AC0X Ham Bio
Personal--Ham Interests--Clubs--Ham History--Current Rigs--Previous Rigs
Log Search--DX QSLs--DX Sounds--TOWER PICTURES!!

Personal:

Born: October 27, 1963 in Belleville, New Jersey.
Married to Lisa, who is the granddaughter of Herman Bohning W2MZV SK. He was an excellent DXer, an early supporter and QSL manager for the 4U1UN station, and was QSL manager for Gus Browning W4BPD's later DXpeditions. 
One child, a daughter, Anna Rose, born 3/29/2001
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Ham Radio Interests:

The Station at AC0X

DXing (340 Total Countries, 335 Current Countries)
Major DX Awards: 5BWAC, DXCC HONOR ROLL Mixed, DXCC HONOR ROLL Phone, DXCC Challenge
5BDXCC, DXCC 17m, DXCC 12m, 5BWAZ (160 Zone Level)
VE exams (ARRL VE, Exam coordinator St. Paul Radio Club 6/99 to 12/00)
Novice/Tech class teaching
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Clubs and Organizations:

ARRL since 1982
Twin City DX Association since 1997 (Club Web Page Coordinator, President 2000, Secretary 2001,2002,2007)
St. Paul Radio Club since 1998
Minnesota Wireless Association since 1999
Trustee to the Herman A. Bohning Memorial Amateur Radio Club (W2MZV) since 2002
Trustee to the Twin City Experimental Amateur Television Society (W9XAT) Since 2002
North American Shortwave Association during the early 1980’s
Shortwave Broadcast monitor identifier WDX2LS
Ex Newark News Radio Club Late 1970’s to end of club
Ex West Morris Wireless 1981-1992 (Charter Member)
Ex West Jersey DX Group 1986-1990 (Vice President 1987)
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Radio History:

Broadcast SW DXer since late 1970's
Licensed as KA2OOG in 2/1982.
Upgraded to Technician in 8/1985
Upgraded to General in 10/1985
Upgraded to Advanced in 1/1986
Bit by Ham DX bug mid 1986
Awarded DXCC #26644 on September 8, 1986
Upgraded to Extra (on a dare from a student in my Novice/Tech Class) in 12/1991
Inactive from Mid 1992 to Mid 1997 :( :(
Moved to Twin Cities, moved to a no-antenna townhouse and took call AB0FH 4/30/97
Spent 30 bucks on vanity call AC0X 8/22/97
Worked 116 countries 7/97-6/98 from my no-antenna townhouse ;)
Moved into a house with a YARD 7/1/98. Put up a vertical.
Put up 50' Universal Tower Model 16-50 on July 31, 2000!!
TOWER PICTURES!!
Worked 140+ countries QRP-1 watt, 6 continents QRPp 200mW
Earned DXCC Honor Roll in 3/2002
Host and Coordinator for W0DXCC Convention 10/2003
Earned 5BWAZ (160 Zones) in 4/2004
Earned DXCC Challenge 1000 in January 2005
Earned 5BDXCC (with 100 watts and only single element, electrically loaded wire antennas on the lowbands) in February 2007
Had the station struck by lightning in September 2007
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Equipment:

Rig: Icom IC-756 Pro III with Inrad Roofing Filter Mod
Antennas: Tennadyne T8 at 17 meters high (13 to 30 MHz)
Alpha Delta DX-DD Inverted-V at 14 meters high (3.5 to 10MHz)
Computer Interface: microHam micro KEYER II
Microphone: Heil Goldline with HC-5 Element
Rotator: Yaesu G-1000DXA
Rotator Computer Interface: Idiom Press RotorCard DXA
Software:
CWget  from DXSoft
DXLab Logging, Station Control and Multi-Mode Software from AA6YQ
DXAtlas Ham Atlas Software from Afreet Software
MultiPSK Mult-Mode Software from F6CTE
Tower: Universal Tower 16-50 Aluminum Tower
TOWER PICTURES!!
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Previous Equipment:

Rigs: Icom IC-761, Kachina 505DSP,Icom IC-740,Kenwood TS-820S,Kenwood TS-430S, Icom IC-R71A, Yaesu FRG-7/Gilfer Modified, Lafayette BCR-101, Realistic DX-160, National NC-109
Antennas: Various dipoles and end-feds, Butternut Butterfly 2 Element Mini-Beam, MFJ 1786 Mini-Loop Indoors, Butternut HF9VX, Alpha Delta DX-B. Alpha Delta DX-A
Amplifiers: Never a one (too cheap or too noble? I don't know :) )
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Links to Pictures of my Favorite QSLs

AFRICA
Eritrea E30TA-Despite various DXpeditions, this one is still a tough one.
Central African Republic TL8KH-My wife's grandfather W2MZV was QSL manager for this one.
Tromelin Island FR/F6KDF/T-and
Juan de Nova Island FR5ES/J-French territories, part of Reunion, but separate DXCC because of distance. Always tough to get French permission to land and operate. I do still need FR/G Glorioso Island

