“CQ, CQ from Pacific!”

The Dx Adventure Radio Club (DA-RC) is pleased to introduce to you top Aussie op 43DA392 Graeme who joins our ranks in December, 2019.

A professional and very active eleven meter DX Hunter in the ‘Land Down Under’, 43DA392 Graeme has had radio comms “in his blood” since 1976.

“From 1990 I had the callsign WWCBS392, from a citizens band club I joined over the air,” he recalls.

“It was based in Northern California and 27.515 MHz USB was our call and chat frequency…”

43DA392 Graeme calls the Australian state of Queensland, on Australia’s eastern coast, his home QTH.

Nicknamed “the Sunshine State” for its sunny WX all year round, Queensland is famous for the world heritage listed Great Barrier Reef, it’s beautiful sand islands such as Fraser, the Whitsundays, Moreton and Stradbroke, its luscious tropical rainforest, golden sandy surf beaches, and liveable cities such as Brisbane, Cairns and the Gold Coast.

On the radio shack bench-top, ICOM, Midland and an assortment of old cybernet transceivers (e.g. Dick Smith Scorpion) are eminent features of 43DA392 Graeme’s DX artillery.

Pictured above, a 5/8 vertical base station antenna, made by Italian based manufacturer Sirio, sits high above the roof of his home and packs a huge omnidirectional signal to the world’s DX Hunters when propagation is running, as well as to local stations up and down the coastline with whom he always enjoys a good ragchew.

In addition to being QRV as a home-station, 43DA392 Graeme is setup well for both automobile and maritime mobile ops.

“I know many mountain tops I can drive too easily from here,” says Graeme.

“Peaks like Mount Superbus, Mount Barney, Mount Cordeaux and Mount Lindesay are all possible vantage points for Summits On The Air (SOTA) operations in the future…”

Pictured above and below, a couple of 43DA392 Graeme’s favourite pastimes are boating and fishing and these combine brilliantly with his interest in maritime mobile DX operations.

Encircled by the unspoiled Queensland State (South Coast) South group OC-137 isles in Moreton Bay, Graeme finds the take-off across the water, which acts as the world’s best ground plane, an incredible pathway to other Pacific DXCC, including other Australian states and territories.

Like many DA-RC Members, 43DA392 Graeme is also an avid Short Wave Listener (SWL).

One of his most precious memories is picking up radio transmissions from the first space shuttle, relayed from WA3NAN in California.

This is the Goddard Amateur Radio Club station and it was founded in 1969 by employees of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center located in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Away from the shack, when he’s not working in the field of Electronics, 43DA392 Graeme enjoys keeping fit by playing tennis with his partner.

As well as being loads of fun, no doubt ‘smacking a ball’ around the court with a racquet is also the perfect outlet for built-up frustration caused by inconsistent band openings at this time of the Solar Cycle!!!

You can catch up with 43DA392 Graeme on any one of the 27 MHz calling frequencies.

You’re also likely to hear him keying up from the maritime station, possibly for a SWOTA, or working portable from a mountain top, lighthouse or island with other members of the DA-RC in the years to come.

QSL INFOS

• “Will QSL First”