RA3CO Dmitri Kryukov
Team: European Russia 3
Country: Russia
Age: 41
Occupation: Founding partner of an asset management organization
RA3CO Dmitri Kryukov
I became interested in radio in the early 1980s when I was 13. My dad, then UW9CP, now UA9DD, had an old military short wave receiver at home and I was fascinated by the idea of being able to hear signals that originated far away. It was impossible to get a ham license before the age of 14, so I was limited to SWLing. In 1987, at the age of 14 I won the USSR Championship in SWL category.
I was first licensed in 1986 as RV9CFA. The license was limited to 160 meters. My dad was very clever and I was only limited to CW, no SSB. I made quick progress and enrolled into the U-QRQ club in 1989. I then upgraded to become RA9CO.
My first real contest was in 1987 at the club station UZ9CWW in WPX SSB 1987. I was active in all major contests in 1987-1989 from home or club station. I then moved to Moscow to study at the university and only became active again in the late 1990s when I joined RK3AWL/RL3A. Over the years I helped build the club to one of the best stations in Europe. Changed my call to RA3CO in 2005.
I enjoy travel and operating from DX locations. My first DXpedition was to VP5/RA9CO in 1999.
My WRTC history goes back to 1990, when I worked two or three participants of the Goodwill Games in Seattle. In 2000 I was running VP5O in IARU HF giving out the multiplier to the Slovenia participants.
In 2006 I went to Brazil for my first WRTC appearance as a team leader. Due to QTH problems (we had a large hill that blocked most of the northern path), we didn’t do well and we finished in the bottom five. In 2010 in Moscow we finished 6th overall and #2 among the Russian teams. Hopefully in Boston we can do better.