Dave Winarsky , K6ZD

I’ve always been interested in Ham Radio, having grown up listening to my father talk about his experiences as the youngest General Class Operator in the United States in 1958. I finally got my license in 2010 and upgraded to General in 2015. I will never forget my first QSO — Don Anastasia AA6W, who worked at Ham Radio Outlet visited me to help me setup the new rig I had just bought from him. We called CQ and India answered! My mind was blown and I was hooked.

I am a member of the Northern California DX Club and have enjoyed DXing ever since my first contact (168 confirmed today). As the sun cycle dwindled, I started looking into CW. I enrolled in CW Ops Academy in fall-2017 with Bill Spickler N0KQ and absolutely loved it. After finishing level 1, I continued immediately with level 2 with Bob Carter WR7Q at the helm. These folks were both incredible instructors and I still can’t believe the quality of the courses.

These days, I’m all CW. I knew I was all-in when I had a visitor recently and realized that my mic wasn’t working, nor could I remember the last time I had used it! I’m on almost every evening at about 8:30 pm Pacific time (04:30 UTC) to try and make at least 1 CW QSO per day. I’ve also been participating in the CWT’s, which has really been helping me get my speed up.

In my station I run the full Elecraft K-line with a K3S, KPA500 amplifier and KAT500 tuner. For my antenna, I’m using an 80 meter OCF dipole up at 50 feet. I’ve been working on putting up a monopole tower with a Steppir DB-11, but my zoning permit application has been stuck with the City of San Jose for about a year now!

By day, I’m an engineering manager at Apple working on Siri, and my nights and weekends are spent with my 2 little boys (7 and almost 2) and wonderful wife.

I’d like to thank my CWA instructors Bill and Bob (Bob for nominating me!) as well as Gary W7EE and the others who supported my nomination. I’m looking forward to meeting many new members and participating in the club.