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Charles Mellen Boston, MA QCWA # 13109 |
Charles, W1FH, became a Silent Key on January 21, 2006 at the age of 91. He sat at the top of the DXCC Honor Roll for decades. When the sorted facts surrounding Don Miller's (W9WNV) irregular DX operations toward DXCC became public, Charlie withdrew from further submissions to his DXCC and in time, his entity count was surpassed by other DXers and eventually, his call was dropped from the DXCC listings due to inactivity. He continued to work DX and send for QSL cards but simply kept them stored in boxes. DXCC had changed forever for him as well as for many others at that time. Without W1FH in the game, the DX world had forever become a little smaller.
Charlie received the first postwar DXCC certificates ever issued by the ARRL in both mixed and phone in 1947. His first DXCC certificates were returned to ARRL HQ upon his passing. A brick marking W1FH DXCC #1 was set into the ARRL HQ Diamond Patio. Be sure to see it when you visit Newington. It is in the lowest right hand corner of the left side patio as you face the entrance. The first spot for DXCC #1 seems entirely appropriate.
With permission of Charlie's wife Mary and his daughter Jill, the Southern New England DX Association took his famous call for the club's call. Doing so will retain this famous DX call within the world of DX for others to work in contests and pile-ups for years to come.
