I was born and raised in Romania, and hold a PhD in Physics. The above photo was taken by Peter (VK6APW) in Norman's (VK6GOM) shack near Perth, Western Australia (Nov. 2002).

My first contact with this wonderful hobby was through my father, Septimius 'Ionel' (Lionel) Trifu. A professional engineer, YR5TI before WW2, he was one of the founders in 1936 and the first Secretary of the Romanian Short Waves Amateur Association. Later on, in 1946, he was among the twelve hams who founded the first post WW2 Association and signed an official petition to the authorities for the reinstatement of the amateur radio activity in Romania. Retired in 1967, he became YO3TU and was a frequent presence on the CW portion of the bands for almost 20 years.

YO3-2388 since 1968, I was later licensed as YO3YC. Interested in both contesting and DXing, member of the YODXC, DXCC and IOTA, I kept my YO 1st class license and callsign after I moved to Canada with my family in April 1992.

I operate as VE3LYC since late 1995 and hold the DXCC Honor Roll (335 MIXT, 334 SSB, 332 CW), 9BDXCC, WAZ (SSB, CW), 5BWAZ, IOTA Plaque of Excellence (962/955 IOTAs), and the Antarctica Award Honor Roll. Since February 2005 I am QRV in digital modes (DXCC 248/241), and since September same year on 160 m (DXCC 169/166). I was elected member of the A1-Op Club in 2008.

The difficulties associated with putting on the air some of the most remote islands on Earth, usually for only a very short period of time, and sometimes under precarious propagation conditions make the island chasing a remarkable challenge. As such, I particularly enjoy the IOTA program. I obtained the IOTA 2000 and 2004 Gold Level Certificates, the only ones issued to a Canadian and North American station, respectively. I enjoy travel and had the chance and pleasure of visiting over 50 DXCCs on six continents. As a Pilot station I assisted the teams who put on the air Cham Is. (AS-162, 2002), Pamban Is. (AS-173, 2004) and Rennell Is. (SA-094, 2005). Together with Ken (G3OCA), I activated Finger Hill Is. (NA-194, Aug 2008) and Paul Is. (NA-205, Aug 2008) as VO2A. I also activated Fox Is. (NA-186, Apr 2009) as VY0A.

I am the QSL manager for ONLY the following operations:

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VO2A (NA-194 and 205, Aug 2008);

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VY0A (NA-186, Apr 2009); check VY0A for the status of the QSL cards;

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VE2/W2NTJ (Zone 2/2001-2003); VY0/W2NTJ (NA-159 & NA-196/2000,2003; NA-173/2000-2003).

VIA DIRECT ONLY: ES0/RZ1AK (EU-034/2002); ES1/RZ1AK (2002); ES8/RZ1AK (EU-178/2002); RK1A/P (EU-133/2002); UE1CLH (RLE-11/2002).