FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VP6TC, KK6EK, ON4UN, W5GAI, K4UEE
Ham-Com DXtravaganza II Program Speakers
Noted Dxpeditioner Dr. Bob Schmieder, KK6EK, a team member and leader on the
recent XR0X San Felix Dxpedition is the most recent speaker to join a
distinguished panel of DXpeditioners at Ham Com's DXtravaganza II program
and DX luncheon June 7-8 in Arlington, Texas at the Arlington Convention
Center, hosted by the Lone Star DX Association.
Tom Christian,VP6TC and member of the recent Ducie Island Dxpedition in
March, will be the DX luncheon speaker at noon June 8.
Numerous dealers and manufacturers have donated door prizes for the luncheon
as they did last year. Luncheon attendance last year was in excess of 350
and another quick sellout of luncheon tickets is expected this year.
Noted Low band DXer Jon Devoldere, ON4UN, an expert on 160 meter Dxing
will make a repeat visit on June 8 during a special low band dxing program.
Bob Allphin, K4UEE, will describe the recent South Sandwich DXpedition.
Louis Cameron, W5GAI, will present the "Getting Started in DXing" program.
Tom Christian VP6TC
Christian, great-great-great-grandson of Fletcher Christian leader he famous
"Mutiny on the Bounty" in 1789, is known as the voice of Pitcairn as the
island's most active ham radio operator. He is also president of the
Pitcairn Island Amateur Radio Association (PIARA). Tom will also have color
slides and video from the Ducie Island DXpedition which made more than
43,000 QSOs in March 2002. With major funding from an ARRL Colvin Award, and
JA1BK, PIARA conducted the DXpedition from Ducie--which became the newest
ARRL DXCC entity as of November 16, 2001 and its first time activation,
making it the most-wanted DXCC entity at the time until the recent approval
of the P5/4L4FN.
> Some 2,000 articles and books, 5 major motion pictures, and numerous
> shorter documentary films have looked into virtually every aspect of
> this mutiny led by Fletcher Christian against Captain William Bligh. It
> is undeniably one of the
> most famous sea stories of all time. There is much disagreement as to
> who was to blame for the incident, and the history remains, to this day,
> an interesting topic for maritime history and South Pacific historians.
>
> The people onboard the Bounty arrived on Pitcairn in late 1789 and
> Pitcairners celebrate the January 23 as the day in 1790 when the Bounty
> was burnt. The community at Pitcairn, wasn't located for 18 years until
> an American ship stopped at the
> island.
> .
> In 1808 an American sealing ship called Topaz (Captained by Mayhew
> Folger) found Pitcairn; and at that time only one of the original
> mutineers (John Adams) was still alive. It was during the time the
> Tahitians and Mutineers were on Pitcairn the Pitcairn/Norfolk (Pidgin
> English) language was developed. It continued to be developed other
> places they went. In the 1830's the Pitcairners were invited to Tahiti
> by the Queen of Tahiti. They went but once they arrived they realized
> that life there wasn't for them. They convinced an American captain,
> William Driver to return them back to Pitcairn. They sailed on his ship
> the Charles Doggett and arrived on Pitcairn on September 3 1831.
>
> Pitcairn today is one of the world's most isolated inhabited islands as
> ships call on the island only a few times a year. It has a resident
> population of about 60 persons.
According to Tom's personal biographer Dr. Herbert Ford of Pacific Union
College in California, Tom left for Ham Com in mid-April for, bound for
Auckland NZ, and the beginning of his months-long absence from Pitcairn.
His wife Betty is also a ham and they have four children: Jacqui, Raelene,
Sheri and Darlene. He has been an elder in the Island's Seventh Day
Adventist Church for the past 15 years and fopr many years was a member of
the island's governing council.
Christian named a recipient of the MBE (Member of British Empire) medal in
1983 by Queen Elizabeth II for services rendered to the island. This was
presented tio him in Wellington NZ by the British
High Commissioner. Part of Tom's nomination included his service on the
island as a ham and his numerous calls for emergency medical evacuation. It
is safe to say that on one or two
occasions his calls actually saved lives of people who, without ham-given
medical counsel from abroad, would have died.
