[Dx-qsl] Re: OLD QSLs - need XU1AA from 10-29-72

Sat May 27 13:02:18 EDT 2006

dx-qsl-request at mailman.qth.net wrote:
> Date: 2006年5月26日 09:42:12 -0400
> From: "EDCINTEXAS at austin.rr.com" <EDCINTEXAS at austin.rr.com>
> Subject: [Dx-qsl] OLD QSLs
>> Saw a recent post and had to comment on old cards. I have been chasing down
> all of my old cards and where the ham is still active, had good success. 
> So don't give up. Try the email to see if the logs exists and who has
> them. In the past year I have tracked down and received QSLs from 1979
> thru 1983. 

About 2 1/2 years ago I started seriously chasing DXCC on the WARC 
bands. I needed to try to get several dozen old QSLs for QSOs dating 
back to late 1990. I eventually got at least one from every band-country 
I had worked except for one. The successes included my very first ever 
WARC band QSO, FH5EJ, which in retrospect was a pretty nice piece of DX 
for a first 30M QSO using an 80M inverted vee for an antenna.
I have another *really* old QSL quest which I have been working on 
intermittently for many years without success. Long-time DXers will 
remember there was a time when XU and XV were on almost everyone's need 
list. Then in 1972 XU1AA and XV5AC became active and fairly easy to 
work. By the time of the 1972 CQ WW Phone DX Contest, I had already 
worked and confirmed both of them. But during that contest, at 1012Z on 
Sunday October 29, 1972, I worked XU1AA on 20M Long Path, followed 
immediately in my log by XV5AC also on 20M LP.
I thought this would be a nice pair of QSLs to put on the wall side by 
side. I had no problem getting the XV5AC QSL, but I have never been able 
to get one for the XU1AA QSO. The XU1AA contest operation was by a 
couple of guest operators, 9M2AA and 9M6IR/VE7IR. No one listed as a QSL 
route for XU1AA, and I have tried many over the years, has the logs for 
this contest operation. I have contacted 9M2AA by e-mail, and he was not 
the holder of the call in 1972. The present VE7IR is not the same person 
either. John Van Lear, 9M6IR/VE7IR seems to have vanished without a 
trace although he is listed as a member of OOTC. (Was this possibly the 
mysterious person generally known only as "Chester" who was involved 
with many of the SE Asia operations in the early '70s? If so, I remember 
reading that he was SK many years ago.)
Did anyone else on this mailing list work XU1AA in the 1972 CQ WW Phone 
DX Contest? If so, do you have a QSL? If so, does it show a QSL route, 
or did you note that in your log? Or does anyone know the present 
whereabouts of John Van Lear?
73,
John, K9MM