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| Photo Compliments of Frank, W3LPL |
QST List of Affiliated Entries
Click here for the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.
When I was recovering from my stroke in July of 2010, I had a lot of things going through my mind and one of them is the list of things that have affected my life over the years. I’m not talking about stuff like academic achievement, career advancement or winning a lottery, I am talking about stuff that has rocked my world – the real bad stuff. The soul draining stuff that you read about in books by Stephen King. As you can imagine, the stroke itself was #1 on the list, as it has limited my capability both physically and mentally, and I can no longer be in the running for the “smartest guy in the room”.
Lets look at how the list developed.
- The Stroke of 2010.
- The Kennedy Assassination in 1963
- The Asterisk Year of 1971.
- September 11, 2001 Attacks.
- The Red Headed Majorette of 1965.
- Car Wreck in Emporia, Kansas of 1978.
The #5 position is pretty obvious, when I was dumped by this red head girl my Junior year in High School and later became a big fan of the late Sam Kinison, who seemed to portray my feelings quite well. Wanda, after 40-years, has accepted me as a friend on Facebook.
These events were all serious to me and have affected me both psychologically and emotionally. You will notice that the Vietnam War was not listed. That is because when I was drafted in 1971, I had Gout, and was excused as 4-F by the Doctor who was on duty at the base, across the Ohio River, near Cincinnati, that I reported – ie., no “skin in the game”.
Vietnam War would be #7 because it was simply a lie and I had a couple of friends lose their lives in it.
I mentioned the Vietnam War, out of respect for my friends who served in it, but also to show the seriousness of the list itself. The Asterisk Year is more serious to me than the Vietnam War and I believe that the term should be known to all Ham Radio enthusiasts.
The #6 Car Wreck in 1976 was almost forgotten, when I slammed into a guardrail on I-35 and dislocated my hip and was on crutches for about a month. This occurred as I was returning from a business trip to Liberty Distributing in Wichita, Kansas, my first year in W0 District.
So what is #3, The Asterisk Year of 1971? That is the purpose for writing this article. I want to confront what was a very dark period for me as an amateur radio operator, WB8IAY, in Dayton, Ohio. Read carefully – there will be a quiz at the end.
The Asterisk Year is a term used by the Mad River Radio Club, of Ohio, to denote the famous Sweepstakes race for the Gavel in 1971.
I participated in the event as WB8IAY, in the 150 watt and under category with a score of WB8IAY – 32,120 – 230 QSO’S – 72 Districts Worked – 18 hours of operation. If you have access to the scores, that are available on a CD, from the ARRL, I am listed on page 93. The second time my call ever appeared in a QST contest event. When I tell this story at 2:00 am in the KCDX Club Hospitality Suite, I have tended to exaggerate a bit and would usually say, I contributed a 100K score with a Clean Sweep, but I will stand with the 32K, as reality is clear now.
The reason that I was interested in this Sweepstakes enterprise was simple – I wanted to be known as a winner, and the plan formulated by Dick Bennet, K8EHU, was brilliant. He was going to utilize the 175 mile rule to establish a club that was based around the 175 mile radius from the 90 Minute Market that defined the market for the Dayton Hamvention. The hams from Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lexington would be eligible to compete in this event and the Dayton area was right in the middle of the action.
At the time, I was walking distance from HARA Arena, living on 1740 Shiloh Springs Road and had made some progress with my Heathkit station, an SB-301 and SB-401 and my new TH6-DXX Thunderbird for the HF Bands. I also used Inverted Vee’s on the 40 meter and 75 meter bands, on a 50 foot high tower.
