The man known as the “Father of Competitive Radio” in the former Soviet Union, Boris Stepanov, RU3AX (ex-UW3AX), of Moscow, Russia, died on July 28, after a lengthy illness. He was 76. A prolific writer, Stepanov was the deputy editor of Radio magazine. He also attended International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 conferences as a member of Central Radio Club and SRR delegations. Stepanov’s obituary credits him with developing the World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) format, and he was one of the judges at the first WRTC in 1990 in the Seattle area.

A graduate of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Stepanov became involved in Amateur Radio since the early 1950s, first as an SWL, and then becoming UW3AX in 1960.

Stepanov developed regular HF Amateur Radio competitions in the USSR and was involved in the project that put Amateur Radio aboard the Mir space station. He is credited with 1,000 publications on Amateur Radio and broadcasting topics and of several books.

Stepanov again visited the US in 1991. On that trip he accompanied Russian cosmonaut Musa Manarov, U2MIR/UV3AM, to speak with radio amateurs and to stop at that year’s ARRL South Texas Convention in Houston as well as at ARRL Headquarters. — Thanks to Roman Thomas, R5AA