Ham radio also played a part in helping Tom in 1972 when he was injured in
a boat accident when one of Pitcairn's longboats was wrecked going out
through the harbor and was totally
lost. His right leg was fractured and emergency evacuation to NZ for
treatment was arranged through ham radio and he returned to Pitcairn three
months later.
Bob Schmieder, KK6EK
Bob is the founder and Expedition Leader of Cordell Expeditions, a
nonprofit research group begun in 1977. The group is responsible for the
creation of the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which was designated
on the basis of results from Cordell Expeditions. Creator and Expedition
Leader of the Rocas Alijos expeditions 1990, 1993. Participant in the 1994
expedition to Peter I Island, Antarctica, 3YØPI, where in addition to radio
operations, he carried out a program of sampling and chemical analysis of
the environment. Organizer and co-Leader of the 1995 expedition to Easter
Island/Salas y Gómez, XRØY/Z, which included 32 participants for 3 weeks.
Co-Expedition Leader of the 1997 expedition to Heard Island, VKØIR, with 20
participants. Participant in the 2002 Dxpedition to San Felix, XRØX.
Licensed since 1962, he holds Extra Class radio license KK6EK. He has been
active in Islands
on the Air (IOTA), having activated five "New Ones": Farallons, NA-178;
Guadalupe, NA-179; Roqueta, NA-183; Northern California Group, NA-184; and
Central California Group, NA-187. Other calls he has held are XF1/KK6EK,
VP8CPK, 4K1/KK6EK, CEØ/KK6EK,
and VK6EKK. His expeditions have been awarded DXpedition of the Year three
times. He is a life member of the Arizona DX Club. Bob is the author of 6
books derived from his expeditions: Ecology of an Underwater Island; Edward
Cordell and the Discovery of Cordell Bank; 3YØPI Peter I Island 1994
DXpedition; Rocas Alijos; DX-Aku: Messages from the 1995 Easter Island
DXpedition; and
VKØIR Heard Island Expedition. He is a Fellow of the Explorers Club and
former Chairman of its Northern California Chapter. He is honored by
Schmieder Bank (a rocky bank in the eastern Pacific), Codium schmiederi (an
alga), Erylus schmiederi (a sponge), and Pharia pyramidata schmiederi (a
starfish). He has been listed in almost every Who's Who in the world. He is
the owner and operator
of a research vessel, the Cordell Explorer. Bob's web page is:
http://www.cordell.org/CE_vitae.html
Bob Allphin, K4UEE
Bob Allphin, K4UEE has been licensed since 1958 (age 13) and began DXing and
Contesting very early.
Bob's father was stationed on Okinawa for two years and Bob got his first
taste of being on the DX-end
of the pileups as KR6LY (1960-1962). Beginning in the late 70's, Bob began
Dx-peditioning in earnest.
Since then he has visited 54 DXCC countries and operated from 26 countries.
He has been a participant
in 3 "DX-peditions of the Year " which include AH1A, XR0Y and VK0IR.
Bob is also an avid contester and has set the following Single band/Single
operator World Records in the
CQWW contests 80m CW, 75m Phone, 15m CW, 15m Phone, and 10m Phone. He won
the ARRL DX
(CW) contest in 1995 (AB/HP/Single op) and second place in CQ-WPX (Phone)
contest the same year.
Bob was a participant in the 1996 WRTC and along with his partner N6IG, and
finished 5th (53 teams).
