N6ND Rick Craig in Ramona

The Shack

Rick in His Shack

Bone Yard…

Recent Fire Damage…

View of House

Hold up that Coax

Fabulous View at 6000 feet

Driving Away…

View From Miles Away [Who needs a GPS?]

My Best DX Memory: One of my most memorable QSOs was my first contact with China, BY1PK in Nov of 1982.  That station was the first operation from China in about 25 years.  “He was light as snot, but I worked him.” One other memorable QSO was with Oliver, W6NV, operating from SU2MT's station on 80 mtr long path in Dec 1993.  That was the last contact needed for my 5BWAZ.  Oliver has to drive about 5 hours to get from the site where he was working to Alexandria to use SU2MT's station, I think he did it for 2 weekends to give Zone 34 to just a handful of West Coast stations.

Advice to New Hams My advice for new guys starting the DX quest is have patience, it is a marathon event and you have to out-wait all the crummy dictators that won't allow ham radio in their backwater country and all the crummy bureaucrats that won't give people permission to land on some dip-water island.  In addition, some places are just plain hard to get to even after you get permission.  So although you need some of the same equipment to rise to the top of the Honor Roll as you need for a DX Contest, you have to have the opposite mentality.  Just out live the bastards!