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I was.
Believe it or not,
during the 1960's, POPULAR ELECTRONICS magazine
issued callsigns (WPE prefixes) to "Shortwave
Monitors". All you had to do was send them QSL's
representing a minimum number of stations heard/confirmed
(perhaps 5) and they would ship you a spiffy 8 x 10
certificate with a sequentially-issued callsign emblazoned
on it next to your name.
Click
here
for a look at a vintage WPE certificate (courtesy of
N3DQU).
You could even
compete for DXCC-type "award endorsements". It was the next
best thing to being a real, licensed ham operator,
especially for a 10 year-old kid like me with a
Hallicrafters S-119 "Sky Buddy II" receiver and 50 feet of
copper wire strung beween two pine trees. A Mastercrafters
24 hour clock, a pair of Brandes headphones, and a world map
completed my "listening post".
My callsign was
WPE1FYE. Funny how after so many years I still
remember it. Apparently, a lot of others remember theirs,
too.
Joe,
W1GFH/6
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Tom
Kneitel Talks About The WPE
program
Hi
Joe!
Here's a
little background on the program's early
days.
Originally,
during the mid-1950's, a DX'er named Joe P. Morris
was issuing SWL ID's with a WR0 prefix. For an
SASE, you got a mimeographed strip with only an ID,
which was written in by hand. As time went on,
Roberts decided it required more time and effort
than he had available. He was asking around if
anyone was interested in taking it over. I
volunteered. At that time I was writing for Popular
Electronics, and asked Perry Ferrell, the editor,
if they would like to sponsor the project as a
service to readers. They agreed and said they would
publicize it as a Popular Electronics program,
print up the certificates, etc. I was put in charge
of the project and my signature was printed on the
certificates. We also decided to reorganize the
project and replace the WR0 with WPE. The original
run of certificates had pre-printed ID's running
from WPE1AA through WPE0ZZ.
I believe
they announced the project late in the 1950's and
the response was overwhelming. I processed the
applications and typed in the names and dates. It
didn't take long for me to run through all of the
certificates. The next batch of certificates (to
cover ID's with 3-letter suffixes) did not have
pre-printed ID's. We did not keep records as to the
specific ID assignments. I typed in the ID's,
names, dates on those certificates. I handled this
program until the spring of 1961 when I became the
editor of another radio magazine. At that time,
Popular Electronics redesigned the WPE certificate,
removed my signature, and replaced it with those of
Perry Ferrell and of Hank Bennett, the DX editor of
Popular Electronics. I don't know much about the
program after that but I know it existed for a
number of years. I believe the WDX program came
later and was run by a radio club and did not have
any any connection with either WPE or Popular
Electronics.
Hope that's
of interest and use.
73,
Tom Kneitel,
K2AES/ WPE2AB
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