QSL 100% when requested. I also upload all QSOs to LOTW and eQSL. I will reply to all QSLs received via the Bureau.

Hello and welcome,

I've been licensed since Aug 1976 and have enjoyed every minute of it. My original license was WN5UZU as a Novice in August 1976. Soon afterwards I upgraded to General and WB5UZU. While attending college in Dallas, TX, I successfully tested at the FCC Field Office for Advanced class. Upon moving to California in 1986, I received KI6LO (as was required back then) as a sequential issued call which I have held till Feb 2009. My father, Landon J. Brewer, Jr aka Jack Brewer to his many friends in ham radio passed away on Christmas Day, 2008. I requested his call and received the license grant for W5DQ on Feb 18, 2009, replacing KI6LO. I decided to change calls after holding KI6LO since 1986 for two reasons. First, I always wanted a 1x2 call but never could quite decide if it was worth the effort and secondly, out of rememberance of my dad who was instrumental in my career in engineering / electronics and getting my ham ticket.

Please note: I obtained all of my dad's W5DQ logs 2000 thru 2008 (along logs and info for his earlier calls of WD5JRG, KG5QO and AC5BI from 1978 thru 2000). I can provide QSL cards for his contacts if requested. Although he never did participate in LOTW, I have since created his LOTW account and uploaded his logs to it.

Currently, I am very active on HF and 6M. My little antenna 'ranchette' is small but so far effective. I've been looking at various methods to get on to 160M, but given the small size of my plot of land to use I not having much success. I have appx 0.4 acres but it also contains a 3 br home and a 50x24 ft multi use workshop in which is a full size darkroom, my ham shack and a small combination wood working and machine shop. I do all of my specialty antenna brackets and components.

Update 8/09: For the higher bands of 2M through 23cm, I am in the process of rebuilding my station. I recently acquired a TS-2000X and as funds and time will allow, I'll be adding VHF and UHF amplifiers, a 222Mhz transverter and a set of single band yagi antennas aimed at long haul terrestial QSOs and possible some minor EME work. This is all new territory for me as I have been mainly active on HF, fixed and mobile.

I'm a Life member of the ARRL and serve as a volunteer for the ARRL W6 Incoming DX Bureau handling the "L" segment card distribution. I also belong to various organizations such as QCWA, SMIRK, UKSMG, 6MT Club, 10-10, etc. that I find interesting related to my amateur radio activities, namely 6 meters and DX chasing.

W5DQ Callsign History:

Being an ardent history buff, I decided to try and trace the origins of the 5DQ and subsequent W5DQ callsigns. Using my experience as an amateur genealogy researcher, I was able to find information and actual persons with the necessary data to compile the following timeline.

First issued as 5DQ to Mr. Frances O. Davis, Cushing, Oklahoma in 1925 at age 16.  Updated to W5DQ in 1928 when prefixes were added by the FRC. Mr. Davis held that call until he moved to California in 1941, where by the rules in place then, one was required to have a call that represented the call area you where your address on record placed you. He obtained W6DQ in California. According to his daughter, he had a very interesting life and was quite active as a ham. If you have any old QSLcards from 5DQ or W5DQ prior to 1998, I would like to get get copies (scans) or if you no longer want them, I'd like to obtain them.

During the war years, the airwaves were silent and W5DQ lay dormant. Sometime prior to the publishing date of the 1947 / 48 Winter Callbook, the W5DQ call was obtained by Mr. Felix Boizelle, of Baton Rouge, Louisana. Mr. Boizelle held the call until his death in 1993 with the call expiring in 1998, per FCC records. In April 2000, W5DQ was obtained by my father, Mr. Landon J. Brewer, Jr., of Hatfield, Arkansas. My father was active with W5DQ until he passed away in Dec 2008. I obtained W5DQ using the Vanity Callsign Program.  I am very fortunate to have been able to find data for the entire life of the 5DQ/W5DQ callsign, especially having gone through 3 previous holders and 84 years of usage.

QSL Photo: The photo in the upper right of this page shows my current QSL based on an original 1925 hand made QSL of 5DQ (Mr. F.O. Davis). The upper portion of the QSL card shows the 5DQ QSL card with my new W5DQ shown in the banner at the bottom.

Hope to catch you on the bands with W5DQ.

73,

Gene Brewer W5DQ   (ex-KI6LO, WB5UZU, WN5UZU)