Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio

Relentless Competitor: Dave 9A1UN Rebuilds 9A1P to Greatness

Dave Kucelin 9A1UN, also known by his contest call 9A1P, is one of the most accomplished HF contesters in Croatia and the tenacious force behind a station that’s endured devastating storms, unresolvable land disputes, and a rotating cast of club members—all while racking up thousands of QSOs. In this episode, Dave opens up about building (and rebuilding) the 9A1P contest station, a decades-long project that started with five-element yagis on a 30-foot tower and evolved into a rugged, sea-facing setup now spanning four towers on a ridge above the Adriatic Sea. A third-generation ham, Dave first got on the air using his father’s call at age six. He cut his teeth on VHF contests, but it was CQWW that pulled him toward HF. After a freak storm in 2018 leveled the original station, Dave and his small team were forced to start over—only to be evicted from the land they’d occupied for 30 years. (Yes, there’s more to the story.) What followed was a two-year hunt for a new site, culminating in a station perched above a river valley with sea paths to North America and Japan, optimized with fixed antennas built to withstand the region’s brutal winds. The story is full of grit and unexpected laughs—like the time Dave hung a tribander between two towers with rope just to beam east for ARRL SSB, or his candid take on remote operation and the fear it might kill the camaraderie he treasures most. His daughter, now licensed and active in the YOTA scene, marks the family’s fourth generation on the air. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio—where we're working hard to illuminate the wonderful world of ham radio. Special thanks to DX Engineering for supporting the global ham radio community—from trailblazing POTA activators to teams pushing the limits in the world’s toughest DX and contesting environments. Your gear powers the pursuit.

Contest Crew Europe’s Rising Star: Sven DJ4MX

Sven Lovric DJ4MX is part of a new wave of contesters and DXpeditioners reshaping what youth, excellence, and ambition look like in ham radio today. At just 23, he’s already logged pileups from Guyana and the remote Pacific outpost of the Marshall Islands. Whether operating as 8R7X or V73WW, Sven thrives in the thick of it—chasing signals from the other side of the globe, running high-rate phone pileups, and mastering CW through sheer commitment and countless hours on Morse Runner.
Our conversation traces his journey from a 13-year-old operating under Germany’s training license program to a top finisher in CQ Worldwide CW from a 100-watt station in the heart of Munich. While his roots lie in family outings and early SOTA activations, his heart now belongs to contests and DXpeditions. He favors single-op low power for the raw challenge—but you can see the glimmer in his eyes when he talks about future high-power opportunities. His most formative experiences—like operating from E7DX with Braco or field-cooking between shifts in the Marshalls—reveal a camaraderie at the core of these far-flung efforts.
Sven’s voice is both young and unusually thoughtful. He champions the live scoreboard as a tool for growth, not ego, and offers a clear call to action: don’t just study radio—operate. That advice, he notes, applies as much to midlife returners as it does to teenage prodigies. And while he isn’t ready to reveal where the “Next Generation DX Team” is heading next, one thing is certain—they’re not done.
Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio for more interviews with the voices shaping amateur radio’s future.
Thanks to DX Engineering for supporting this work—and for helping DXers, POTA activators, and contesters everywhere build the stations of their dreams, no matter where they call CQ.

