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.

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.