(1964-1965).
Price: $400.00
Unbound. Tim Towery operated WPE5DRA radio and received QSL cards from other ham operators from throughout the United States, including, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, Maryland, and New Jersey, as well as international correspondents from Germany, Curacao, Canada, Israel, and Japan. The cards were sent by other amateur radio operators, most often to let a fellow operator know their frequency could be heard. Housed in specialized long plastic sleeves, which can hold 20 cards to a page, and with a riveted cardboard hanger imprinted: “Olson Electronics, Inc. CB Headquarters." Also included are five blank copies of the postcard Towery used to send to other operators to note when he heard their broadcasts. All in near fine condition.
While many of the cards have standard designs, about half are decorated with custom artwork or graphics created for that particular operator. Each QSL card contains the corresponding radio station that heard Towery's broadcast along with the date, frequency and signal strength. Some cards include brief messages such as from Chuck Yedinak, a ham operator on W8WMA in Solo, Ohio who wrote “Thanks for your card, and glad you could hear me down in Texas.”
This archive is reminiscent of a bygone-era long before the popularity of Internet radio, streaming audio, or podcasts. Despite modern alternatives, the International Amateur Radio Union estimated in 2011 that there were two million people around the world regularly involved in amateur radio. An interesting and nostalgic view into the camaraderie engendered by an earlier form of "social networking"
Item #391088