Building One of Europe’s Top Contest Stations: Mike SJ2W

Mike Larsmark SJ2W is one of Europe’s premier contest station builders—an operator who pairs deep technical skill with long-term investment and a clear vision for finding a competitive edge from the far northern Swedish countryside.
Licensed at 15, Larsmark jumped into contesting early and never looked back. He credits Contest Crew member Randy Thompson K5ZD as an early influence, whose writeups helped him understand what it meant to operate competitively. From stringing up wire antennas to building a purpose-designed, eight-tower station near 64.5° N, his journey has been one of steady, methodical refinement. SJ2W is now a serious presence in the contesting world, with European records, top-three finishes, and proof that results are possible—even at a highly propagation-dependent latitude—with the right design and team.
This conversation traces the evolution of SJ2W: why automation became essential, how Larsmark built a remote-ready system around his own control software (OpenASC), and what it takes to manage hardware, operators, and neighbors across thousands of square meters. One standout moment: the 2010 IARU contest, when SJ2W’s new antennas brought in North America every hour for 24 hours straight—an early glimpse of what the site was capable of.
Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio.
Thanks to DX Engineering for backing the builders, the activators, and the contesters—whether you're fine-tuning a multi-op setup or logging first contacts from a field station, their gear and guidance help you get the job done right.

Contest Crew EUROPE Debuts!

Braco E77DX is the driving force behind the first-ever Contest Crew: Europe Edition—a project built on the momentum and format created by the original Contest Crew: Randy K5ZD, Dan N6MJ, Chris KL9A, Bill W9KKN, and Dr. Scott Wright K0MD. Together, they set the tone for what this series became: smart, unscripted, and genuinely fun. Their candid, strategy-rich conversations quickly became essential viewing for contesters and helped build a loyal global following for Q5. But one thing kept coming up: we needed more voices from outside North America. Enter Braco, who pushed to expand the conversation—and tonight, that idea becomes reality. In this premiere episode, we welcome six of Europe’s most accomplished operators: Braco E77DX, Dave 9A1UN, Mike SJ2W, Filipe CT1ILT, Kris ES7A, and Sven DJ4MX. From propagation quirks and contest scoring challenges to stories of station rebuilds and IARU prep, this is contesting from a European vantage point—uncensored and overdue. Five of the six will be competing in WRTC 2026. This isn’t a parallel project—it’s an expansion. Our intention is for the EU and NA Crews to cross over in future episodes, exchanging ideas, perspectives, and maybe even some friendly trash talk. Contesting is a global game. This crew underscores it. Join the conversation in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio for more episodes like this. Thanks to DX Engineering for backing this series—and for their steadfast support of the Parks on the Air community, as well as everything they do to equip DXers, contesters, and portable operators around the globe. Their passion powers the hobby. Visit dxengineering.com to learn more.

IARU HF World Championship: Contest Crew Gets Ready

In this episode, the Contest Crew—Randy K5ZD, Dan N6MJ, and Bill W9KKN—turns their attention to the IARU HF World Championship, a 24-hour sprint that’s more than just a summertime curiosity. It’s a deceptively technical contest: the rules are simple, but the path to a top score is anything but. As Randy lays out the structure and quirks—zones, headquarters stations, multiplier strategy, and the peculiar propagation patterns that emerge in July—it becomes clear this is a thinking person’s DX contest. And for many, it’s the perfect tune-up for something even bigger. Dan, who’s stood atop the WRTC podium, sees IARU as essential prep for 2026, when the Olympics of radiosport take place in England. But he also points to a rare opening for West Coast operators: a shot at going toe-to-toe with their East Coast rivals, thanks to nighttime paths on 20 and 15 meters that tilt the playing field—if only briefly. Bill echoes the sentiment—this isn’t just a casual one-day sprint. It’s one of the few contests where propagation, geography, and raw skill align in unpredictable ways. Then there’s the moment Randy explains why the real magic of 10 meters might not come at sunrise but at 22Z, when Europe stays up late and the band suddenly opens like a trapdoor. Or Dan recalling how a pre-WRTC trip exposed the razor-thin beamwidth of their spiderbeam antenna—details that don’t just color a contest, but decide it. The conversation drifts into WRTC strategy, the shifting meta of CW vs. SSB, and the quiet thrill of nailing the perfect multiplier at the perfect moment. This episode builds on the candid, unscripted energy that made the Contest Crew series a cult favorite. If you’re serious about IARU—or just curious why the best contesters never stop learning—this one’s for you. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio for more smart, spirited talks like this. Thanks to DX Engineering for backing DXers, contesters, Parks on the Air activators and hams everywhere who keep stretching the edges of the map.

