Z39Z Journey
Ham radio CV: callsigns, DXCC, world records, and more than forty years on the contesting dial.
Callsigns across the years
From a first callsign in ex-Yugoslavia, to today's Z39Z.
Callsigns from ex-Yugoslavia and Macedonia: YZ5GRV, YZ5AA, Z32AF, Z3 100 V, Z3 20 Z.
Callsigns worked as: YU5FAD, YT5FAD, YT5G, YT6A, YT6T, 4N5FAD, 4N5M, 4O/Z39Z, 4O3A, 4O3T, 4O6A, 4O6DX, Z3A, and others.
Member of Radio Club "Nikola Tesla" (Gevgelija) since 1979. Member of the international "SKY Contest Club" since 2000.
YU5FAD → YT5G → YZ5AA → Z32AF → Z39Z
Leader in Friendship
First recipient · Radioamateri magazineHundreds of international awards recognized technical achievement. But in 2003, the magazine Radioamateri created a recognition that had never been awarded before — instead of honoring technical excellence, it honored something much rarer: friendship.
Venci Ristov became the first recipient of the Leader in Friendship diploma, for exceptional contribution to popularizing new technologies among radio amateurs and people around the world.
It's the same instinct that shaped everything that came after: log it, confirm it, keep the record. A QSL card proves a contact happened. This diploma proves something else happened — that people noticed how he showed up, not just what he built. Two decades later, that same idea — verified, not just claimed — became the foundation of AI World Records.
Even after hundreds of international awards, this remains the recognition he values the most.
Contest & DX on HF
HF Contest
Multiple TOP 5 / TOP 10 finishes in the largest ham radio contest in the SOSB category; ~20 TOP 10 finishes across Europe and the world.
World Record — CQ WW WPX CW
3.5 MHz assisted category. The record stood until 2012.
4O3T — international team
World record for number of QSOs on 14 MHz (40,000+ contacts). European record across all bands — still standing 15+ years later.
Favorite bands
80m: 240 DXCC · 40m: 300 DXCC — with a dipole at 17m height, 400W. Worked WAZ Zone 1 and 31 on 80m (very difficult), first with KL7XX and AH6NF (late 1990s). Missing 9BDXCC/9BWAZ (never active on 160m).
High Speed Telegraphy
Multiple TOP 3 finishes at national and military competitions.
Inside the ham radio world
- 2002–2007: editor of contesting.info
- 2002–2012: Marketing & PR manager, "SKY Contest Group"
- 2002–2015: member of the ARRL PR team (American Radio Relay League, 180,000 members)
- 2008–2010: Marketing & PR manager, the amateur radio association of Macedonia
- 2010: created / deployed / edited the first CMS site of the Amateur Radio Association of Macedonia
World / European / Balkan championships
12th IARU World HST Championship
Ohrid — part of a small organizing team. z37rsm.org.mk/hst2015
10th Cup of Europe + 5th Balkan HST Championship
Part of a small organizing team. video on YouTube
VHF activity
YU5FAD — Tesla Memorijal contest
First activity at 1700m ASL, FT221 + 10W, 11-el yagi.
Meteor Scatter era
Started working 144 MHz via meteor scatter (MS), some on SSB. The call sign was YT5G
YT5G — Unforgettable Contest
QSO-count record from a location 250km from Gevgelija, 2600m ASL. Kenwood TS711E/TS811E, homebrew 400W amplifier, 44-el antenna - New Macedonian Record
4O3T — first 144 DX-Pedition to Montenegro
With Anton ON6NL — first Meteor Scatter's QSO in a new DXCC; Anton made the first EME QSO with W5UN.
Magic Band
First QSOs with a 4W homebrew transverter + vertical antenna; South Africa reached easily during summer openings. Part of the Z3A contest team, at Ski Center Kozuf, 2000m ASL, 40km from town. Always a top-5 finish in the multi-operator category; in the last 10 years — multiple times #1 in the world.
