Stanford Amateur Club, W6YX, celebrates 50 years on campus

Article reprint by permission of:
Worldradio
2120 28th St.
Sacramento, CA 95818
http://www.wr6wr.com/

Apparently caught up in the spirit of the bicentennial nostalgia, a group of radio club officers at Stanford set out to compile a "cumulative membership directory," going all the way back to the start of the club in 1924-25.

Early-day records are fragmentary -- a log book circa 1932-33, a photo of the station taken in 1930 and, of course, the memories of some of the old grads. In spite of this, a very respectable number of returns was obtained on a questionnaire -- no doubt aided by the alumni files.

Sponsored by a private donation, these dedicated club officers proceeded to edit, print and mail out a handsome 20-page 8-1/2 x 11 inch loose-leaf book for use by present and past members only.

The cover proudly displays the W6YX QSL card and a photo of the very modern station now on the air. On page two, for contrast, is a photo of W6YX in 1930. It was a single 852 self-excited TPTG transmitter and some sort of a "regenerative detector plus audio amplifier" receiver. CW was the only mode.

The Directory is dedicated to Dr. Frederick Emmons Terman, Vice Provost Emeritus, and former head of the EE department at Stanford. Dr. Terman always has been a staunch supporter of the radio club, and was instrumental in seeing to it that proper quarters and equipment were available. He has been an amateur himself, being ex-6FT, 6AE, 6WH and operated spark before formal licensing started. His Radio Engineering books have been standard references all over the world and many an amateur or engineer has "gone to Terman" for the solution of a sticky design problem.

There is no doubt that his influence over the years kept the club going. University populations tend to "turn over" about every four to six years, so it falls to the faculty and staff to perpetuate the good things. Stanford appears to have been lucky in this respect, both in faculty and club officers.

Eighty former club members, including one XYL, returned the questionnaire, but not all answered all the questions. However, it is possible to come up with some interesting statistics about the old grads.

• 69% gave their occupations as engineer, scientist, engineering educator or researcher.
• 31% were in non-engineering pursuits such as banking, business, government service, etc.
• Over 10% of those replying listed themselves as corporate presidents, vice presidents or other top management.

The significance of the above figures is unclear because over 75% of the respondents were in the School of Engineering and all were amateurs when they arrived on campus. However, it does bring up the classic chicken-or-egg type question: Did their interest in Amateur Radio induce them to spend their lives as engineers and scientists, or did their scientific bent lead them to the ranks of amateurs? Either way, their work and their avocation complement each other.

Although their first try was remarkably successful, the club officers feel sure that there are some people whom they have missed through lack of knowledge. If you are an ex-Stanford Amateur Radio Club member and wish to be included in future revisions (that's why it's loose-leaf) answer the following questions (as completely as you wish) and send to the W6YX Call Book address.

1. Name, degree (if any), year of graduation (if any).
2. Present call, call while at Stanford, others in between.
3. Address and zip.
4. Occupation.
5. HF bands used, approx. hours of operation.
6. Any other actively used bands or special interest in Amateur Radio.
7. Brief comments of general interest.

One last statistic -- of the 80 ex-members who responded, 64 still have an amateur call, and 3 of the back-sliders are planning to get back on the air.