Q5 June 2025 Update

POTA Legend in the Making: Les KI5GTR on Activating, Contesting, and Going All-In

Les Chalfant KI5GTR is the kind of operator who reminds us what Parks on the Air is all about. From zero to full-throttle in just a few years, Les has activated all 286 parks in Arkansas, is closing in on 700 unique park activations overall, and still found time to earn a serious contest plaque from his home QTH—Rookie Overlay #1 in the U.S. for the 2024 CQ Worldwide SSB Contest. Whether he’s logging 200 contacts from a forest clearing or tracking propagation through a 48-hour contest, Les blends outdoor adventure with competitive drive in a way that feels entirely fresh—and completely at home in the POTA movement. He’s not just participating. He is the story. Les embodies the best of what Parks on the Air has come to represent: accessibility, energy, community, and a love for radio that’s contagious. Join the conversation in the comments and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio for more stories like this. Special thanks to DX Engineering for their continued support—not just of this show, but of the entire Parks on the Air community. Whether you're operating off-grid, chasing DX from a contest station, or running 100 watts from the tailgate, DX Engineering makes it all work better.

ARRL Field Day 2025: Contest Crew Makes Plans

ARRL Field Day is here—and whether you’re running 100 watts on a hilltop with a friend, part of a multi-operator 6A club effort, or setting up a 1B in your backyard, it’s one of the most beloved events in ham radio. In the latest Contest Crew episode, Randy Thompson K5ZD, Daniel Craig N6MJ, Christopher Hurlbut KL9A, and Bill Fehring W9KKN share their Field Day plans and reflect on why this weekend means so much to hams of all kinds—including serious contesters. This episode is made possible by DX Engineering—your Field Day headquarters for everything from antennas to accessories. Thanks to them for supporting the ham radio community year-round. We want to hear about your Field Day too! Send photos and videos to W1DED (email on QRZ) during the event—we’ll be sharing highlights all weekend long.

10,000 QSOs in 48 Hours: Jeff N5TJ’s CQWW SSB Record

Jeff Steinman N5TJ is one of amateur radio’s most accomplished contesters—a four-time WRTC medalist and the current holder of the all-time CQWW SSB world record, set from EA8BH in 1999. His contesting journey began with responding to a classified ad in QST by Lou K4VX that led to mentorship, a teenage single-op debut, and more than 50 return visits as a guest operator. That foundation—combined with decades of strategic refinement—has shaped a career defined by both performance and humility. In this conversation, Jeff reflects on the evolution of contesting, the value of guest operating, and why curiosity—not just technology—should guide new operators. Join the conversation and subscribe for more operator-focused interviews from Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio. Special thanks to DX Engineering for supporting this episode—and for their continued commitment to Parks on the Air activators, DXers, contesters, and ham radio operators around the world.

Why World Wide Award Might Be Ham Radio’s Best New Event

Randy Thompson K5ZD is a world-class contester, but in this episode, he turns his attention to one of the fastest-growing events in ham radio: the World Wide Award (WWA). With the July Sprint just days away, Randy explains how WWA evolved from a WRTC beta test into a global scavenger hunt for activators and chasers—not a contest, but just as thrilling. WWA emphasizes daily contacts, real-time scoring, and broad participation across all bands and modes—including FT8, PSK, and RTTY. Think pileups. Think momentum. Whether you're chasing from home or operating as an activator, WWA offers a fresh, addictive way to connect with hams around the world. Join the conversation—and if you’re new here, subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio for more interviews that highlight the people and ideas shaping our hobby. Special thanks to DX Engineering, whose continued support extends from contesters and DXers to the operators powering programs like Parks on the Air (POTA). Whether you're operating from a summit or a superstation, they’ve got the gear—and the know-how—to help you do it right.