The small South Pacific DXCC New Zealand is home to our latest member who is 41DA616 Lou. Formerly 41DT616, 41NY616 and 41AT616 respectively, Lou hails from the small rural town of Wyndham on the country’s South Island (IOTA Ref: OC-134), 45 km east of Invercargill and 25 km south of Gore, and is thrilled to be part of the DA-RC team.
Lou’s QTH is situated on the east banks of the Mataura River, between the Mimihau Stream to the north and the Mokoreta River to the south. Protected now by a floodbank, Wyndham is a service centre for the surrounding districts with a shopping centre, library, museum and hotel and, according to Lou, these “keep him busy in times when the propagation is not so good”.
One of 41 Division’s most distinguished and respected DXers, Lou has been a mainstay of 27 MHz frequencies for more than 20 years and is regarded by many in the Pacific area as the face (or voice) of New Zealand. It’s not surprising then that he has been one of the most sought after stations in the annual Oceania Contest events, having to battle through many a pile up of DX hungry contesters keen to work him as a multiplier for their log.
A retired truck driver, Lou now works as a green keeper at his local golf course and race track, mowing lawns to keep fit and busy and contributing to a local sports scene that also includes baseball, brown trout fishing and basketball. Like many radio communications enthusiasts, Lou also enjoys tinkering with electronic equipment, as well as ham, short wave and citizens band radio and “all things DX”.
41DA616 Lou joins the Dx Adventure Radio Club (DA-RC) via the DX Chaser classification and comes highly recommended by good radio mates 43DA050 Geoff and 43DA021 Brian.
On behalf of the team, welcome to your new radio club, Lou. I’m sure you’ll enjoy being a part of the team and working the world with your new DA callsign.
