Although the Ohio QSO Party has only been around since 1999 in its present form, it goes back a lot longer. K8RYU here shares some memories from the OQP's earlier era. - K8MR
By Ralph Matheny, K8RYU
My interest in the Ohio QSO Party and in portable operation
isn't new. A favorite memory of my high school Novice years in
ham radio involves the Party, and just for fun I'll tell the
story here.
It's 1961, probably February or March. The local "Elmer" to
many of us, Carl, W8VZ, speaks of the Ohio QSO Party on our local
net on 75 meter phone. Telling us all of the fun to be had,
passing along the details of rules, procedures, etc., he lights
just a small fire which burns to this day. I vow to operate the
Ohio Party, and make a nice list of contacts on both phone and
CW. Several operators ask me about Monroe county, only five
miles from my house, and one of Ohio's most difficult to work due
to lack of an active station. After the '61 contest I begin to
make plans!
We skip ahead to February 1962. I phone my mother's cousin
who lives in Sardis, Ohio, well across the line into Monroe
county. I seek permission to visit for the weekend, and after
some questioning I am given the use of the guest bedroom in
cousin Margie's house. The first step is complete.
Now for the technical details. I'll take everything I own
related to ham radio: a Heathkit DX-20, J-38 key, a war-surplus
BC-453 with crystal controlled converter for 80 and 40, my VF-1
VFO, and a cathode modulator which put the DX-20 on something
similar to AM. For an antenna I'll take 20 feet of TV mast pipe,
and make an inverted vee. Feedline was a problem, until I noted
the telephone drop line on the empty house up the street. It
appeared to be just what the doctor ordered!
Now it's April 7, 1962 the Ohio QSO Party weekend. I had
convinced my dad to haul all this stuff to Sardis, and I begin to
set up. The Party begins, I don't remember what time, but things
are slow and most of the signal reports I get are poor. I was
sure I could win just because I was in a "rare one". Then I got
the first of several surprises. in response to a CQ, I worked my
first Monroe county station, and soon two more were in the log.
Eventually I think there were four others who had the same idea
as mine, and we were all of minor interest to anybody. I did
make a number of contacts, but not as many as the year before.
To make matters worse, W8VZ blew his plate transformer early in
the contest leaving my home Washington county without an active
station.
From the whole exercise i learned many things. Most
importantly I learned how to plan such a "field" operation. Of
secondary importance I learned that telephone drop wire is very
lossy at RF; in a later test my ill-gotten cable delivered little
power to a light bulb on the end of the line. I've been told
that Western Electric designed the cable to attenuate RF to keep
broadcast signals off the phones.
In those days the party was very different. It was an "in
state"affair, with the goal being to work all 88 counties. There
were few mobiles. Each county (except for Monroe and Preble) had
regular active stations who operated at least some time during
the contest. The reward was a collection of 88 QSL cards which
enabled one to get a beautiful "Worked All Ohio Counties"
certificate, which at that time was much coveted. Only the most
expert and established hams had one.
To help refresh my memory for this little story I contacted
Jim, K8KSN, in Gnadenhutten. While my logs of the 1960's are
lost, he was able to find the 1962 record of his operation. It
brought a tear to my eyes I read the notations of so many old
friends, most long gone from the bands. The log reads as a
"who's who" of ham radio in Ohio at that time -- the CW ops, the
ARRL Section Communications Manager, all the "big guns" were
there. It was neat to find my call on the same page.
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Notes on the log of K8KSN: some of the ops listed and their
distinctions:
W8DAE - was manager of the Buckeye Net. He had a most unusual
fist; used a hand key at 30 wpm and could copy code at any speed
it seemed.
W8YPT - forget his name, but he was a big contester. I think he
traded the call for a shorter call and I lost track of him.
W8AL - "Weck" was the SCM. A very kind gentleman who encouraged
a lot of youngsters to operate. His call is now that of the
Canton Radio Club, and was in use in the 2003 Ohio QSO Party!
W8BZX - "Dar", another traffic handler who could burn the bug
with great precision.
W8AJW - A Clevelander who was in all the contests of the day.
K8RMK - Still active today from Lake county as K8NZ. In the 2003
OQP he was driving around Ohio as half of the W8CAR mobile team.
