A-1 Operators Club. John will be joining the ARRL DXCC Club soon with an initial entry of over 300 countries. He contributes much to the sport of Amateur Radio Contesting and DXing in New Zealand.

We wish John well in the future and hope that he will enjoy having the NZ DX HoF award plaque on his shack wall.

Regularly the source of a pile-up and works DX for DX…  not for John.

To 12^th December 2010, John has recorded over 26,000 QSO’s and worked DXCC on 30M, 20M, 17M, 15M, 12M and the race is on for the remainder of 2010 to move on from the 86 DXCC countries logged on 10M. A new computer router might cut down the noise on 40M for John and that band may also be added to his tally. Recently worked a CQ WW Contest … single band 15m… logged 2300 plus contacts and 112 plus DXCC countries in 36 operating hours.

10M Contest over the weekend 11~12/12/2010 heard ….  CQ CQ 5NN 516…. CQ 5NN 517…. CQ CQ 5NN 518…. CQ 5NN 519…. that’s John ZL1BYZ on CW during the contest. Not a pileup but just a steady flow of contacts from all over to world, finishing the contest with a total around 700 contacts for his 16 hours operating.

QSL cars are delivered to the Papakura Radio Club where John is a long standing member. Many of us collect up to 10 cards at a time…. John walks out to his car with his forearm full from elbow to finger tips and the remainder in his other hand…. cards are collected monthly!

Worked and won Doug Gorman Frequency Measuring Contest as competitor and as a team member of Papakura Radio Club for the branch award.

One of the ZL6LH International Lighthouse and Lightship weekend team since start in 1998.  Takes the bait of the on line log challenge of DXpeditions (like many of us!). Worked on JWMFD contests as team member, solo operator and been on top or towards the top of that section every time.

In considering equipment, John does so much research, if he bought it… so would I! This was the case with DX4Win and Writelog.

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My involvement in amateur radio is relatively recent, as I obtained my licence in September 1990. However, my interest and involvement in radio dates back to the 1920s. as a nipper, assisting my father who constructed our first radio, by blowing on the solder to assist its cooling. Our first radio I recall had plug in coils, The set was powered by a large dry battery. There was no electricity reticulation in our village,

My interest also involved constructing crystal sets. We got good reception as theLondontransmitters were only about 10 miles distant from where we were living. I developed into producing valve receivers and my piece-de-resistance was a three-valve short wave receiver that gave me a lot of satisfaction. the friendly guys at the local radio shop, let me browse through heaps of discarded components. Among the many QSL cards I received were one from the GE Company station inSchenectady,NYand another from the Australian station VK2ME with its unique kookaburra interval signal.

I went to sea at age 15 as a deck apprentice in Shell Company tankers. I used to spend a lot of my spare time at sea talking to the radio operator who was in constant touch with Portishead Radio wherever we were. A few months after I started my career, as a mariner, the war started and we were not allowed to operate receivers at sea, so could only listen when in port.

I came to New Zealandshortly after the war and served in several of the Union Company’s vessels. We trained in the Union Company’s own school and the instructor was Frank Graham. We trained to pass the 3^rd Class Morse operating certificate and the General phone certificate, for which P & T Radio Inspector Herb Cassie examined us. Morse was no problem as I had originally learned it in the Scouts and had used it extensively in visual signalling at sea. I only operated modern AWA equipment, although on some of the older vessels, they still had spark transmitters!

I eventually left the sea a few years after coming to New Zealand. My intention was that, when I eventually retired, I would take up amateur radio as a hobby. I started studying for the ham radio examinations in 1989 passed the theory examination with a reasonable percentage. I obtained a computer Morse training program and soon recovered my speed. They gave me the call ZL2AOH then and there. Throughout this time and ever since I was guided and supported by Trevor ZL2AKW.

We were in the process of moving house at this time, so I deferred going on the air until after we moved to our present apartment. I had to get special permission from the board managing the apartments to erect an antenna. The antenna is fed by approximately 30 metres of 300 ? high-grade twin core TV cable. The feeder enters the building down a ventilation shaft and enters the apartment through the window jamb in the toilet. The lead terminates in the small bedroom room that doubles as my shack. This antenna configuration works exceptionally well for DX in all directions.

For VHF and UHF radio I have two hand held transceivers, a dual band ICOM IC- W2E and a 2-metre Taiwanese clone of an IC-2 for packet radio, for which I have a magnet-based antenna on the roof fed by a coaxial lead. So working from my shack on the 12^th floor of an apartment block I achieved my DXCC mixed and CW in about four years. The next 100 countries are proving less achievable.  I spent one year in Japan while my wife was teaching there. I applied for a licence as soon as I arrived After a couple of months a licence was forthcoming and I was allocated the call sign 7J5AAN.

