Don Miller, W9WNV Interview by Martti Laine, OH2BH
We are all powered by dreams of distant lands, rare DX, and the urge to compete and stand up at the podium. Those dreams are often inspired by those whom we admire and want to be on par with – or even more.
Don Miller, W9WNV, was once a DX hero and a CQWW Contest SOAB dual record holder (cw/ssb) but suddenly left the industry. On DXpeditions, Don was eagerly followed by most of the DXing world. Martti, OH2BH wanted to emulate his efforts and become of his kind. What did Don do to create this following?
It was Christmas 2016 when Don Miller, W9WNV, and Martti Laine, OH2BH, gathered at Martti’s Finland home at his 70th anniversary party. This meeting brought back reminiscences of the days when our industry was still young and provided an interesting playing field for the evolution of our great DX passion. For this visit, Finland was a new country for W9WNV.
During this meeting in Finland, Don was caught on video talking about his earlier operations and his operating methods. Many aspects of how we operate now were pioneered by Don Miller. Split operation, “5NN,” pileup management techniques; looking back, many of these techniques were first implemented during Miller’s operations.
Don talks about some of these issues in the following Youtube video.
Below is a link to “W9WNV -- Visiting Finland in 2016” a video in 5
parts:
Part 1 Legendary DX Peditioner of the 1960s
Part 2 The way of being in charge of the thundering Pile-up!
Part 3 Birth of Thea First Ever DX Handbook for The Deserving!
Part 4 DXing is a Way of Life a State of Mind!
Part 5 Going back in time for 50 years to VQ9AA/F
