NCDXC 2013 DXER OF THE YEAR
K6KLY, NCDXC 2013 DXer of the Year K6MKF, N6SJ
For 2013, the Northern California DX Club, of which I am a member, organized and managed the International DX Convention in Visalia, CA.
As is the custom, the Saturday night convention banquet is when the organizing club’s President makes certain club awards for the year. There were over 800 of the world’s top DXers in the audience including Dr. Joe Taylor, K1JT, a Nobel Laureate in Physics from Princeton University.
Russ Benson, K6KLY, NCDXC President and Steve Jones, N6SJ, Chairman of the Awards Committee, announced that I had been named the NCDXC 2013 DXer of the year. To say I was surprised would be a massive understatement!
Until that moment I had considered being on the 3D2C 2012 Conway Reef DXpedition team as being the high point of my Amateur Radio career. Now I have a new peak Amateur Radio experience that is really going to be hard to top.
3D2C TEAM MEMBER
I was privileged to be a member of the 3D2C Conway Reef 2012 DXpedition Team. We were QRV from Conway Reef 26 SEP - 3 OCT 2012 and we logged 71693 QSOs with Amateurs around the world. Participating as a member of this team has been the high point of my Amateur Radio career.
More details at the 3D2C website: http://www.yt1ad.info/3d2c/index.html
Also, I am now Trustee for W6NAG - Lupton Downs ARC. Check us out on QRZ.COM at http://www.qrz.com/db/W6NAG/
Previous callsigns and QTHs include:
WN2JLQ, Poughkeepsie NY,
KA3FJD, Hagerstown MD,
KD3AN, Hagerstown, Washington D.C., Boulder Creek and San Jose, CA.
The San Jose, CA shack includes an Elecraft K3 and P3, a 756Pro2, an IC-7000, an Ameritron AL-811H,a Force 12 C3-SS beam up at 44 feet and an inverted vee for 160-80-40 meters. I'm now running lots of CW on 10, 15 and 20 meters. I'm a member of the Northern California DX Club, and I have achieved my Mixed, Digital and 20M, 15M and 10M DXCC Certificates, as well as the Diamond DXCC Challenge Award. I also enjoy ragchewing on SSB and the occassional PSK31 QSO.
K6MKF's Ham History
WN2JLQ
Back in late 1968 I got my Novice ticket in Poughkeepsie, NY, thanks in large part to my first Elmer, Dan Sullivan, WB2PED. Dan was a member of the Poughkeepsie Amateur Radio Club (PARC) and helped a lot of us wannabe hams to get licensed. He administered my Novice exam and after what seemed forever, I got my ticket and call - WN2JLQ. Here I am as WN2JLQ in my ham shack in Poughkeepsie. You can see the old Hammarlund SP-600-JX rack mount receiver. The power supply weighed a ton and was on the floor behind me. The transmitter to my right is a crystal controlled Eico 720 with a home-brew antenna tuner. My antenna was a long-wire run out through the bathroom window. From the old picture I can make out a Heathkit SWR meter ( which I still have) and a Q-Multiplier. The key was an old Lafayette Radio (Hi-Mounds) model in a black plastic case with a clear plastic top. Just a little peanut whistle rig, but I worked Scotland from New York, largely because the SP-600-JX was such a great receiver.
I operated for a while, but never upgraded to General. I was working for IBM at the time and work went nuts, so the WN2JLQ ticket expired after two years. Somehow during this period, Poughkeepsie Amateur Radio Club elected me President. Go figure.
KA3FJD
The early 1980's found me back in my hometown of Hagerstown, MD. My interest in ham radio again awakened and I sought out the local ham club - the Antietam Radio Association. Through the club I met Bill Drager, K3UMV, who was to become my second Elmer. Bill helped me re-license as a Novice and then helped me to upgrade to General. Here's a picture of me as KA3FJD up one of my two 40-foot towers installing two 8-element beams in a phased array on 2 meters. I had an 80 meter dipole between this and the back tower, and ran a Signal One RX-7 through a home-brew tuner. 
I drove the 2 meter beams with an FT-107 H/T through an amplifier and worked virtually every repeater within 200 miles. I even worked a lot of 2 meter RTTY using this rig and an old Western Electric Model 15 teletype. What a rattle-trap that was! Bill Drager, K3UMV, was a great elmer, and he was my first Novice and General contact as KA3FJD. I think it was in 1983 that I was elected President of the Antietam Radio Association, but moved to Washington, D.C. before I could complete my term. Hagerstown has an interesting connection to Hiram Percy Maxim, W1AW, Co-founder and for many years President of the ARRL and well-known to amateurs as "the old man". HPM married the daughter of Maryland's Gov. Hamilton, and when HPM died, he was buried in the Hamilton family plot in the Rose Hill cemetery on the south side of Hagerstown, MD. I have been fortunate enough to have acquired Hiram Percy Maxim's signature, which he signed and dated just about 5 months before his death in February, 1936. This sits in a frame at my operating position and is my personal link back to the beginnings of our hobby. 
KD3AN
Just before moving to Washington, D.C. I upgraded and was granted the call KD3AN. I held this call while I lived in Washington. While I lived in D.C., I was a member of the Montgomery County (MD) Amateur Radio Club. When I moved to California. I operated as KD3AN from Boulder Creek, CA for many years.
K6MKF
After 11 years in California I finally decided to cut my last ham radio ties to the East coast. Thanks to the FCC's Vanity Callsign program I now am K6MKF. My rigs are an Elecraft K-Line: K3 P3 KPA500 & KAT500, an IC-756PRO2 and an IC-7000 pumping the RF into a Force 12 C3SS yagi ("Buster") up at 45 feet. I've got an inverted vee for 40M & 80M. 
Thanks to the support I've received from the members of the Northern California DX Club I've been able to achieve DXCC Mixed, Digital, CW, Phone and 20, 15 and 10M DXCC so far, and am closing in on the 17M and 12M endorsements.
Thanks for checking out my QRZ.COM page. I hope to hear you on the bands!!