Dick, K8EHU, used a Gulf Oil Company Eastern USA Map that had the image of his vision on a poster and he carried it around the Biltmore Hotel Suites, and recruited stations, who were in the 175 mile circle. I missed the Biltmore session, but heard about the Mad River Radio Club Net, on 3.907 mHz, when Frank Schwab, W8OK, from Dayton told me about the project. Frank Schwab, W8OK, was the Dayton Amateur Radio Association’s (DARA) most influential ham in 1971 and he was all for giving the Mad River Radio Club a go on both CW and SSB in the event. Frank became a silent Key in 2003. A few of his accomplishments are listed below:
Francis J.“Frank” Schwab - *1925-2003* W8OK - W8YCP - Co founder of the Dayton Hamvention and founder Dayton Sky-Warn - Frank’s wife a retired nurse said “Frank a U.S. Navy radio operator stationed on the Destroyer USS Ingersoll during World War II” - At the end of the war he continued his love affair with radios and from the first day I met him he has been totally involved in that wonderful world. Frank was a well known top flight contester and CW operator, around Dayton he was known as the“Father of the Hamvention or Mr. Hamvention.” He earned his first ticket in 1946 as W8YCP and his considerable CW skill (could copy 55 WPM) Soon rose to the top of the DXCC ranks and eventual membership in the CQ DX Hall of Fame. He was a veteran of ARRL Field Day, an event in which he’d participated for 52 consecutive years. After a tornado ripped through Xenia Ohio in 1974, Schwab was instrumental in setting up the ham radio emergency network that helped keep the community in touch with the outside world. Our subject was credited with establishing the Skywarn program in the Dayton area. The annual event, Dayton-Hamvention which Frank was a part of from the ground floor, began with a convention of 600 radio operators at the old Biltmore Hotel downtown well over half a century ago. The operation has grown so much that final year Frank was alive, the Hamvention weekend of more than 30 thousand ham radio enthusiasts from around the Unites States and more than 30 countries descended on Hara Arena for the 2003 Hamvention. Carolyn our subject’s wife of 56 years continued “Frank is such a family man and so devoted to his children and to me. He taught his kids honesty, hard work, loyalty, compassion. He always has such wonderful sense of humor about things. “I think he is quite an inspiration to his kids and his 30 grandchildren.”
Schwab has been honored for his ham radio work and was presented the top DX Hall of fame award years ago. Schwab lead the world with radio contacts in 376 countries.
Mr. Schawb a retired printer, age 77 gave it his valiant battle at the Dayton VA hospital in the hospice unit. He expired 30 May 2003 after a lengthy illness.
Survivors include Frank’s wife, Carolyn, 12 children, 30 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. Four of his family members are ham radio operators. They include his daughter Joanne Hubbard, N8QMP; grandchildren Bobbie Anderson KC7RWX; Sarah Anderson KC7MRO and son-in-law Jack Hubbard NI8N.
Frank W8OK is known to have said and appreciated the statement “CW is an art...be an artist!” Information provided by NI8N and ARRL Web services. W8SU 2008
Another formidable amateur, who I knew in 1971, was Doc, WA8ZDF, a dentist, from Columbus, Ohio, who had a reputation for competition and he was eventually going to contribute huge scores to both modes. Doc was more of a SSB person, like me, and he had a guest operator, WA8RWU on CW, contribute 107K points, which nosed out K8EHU with 106K. Frank, W8OK, was still very competitive on CW and turned in 91K points – but only operated 19 hours. Veterans, Vince, W8DB and Bill, WA8MCR, of the Miami Valley Amateur Radio Contest Society, also participated. The recruitment by Dick, K8EHU attracted 174 entries. The W8SH (Al, K7NHV op.) from Michigan State, in East Lansing, Michigan, actually won the W8 region in both modes in 1971 – trust me, if you beat WA8ZDF on SSB you were world class. The station from Michigan State University, W8SH (op: K7NHV), led the MRRC in both modes for the club, which today makes a statement for the resolve the club had for victory. Historically, the States of Michigan and Ohio don’t have a reputation for working together, on anything.
AFFILIATED CLUB SCORES – Top Ten ARRL Affiliated Club Scores
Club Score Entries SSB CW
WINNER WINNER
Mad River Radio Club 9,960,874 (*) 174 W8SH W8SHPotomac Valley Radio Club 8,792,822 133 W3MVB K1LPL/3
Murphy’s Marauders 7,364,568 116 K1VTM W1FBY
Minnesota Wireless Association 2,811,532 46 WA0VKP K0IJL
West Valley Amateur Radio Club 2,316,123 35 W6HX W6MAR
Radio Club of Tacoma 1,461,060 47 W7RM W7RM
Boeing Employees Am Radio Soc 1,378,961 54 WA7JBM W7VMF
Richardson Wireless Klub 914,616 14 WA5JMK W5ONL
128 Contest Club 914,409 11 K1EUF W1PBW
Northern California Contest Club 812,087 13 K6EBB K6EBB
(*) At publication time the validity of the score of the Mad River Radio Club is under challenge concerning the eligibility of some of its members to participate in the club aggregate score. The matter is now being examined with final disposition to be determined at a later date.