You may have worked Bob as VP2KAE, ZF2FX, VP2V/K4UEE, J87UEE, J87J, VP5FX,
J34UEE,
C6A/K4UEE, P40R,3A/K4UEE, T30EE, ZP5/K4UEE, TA1/K4UEE, VR2/K4UEE, KH6/K4UEE,
HS1/K4UEE,TI5/K4UEE, VP2KC, VP5KMX, XF4DX, VP2V/N9GL, PJ9W, AH1A, ZP0Y,
XR0Y,
CE0Z, TO0R, TO0R/mm, VK0IR. e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Skip Cameron, W5GAI
Skip Cameron, W5GAI, was first licensed in 1954 at age 14 and has been an
avid DXer since. He has worked all current DXCC entities execpt VU/A. He
is a memember of the Central Texas DX and Contest Club. He has operated
from QTH's in Louisiana, Indiana, Oklahoma, California, and Texas. His
current QTH is a small hilltop lot in northwest Austin TX. His station
setup are an Icom transciever and 1960s vintage Swan four element trap
tribander antenna at 70 feet and a vee antenna for 80 and 40 meters, which
he also uses on 12, 17, and 30 meters. His personal web page is
http://www.ctdxcc.org/w5gai.html or e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
John Devoldere ON4UN
John Devoldere, ON4UN, will need no introduction to those who are active on
the low bands or in contesting, where his station is often activated using
the call sign OTxT. John holds an engineering degree in electronics, and
took early retirement in 1996 after a 30 year career with a major
telecommunications company, where he held various management positions. A
ham for about 40 years, John also holds an Extra Class license in the USA
(AA4OI). ON4UN is actively involved in Amateur Radio society matters, and
serves as president of the UBA, the Belgian IARU member-society. Aside from
being active on the DX scene on the low (as well as other) bands, John and
his station are very active in international DX contesting. John feels that
contests are the place where you can find out how good your station
(antenna) really is. John holds a range of prestigious contest awards and
plaques, including a group of "winner" plaques for CQ 160-meter DX (CW)
contests, ARRL 80-meter contests and various other
CQWW (Phone and CW) contests. John's station is operated as a club station
during international contests; dozens of guest operators from all over the
world have operated from his
station during these contests. Elected to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame in
1997, John is, above all, a very keen CW and contest operator. On 160 meters
John has worked more than 280 countries and has the
highest country score outside the USA. On Top Band, John also holds the
prestigious WAZ (award #3), as well as WAS, which is certainly not easy from
Europe. On 80 meters, ON4UN has 345 confirmed countries (all-time) and heads
the DXCC listing worldwide. He also holds 80-meter DXCC #1.
These outstanding results are certainly not the result of pure luck. They
are brought about by a professional approach, which John shares with those
at his program. Being retired now, John had the opportunity to spend more
than 1000 hours over a one-year period rewriting ON4UN's Low-Band
DXing, known far and wide as the "low-bander's bible." Email:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Registration and DX luncheon information is available at the HamCom web
> page http://www.hamcom.org
> or Lone Star DX Association web page
> http://www.dxer.org/lsdxa
>
> JA1BK's web page which contains information on Ducie and other
> Dxpeditions is at http://www.iijnet.or.jp/JA1BK/index2.html
>
> Additional information on Christian and Pitcairn Island is available at:
> Pitcairn Island web page
> http://www.lareau.org/pitc.html
> (also includes Tom's normal on-air operating times and frequencies)
> http://www.janeresture.com/pitcairn/
> (includes map of the island)
The XR0X San Felix Web page is http://cordell.vwh.net/SFX/
> 2001-2002 LSDXA Officers:
> Bill Priakos, W5SJ, president, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Herb Blair, K5AT, Information Director, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Bud Walton K5HW, treasurer, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Bob Alexander W5AH, activities director, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Tom Anderson, WW5L, membership director, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The DX heradquarters hotel will be the ArlingtonWingate Hotel, also
our Hospitality suite will be there. If you plan to stay there, please say
that you are with
"HAMCOM", otherwise they will tell you the hotel is full. The hotel
information is
Wingate Inn 1024 Brookhollow Plaza Drive
Arlington, TX 76006
817-640-8686, 1-888-657-8688, Fax 817-640-9922
http://www.wingateinns.com
Amenities:
Continental Breakfast, Handicapped Access, Health
Club, Outdoor Pool, TV/Cable,Other Amenities:
Rate: $89
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