G[mloulnal - Quarter Century Wireless Association

Chapter Reports are a very important part of the
f ournal and we would like to see regular reports
from all chapters. lf your chapter is not represented
on these pages, please ask your secretary to file a
special report for the fournal. Please send the reports
to General Manager, f im Walsh, to arrive no
later than the following dates: fuly 1, October'1,
lanuary 1, and April 1 .
Ghapter 1, Cleveland
A brief history of Cleveland Chapter No. 1. During
the year 1950 several active Cleveland Ohio radio
amateurs discussed having local meetings of the Quarter
Century Wireless Association. They were members
but could not attend the regular meetings held in New
York. Therefore they petitioned the offrcers of QCWA
who then agreed that local meetings could be held.
In order to permit these Cleveland radio amateurs
to associate their local meetings with the QCWA, the
Association officers by letter, authorized the formation
of a local Chapter in Cleveland, Ohio. Since some
of the amateurs was then in the "communications business,"
word soon spread about the Cleveland Chapter
to other localities.
Because the officers of QCWA began to received
requests for the formation of other local Chapters, the
officers decided to assign each chapter a number, based
on when it's application was made to form a local Chapter.
Because of this decision, the Cleveland Chapter
became and has been Chapter No.1.
Many of the Cleveland amateurs were also members
of the Cleveland Shrine radio CIub. The facilities
at the Shrine Headquarters in Cleveland were made
available for the early Chapter No. 1 meetings. The
Cleveland Chapter No. 1 members met in these facilities
for years until a fire destroyed the meeting place.
This fire not only destroyed the Shrine facilities but
also some of the records of Cleveland Chapter No. 1.
Despite this loss, The Cleveland Chapter No. 1
members continued to meet at least once a year for a
dinner meeting. The Chapter continued to grow. During
1981, the Cleveland Chapter No. 1 was host to the
QCWA convention, headed by the then Cleveland
Chapter No. 1 President, Fred Collins, W8ADW.
As would be expected, many of the original members
of Cleveland chapter No. t have become silent
keys. Others of these farsighted radio amateurs, who
are still alive, have moved to other parts of the country.
Some of the original members included W8AF,
No.284, W8AVH, No. 290, W8BSS, No.292, W8LY, No.
282, and. W8RN, No. 274. The Chapter's first radio
amateur to be elected Chairman of the Cleveland Chapter
No.1 was W8AF and the frrst Secretary was W8RN.
All of the above are now Silent Keys.
Two prominent long time members of the Cleve-
18 QCWA fournal - Summer 2001
Iand Chapter No. 1 are WSBU, SK, No. 4757, and
W8FAZ, No. 8294. Jim Russell. W8BU, made the first
transatlantic transmissions as 8BU from Cleveland,
Ohio to Paul Godley in Scotland during tests in 1921.
Cleveland chapter No. t honored Jim for his 84 years
in amateur radio at its award luncheon meeting on
October L4,7995.
Joe Zelle on the other hand was the frrst in the
world to receive and record the signals of Sputnik-1,
and have them broadcast over a local radio broadcast
station as the satellite passed over Cleveland on Friday
night, October 4,1957.
At the present time the Cleveland Chapter No. 1
holds luncheon/members meetings four times a year.
The Chapter holds on-the-air meetings each week during
the Chapter's Wednesday evening 2 meter net at
8PM ET using the 146.88-.28MHz repeater. This net,
in which 50/60 members participate at each net meeting,
has been on the air every week for more than 20
years.
Every year the Chapter staffs an "eye ball QSO"
table at several of the local hamfests. The Chapter
maintains a picture history of Amateur Radio in northern
Ohio. It includes pictures that go back to local
amateur radio activities before 1920. The Chapter also
maintains a collection of pre-Wor1d-War II radio tubes.
They are used as a display at the Chapter's hamfest
tables as well as at other amateur radio activities.
by Joe Zelle WSFAZ - Editor emeritus
The Cleveland Chapter report
At our January 13,2001 meeting the Cleveland Chapter No.
I celebrated it's 50th anniversary.
In the year 1950 a letter authorizing the formation
of a local QCWA Chapter arrived from National
Headquarters and from that time forward the Cleve-
Iand Chapter No. t has been open for business.