Even with the rather ominous asterisk announcement, the ARRL, Assistant Communications Manager, Al Noone, WA1KQM, had a number of positive developments to chronicle if you peruse the Sweepstakes results from 1971. The emergence of Chip, K7VPF, who won the event from Rush Drake’s station at W7RM, in both modes is one of them. The details of the W7RM station are amazing, particularly the photo of the stacked 15 meter beams at 120, 80, and 40 feet, with a 6 element 15 meter yagi above the stack. This was a Stateside event and the west coast stations were intrigued with the competition between W6HX and W7RM.
The Mad River Radio Club recruiting at the Biltmore failed to attract some of the other Ohio Clubs, as the West Park Radiops, Canton Amateur Radio Club, Indian Hills Radio Club, Evendale Amateur Radio Society, and the Massillon Amateur Club preferred their own identity, rather than join in on what would have been a more decisive victory for the MRRC.
If Dick, K8EHU, would have been successful in attracting just these Ohio clubs the score would have been more decisive – as seen below.
AFFILIATED CLUB SCORES – Ohio ARRL Affiliated Club Scores
(Not involved with the Mad River Radio Club)
Club Score Entries SSB WINNER CW WINNER
West Park Radiops 329,012 10 W8KZH WB8FNE
Canton Amateur Radio Club 269,094 10 K8YQW K8YQW
Indian Hills Radio Club 224,698 6 ----- W8AEB
Evendale Amateur Radio Soc.185,533 7 K8HBN K8HBN
Massillon Amateur Club 172,921 10 WA8VEV W8VYU
Total for Ohio non MRRC 1,181,258 43
The revised results with these independent Ohio Clubs are presented below and are rather dramatic.
AFFILIATED CLUB SCORES – Top Ten ARRL Affiliated Club Scores
(With independent Ohio Clubs added to the Mad River Radio Club)
Club Score Entries SSB WINNER CW WINNER
Mad River Radio Club 11,142,132 (*)217 W8SH W8SH
Potomac Valley Radio Club 8,792,822 133 W3MVB K1LPL/3
Murphy’s Marauders 7,364,568 116 K1VTM W1FBY
Minnesota Wireless Association 2,811,532 46 WA0VKP K0IJL
West Valley Amateur Radio Club 2,316,123 35 W6HX W6MAR
Radio Club of Tacoma 1,461,060 47 W7RM W7RM
Boeing Employees Am Radio Soc 1,378,961 54 WA7JBM W7VMF
Richardson Wireless Klub 914,616 14 WA5JMK W5ONL
128 Contest Club 914,409 11 K1EUF W1PBW
Northern California Contest Club 812,087 13 K6EBB K6EBB
The analysis does not take into account the West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Western Pennsylvania stations located within the 175 mile radius of the Mad River location, that was to the east of HARA Arena on the map.
The ARRL issued their decision in the following June Issue of QST in a STRAY on page 110 and the Mad River Radio Clubs decisive victory was disallowed .
In the MAY QST SS writeup, the score of the Mad River Radio Club was listed as the winner of the affiliated club competition, with a footnote indicating that it is under challenge and being investigated. After careful consideration of all facets, on recommendation of the Contest and Awards Committee, this score has been disallowed. Therefore, the Potomac Valley Radio Club is declared the winner of the Affiliated Club Aggregate Score SS Competition. The decision was based primarily on interpretation of the rule regarding attendance of meetings by members between 50 and 175 miles from the affiliation location.
The aftermath of this ruling was interesting, and was not what I expected. One would have expected a huge confrontation by the Mad River Radio Club and the ARRL, at the Dayton Hamvention of 1972. Instead, the club responded with stoicism and there was a serenity that to this day amazes me. I would have preferred a brawl, but maturity prevailed.
The Dayton Hamvention was not “sanctioned” by the ARRL at the time and any friction that might have existed between the DARA volunteers who worked at the Hamvention before the SS, would have been aggravated.
I realize now that contesting was not a major component of the hobby in 1971 and was probably just tolerated by the leadership of both the organizations of the ARRL and HAMVENTION, who were appeared to be generalists at the time.
In 1971, the ARRL seemed to be into 2-Meter Repeaters, Slow Scan Television and frankly – this was not the issue. The Potomac Valley Radio Club, who eventually won the gavel from the ARRL, does not appear to be the strongest source of criticism of the Mad River Radio Clubs victory. Sources from this group, including Gene, W3ZZ, say that the club was rather casual in the protest, and the real serious complaints came from the group from Connecticut, known as Murphy’s Marauders.
