Young Ham Selections Complete for
2009 CQWW Contest

This was the toughest year yet for choosing a lucky young ham to participate in CQWW at 6Y1V...and we selected FOUR of them!

A special thank you to all the young hams worldwide that sent essays this year. We wish we could select all of you!

This year we decided to sponsor young hams for the CQWW CW contest in November. We haven't done that since 2004 and this year we had a fantastic group of enthusiastic young CW ops from which to choose.

Without further adieu, here's our list of the lucky four that have won an all expense paid trip to Jamaica for CQWW CW in November.

Open ~ To be Announced

EA3ALZ ~ Roger Caminal of Sabadell Spain

OZ7AM ~ Alex Hansen of Vallensbaek Strand Denmark

RV9LM ~ Alexander Bezmenov of Tyumen Russia

Please email me ASAP with confirmation of attendance, a copy of your amateur radio license and passport.

David ~ KY1V

Selection Process Underway

Wow, what can we say? We have received dozens of essays from 5 different continents! This year is going to be fantastic. Not only do we have dozens of essays from more than a dozen countries, but we have ages from 9 to 21 and both guys and girls applying!

This year the entire team will be made up of Young Hams! We are selecting 4 lucky kids to take part in CQWW at 6Y1V.

Please be patient, the selection process is underway. We'll make an announcement within hours!

David ~ KY1V
October 1 ~ 1500 GMT

Search for 2009 Young Ham

Once again, we are sponsoring a free trip to Jamaica for a young ham looking to fulfill a dream of operating from a remote DX location with state of the art equipment and antennas.

Don't miss out on your chance to be selected for this once in a lifetime opportunity! Hurry and send in your essays by September 30th, 2009.

David ~ KY1V

New Amateur Radio Resource Launched

UltraDX.com

A brand new resource has been launched for the amateur radio community. Please visit UltraDX.com. Register at UltraDX.com and get free web hosting for your call sign, create forums, blogs, news articles, opinion polls and much much more. In addition, each licensed amateur will receive a VoIP account.

When you register at UltraDX.com and refer a new friend, you will be automatically registered to win a new high-end transceiver. See web site for details.

Young Ham Selected for 2008

If you are reading this page, you are probably aware of the Young Ham Contest Program which I introduced to the amateur community in 2003.

The program is quite simple, yet easily overwhelms the mind, body and soul with an array of emotions, including desire, anticipation, excitement, hope, wonder, surprise and even disappointment.

For myself, at each stage in the process, from reading the very first essay to saying goodbye a few years later after having met the family of a prior years winner, one thing remains constant, my heart becomes warmer each time I shed tears of joy for these bright, adventurous young amateurs whom have so generously welcomed me into their lives.

Having three years experience with this new venture, I can honestly say that I never imagined how difficult it would be to make these selections. Each and every one of these young hams deserves the opportunity to experience this once in a lifetime dream to participate in such an event as a major radio contest, on a far away Island, and in most cases, with equipment they only dreamed of having the opportunity to use. I want to bring all of them to Jamaica.

Although this is not possible, I must say that to my delight, I have come across several "clone" programs, some even copying my own words from the youth page of this site, which are offering similar opportunities to our amateur radio youth. Unfortunately, several of these programs are leaving too much burden on the youth to participate in the financial responsibilities required to make it happen. Let me tell you all, it really doesn't take that much money to make a young hams dream come true. There are now three organizations, one in Britain, one in New England (USA) and one in Australia offering similar programs. I urge you to donate to these fine organizations and assist them in making these dreams come true! What you get back is unmistakably priceless.

This year, my wife and I made the long trek to Argentina to meet the family of last years winner, Manu Seibert, LU9ESD. It was an amazing trip and I must say that the Argentine people are excellent hosts. I was made an honorary member of the Bahia Blanca DX Group and watched the most heart warming presentation of Manu's trip to Jamaica while in the company of about 60 members of the club. WOW, what can I say! We filmed the whole presentation on HDTV, but that's another story.

By now, you may be wondering, "Where is Dave going with this story?" Well, let me get you up to speed. During my visit to Argentina, I met two of this years applicants for the program, Mariano, LU8EOT, a fine young operator from Escobar near Buenos Aires, and Edwin, LU1YNE from Patagonia.

I spent a fair amount of time with each of these gentlemen and in particular, became quite good friends with Mariano, whom I admire very much. Mariano, whom lives near Buenos Aires, joined Manu, my wife and I on the 700+ km drive from Bahia Blanca, through Mar Del Plata, to the airport in Buenos Aires, where we departed for a stop over in Florianopolis Brazil to visit the well known Atilano Oms, PY5EG.

So, I ask, how does one make a fair and objective decision when selecting a candidate for this program when one has met two of the candidates personally?

It was a terrible dilemma to say the least. I thought about this for days on end. Fortunately, I was able to look back upon my previous decisions, all of which I am convinced were the right choices, and considered how I came to those conclusions, which was quite simply, by considering only that which was originally written in the essays themselves.

So I read the essays sent from Argentina, Germany, Brazil, The United States, Italy, Ireland, Ukraine, Sicily and around the world. As usual, I laughed, I smiled and I cried. Then I read them again. Would you believe me if I told you I laughed, smiled and cried again? It's true.

But in the end, I know in my heart, that I once again made the right choice. So without further delay, I would like to introduce this years winner for the Young Ham Contest Program.

My wife Stacy (big time supporter, coordinator and official 6Y1V travel agent), myself, my station partner Krassy Petkov K1LZ and all the operators from 6Y1V would like to congratulate:

Francesco Cozzi of Italy, IZ7KHR

Francesco is a 20 year old ham from Bari, located in the south-east coast of Italy, near the Adriatic Sea.

He is a member of the Italian RadioHams Association (ARI), the WWYC World Wide Young Contesters group, a student and is active in many areas of amateur radio, including contesting, DX'ing and volunteer emergency services.

Francesco speaks very good English, loves to cook and believes it is every hams social responsibility to spread international good will.

We are proud to have been granted the opportunity to make Francesco's dream come true!

A big hug and a thank you to all of the applicants whom sent essays this year. Many of you will be eligible again next year, while unfortunately, some of you will not. Please know in my heart, I wish I could bring all of you to Jamaica!

David ~ KY1V

Hurricane Dean

Hurricane Dean passed dangerously close to Jamaica last night, August 19, 2007.

Although the south side of the island was battered with high winds and high storm surge, the north side of the island was relatively calm. Near 6Y1V, wind speeds were reported at 45 MPH with gusts of about 56 MPH.

Today, August 20, 2007, George (6Y5GC)  reports no damage. We are relieved that George was not injured and did not suffer any property damage. It is also a pleasant surprise to have no antenna damage at all. The worst damage is being reported as a few fallen banana trees.

At this time, we are not certain the condition of the rotors. George reports the top SteppIR MonstIR was turned almost 180 degrees from its original position. The  rotating tower apparently was also repositioned by the winds. The bottom MonstIR was stead fast and remained pointing NE, directly into the highest winds.

This is all the news I have for now. We have a crew going there to check the station and make any necessary repairs in late September. I imagine everything will be ready for CQWW in October and November.

If you are interested in operating with us during CQWW SSB, I have openings for our team. Please contact me at

We will be sponsoring a young ham for CQWW SSB in October. We have received dozens of essays from around the world. If you are 21 or under and would like a the opportunity to receive a free expedition to Jamaica for CQWW SSB, please click on our YOUTH link on the left hand menu above for more information.

David ~ KY1V