.First licensed as a Novice in June, 1954 as WN5FKX, Don upgraded to W5FKX the following Spring and has been active ever since. In the 1970s when work took him to "4-land", he was issued the callsign K4HBJ; but was able to retrieve his original callsign upon returning to "5-land" some years later. Drawn to working DX stations from the beginning, his first "real" DX contact was in March, 1955 with KZ5GH in the "Canal Zone" on 40m CW. Although available time for hamming waxed and waned due to education, work, and family, the thrill of chasing DX never faded. He has enjoyed occasional DX operating sorties as V31KX, W5FKX/KL7, and OX/W5FKX, along with several IOTA (Islands On The Air) sojourns, and these experiences provided the opportunity to experiment with compact, portable equipment and antennas, as well as to have a taste of what DXing is like "on the other end".
Having achieved #1 DXCC Honor Roll, along with Honor Roll on CW, SSB, and RTTY, he is currently looking for the last few needed on each mode, and for new band-counters for the DXCC Challenge. He has also been enjoying 160m DXing (a real challenge for anyone living in an urban area!), 6m DXing, and chasing IOTA. A CW enthusiast from the start, it remains his favorite mode, but he also enjoys SSB, RTTY, and PSK31 modes on all bands, while dabbling in FM and SSTV. He is a member of the ARRL and the Delta DX Association.
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