Ask the Crew: Ham Radio Contesting Insights from the Contest Crew

The Contest Crew— Randy Thompson K5ZD, Daniel Craig N6MJ, Christopher Hurlbut KL9A, and Bill Fehring W9KKN—have operated from some of the best contest stations in the world. They’ve contributed to designing and building top-tier stations, explored and implemented new technologies, honed their operating skills through persistent practice and hundreds of contest entries, and won both single-operator and multi-operator categories in major worldwide competitions. Three of the Crew are past WRTC competitors, with N6MJ and KL9A having won the WRTC 2014. Currently, N6MJ and K5ZD are ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in the U.S. qualifying for WRTC 2026. Simply put, the Contest Crew knows contesting inside and out. In this episode, they answer audience questions submitted over the past several days. This was a fun format, and we’re sure to do it again soon. Thanks for watching, and please subscribe to the channel. 73, Kevin, W1DED