Program

Welcoming Address

Rob is President of the Western Washington DX Club. He graduated from both U of WA and Washington State University with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Material Science. Worked at Intel Corp manufacturing computer chips, transitioning into software development. Retired in 2014 after a successful career at Applied Microsystems, Microsoft, and software consulting. He obtained his novice license (WB7TDU) when 14 years of age, eventually obtaining his Extra license in the mid 90's. His primary passion is combining his love of travel and chasing DX. Retirement has enabled him to also give back to the amateur radio community by also becoming the "DX". His other passions include landscape photography, motorcycle adventure touring, gardening and spending time with family and friends.

Rob is an active DXpeditioner and has been on the air from Montserrat (VP2MQT), Austral Islands (TX5Z and TX5D), Christmas Island (VK9AN), San Andres (5J0X), Sint Maarten (PJ7/N7QT), Saba (PJ6/N7QT), Saint Lucia (J6/N7QT), Willis Island (VK9WA), Mellish Reef (VK9MA), and most recently, Ducie Island (VP6D) and Brunei (V84SAA).

Eric Swartz, WA6HHQ

"Transciever Trends"

Eric is Elecraft’s Chief Operating Officer, co-designer of the K3 and other transceivers, and co-founder of Elecraft in 1998 with Wayne Burdick, N6KR. Licensed 42 years, he credits his early interest in Amateur Radio with leading him to a career in electronic design and management. He has a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science from Yale University, and has been involved in a number of successful Silicon Valley start-ups. Prior to Elecraft, Eric was co-founder and President of Verisys, a leading test equipment manufacturer of protocol analyzers for the mass storage market.
Wayne and Eric have jointly received the ARRL’s Technical Excellence Award for their Elecraft designs.

Dr. Joe Taylor, K1JT

"Beyond WSJT-X 2.0"

Joe was born in Philadelphia and raised in nearby NJ. He obtained his amateur radio license as a teenager, which led him to the field of radio astronomy. BA in Physics, Haverford, 1963. Ph.D in Astronomy, Harvard, 1968; thesis work was on lunar occultation measurements. His work in Astrophysics lead to the Nobel Prize in 1993 in the study of gravitational radiation of binary pulsars.

He had previously held the callsigns K2ITP, WA1LXQ, W1HFV, and VK2BJX. His Amateur Radio feats have included mounting an 'expedition' in April 2010 to use the Arecibo Radio Telescope to conduct moonbounce with hams around the world using voice, CW, and digital communications.

His "hobby" with WSJT-X and the FT8 signaling protocol have revolutionized DX for even the most modest ham stations.

Dr. Tamitha Skov, WX6SWW

"Space Weather Woman"

Tamitha is a new kind of weather forecaster for our modern world. As we become more reliant on technology like our cell phones, GPS (GNSS), and other satellite services we find we are more susceptible to the effects of Space Weather. Just like terrestrial weather on Earth, Space Weather can be as mild as a rainstorm or as wild as a hurricane.

Let Tamitha show you in non-science jargon how this new kind of weather impacts your daily life. You will never look at the Sun or the Earth in the same way again. After all, Space Weather is just like the weather in your own backyard, it’s just a little further up.

Her current position is as a research scientist at The Aerospace Corporation in Southern California. Her work is primarily in the fields of solar and space physics, but also evaluates materials for use in space radiation environments. She is an instructor at the Aerospace Institute and has served as an audio forensics analyst and instructor for the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC), hosted at Aerospace and funded by the Department of Justice.

Tamitha holds a BS in both Physical Chemistry and in Physics (with honors), UCLA, 1996; MS in Geophysics and Space Plasma Physics, UCLA, 2000. Her Ph.D. is in Geophysics and Space Plasma Physics, UCLA, 2002.

Gene Spinelli, K5GS

"Recipe for a DXpedition"

Gene was first licensed in 1976 as WB5WFD while living in Arlington, Texas; he’s held K5GS since 1996, his previous calls were WD6DLK and KE6LT. He is an avid DXer; his DXCC count is 353 confirmed (mixed) with all current DXCC entities confirmed. His radio interest has always been DXing with occasional diversions into restoring vintage radios and the digital modes. A member of: 2012 ZL9HR Campbell Island, 2014 VK9MT Mellish Reef, 2015 TX3X Chesterfield Island, and 2018 VP6D Ducie Island DXpeditions. Currently in the planning stages for the South Orkney Islands 2020 DX-pedition. He also holds call signs ZL1NA and VK2IXC. Gene and his wife live in Tucson, Arizona.

John Miller, K6MM

"The Lighter Side of Ham Radio: Why We Do What We Do"

John was first licensed as WV2BQJ in 1958 while living in Syracuse, NY. In 1976, John’s career took him to Silicon Valley, where he reconnected with amateur radio in the late 90s. For the last decade, John has focused heavily on DXing, contesting, and recruiting new operators into the hobby. He holds 8-Band DXCC, and is working on completing 160M for the 9th band. His article entitled "The No Excuses 160M Vertical" won the cover plaque award for the June 2009 issue of QST.

John was a DXpedition operator at PJ7E Sint Maarten, K9W Wake Atoll, K1N Navassa Island, K5P Palmyra Atoll, and KH1/KH7Z Baker Island. He was also a pilot and/or webmaster for the NH8S (Swains Island), C82DX (Mozambique), FT4TA (Tromelin), 3G0ZC (Juan Fernandez), and VK0EK (Heard Island) DXpeditions.

John is the current President of the Northern California DX Foundation, a Past-President of the Northern California Contest Club, a past Director of the Northern California DX Club, and a founding member of the CW Operators’ Club. He is also a member of the editorial staff of the National Contest Journal, and has been Co-Chairman of the International DX Convention since 2011.

In addition to his four grandchildren, John's interests include website design, piano composition, and exploring the back roads of the Bay Area on his Harley Davidson motorcycle.