After 40-years, many of the principles from this episode in the hobby are Silent Keys, and I discovered that Doc, WA8ZDF, a cofounder of the Mad River Radio Club, became a Silent Key, just 3-days after I contacted him, requesting the email address of K8EHU, the originator of the MRRC concept, that produced this article. His Obituary is listed below, from the Columbus Dispatch:
SHELLER Dr. John Richard Sheller, DDS, age 68, of Wetmore, Inwood Township, Michigan, formerly of Canal Winchester, Ohio, went to be with the Lord on Monday, September 12, 2011 at the Munising Memorial Hospital, Munising, Michigan. Born December 26, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan to the late James Richard and Katharine (Schmid) Sheller, also preceded in death by son David Scott Sheller and wife Sharon L. Sheller. He was a 1960 graduate of Wooster High School, attended Fenn College (now Cleveland State Univ.) from 1960-61, Univ. of North Dakota from 1961-63, and graduated from the Ohio State Univ., College of Dentistry in 1968. He enjoyed membership in the TKE fraternity during college. He operated a successful dental practice in Groveport, Ohio from 1968 until his retirement in 1997, and he and his wife moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1999. Member of the Columbus Dental Assoc, Ohio Dental Assoc. and American Dental Assoc. He was a volunteer police officer for the Groveport Madison Police Dept. from 1969-82, and was a volunteer for the Madison Township Fire Dept. from 1969-75; he was elected to two-terms with the Madison Township School Bd. from 1977-81, and was President of the School Bd. in 1981. His passion was amateur radio, where his call-sign was K8RR, he enjoyed electronics, building his own radio-stations, studying history and astronomy, riding his snowmobile, auto racing, and politics. Member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Columbus Amateur Radio Assoc., Co-Founder of the Mad River Radio Club, Co-Founder of the Central Ohio DX Radio Club, former Chairman of ARRL, DXCC Advisory Committee, he held the #1 position in the ARRL, DXCC Honor Roll, active in contesting, public (radio) service, founded Design Electronics, founded DOCS High Performance, he raced cars from 1957-64, and competed at the National Championships in Indianapolis in 1964, member of the Schoolcraft Snowmobile Assoc., and was member of the MENSA Society since 1973. He attended Groveport Presbyterian Church, Grace Bible Church in Canal Winchester and currently attended Munising Baptist Church. Survived by loving wife of 24 years, Brenda (Marchington); son, Jack Richard Sheller; grandsons, Nathan, Devin and Caleb Sheller; mother-in-law, Corabelle (Brooks) Marchington; sisters-in-law, Debra Marchington, Teresa Hicks and Tonita Abel Milliser; nieces and many dear friends, and his golden retrievers "Shelley" "Meggie" and "Flag" were his dear companions. Friends may visit Friday from 12Noon-8 p.m. at the DWAYNE R. SPENCE FUNERAL HOME & CREMATORY, 650 W. Waterloo St., Canal Winchester 43110, where funeral service and celebration of life will be 11 a.m. Saturday. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service on Saturday. Rev. Curtis Emerson officiating. Donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Rd., Jacksonville, Florida 32256 in his memory. Online condolences available at www.spencefuneralhome.com
Published in The Columbus Dispatch on September 15, 2011
CONCLUSION – Mike, AB0X has asked me for some additional comments to let you know how I really feel about the 1971 Sweepstakes Asterisk Year, so I will continue my thoughts on the Asterisk Year Topic.
1. From a personal standpoint, I was 23 years old and just starting my professional career at the Inland Division of General Motors then. I was making an entry level salary at the time and was simply trying to establish myself in the corporate culture. Hobbies were considered important then and I was trying to establish myself as a competent participant in Radiosport. When word got out that the Mad River Radio Club effort would be disallowed, by the governing authority, the ARRL, the feeling that senior GM management had about my participation in the hobby changed.
I was working in a Methods and Work Standards Lab in those days, that used to be one of the Wright Brothers Hangers and all I can say is the management was very conservative. Inland employed 10,600 people at its peak.
