From the President of Tri-City ARC:
I received an email from club member Frank Cahoy K0BLT. He informed me that he had a number of QSL cards for the Club call sign N0NEB. He didn’t know what to do with them and asked me to take possession of them. So I took the opportunity afforded me by way of retirement and made the road trip to Bridgeport, NE to pick them up. I am SO glad I made the trip and wish I had had more time for the ensuing visit. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with Frank and discovered his interesting story!
You see Frank, who was first licensed in 1960, has a unique milestone in Amateur Radio: He has QSL card confirmations with 374 World Entities. To put that into perspective, there are currently 340 entities in the world. Since first implemented, there have been 62 DELETED entities (for various reasons). 35 of the entities Frank has worked have been deleted. A deleted entity doesn’t mean that you don’t get credit for it, it just means that they no longer qualify as a defined entity. For example, there used to be a North Vietnam and a South Vietnam. Now there is only Vietnam. Both North and South Vietnam have been deleted. See the rules for more info.
What is an entity? Well, from the ARRL website I found this:
ARRL About the DXCC Rules
“The DXCC List is based on Clinton B. DeSoto’s, W1CBD, landmark 1935 QST article, “How to Count Countries Worked, A New DX Scoring System.” DeSoto’s article discussed problems DXers had in determining how to count the DX, or entities, they had worked. He presented the solution that has worked successfully for succeeding generations of DXers.
In DeSoto’s words, “The basic rule is simple and direct: Each discrete geographical or political entity is considered to be a country.” This rule has stood the test of time — from the original list published in 1937, to the ARRL DXCC List of today. For more than 70 years, the DXCC List has been the standard for DXers around the world.
DeSoto never intended that all DXCC “countries” would be countries in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, they are the distinct geographic and political entities which DXers seek to contact. Individual achievement is measured by working and confirming the various entities comprising the DXCC List. This is the essence of the DXCC program.”
Having read the rules further you will find that an entity can also be an island, for example, which has it’s own call sigh without being a separate country. Kingman reef comes to mind. Peter 1 in another.
Having said that, the only entity Frank, or almost all Hams world wide, hasn’t worked is North Korea. You get on the DXCC Honor Roll by contacting 300 entities. Although there are many who have achieved Honor Roll status, few have more than Frank.
As you can see from the picture above this is his initial ARRL DXCC with endorsement stickers from 110-370. And here’s the hard part about this. These are physical QSL Card confirmations – NOT electronic, ie. L0TW, eQSL or and of the other digital QSL confirmation organizations. However he DOES upload his contacts to them once a month. Getting a card from a DX station can be challenging. In this regard, patience is a virtue. Frank has over 100,000 QSL cards including the cards from the first 2 contacts he made in Ham Radio in 1960!
These are some of his 100,000 QSL cards on his shack wall. ^
Here is part of his card files above. What’s amazing about Frank’s card file is as we started talking about some of his contacts, I would ask him about one and he would know which file box it is in and, when he opens the drawer, he knows exactly where that card is in the drawer. Instantly! Talk about another contact, he knows where that card is. Instantly.
These are some of his certificates above. You will see there are 3 DXCC Awards there. He has of course the one for K0BLT but he also has DXCC on Satellites below that. The one in the upper left corner is for GM/K0BLT. Frank has a friend in Scotland who allows him to operate his station by remote over the internet. Frank got DXCC /remote from Scotland.
By the way, over 90% of his contacts are CW mode. He is currently enjoying using FT8 and has over 100 countries with that mode.
Above: One of the awards Frank is very proud of is his “Good Operator Report” he received from the now defunct OO Program of the ARRL’s Field Operations Bureau. He was having an enjoyable QSO with EI8BLB from Ireland. Soon afterward he received the certificate in the mail. The Official Observer program has served the Amateur Radio community and assisted the FCC Enforcement Bureau for more than 85 years (now replaced with the Volunteer Monitor). They also issued these certificates to operators who exemplified the the BEST in Amateur Radio. To find out what the certificate has to say, give Frank a visit. He’ll be glad to show it to you.
Here is Franks compact operating station above. He uses a Yaesu FTDX-1200. You can see his favorite CW Bug to the right of the radio. What I like about this picture is that I can get comfort knowing that I am not the only one with a cluttered operating position. Hi Hi.
As you can see, I was very impressed with my visit to Frank’s shack. He is an absolute joy to talk to and I went away impressed and humbled to have met someone with his accomplishments. As I said I only wish I had more time. I think it is an honor to have Frank. K0BLT, a member of the Tri-City Amateur Radio Club. He loves visitors. Send him a note telling him you would like to stop by. He would enjoy the visit. So will you.
Steven Panattoni, N6RSH. President Tri-City ARC