Chris Chapman, VK3QB was born in 1968 and gained his novice ham radio licence whilst still in high school in 1984. He upgraded to the unrestricted licence in 1986 whilst completing his higher school certificate. Morse-code has been his favourite mode, but he still enjoys a good ragchew on SSB. He dabbles in digital modes.
Chris has always enjoyed DX; both chasing it and being at the pointy end of pileups. From an early age, Chris was fascinated by weak DX signals and working stations from all corners of the earth. Finally, in 2009 he was able to achieve his dream of being a part of a DXpedition (VK9LA Lord Howe Island) which lead to many further DXpeditions and friendships with radio amateurs from around the world.
From 2009, Chris has activated Lord Howe Island (VK9LA & VK9LI), Vanuatu (YJ0QB & YJ0VK), Fiji (3D2/VK3QB) and Norfolk Island (VK9NT) with a total of 11 DXpeditions. Chris has lead 8 teams to these South Pacific Islands and always enjoys hearing an operator report that they’ve worked ATNO. He and his teams’ have always encouraged newcomers to join them and they’ve help others learn about DXpeditioning and how to “work the pile-ups”. He also enjoys visiting new places and experiencing the beauties of the natural world.
Chris holds DXCC and has also worked DXCC with 5w. He remains fascinated with HF, working new ones, weak signals and the surprises that often appear when spinning the dial and listening to the HF bands.