2. The other negative result for me was the talks I would have with my stepfather, a no nonsense Supervisor at Kaiser Aluminum, in Ravenswood, WV. He was not an amateur radio enthusiast, but supported me during my early years in the hobby as WN8OEU. I remember the times my kits were delivered by rail to the Baltimore & Ohio Station and dad taking me to the station to pick up the KnightKit R-55 Receiver and then the KnightKit T-150A Transmitter. He was impressed that I was able to build both of these units and did not understand why I would sell them to buy the HeathKit twins for my journey to Dayton. If he would have been told that the MRRC efforts were disallowed by the ARRL, he would have
been embarrassed for me. When he would ask me about my hobby, I would simply change the subject.
3. My response to the Asterisk Year during the Hamvention was to not go inside at all in 1972, 1973 and 1974. I would walk into HARA Arena, put my ticket in the hopper, turn around and spend 3-days in the Flea Market. The Hamvention Commercial Displays was not the place to be when your salary was less that $1,000 a month and you truly develop your street smarts in the Flea Market. Since I lived so close to HARA Arena then, the ritual of the Biltmore was not even considered. My strategy was to avoid the competition and I did this for 3-years.
4. Asterisk Year was not the end of WB8IAY. I moved to Huber Heights in 1974 after GM had a series of bad years, something about OPEC as I recall. Anyway, I had managed to get a stake together and bought a house in an all brick community about 5-miles from HARA Arena. The terrain was perfect for HF, as the property was on a plateau. One of my neighbors was Bernie, W8IMZ, a retired Air Force Sergeant and the new manager of the CQ WPX Contest. Bernie was really an inspiration to me and his enthusiasm for the WPX event was inspiring. W8IMZ would check the hand written logs for accuracy and would mail postcards to DX Stations as reminders to participate in the event. Bernie was a popular man and one of the rituals that developed was having people like Frank, W1WY of the CW WW DX Contest visit during the Hamvention. Frank had been around the hobby for years and I was honored to get to compare notes with him on topics like the Martti Laine, OH2BH DXpedition to Albania, that defined Martti during his early years in the 1970’s.
At this point, I could go on and tell you more about my evolution as a DXer and SSB Contester, as I actually moved on from the despair of Asterisk Year and developed into a competent Radiosport Participant – which was my original goal. What is critical to my assessment is that as far as the ARRL Organization was concerned – I was still perceived as a MRRC punk, or more correctly, that perception is what I felt, whenever I would attend any hamfest or social gathering of any kind. This was a stigma that stayed with me until I came to Kansas City and met Lee Bergren, W0AR. Lee told me a lot of things about ham radio and he seemed to have a unique point of view, regarding the ARRL.
Ones self perception can change rapidly when you win the ARRL DX SSB Multi Single Contest World Championship and the KCDX Club’s trip to Belize in 1980 at VP1A did just that. For the first time in my life, I could attend the Hamvention and hang with the folks in the DX Suites. I was no longer a Sweepstakes loser, but a legitimate champion. I made more QSO’s in one hour from Belize than 18 hours from WB8IAY in the Sweepstakes of 1971.
So what do I want to see happen after telling you my life story? I would hope that Asterisk Year gets into your head and when you are asked about it, mention the Mad River Radio Club and the 175 mile Rule. That would be my minimum goal – as pragmatism is a handy policy to utilize. Now lets get creative.
If you look carefully at my list at the start of this article, you will notice one thing that is common to every item on the list is – they are all evil. Every single one of these items are EVIL. We can’t solve the Kennedy Assassination, reset the clock for 9/11 or even get Wanda back in line. But in a perfect world....
The ARRL has a real opportunity for showing some class, by awarding the 1971 Sweepstakes Gavel back to the Mad River Radio Club, Dick Bennett, K8EHU, at a suitable venue at the 2012 Dayton Hamvention. The Potomac Valley Radio Club people do not have to participate, but if they were asked, I am sure they would find it agreeable. My choice for the ARRL Officer to handle the proceedings would be either Dave Sumner, K1ZND or Kay Cragie, N3KN. Dave, K1ZND was around in 1971 and was on the cover of QST that year. Kay has coordinated the ARRL activity at the Hamvention in recent years and the new ARRL EXPO presence has been noticed by all. The ARRL sent 150 members of their staff to Hamvention this year. In 1971, I doubt if there were a dozen ARRL staff personnel present.
The Dayton Hamvention provides many opportunities to present an award, the Contest Forum, The DX Forum, the Southwest Ohio DX Association Dinner, the Contest Dinner or even one of the Contest University Sessions.
Life is finite – you don’t get many mulligans!
Click here for the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.
