I was born and raised in Romania, and hold a PhD in Physics. My first contact with this wonderful hobby was through my father Septimius, 'Ionel' (Lionel). He signed YR5TI before WW2 and was one of the founders in 1936 of the Romanian Short Waves Amateur Association. In 1946, he was among twelve hams who founded the first post WW2 Association, and signed an official petition for the reinstatement of the amateur radio activity in Romania. Retired in 1967, he became YO3TU and was a frequent presence 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 (338 MIXT, 338 SSB, 337 CW, 324 DIGI), DXCC 160M, 9BDXCC, WAZ (SSB, CW, RTTY), 5BWAZ (200), DXCC Challenge 2750, IOTA Plaque of Excellence, IOTA Trophy (IOTA 1000), Antarctica Award Honor Roll, VUCC, etc. I am a member of FOC (#1994) and A1-Op Club, and serve as the IOTA Deputy Manager.

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.

As a Pilot station I assisted the teams who put on the air for the first time Cham Is. (AS-162, 2002), Pamban Is. (AS-173, 2004) and Rennell Is. (SA-094, 2005). I activated several rare and new IOTA groups, documeted in various publications, such as:

- Finger Hill Is. (NA-194, Aug 2008) and Paul Is. (NA-205, Aug 2008) as VO2A (together with Ken/G3OCA) [C. Trifu, Adventure in the Arctic: VO2A Expedition to Central and Northern Labrador, The Canadian Amateur, March/April 2009, 42-44 and cover];

- Fox Is. (NA-186, Apr 2009) as VY0A [C. Trifu, VY0A – IOTA Expedition to Fox Island, QST, 94, May 2010, 68-70];

- Gilmour Is. (NA-230 New, Sep 2009) as VY0O [C. Trifu, The Incredible Story of VY0O (Gilmour Island, NA-230), Part 1, The DX Magazine, XXII (3), May/June 2010, 6-9 and cover; and Part 2, The DX Magazine, XXII (4), July/August 2010, 16-19];

- East Pen Is. (NA-231 New, Mar 2010) as VY0V [C. Trifu, Stranded on East Pen: SOS de VY0V!, QST, 94, October 2010, 67-69 and cover];

- Ulituqisalik Is. (NA-208, Aug 2010) as VY0X [C. Trifu, VY0X: The Beautiful Side of Nunavut, The DX Magazine, XXIII (2), March/April 2011, 6-11 and cover];

- Hershel Is. (SA-031, Jan 2011) and Gonzalo Is. (SA-097 New, Jan 2011) as CE9/VE3LYC (together with Johan, CE9/PA3EXX) [C. Trifu, CE9 DXpedition to Antarctica Chilena: Dream Big and Dare to Fail!, QST, 95, October 2011, 64-67 and cover];

- Pupuya Is. (SA-095 New, Nov 2011) as CE4A (together with Christian/CE3TAM and Juan/CE5PHI) [C. Trifu, CE4A DXpedition to the Rock of Pupuya. Activating a small rocky island off the coast of Chile for IOTA, RadCom, April 2012, 16-17 and cover insert];

- Escondida Is. (SA-096 New, Jan 2013) as LU6W (together with Johan/PA3EXX and Alex/LU5WW) [C. Trifu, Expedition extreme: LU6W from Escondida Island. Activating the last IOTA group in South America meant fighting the odds and never giving up! QST, 97, August 2013, 3pp];

- Matthew Is. (OC-218, Sep 2014) as TX4A (together with Bob/KD1CT) [C. Trifu, TX4A – The perilous IOTA expedition to Matthew Island, QST, 100, October 2016, 73-75];

- Sandy Islet (OC-294 New, Sep 2014) as VK6ISL (together with Craig/VK5CE, Johan/PA3EXX, and Bob/KD1CT) [C. Trifu, Operating from Sandy Islet, The last IOTA group in Australia to be activated for the first time, RadCom, July 2015, 36-37];

- Cornwallis Is. (NA-009, Aug 2014) as VY0/VE3LYC; and

- Melville Is. (NA-248 New, Aug 2015) as VY0M [C. Trifu, The Last Canadian IOTA: Operating from Melville Island in the High Arctic, The Canadian Amateur, January/February 2016, 43-45 and cover];

- Antipodes Is. (OC-286 New, Jan 2016) as ZL9A (together with Craig/VK5CE, Stan/SQ8X, and Bob/KD1CT) [C. Trifu, The expedition to Antipodes Is. and renaming of a DXCC entity, QST, April 2017, 2pp and cover];

- Cooper Is. (NA-172, Aug 2016) as VE3LYC/KL7 [C. Trifu, VE3LYC/KL7 from Cooper Island, Alaska. Not just Another Expedition in the High Arctic, RadCom, February 2017, 60-62].

In Oct 2009 I was awarded the Premier IOTA Plaque for Outstanding Contribution to the IOTA Community, and in 2011 the RAC Amateur of the Year.

I finished the IOTA Marathon (2012-13) in 2nd place overall and 1st in North America at Chasers - Individual Operator category, receiving the Diamond Award and Continental Trophy. I have also participated in the Activators - Individual Operator category, receiving the Silver Award. LU6W received the Continental Trophy (South America) in the Activators - Team category, and came 2nd in the DXpedition of the IOTA Marathon (run by DX World).

I am the QSL manager for ONLY the following operations:

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).

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

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VY0A (NA-186, Apr 2009).

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VY0O (NA-230, Sep 2009).

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VY0V (NA-231, Mar 2010).

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VY0X (NA-208, Aug 2010)

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: CE9/VE3LYC & CE9/PA3EXX (SA-031and 097, Jan 2011) - http://ce9iota.weebly.com

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: CE4A (SA-095, Nov 2011) - http://ce4a.yolasite.com

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: LU6W (SA-096, Jan 2013) - http://lu6w.yolasite.com

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: TX4A (OC-218, Sep 2014) - http://tx4a.yolasite.com

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VK6ISL (OC-294, Sep 2014) - http://vk6isl.weebly.com

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VY0/VE3LYC (NA-009, Aug 2015) - http://vy0m.weebly.com (check News and Log&QSL sections)

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VY0M (NA-248, Aug 2015) - http://vy0m.weebly.com

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: ZL9A (OC-286, Jan 2016) - http://iotahunter.org

VIA DIRECT OR BUREAU: VE3LYC/KL7 (NA-172, Aug 2016) - http://ve3lyc-kl7.weebly.com