=  NOW 35 WPM  =  TEXT IS FROM JUNE 2020  QST  PAGE 60 =

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?  THE NOVICES OF 1970 FIFTY YEARS AGO, THE FACES OF NINE
YOUNG AMATEURS APPEARED ON THE COVER OF QST.  WE DECIDED TO TRACK THEM DOWN
AND SEE WHAT THEYVE BEEN UP TO.  STEVE FORD, WB8IMY  THE JUNE 1970 COVER OF
QST CELEBRATED THE NOVICE ROUNDUP CONTEST BY FEATURING PHOTOGRAPHS
SUBMITTED BY NINE PARTICIPANTS.  IN THE APRIL 2020 ISSUE OF THE MAGAZINE,
WE REPRODUCED THIS COVER AS PART OF OUR A LOOK BACK SECTION.  AS WE WERE
PREPARING THE HALF CENTURY OLD COVER IMAGE, WE WONDERED IF ANY OF THOSE
YOUNG NOVICES STILL HAD THEIR AMATEUR RADIO LICENSES TODAY.  WE DECIDED TO
FIND OUT.  WE KNEW OUR DETECTIVE WORK WOULDNT BE EASY.  ASSUMING THEY HAD
UPGRADED THEIR NOVICE LICENSES, THEIR CALL SIGNS WOULD HAVE CHANGED.  AND
AS THEY AGED INTO ADULTHOOD, THERE WAS A STRONG PROBABILITY THAT THEY
WOULDVE RELOCATED AND CHANGED THEIR CALL SIGNS AGAIN PERHAPS MULTIPLE
TIMES.  OF COURSE, ALL OF THIS ASSUMES THAT THEY HAD REMAINED IN THE HOBBY
IN THE FIRST PLACE.  WE SPENT CONSIDERABLE TIME PAGING THROUGH OLD EDITIONS
OF THE RADIO AMATEURS CALLBOOK AND SEARCHING ONLINE CALL SIGN DATABASES.
WE ALSO SIFTED THROUGH PUBLIC RECORDS WHEN CALL SIGN HISTORIES FAILED TO
PROVIDE THE NECESSARY CLUES.  REACHING OUT  TO OUR ASTONISHMENT, WE WERE
EVENTUALLY ABLE TO DIG UP CONTACT INFORMATION FOR EACH OF THE NOVICES SHOWN
ON THE COVER.  WHAT WAS EVEN MORE ASTONISHING IS THE FACT THAT THEY HAD ALL
=  END OF 35 WPM TEXT  =  QST DE W1AW  <