History of the Art of DXing and Contesting

Rich in the history of amateur or ham radio is the art of DXing and contesting. DXing is short for distance. A DXpedition is a trip to operate in a rare location or country. Contests involve hundreds to thousands of operators attempting to “work” or contact as many operators of a defined criteria as possible. These DXer’s and contesters are generally very skilled. These skills involve “pulling out” a single call sign out of a cacophony of dozens to hundreds of call signs, being able to hear and understand very weak signals, and being able to receive and transmit information rapidly and accurately. These operators have simple to large, advanced antenna systems, and equipment ranging from analog and tubes to state-of-the-art software defined radios (SDRs). They are a valuable resource to gathering data, as for example in the eclipse of 2017 and looking forward, to the eclipses of 2023 and 2024. How this all started is an important and fascinating part of ham radio history. This presentation will, in a humorous and personal way, present four important pioneers and tell their story, with their impact and influence. We will cover from the early 1900’s to the early 1960’s.