Ned Stearns, AA7A
 
  Speaker  
  Name: Ned Stearns, AA7A
Ned Stearns, AA7A
 

Topic: DXpedition to Mali in
West Africa in November, 2005

Location: Balboa Room
Date & Time: Saturday 3 - 3:50 PM

Contest DXpedition to Mali, TZ5A

Brief Description of Presentation #1: The VooDoo Contest Group is a unique collection of contesters/DXers from the US and the United Kingdom. This well-traveled contest team has participated for twelve straight years in the CQWW DX contest from several West African Nations. Once again in 2005, the team converged on the dark continent moved their contest operation to Bamako, Mali, a fascinating and engaging country in Central, West Africa. Ned Stearns, AA7A, joined the operation in 2005 and participated as a rookie on this team of renowned radio operators. Ned, to the accompaniment of music by Mali-native Salif Keita and other African artists, will provide a tour of this peaceful African nation while also disclosing the methods of assembling a world-class contest station in a remote part of the world.

Biography:
Ned was first licensed in August 1963 as WN8JWY in Warren, Ohio at age 12. After college, he moved to Phoenix, AZ in 1974 and received the call sign WB7AEB. He seriously caught the DX bug in cycle 21 and has remained incredibly "radio active" in every solar cycle since then. He has maintained a very active presence on 160 meters, satellites, 6 m/ 2m/70cm Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) in addition to HF contesting and full-court-press DXing. He has completed Ten Band DXCC (160 through 6 meters) as well as DXCC on Satellites. And, has completed 5BWAZ award and has eclipsed the 2500 milestone on the ARRL DXCC Challenge. He has entered in hundreds of HF and VHF contests in his ham radio career and has lost every one of them except the ARRL CW sweepstakes in 1979. He is currently focused on DXing on the WARC bands and is often found working either 6 m or 2m EME. In 2005, he traveled to Mali, TZ, and participated in the CQWW CW DX Contest as a member of the VooDoo Contest Team placing second worldwide in the multi-transmitter / multi-operator category.

He has been employed at General Dynamics (previously Motorola, Government Electronics Group) in Phoenix, AZ since 1974 where he is a systems engineer. He has been involved the development of communication systems for both the US government and industry for over thirty years.

He was elected as Vice Director of the ARRL Southwestern Division in 2004. He enjoys the opportunity to promote amateur radio wherever he can and accepts the challenge of offering guidance to the hobby that has provided so much personal satisfaction and professional support to him over the years.


   
   
   
     
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