In the three months I was on the air in Japan I achieved 500 QSOs with 35 countries. While in Japan the local Sanuki Family Radio Club that befriended me and made sure that I could be involved in all of their activities. In Tokyo I also visited JARL HQ, the IARU Regional offices and the annual JARL ham fair. Also in Tokyo I naturally visited the famed Akihabara district that abounds with radio and electronics outlets. On a trip to Korea to renew Japanese visas, I met a few Korean operators and visited an area in Seoul, similar to Akihabara where I saw some brands of equipment never seen outside Korea.

Although I am not an enthusiastic contester, I occasionally join local club members in participating in field day and other contests and usually operate individually from home in the Sangster Shield Contest and Straight Key night. My preferred operation is CW Dxing and occasionally rag chewing with those who are prepared to stop and chat.

I am a member of the Wellington Amateur Radio Club, having originally joined as a non-transmitting member in 1988. I have held offices as secretary, newsletter editor and chairman. I am currently call sign trustee and QSL manager for the club call ZL2WB. I am involved with the NZART written examinations. I am a member of the Quartz Hill sub committee and am call sign trustee and QSL manager for ZL6QH and used to be bookings manager for the use of the site. I am a member of the FISTS Club of the International Morse Preservation Society and act as co-ordinator for the New Zealand and Australian Chapter of the club (FISTS Down Under). I promoted the formation of this chapter in 1988 when there were only four members in New Zealand and Australia. The present number is over 140 and it is growing slowly. This will indicate to readers that my preferred mode of operating is CW. It probably amounts to about 95% of my on-air time.

So, I have had some kind of involvement in radio over the years. Although I have achieved the status of a biological old timer, I still have a long way to go as a radio amateur to be eligible to join the Old Timers’ Club. I wonder if my old 3^rd Class WT certificate would qualify me?

73, Ralph ZL2AOH 18 August 2005

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Was born in the North of Scotland in 1936, where I was educated in a boarding school. Every Saturday morning we were required to join a “hobby group”. One could do photography, metal work, carpentry or radio. I opted for radio, why I don’t know. After making a crystal set, which worked well, we went on to make one or two valve receivers. I was rapt. Right next door to the school was a Royal Naval air station, at Lossiemouth. Once a week we got the opportunity to go there and learn morse code, and procedure, plus we we shown how to operate and use Number 18 portable radios. After leaving school, we were required to do two years national service. I opted for the Navy, but as I was only going to be there for 2 years, I was not allowed to be a telegraphist. Instead an ordinary seaman.

After that, I had to work, got married, had children, and there was no time or money to pursue the hobby, so I forgot it. I came to NZ in 1970, got instantly employed, with a company car and expense account, and found I had a little money over, so got back into tinkering with old radios. Then I became an SWL for three years, when a neighbour, who was a Amateur, suggested I go for my ham licence, which I did.Got my grade 3 licence in 1973, grade 2 in 1974, and grade 1 in 1975. With a grade 2 licence, I was confined to 80m and 160m. Had no room for 160m antenna, but I did for 80m. In that 12 months of 80m only activity, I ended up with 89 countries confirmed. Shortly after that the 100 came easy. 5 years later, I brought the 5 Band DXCC award back from a visit to ARRL HQ. Three years later, I had all 200 CQ zones confirmed. 5 Band WAS followed in 1990. Then I moved out of Auckland to my present QTH, with retirement in mind. Only a quarter acre, but room enough for modest size antennas. in 2003 I found my self on ARRL Honour Roll. Nowadays, I just like DXing the lower bands, 40 and 80m, and a total change of direction, I now play around with Echolink via the computer, and working DX repeaters, in Berlin, Florida and Perth, W.A. It is hardly Ham radio, but quite enjoyable.

Was first licensed in 1974 as a grade 2. This allowed me to go on 80m 160m and VHF. When I upgraded in 1975, I had almost 100 countries confirmed on 80m. This inspired me to go on and attempt 5 Band DXCC. On my 44th birthday, I personally handed over more than 500 cards to the ARRL in Newington, back in 1980. 5Band WAZ followed in 1982, and 5 Band WAS in 1990. After that I just settled down to working the low bands mainly, where I am to be found now. In 2003, much to my surprise, I found myself on the ARRL Honour Roll. My station uses very basic antennas. They are easy to get going and to maintain. On 80m an inverted vee at 50 feet, on 40m a ground mounted vertical, with no radials; also an inverted vee at 50 feet, and on HF I use a run of the mill tribander at 33 feet.

I live in rural N.Z., just 30 miles South West of Auckland, with my XYL and cat.

73, Derek ZL1BOQ

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Over 60 years ago I heard about Amateur Radio while attending the PN Boys’ High School where I met the late Phil Howell (ZL3 ?) then science master, who introduced a small group of keen young students to the hobby after school one afternoon a week in the science lab. It was around that time local hams were receiving their gear back and permission to operate after World War 2. I was particularly thrilled to hear them on my home built “Hiker’s Two” with plug-in coils for the short wave bands. Later to be replaced by a 4 valve TRF receiver.

