Chad the Ham, WE9V

Chad the Amateur Radio Operator

Hi, my name is Chad Kurszewski and allow me to tell you a little about myself and a few of my hobbies. I've been a "ham" (amateur radio operator) since 1987, when I earned a Technician Class License. My first callsign was N9GVT, but only had it a short while, as I quickly passed my General and Advanced Class licenses and became KE9HJ. Less than a year after that, I passed my Extra Class exam and became WE9V. Even though we can change our calls with the FCC's vanity callsign program, I've decided to keep WE9V for the long term. I've had this call since 1988.

My main activity in ham radio is HF contesting. Since I've become a ham, I've made over 104,700 contacts with that callsign, mostly in contests. I also guest operate at other stations and participate in multi-operator efforts. I've been a part of over 290,000 QSOs at other stations including K4JA (ex-KS9K,W9JA), W9UP, W0AIH, K9NS, KH7R, 6D2X, FS5PL, and PJ2T.

Check out my DXCC/QSO totals and also have a look at a listing of my contesting efforts.

I bought my first house in 1998, and immediately began building a "modest" station. Outside, I have two towers. The main tower is 100' of Rohn 45. Antennas on the main tower include a two stack of KLM KT-34XAs (32' booms) at 50' and 100', and a 2 element yagi for 40M at 108'. The back tower is 56' of Rohn 25. It supports a third tribander (Mosley TA-34, 21' boom) at 56' and a Cushcraft A3WS at 61'. Check out more antenna information and pictures.

Inside, the station is designed to be a SO2R (Single-op, two-radio) station, but can be easily changed to support a small multi-op. The hardware includes a Yaesu FT-1000 and Ameritron AL-1500 amplifier for the main station, and a borrowed Yaesu FT-990 and Ameritron AL-1500 amplifier for the second station. Click here to get a more complete station description.