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| PHOTO: ARRL |
Padraig Lysandrou, an Illinois native, is about to begin his senior year at Bloomington High School South. He says his interest in ham radio was actually sparked by his mom, Carolyn, KC9URR, who was a pretty serious shortwave radio listener. The rest of his family includes his father, Plato, and two sisters, Helena, 17, and Maria, 14.
According to KC9UUS, his road to amateur radio began with stamp collecting:
"When I was little, I used to collect stamps," Lysandrou recalls. "So my mom would show me all the letters and all the stuff that she got back from shortwave stations - all these intricate stamps.
"And, so I saw those and I wanted to get interested in radio. I got into shortwave (listening). And, then the interest grew bigger and it wasn't just about stamps anymore. And, so, I got interested in ham (radio). I contacted Neil Rapp at my high school and I joined the (school's amateur radio) club."
Neil Rapp is WB9VPG, who was at one time the youngest licensed radio amateur in the United States, now teaches chemistry at Bloomington High School South. Rapp co-nominated Padraig for the Amateur Radio Newsline award along with Dr. Scott Wright, K0MD, a well-known DXer and contester.
Lysandrou, who just turned 16, says it didn't take him long to climb the license ladder.
"I got all three licenses within three months and then I become president of my amateur radio club at school," Lysandrou says. His Technician was earned in October 2011, followed by General in December and Extra in January 2012.
Lysandrou says participation in the School Club Roundup and a program on the Peter I Island DXpedition really sparked his interest in DX.
"I decided to lead my own little … DXpedition to Cyprus," where he has family, Lysandrou says. "I got people from England all the way through Scandinavia, to Russia, all the way down to Bulgaria and Dubai," Lysandrou recalls. "So, I tried to talk as much as possible and meet new people. So, I took it slow, I didn't try to get a million contacts."
He estimates it was slightly more than a hundred, actually, and his mom was making some as well. Afterward, he "decided it would be cool to write an article for QST." That was last summer and the article, "A Crazy Idea, a DXpedition to Cyprus," was accepted and published as QST's May 2013 cover story.
Word of Lysandrou's DXpedition spread before the article was published and he was invited to be a presenter at the Dayton Hamvention® Youth Forum this past May run by Carole Perry WB2MGP.
Lysandrou was also selected by ARRL Indiana Section Manager Lou Everett, WA5LOU, as Assistant Section Manager for youth. His interests vary from 4-H to electronics, from robotics to music and he has even played cello in New York City’s Carnegie Hall as part of the Hoosier Youth Philharmonic. He is also head mechanic for his school's solar bike racing team, which is competing this summer in Japan. Padraig is also taking a course this summer at Brown University on "The Inventions of Nikola Tesla" and is one of only 20 high school students selected for a workshop on "The Physics of Atomic Nuclei" sponsored by the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University.
Meantime, back home in Bloomington, Indiana, Lysandrou has been following in the best traditions of Amateur Radio past and present:
"I've been designing circuits and messing around with a bunch of high-voltage circuits and transformer drivers and all sorts of stuff that fuel my interest between amateur radio, electronics and chemistry," Lysandrou says.
In the view of the Judging Committee, what Padraig Lysandrou, KC9UUS, has accomplished in his brief time as a radio amateur makes him a role model for others to follow and is the reason that he has been chosen as the 2013 Young Ham of the Year Award recipient.
Award Ceremony
The 2013 Amateur Radio Newsline™ "Young Ham of the Year Award" will be presented on Saturday, August 17 h at the Huntsville Hamfest in Huntsville, Alabama. As the 2013 "Young Ham of the Year," Padraig will receive -- courtesy of Yaesu USA -- an expense-paid trip to the Huntsville Hamfest, along with a gift of Yaesu brand ham radio equipment.
CQ magazine will treat him to an expense-paid week at Spacecamp Huntsville, and will present Padraig with a variety of CQ products. Amateur Radio Newsline™ will provide Padraig with a commemorative plaque at the award ceremony, underwritten by Dave Bell (W6AQ), President of DBA Entertainment Inc., Hollywood, California. Heil Sound Ltd. will also be presenting Padraig with a ham radio related gift.
