W8USR - Special Events

Remembering D-Day After 50 Years

About the Event & Operator

For this D-Day event, Bob Billings (VE1YX) used a special prefix block operating as XL1YX. He applied for the XL1 prefix independently to honor D-Day from his home shack, rather than running a massive club or multi-operator event. In amateur radio, individual operators frequently request official permission from Industry Canada (now ISED) to use a special prefix for a short period to celebrate a personal milestone or a historical event on their own.

Bob's home is situated on a hilltop farm in Branch LaHave, Nova Scotia, 12 km northwest of Bridgewater. It sits at an elevation of 140 meters above sea level, giving Nova Scotia a natural DX advantage across the Atlantic and North America.

Station Hardware & Legacy

For this contact, Bob used a Drake TR-6 transceiver through an LK-800A amplifier feeding a KLM 11-element 6-meter antenna on top of a 20-meter tower.

Bob Billings, VE1YX, was a highly prominent amateur radio operator based out of Bridgewater (Lunenburg County), Nova Scotia. He was incredibly active on the HF bands and well-known throughout the global DX community, even being featured on the front cover of QST Canada magazine in July 1990 for his 6-Meter DXCC achievements. On his physical QSL card, the checkbox next to XL1YX is checked and written in pen are the words "D DAY."

Station Log: Contact History

Date / Year	Special Event Call	My Callsign Used	Time (UTC)	Band	Mode
May 29, 1994	XL1YX	N8SWQ	17:59 UTC	20 Meters	SSB