[CQ-Contest] Ah, youth!

[donovanf at starpower.net]

Hi Art, 


I often think about my contest and DXing Elmers and how much of 
my life experience I owe to their kindness and generosity. 


I was introduced to ham radio through AM short wave listening on 
my S-38D receiver and quickly discovered local hams working the 
world on 10 meter AM during the peak of Solar Cycle 19. As an 
eleven and twelve year old I soon met local DXers including: 


W1AWE (he always sent his call as W1AW E) who started serious 
CW DXing in the mid-1920s, 


W1HJB, a very serious 10 meter AM DXer who used a 3 element 
10 meter Yagi on the roof of his three story home, turned manually 
by an automobile steering on the wall of his shack. He used 
pre-1950s equipment that was fine tuned for excellent operation 
on 10 meters. 


W1ZBZ a 10 and 15 meter AM DXer who had two (!) home made 
70 foot rotating towers, a 75A-3 and a Globe King 500. I always 
dreamed of someday building at least two rotating towers... 


W1WKO, another serious AM DXer not far from my home. 


W1BCR, an AM DXer who specialized in working only VKs on 
20 meters every morning with his Collins S-Line and V-beam over 
salt water, sloping from the top of a tall waterfront bluff to a pair 
of tall wooden poles many hundreds of feet out into a salt water bay. 


As a twelve year-old I was introduced to the Providence Radio 
Association W1OP one of the oldest continuously active amateur 
radio clubs in the U.S. I attended the full 24 hours of their 
1959 Field Day just before I was licensed as a Novice. Two of 
my strongest memories are the new KWM-1 transceiver and 
2 element quad used by the SSB operators and the Viking II, 
NC-300 and Lazy-H used by the CW operators. I was hooked! 


Soon after I met W1BIL (later W1DK) an honor roll CW DXer 
who got me my first job as a 17 year old at WJAR-TV. Gene 
used a 75A-3 and home made single-813 kilowatt amplifier. 


Then I met W1YRC, another serious DXer, who got me my first 
engineering job at Raytheon Submarine Signal after college. 


My first assignment afterAir Force Officer Training School found 
me working directly for PVRC member W3GN. My multi-multi 
mentor W4BVV's office was one floor directly below mine. 
Some of Tom's AB-105 towers l ive-on at W3LPL, sadly he died 
just before they were installed. 


My story doesn't end there, my life has been deeply enriched by 
countless friendships with contesters and DXers over nearly 
sixty years. 


73 
Frank 
W3LPL 



----- Original Message -----

From: "Art Boyars" <artboyars at gmail.com> 
To: "CQ-Contest Reflector" <cq-contest at contesting.com> 
Sent: Thursday, March 9, 2017 1:31:52 AM 
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Ah, youth! 

Here's a thought I hope you will find uplifting. 

One of the emotional/psychological rewards I get when I'm contesting: 

I fell like I am as young as when I started... and so are you. 

So many of the memories are fresh -- my first Field Day (as part of a 
club's three-Novice 15M CW crew); learning how from the Big Guns in 
college; CD Parties; SS guest op at some good (for then!) stations; MM DX 
contests at W4BVV (SK) and W3LPL Crownsville. 

Who ARE these grey-hairs I see in photos in NCJ and on the WWW? Certainly 
not the guys >> I << work in the contest. 

73, Art K3KU 
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