How a Hamfest CW Contest Led to 100 Weekends at K3LR

George Gross N3GJ is the 10-meter backbone of K3LR, Tim Duffy’s legendary multi-multi contest station. For 30 years and 100 contest weekends, George has held the line through solar highs and brutal lows. Whether pulling callers out of static or setting the SSB hourly rate record (390 QSOs) alongside K1AR, George shows up. Every single time. His start was classic: a Hallicrafters receiver in the attic, Morse code copied by hand, and a dad who passed down the love of radio from his Vietnam-era roots. By high school, George was sending code at 30 WPM, making the trek to Buffalo to upgrade his license, and splitting firewood in exchange for a tribander on the roof. DXing came first—but it was a code-copying contest at a 1995 Ohio hamfest that put him on Tim Duffy’s radar and launched a decades-long run at K3LR. There’s a humility in George’s story—he calls himself “not a top-tier contester”—but that’s only half true. In the multi-multi world, he’s the ops dream: calm, consistent, patient enough to sit through dead bands, and sharp enough to squeeze every last QSO out of them. He’s also a reminder that you don’t need to be flashy to make an impact. You just need to show up and do the work. And maybe, on a good day, set a world record with your best radio friends. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio. Special thanks to DX Engineering for supporting operators like George—from patient CW diggers to record-breaking contesters—and for giving hams around the world the tools to compete, connect, and chase the magic hour.