After High School, a carpentry and joinery apprenticeship, motorcycling, cars and social activities took precedence and it was 1954 before I finally managed the Ham ticket on my second attempt, CW and the eventual HF permit followed as did the home construction of receivers and transmitters from original AM into the SSB era. Many hours were spent in construction and I guess the separate SSB receiver and homebrew filter transmitter was the greatest challenge. I worked over 200 DXCC countries with this equipment. It was 1975 before I picked up a trashed Drake TR3 and after a week was on the air with that which started a ‘love affair’ with Drake gear which I still use daily. I must acknowledge the helpful advice I got during the homebrew  AM years from the late Gary McDonell ZL2SO and in SSB from many groups who gathered  in the evenings in those early years on 80m to help one another.

Bitten by the incurable DX chasing disease, required better antennas, operating all hours just to accumulate piles of QSL’s and a few more awards on the wall.

After 28 years of carpentry and back trouble I went back to night school for advanced qualifications, which opened new job opportunities, became a building inspector for a short period then finished my working years as a Polytech lecturer in Construction for 19 years.

48 years ago I married my wife Jill we have four boys who are all married and working in different parts of the world.

I have always tried to keep the hobby in perspective and not let it interfere with the more important things in life, none of the family have really been interested in the hobby as such. I think they feel one is enough. All but the first 3 years of my life have been spent at the same address, here antenna erection has not been a problem but who can guess what is ahead in the next sun spot cycle.

In 2011 Bryan was awarded the NZ DX Hall of Fame Award for his lifetime DX achievements. In 2009 Bryan also became one of the very few ZLs who achieved ARRL DXCC No. 1 Honour Roll status when he finished working the last one on the list of 341 current entities. Licensed in 1954, Bryan has a long history of working DX with his own homebuilt and antique Drake equipment and had over 200 countries confirmed by by 1975. mostly with antique Drake equipment. He has given outstanding service to his local radio club and assisted many ZLs to achieve DX in the pile-ups.

 

73, Bryan ZL2AFT

 

 

 

 

I have always been interested in radio since the age of 5 when my old man tuned up his broadcast Band program on Sunday afternoons. I hankered to play with that tuning knob, but God help any stupid kid who dared to touch it! Relief came when I built myself a crystal set a few years then later I got a real radio with valves. I enlisted in the RNZAF at 16 years of age. They wanted me to pursue a career in avionics but I became an engine mechanic. My career lasted 21years and I was awarded the B.E.M. for my services. By 1970 my hobbies included hunting and fishing, model railways and hockey, gaining a New Zealand Hockey Umpire” grading.

I was inspired back into the radio world by an incident out fishing in the back country of Nelson. We needed radio communication and I then purchased a CB set. I got involved with 3 other guys who became amateurs in 1989-90, two of them are now silent keys ZL3ARM and ZL3TBO. I enjoyed working DX on CB and when SSB and 40 channels came on the scene in 1986, a new world opened but I found out that I was not supposed to be doing this but I loved it. I remember my uncle, Bob Dixon, (ZL3JT) and sitting on his knee at 6 years old while he talked to the World.

I sat the exam in March 1990 at the age of 45 and was allocated ZL3TCD. Morse code was a problem for me but passed at 6 wpm and later passed the 12 wpm test with Noel ZL3QC and became ZL3JT. I was on top of the World with a new shack, a new tower, a new antenna, new Kenwood TS690SAT.

I met ZL3JU, ZL3RG, ZL3ARK (now ZL3RK)…we set up a “DX watch net” on 70 cm simplex. ZL3AFT joined us… we worked DX and in 10 years gained DXCC Honour Roll. Paul, ZL3HAG, (DL4BCG) brought a single paddle electronic keyer and left it with me. That night on 40m I worked 12 twelve DX stations…it took about the same time as Paul worked 120…but It was wonderful, wonderful! I heard 3D2RW running pile ups…Ron was just the guy. I wanted to be like that.

Currently, my station consists of a Kenwood TS590, Tokyo High Power HL1.5Fx and my Cushcraft A3S up on a home brew tower at 42 feet Recently, I purchased a SteppIR 3 Element multiband antenna to enable me to work the WARC bands. I have almost “been there, done that” with DXCC Honour Roll mixed 333/335, DXCC CW 320, DXCC phone, DXCC RTTY, EQSL and DX100 (first station in the Southern Hemisphere). Even the magic band got a hiding during the last cycle with 49 confirmed, with the TS690 and only 50 watts I made the first ever 6M PSK31 contacts to Australia, Japan and USA. (World Record 6M).

All this is possible with my very understanding wife Briar. Our two daughters have long left home, and are busy raising our grandchildren. I have a great advantage over others who would aspire to work DX. I am self-employed, work from home and my radio shack is part of the workshop so I can monitor the DX frequencies almost all the time.

73, Duncan ZL3JT