Ben, HB9SLU

Now mainly active on VHF with this setup: FT-897D + 2x12el YU7EF long yagis + SSPA, with focus on Es, MS, EME

Ben built his first radio receiver at 10 and thus discovered the fun of DX.

His interest for the hobby grew up by first listening to commercial radio stations around the world on an old shortwave tube receiver.

In 1984 he got the SWL Callsign of HE9CTI and drew an active year hunting ARS on the amateur bands. He concluded the SWL DXCC within a few weeks

Ben was licensed as HB9SLU in June 1985 and since then was especially active on VHF, always improving his home QTH station, ending in 1988 with 6x11el Flexa Yagis behind an FT221 TX with a Mutek Front end and a Dressler D200S linear and was known as an active HB9 Dxer in almost every mode of propagation.

He also upgraded his skills with a team of friends from his neighbourhood (HB9CYY and HB9CYF), getting QRV for portable operations.

and contests.

As he knows the value of the rare station for the Dxer, he joined during summer of 1987 the DX-pedition TV6YGS to the Island of Noirmoutier (IN86 square) and achieved thousands of QSOs with his ham fellows despite of bad weather and stormy winds climbing sometimes over 100 km/hour.

Also loving to increase the theoretical knowledge necessary to the practice of amateur radio, he translated into french the fundamental book from HB9QQ, Pierre Pasteur "VHF-UHF procedure and traffic technics", thereby providing the french amateurs the lasting experience of a pioneer of helvetic DX.

Unfortunately, the lack of time due to heavy QRL kept him then away from a regular practice of the hobby for many years.

Now retired from day to day business, he is QRV again and hungry of new DX hunts and willing to discover what the 21th Century added to the hobby, keeping his moto “DX Old Man!”

First QSL from HB9SLU

Actual QSL