*MEET* 2DA357 Dave

Joining the Dx Adventure Radio (DA-RC) in October 2012 is distinguished hobbyist 2DA357 David from the United States of America (2 Division).

One of North America’s foremost and most competent eleven meter DX Hunters with no less than 37 years experience in radio comms, Dave is noticed by most guys as a regular in the logs of prominent dxpedition stations when most others are left ruing missed opportunities.

With an impressive station consisting of Yaesu FT-950 and FT-8900 UHF/VHF transceivers, a Heil Pro headset and 1KW Gonset Amplifier, and collection of antennas including a 3 element HPSD Yagi at 65 feet overlooking the nearby sites of his home city in south-east Los Angeles County, DA-RC’s new Yaesu buff always seems to find a way to smash through the pile ups of rare activities which appear on the band or latch on to a weak signal when a brief opening occurs.  And just to make it even more of a challenge, it’s all done on backup solar power too!

A quick check on YouTube too will confirm that he is indeed one of the most successful DX Hunters in the world.

Dave’s home QTH is the city of Downey, which is approximately 20 kilometers from the Pacific coastline and the ideal take off to other DA-RCies on the small Pacific Islands.

Home to the oldest surviving McDonald’s and Taco Bell restaurants, as well as the famous Downtown Downey Farmers’ Market and world renowned spinal injury treatment center ‘Rancho Los Amigos’, the city is perhaps best known though as the birthplace of the Apollo space program.

Dave’s city is also the place where pop singer Karen Carpenter lived and died, the home to Metallica front man James Hetfield and original Metallica bassist Ron McGovney, the birthplace of polka parody artist Weird Al Yankovic, and also to former American Grand Prix motorcycle racer Wayne Rainey.

Dave balances his DA-RC membership with an association with the Lima Victor Free radio club of the Netherlands. He is also a user of on-line hobby forum DX27.

Like most of his DA-RC mates, 2DA357 David’s interests in the sphere of radio comms are know few boundaries.  They include VHF/UHF radio, marine radio, lighthouses, islands, summits and castles on the air (LOTA), emergency comms, contesting, scanning, antenna construction and more!

Dave is a big supporter of DXpedition teams and always quick with some positive feedback if and when the opportunity arises. He participated enthusiastically and successfully as a member of the Jedi masters in the 2012 DXtreme Team Challenge also.

Away from the radio communications hobby, 2DA357 David works in the field of window installations.  He also confesses to an interest in explosive pyrotechnic devices such as fireworks.

No doubt these give him the BANG he needs when conditions on the eleven meter band and the DXpedition scene are on the quiet 😉

To see Dave’s magnificent personal QSL card, click HERE.

QSL Information

  • Dave, 9015 Manzanar Avenue, 90240, Downey, CA, USA