Since 1993, the presentation of the Young Ham of the Year Award has been a regular feature of the Huntsville Hamfest. This has been made possible through the generosity and kindness of the event's Planning Committee and the good offices of Huntsville Hamfest Association Vice President Charlie Emerson, N4OKL. (See http://www.hamfest.org)
This year's award ceremony will be hosted by Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, of Amateur Radio Newsline™, and Rich Moseson, W2VU, of CQ Communications, along with representatives of corporate underwriters Yaesu USA Corporation and Heil Sound.
Award Program Background
The Amateur Radio Newsline™ "Young Ham of the Year" award (formerly the Westlink Report Young Ham of the Year Award) has been presented annually since 1986 to a licensed radio amateur (ham) who is 18 years of age or younger and who has provided outstanding service to the nation, his/her community or the betterment of the state of the art in communications through the amateur radio hobby/service. A website with full information on the award program and background material is located at http://www.arnewsline.org/YHOTY.
Award Sponsors
The award program is sponsored by the Los Angeles, California-based Amateur Radio Newsline™ with corporate support from Yaesu USA Corporation of Cypress, California; CQ Magazine of Hicksville, New York, and Heil Sound of Fairview Heights, Illinois.
Since 1977, Amateur Radio Newsline™ and its predecessor, the Westlink Radio Network, have been providing radio amateurs around the world with up-to-the-minute news at no cost to them. Amateur Radio Newsline™ also co-sponsors with the Quarter Century Wireless Association the "Roy Neal, K6DUE, Amateur Radio Mentoring Project" that serves as a clearinghouse to match radio amateurs in need of educational assistance on the hobby with those able to aid them. (See http://www.arnewsline.org)
The award's three major corporate underwriters are world leaders in their respective areas of amateur radio.
Yaesu USA, which has been a corporate underwriter since the inception of the award program in 1986, is considered the trailblazer in the design, manufacture and distribution of high quality Yaesu brand amateur radio equipment. The Yaesu name is known worldwide among ham radio aficionados and is synonymous with premium quality ham radio gear. (See http://www.yaesu.com)
CQ magazine and its sister publications, CQ VHF, Popular Communications and WorldRadio Online, are published by CQ Communications, Inc., and are considered the trend-setting publications serving today’s modern radio amateur. (See http://www.cqcomm.com)
Heil Sound Ltd. is considered a world leader in the development and manufacture of new technology microphones and related audio products for professional sound reinforcement, broadcast and amateur radio communications. (See http://www.heilsound.com)
Past Recipients
Past recipients of the "ARNewsline Young Ham of the Year Award" include
Shawn Alan Wakefield, WK5P, of Bartlesville, OK (1986);
David Rosenman, KA9PMK, of Muncie, IN (1987);
Jonathan Binstock, NK3D, of Potomac, MD (1988);
Erin McGinnis, KAOWTE, of Topeka, KS (1989);
Mary Alestra, KB2IGG, of Staten Island, NY (1990);
Richard S. "Sammy" Garrett, AAOCR, of St. Louis, MO (1991);
Angela (Angie) Fischer, KBOHXY, also of St. Louis (1992);
Kevin Boudreaux, N5XMH, of New Orleans, LA (1993);
Allison Daneen Zettwoch, KD4CKP, of Louisville KY (1994);
Adam Weyhaupt, N9MEZ, of Alton IL (1995);
Toby Metz, KB7UIM, of Boise ID (1996);
Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, of Albuquerque NM (1997);
Richard Paczkowski, Jr., KF4BIA, of Edgewater, FL (1998);
Michelle Swann, KE4EZI, of Warner-Robins, GA (1999);
Christopher Arthur, KT4XA, of Russelville, AL (2000);
Patrick Clark, KC8BFD, of Elkwood, WV (2001);
Josh Abramowicz, KB3GWY, of Reading, PA (2002);
Jay Thompson, W6JAY, of Santa Ana, CA (2003);
Andrea Hartlage, KB4IUM, of Grayson, GA (2004);
Rebekah Dorff, WG4Y, of Hoover, AL (2005);
Catherine Ferry, NC8F, of Streetville, OH (2006);
Grant Morine, W4GHM, of Wilmington, NC (2007);
Emily Stewart, KC0PTL, of Leavenworth, KS. (2008);
Andrew Koenig, KE5GDB, of Houston, TX (2009);
Cody Anderson, KI4FUV, from Harriman, TN (2010);
Kaitlyn Cole, KS3P, of Harvest, AL (2011); and
Erin King, AK4JG, of Columbus GA (2012).
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