OCEANIA
Conway Reef 3D2AM-Small, uninhabited Fijian possession
Kingman Reef K9AJ/KH5K-My wife always says "HOW CAN THIS BE A COUNTRY? IT'S A PILE OF SEA SHELLS!"
Kure Island KH6JEB/KH7-A military base in the far west of the Hawaiian Islands
Macquarie IslandVK0SJ-Operations from there are always just scientific operations with amateur radio as a "side issue". This one was no different.
Heard Island VK0HI-A "mini-DXpedition" some years before 1997's major effort.
Palau T88JU-Not particularly rare, but this one took me YEARS to get. My suspicion is that everyone who ever goes there to operate ham radio finds the island so beautiful they get distracted.
Kermadec Islands ZL8HV-Scientific operation from a New Zealand possession.

SOUTH AMERICA
Bouvet 3Y5X-Worked this one on dumb luck. He called on frequency, I HAPPENED to be there. I called him back.
Malpelo Island HK3JJH/HK0M-Steep cliffs, very difficult landing.
South Orkney Islands/Las Orcadas LU1ZA-Antartic territory, shared/claimed by various countries
Aves Islands 4M0ARV-Desolate islands north of Venezuela
 

ASIA
Andaman Islands VU4GDG-The Indian government has said they will not authorize any operations from this or the Lacadshweep Island anymore, so this one is a particularly difficult one.
Yemen 7O1AA-I almost didn't get this card. The QSL manager was from 9K, and his logs were seized during the Iraqi occupation. I finally received the card after resubmitting 7 years later. Operations from this country are rare, and often wind up having no permission to operate, invalidating the operation from "counting" for any awards.
Myanmar XZ0A-The only country existing at the time that my wife's grandfather W2MZV never worked himself. Not as rare as it was back then, but still a tough one.
DPRK P5/4L4FN-Here's one the I (and a lot of us) thought we'd NEVER have. If anything proves that DX IS, this does.

EUROPE
Mt. Athos SV2WT/SY-One of the rare DXpeditions from here. Usually the only operator from here is Monk Apollo
Albania ZA1A-No longer even in the top 100 rarest countries, but legendary as unattainable for so long.

NORTH AMERICA
Desecheo Island WD5BJT/KP5-Favorite place for divers, rare for amateur radio.
Navassa Island N2EDF/NP1-Ultra rare DX in our backyard, and it may get rarer. The US State department has refused all requests for landings there recently.
Cocos Islands TI9W-Costa Rican island possession.
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Links to WAV Files of DX I've Worked

AFRICA
3B8CF-Mauritius
5A1A-Libya
5I3A-Tanzania
5N9CEN-Nigeria
5X1Z-Uganda
5Z4WI-Kenya
6W6JX-Senegal
7X4AN-Algeria
A22EW-Botswana
FR5HR-Reunion
S79FAG-Seychelles
V51HK-Namibia
ZD7DP-St. Helena

ASIA
4J9RI-Azerbaijan
4L4MM-Georgia
4S7NZG-Sri Lanka
7O1YGF-Yemen
9V1YC-Singapore
A41LZ-Oman
A52GJ-Bhutan
A61AO-United Arab Emirates
BV8BC-Taiwan
BY1DX-China
E41/OK1DTP-Palestine
EK6TA-Armenia
EX2T-Kirgystan
HS1RU-Thailand
JT1CO-Mongolia
JY4MB-Jordan
TA2BK-Turkey
UA0FDX-Siberia

EUROPE
3A/OH1RY-Monaco
4O8/9X0A-Kosovo
LX2DW-Luxembourg
R1FJL-Franz Josef Land
T97M-Bosnia

NORTH AMERICA
HH2/F8CUP-Haiti
J79WW-Dominica
OX2K-Greenland
VP5/K2DO-Turks and Caicos

OCEANIA
3D2AG-Fiji
4W6GH-East Timor
9M6AAC-West Malaysia
A35TU-Tonga
CE0AA-Rapa Nui
KH0AC-Northern Marianas
KH4/IV3NVN-Midway
T30R-Western Kiribati
T88JU-Palau
V73UX-Marshall Islands
VK9NS-Norfolk Island
WH6ASW/KH2-Guam
YB0DX-Indonesia
ZK1JD-South Cook Islands
ZL9CI-Campbell Island

SOUTH AMERICA
FY5YE-French Guyana
HK3JJH/HK0M-Malpelo Island
PZ5RA-Suriname
ZP5MAL-Paraguay
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Log Search
My logbook is on the ARRL Logbook of the World
To see if you're in my log, please join ARRL Logbook of the World
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