65th Pacific NW DX Convention
Our theme this year is DX’ing, Contesting, Technology, and Relationships.
IMPORTANT NOTICE!: The deadline for being able to get meals with your registration ended on June 30th. Now you can only register for the convention programs only. This was necessary so we could give the Centennial a final meal count. Also, all rooms at the Centennial are now sold out at the convention rate.
PRIZE UPDATES!: We have received some new prizes from SteppIR and Easy Way Ham Books, so be sure to check those out on our Prizes page by selecting the menu tab above.
Speaker Update: We wanted to let you know that due to personal reasons, Lee Sawkins (VE7CC) will not be able to attend the convention. But we have Ed Hare, W1RFI from the ARRL Headquarters that will be giving us a presentation titled “Radio Frequency Interference and the Radio Amateur”. I think all of us will learn something new to help us clean up our shack from external and internal RFI.
Also, Mike Ritz (W7VO), our NW Division Director, will be giving a short presentation during the Sunday Brunch “ARRL DX/Contest Updates”.
Speaker Profile
Every week or so I’m going to post a introduction and profile of some of our speakers that we will have at our convention. I think you will agree, our convention team did a great job of recruiting some of the best in their fields of DX’ing, Contesting, and Technology.
Rusty Epps – W6OAT
Rusty grew up in Columbus, Georgia where he first became licensed as KN4BVD in 1958. The following year, he obtained his General Class license, and obtained his Extra Class in 1967. Rusty moved to California in 1968 where he became licensed as W6OAT. Now, we are fortunate to have him with us here in the Pacific Northwest where he now lives in Indianola, WA.
Many of us who have been DX’ers or Contesters for many years recognize his call because he loves doing both. I often hear W6OAT in the pileups, where he is usually one of the first ones in the log. And many times Rusty is in many of the major contests having been involved with the WRTC (World Radiosport Team Championship) since 1990 where he wrote the original set of rules and being one of only four individuals who has attended all eight WRTC events.
He was the Chief Judge for the first 1990 WRTC event in Seattle. He served on the Organizing Committee and was Publicity Chairman for WRTC-1996 in San Francisco, and was a Referee for WRTC-2000, WRTC-2002, WRTC-2006, WRTC-2010, WRTC-2014 and WRTC-2018. He has been appointed Chief Judge for the upcoming WRTC-2023 in Italy. Additionally, Rusty serves as a member of the WRTC Steering Committee.
At the convention, Rusty’s presentation will be “A History Of The World Radiosport Team Championship” where several from the first and subsequent WRTC’s will be collaborating with him to help with the presentation. I can’t wait to see it!
Convention History: The PNW DX Convention has been held every summer since 1955 with the sponsorship rotating between the major DX clubs of the Pacific Northwest. There was no convention in 2020 because of Covid, and the convention in 2021 had to be done via Zoom for the same reasons. The 67th Annual Convention will be hosted by the Spokane DX Association (sdxa.org).
Together, these organizations have upheld the rich traditions of amateur radio and the pursuit of DX through five solar cycles. Over the decades, we have enjoyed wonderful friendships and the very special international camaraderie that ham radio fosters in the Pacific Northwest and around the world.
The convention chairpersons are Randy Foltz (K7TQ) and Mel Ming (N7GCO). Jay Lopes (N7ZUF) is in charge of getting us some great prizes next year, Jay Holcomb (WA0WWW) is in charge of registrations, and I’m the webmaster, John Gager (K7KB). Please use the “Contact Us” tab at the top of the page if you need to get in touch with anyone on the convention committee.
We will be having our convention at the beautiful Centennial Hotel, part of the Davenport Hotel chain, in downtown Spokane. The Hotel is now taking reservations and you can get more information by clicking the “Hotel Reservations” menu tab above.
Website: https://pacificnwdxconvention.com/
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