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QSL Card
Card Submitted by Dick, K1RAW Write-up by Bob, W1RH
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amateurs, is worthless.
North Korea continues to ban amateur radio activity with the exception of some small demonstration DXpeditions that have been approved by the ARRL. Dick, thanks for the card and good luck working a real P5.
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FARA - The Early Years
Transcribed by Karen Hess
The Framingham Amateur Radio Association, formerly called the Community Radio Association, is fortunate to have the notes dating back to the Club's first meeting. Karen Hess, W1RH's XYL, has transcribed the hand written notes, verbatim. They make for fascinating reading!
April 6, 1934
The 24th regular meeting of the Community Amateur Radio Association was called to order at 8:15 p.m. by Pres. McLean. The secretary's report was read and accepted. The treasurer's report was read and accepted.
The matter of a supper meeting was brought up again and after a short discussion a motion was made and seconded to hold it at the Hotel Kendall on May 25th.
It was suggested that the club get permission to inspect the State Police radio station at the next meeting. Dr. Crosby offered to arrange the details.
The secretary was asked to write to R.C.A. for information on tube manuals. A letter received from the Springfield Convention Committee was referred to the secretary.
There being no further business before the meeting it was adjourned by unanimous vote.
After the business meeting, a reel of motion pictures was shown by Herb Blanke and a raffle was held.
Alfred L. Schaltenbrand, Sec.
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Dick, K1RAW, submitted this month's card from the number one most wanted DXCC country. P5, North Korea, is the rarest of the rare. Very few DX'ers have worked North Korea.
Dick worked P5RS7 on Christmas Day, December 25, 1992, on 20-meter sideband. What a holiday gift! This was the first operation from the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea. The leader of the DXpedition was Romeo Stepanenko, 3W3RR. The operators were all from the former Soviet republics. The story does not end here, however, read on…..
Romeo has activated several very rare DXCC countries including Myanmar, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Libya. He lives in Moscow and is rumored to be an arms dealer. As a result, he has many contacts in some of the countries where it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get an amateur radio license. Many Hams have some of Romeo's treasured QSL's. 35,000 Hams worked P5RS7.
Romeo's P5 North Korea DXpedition, however, was disqualified from DXCC
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status, in 1996, when the ARRL Awards Committee discovered that Romeo faked the necessary documentation proving he had North Korean authorization to operate in that country. The documentation included the requirement to submit originals of all available documents, licenses, passports, photographs, and even video shots of the location. North Korean military authorities supposedly issued a license. According to Romeo, when asked about getting permission to operate, "Is very long story. I made the submission four years long. I talked with around 200 guys in Northern Korea, in Russia and everywhere and I keep all those guys together, all the information together and I pay some money." The location of the pictures he submitted of his operation was found not to be in North Korea. Instead, the operation was in Siberia, just across the border from North Korea. It was rumored that the location was verified by Japanese stations using direction finding equipment. The result? Romeo has been banned, forever, from participating in the ARRL's DXCC program in any way and Dick's treasured P5 card, along with the P5RS7 cards in the hands of thousands of other
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