[CQ-Contest] 80 years of ARRL DX

[Kenneth E. Harker]

     The first running of what we know today as the ARRL International
DX Contest took place in 1927 when an event called "An International Relay
Party" was promoted in QST as a replacement for the annual Transatlantic
Tests.  The International Relay Parties were the first organized radio 
contests.  That makes this year's ARRL DX contests the 80th anniversary not
just of this particular contest, but of contesting as we know it today.

     Is it possible that any operators who participated in the 1927 
International Relay Party are still with us?  Or anyone from that era? 

     The most veteran operator whom I have personally met is Jim Headrick W3CP 
(ex: W5CPB), who I believe is subscribed to the list.  When I interviewed
him for the University of Texas Amateur Radio Club newsletter years ago, 
he recalled that he first entered a radio contest in 1934 at age 17.

-- 
Kenneth E. Harker WM5R
kenharker at kenharker.com
http://www.kenharker.com/