QSO Today with Tony DePrato WA4JQS

WA4JQS

8/28/2021

Episode 365 - Tony DePrato - WA4JQS

Tony DePrato WA4JQS had an early love of radio and a junior high school mentor who helped him get on the air in the early 1960s. An 80 meter DX contact from his native Kentucky to Australia ignited a passion for DX that resulted in Tony leading two DXpeditions to the most sought after DX entities in the World. WA4JQS tells his ham radio story in this QSO Today.

Show Notes

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Hometown: Somerset, Kentucky
Father: Franklin DePrato, WA4LLK
Mother: Ada DePrato, WA4RTJ
Mentor: Art Calhoun, K4UNE, started the Somerset High School amateur Radio Club, WA4FVC in 1962
Elmer: M.B.Johnson K4REU a dispatcher for the Southern Railroad, taught code and theory
First License: General, WA4JQS, 1962, Age 15

First Rig:
Globe Champion 350A Transmitter
Hallicrafters SX 110A Receiver
108 Foot Trap Dipole Antenna

Current Rig:
Kenwood TS950SDX
Kenwood TS870S HF Transceiver
Kenwood TS850SAT
Kenwood TS-480HX
Drake 4 Line
Drake CC1 Converter Console
Drake B Line
Drake C Line
Drake TR7 and R7 Line
Drake TR4CW RIT
Hallicrafter SR400

Antenna:
4 Element Cubical Quad, 30 foot boom
Mosley Pro 57B Beam Antenna
Mosley Classic 36 Antenna
Hygain 402BA
Inverted L Antenna 160 Meters
80 Meter V Beam Antenna

On the Bench:
Drake AC4 Power Supply
Plate and Load Control Amplifiers - Dip the Plate and increase the Grid

Terms
Border Blasters
Wolfman Jack
Industrial Arts Class in Public Schools
Globescout Model 40 Transmitter
Allied Knight Kit R100 Receiver
Railroad Dispatcher
Ameco General Class Theory Course
Bluegrass Amateur Radio Society
Gunsmoke Television Show
United States Navy
United States Navy Battery Test
Aviation Electronics Technician Airborne
US Navy Reserve
Detroit River
US Airman E3
AN/APS82 Radar
Grauman AWAC
Airborne USS Essex Aircraft Carriers
Naval Station Norfolk
Military Chaplain
Maritime Mobile Net
Collins S Line
Hallicrafters Radio Company
Collins 75A2 Receiver
Hallicrafters SR-400A Cyclone Receiver
Toll Facilities, Kentucky Transportation
Stepping Chain Relay Computers - need reference
IBM System 7
Cumberland Parkway, KY
Relay Burnishing Tool
Vibroplex Bugs
VP8 Falkland Islands
South Sandwich Islands
Heathkit HR20 Receiver
Heathkit HX30 6 Meter SSB Transmitter
Model 19 Teletype
RTTY Contest
Amateur Radio BARTG Contest
DXpeditions
VP8SSI DXpedition, 1992 Falkland Island, South Sandwich
3Y0PI DXpedition 1993 and 1994 Peter the First
40 Meter DX Net
QSL Manager VP8
Falkland Island War
Gap Antenna
Cushcraft Antenna
Marti Laine, OH2BH
Logbook of the World
FT-8 Digital Mode
Worked All States 6 Meter SSB
ELi the Ice Man
Lake Como Amateur Radio Club

Greatest challenge facing amateur radio now: getting young people on the air.

Advice to new or returning hams: join a club that is interested in activities, gets on the air, does exercises, that has a net. Learn the protocol and make friends.

The RSS Feed for all audio content from QSO today is available from here.

Please join our QSO Today community by pressing the button below. It is the best way to suggest guests and topics, and provide feedback to Eric, 4Z1UG.

World Radio Labs Globe Champion 350 Transmitter

Hallicrafters SX-110 Receiver

WA4JQS 1977 Drake Radio Ham Shack

WA6JQS 1980's Ham Station

5 Comments

Scott K0MD

8/30/2021 11:53:56 pm

Small world. I grew up 35 miles south of Tony and was an early member of the Lake Cumberland Amateur Radio Association as I was licensed in 1977. Tony was a big influence on my interests in ham radio. We did a club visit to his house in 1977 or 1978. He had two towers and a rig (Drake) for each band. He has a bigger collection now!

Tony was and remains the most prominent and accomplished DXer in Ky. He was an early inductee in the CQ DX HALL OF FAME. I encourage you to add this accomplishment to your show notes page.

Tony is one of the go to hams I call when I need technical advice on antennas or DXing.

He is an incredibly kind and giving person who lives his values out every day.

Dale R. Parfitt link

8/31/2021 07:43:34 pm

I have only known Tony for 5 years or so, but feel as though we have been life long friends. Proud to call you friend Tony and looking forward to years of more QSO's. Wonderful interview.

Dale W4OP

Rich Dailey, N8UX link

9/7/2021 05:40:18 am

Tony is one of the last of the old school of DX adventurers. I enjoy coffee with him a couple times a month, and our simplex 2m chats. We talk about increasing our 160m totals, antenna performance, strange propagation modes, and Drake radios, which were, and remain, common to our upbringing. A DX True Believer, if there ever is one.
Rich, N8UX

Bob Hopkins

9/9/2021 03:02:21 pm

This was an excellent interview. I totally identify with his approach on ham education. I recall my elmer providing me with the AMECO book and having me buy a Heathkit HR10 learning theory while building the kit under his supervision set me on a sustainable ham radio journey.
Great Job, Tony & Eric
Bob, WB2UDC

Hunt Turner

12/10/2022 11:54:12 am

Tony, thanks for the trip down memory lane. We are contemporaries; I was W4ONA in 1960 and also in the Navy. I worked you on SSI and Peter 1. I also met you in Knoxville after Peter 1. Got a nice picture with you. You are a great expedition ham and a gentleman, a credit to our hobby. All the best, - Hunt Turner, K0HT

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WA4JQS

Episode 365 - Tony DePrato - WA4JQS

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