1977 was a good year. I had the great honor to join FOC (First
Class CW Operator's Club), received my two-letter call, and went off to
college at the University of Texas.
While studying Electrical Engineering at school, I was also learning
the contest game from Tom Morrison, K5TM. Tom taught me how to climb
towers and how to operate from a competitive station. He also introduced
me to multi-multi operations at WB5OOE (aka N5AU) and WA5LES (now K5RC).
I almost flunked my senior year because I was doing too much radio. I
joined the NP4A multi-multi operation for CQ WW CW in 1980. I was also
editor of the National Contest Journal. When I picked it up, there were 6
paid subscribers. By the end of the year it had been revived. I use many
of the editing and business lessons I learned from the NCJ in my every day
business life today.
When I started looking for a real job I found my way to Dallas and
became a regular at N5AU. Gordon was mainly interested in winning the CQ
WW Phone contest, so he let me single op many of the others. It was a
great opportunity to work from a station with 27 towers! I won the
Sweepstakes CW contest 4 years in a row and had some good DX contest
finishes. If I only knew then what I know now, I think I might have won a
DX contest from there. I also managed five NA Sprint CW victories during
this time.
I met my wife in Dallas. Being originally from New York, she was
unhappy with Texas being too hot, too flat, and with not enough trees. We
compromised and she convinced me to move to New England. I wasn't thrilled
to leave Texas, but figured it would be a good chance to check out DX
contesting!
My first CQ WW Phone contest from New England was a humbling
experience. K1KI loaned me his station while he went to the
Caribbean. I did not do well. A week later I operated SS CW from
K1GQ and finished way back in the pack. I realized I had a lot to learn
about the difference between Sweepstakes in W5 and DX Contests from W1.
I lived in Wrentham, MA for two years. Real estate in the Boston
area was extremely expensive at the time (still is!) and I was only able
to get a house in a valley behind a hill from Europe. Not the best
QTH for making high scores.
My employer offered me the chance to move to Pittsburgh, PA in 1985 and
I took it. House prices were much more reasonable there and I was able to
find 7 acres in the country. With the help of K3LR, I put together
two towers and was able to be competitive from my own station. A
wonderful thing after years of guest operating. I made the top ten in SS
CW twice from WPA and could get in the USA top ten of ARRL and CQ WW.
For the big CW contests, I was driving up to Erie, PA to operate at
K3TUP. John put together a fantastic station. When I first
visited, it was the station of a serious DXer - capable of being really
loud at any single point on the globe at any given time. But a contest
station must have much more flexibility and he was willing to add it. I
achieved my first CQ WW CW victory from there in 1989 with a new USA
record.
Our son Andrew was born in March 1990 and completely changed our
lives. I did many contests with him sitting in a car seat on the
side of the operating table. Hard to believe he is now 17 years old and
over 6 feet tall!
A casual conversation about returning to Boston resulted in a move back
in the winter of 1992. In an incredible piece of luck, we found a dream
location that we could actually afford to buy. It is 7 heavily wooded
acres on top of a granite hill sitting in the middle of the Blackstone
River valley. The trees make the towers invisible from the house (and from
all the close neighbors), which my wife loves. The hill has very steep
slopes away from the towers in all directions. There is very little
power line noise, no TVI complaints, and it seems to be loud.
Since moving here I have fulfilled almost all of my operating goals. I
have won CQ WW CW (8 times!), CQ WW Phone, CQ 160m CW, ARRL DX CW (single op and
multi-single), WPX CW (USA record as AK1W), WPX Phone multi-single, and IARU CW. Guest ops have
stepped in to win CQ WW and ARRL DX. I never dreamed that I would be able
to do this from my own station.
In 1996, I joined 3 engineering guys to start a new company. We
achieved some success and were acquired by an Israeli company in
1998. From there the company has grown and changed to become Axeda
Corporation. Now I am managing the technical sales team and
traveling to Europe once each month.
I had the privilege of participating in WRTC-96 in
San Francisco with team mate Dave Patton, WX3N (now NN1N). We finished 6th
and enjoyed the chance to meet contesters from around the world that had
only been callsigns before. In 2000, I attended WRTC in Slovenia with
partner K6LA, where we finished 12th. Also a memorable event.
I ventured into RTTY contesting to recapture the excitement of being a
'novice' contester again. I won
the single operator high power category in the 2001 ARRL RTTY Roundup. RTTY contesting is one of the best ways
to practice the art of SO2R operating.
In May 2002, our daughter Jenelle was born. She is beautiful and
never seems to stop talking or demanding attention! Definitely cutting into my on-the-air time...
For WRTC-2002 in Helsinki, I selected K1KI as my teammate and we had a
great time in finishing 7th.
In May 2004, I completed my MBA at Bryant College. It took one night
per week for 3-1/2 years and was something I had always wanted to do.
Looking forward to using that time for more radio and family activities in
the future!
At WRTC-2006 in Brazil, I was the partner for W2SC and we
finished 10th. I was also able to bring my son Andrew along on the trip.
I think it gave him a whole new insight into what radio and contesting
is all about. When we returned home, he cracked the books and
obtained his technician license and the call KB1NXJ!
In May 2008 I was offered the opportunity to become Director of the CQ
WPX Contest. This is one of my favorite contests and I had always
wanted to see what it was like to manage a contest. See the results at
www.cqwpx.com.
At the Dayton Hamvention that same month, I was honored to be inducted
into the CQ Magazine Contest Hall of Fame. It was a very emotional
moment for me and a real thrill to be acknowledged by my contesting peers.
I hope to see you in the next contest!
73,
Randy, K5ZD
April 4, 2009
