- The Battle at the IARU HF World Championship -
VK9DX ( Norfolk Island )
VK9DX  Norfolk Island
QSL via YT3D
Nick Hacko
Norfolk Island 2899
Australia Email: Use mouse to view.. Ham Member Lookups: 988000 |
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20260711 1241UTC 7009kHz CW VK9DX
JJ5IZY PC KEYING 1:58 - 4:58
JJ5IZX PADDLE 6:30 - 6:53
It’s a 24-hour battle. Good luck, Nick san 73 : )
My name is Nick Hacko. I have resided on Norfolk Island since 2021. The radio location is primarily designed as a contesting station, and it is still a work in progress. Currently, the antenna setup consists of a 5 el Yagi for 10m band, 4 el for 15m, 3el for 20m, 4 square for 40m, and a vertical for the 80/160m band. Also, I am active on 6m with a 6-element Yagi.
Contesting from the middle of the Pacific is extremely challenging. The nearest major centre of activity is Japan, roughly 8,000 km north-east of Norfolk Island. The US West Coast is about 10,500 km away, while the East Coast is more than 13,000 km. Moscow is approximately 15,000 km distant, and Berlin around 16,500 km. These are vast distances, meaning openings are always short and intense, and signals are often barely audible—especially on the low bands. VK9N is not PJ4,CN3 or EA8!
Nevertheless, I do enjoy contesting, and I have already won first place worldwide in the CQWW contest in several different categories.
2021. CQWW CW Single operator 40m band LP, #1 in the world, new all time Oceania record
2022. CQWW CW Sngle operator 40m band, #1 in the world
2024. CQWW CW Classic category SO All bands, #1 in the world, new all time Oceania record
2024. CQWW RTTY contest, SO 10m #2 in the world, new all time Oceania record
2024. Oceania DX SSB contest, SO 10m #1 in the world
2025. CQWW RTTY contest, SOAB Classic #1 in the world, new all time Oceania record
2025. CQWW SSB SO 15m Assisted 3,300 QSOs, new all time Oceania record
2025. CQWW CW SOAB Assisted 5440 QSOs, 8.379 mil points new all time Oceania record
I run a high-precision manufacturing business in Sydney, specialising in parts machined with sub-micron tolerances and exotic materials for the space, medical, optics, electronics, and scientific research industries. The bulk of production is waveguide amplifiers for 100 GHz+ and switches for 300 GHz+, as well as microfluidic modules with channels under 70 microns. Also, I am a third-generation watchmaker, and I design and manufacture mechanical wristwatches.
Need a paper QSL card for VK9DX or VK9A?
My QSL manager is my brother, YT3D. Please contact him directly. To receive a card, send USD $5 or 5 EUR . This is a real cost of QSLing, so please don't send lesser amounts.
Electronic confirmation
All contacts (more than 205,000 so far) are uploaded to ClubLog. ClubLog provides a 'free-for-all' QSO confirmation service. I am an active ClubLog user and supporter.
Need LoTW only?
Over the years more than 82,000 contacts were uploaded to LoTW for free, and hundreds of QSL cards were mailed. Want to save on postage? Need LoTW only? In a hurry? Or just wish to show your appreciation for a new one on a difficult band? Paypal USD $5 to vk9dx@clockmaker.com.au
Happy DXing
73 Nick [VK2DX VK1AA YU7XX H40XX H44XX VK9WI VK9LX etc. ]
I love amplifiers
I’m mostly a collector and admirer. Australian rules limit output to 400W on sideband and 120W on CW/digital—not huge, but plenty if your Yagis sit on a remote island. On digital, I run 50W and still work everyone, even rare ones—not on first call, but regularly. Power isn’t the point. Amplifiers are.
I started building them at 16. First was a GG 2x813, later rebuilt to 4x813. Then QB5/1750, rebuilt to a pair of 1750s. First commercial amp: an old Dentron MLA2500 imported form Canada. Then a new Emtron DX2, upgraded to DX3. The grail? Creative Electronics CE-5000 with 3CX3000—6KW into the antenna effortlessly. Now in storage for 20+ years.
Wife hated the DX3 blower, so I bought an SPE 1.3K—quiet, but constant headaches. Three breakdowns, each repair $1K. SPE never again. After moving to Norfolk, I needed a small, reliable, valve amp I could fix myself. OM Power 2000A+ fit perfectly. Later, bought a second 2000A+ as a spare. When I got the Felex 6600, I also bought PowerGenius PGXL, but since I rarely use Flex, the PGXL was turned on just for a photo opportunity.
When DXing closed in 2025, I was left with dozens of brand-new, unboxed amps. Could I have sold them? Maybe. Could I sell below cost? Never. Appreciative buyers are rare. Now I have:
2x ACOM 2000A, 2x ACOM 1500, 2x ACOM 2100 (all unboxed)
1 demo ACOM 2000A (5 hours)
9 OM Power amps: OM2000+, OM2000A+, OM2000, OM2501, OM2501HF, two OM4001s (auto/manual), 2 OM2002W
and 3 more PGXLs (unboxed)
That’s 20+ amps and I still dream of one more: Alpha 77SX with a pair of 8877s, the ultimate nostalgia piece, an amplifier I could only dream about when I was a kid. Maybe the last… or maybe not.
73,
Nick VK9DX
Galapagos Islands
Singapore
Argentina
USA
