A New Award for Old Old Old-timers
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I passed my Novice exam in December of 1954. My license is dated January 4, 1955. Therefore, without any hesitation, 20 years later in January of 1975, I sent
off to ARRL asking to be included in the
OTC (Old Timers Club) and receive the certificate for my 20 year point in ham radio. They sent it. Then in 1995, I sent my money in to the OOTC (Old Old Timers Club) to be admitted
to their prestigious organization and receive the certificate for my 40 year point. I got it. In 2015, in desperation, I looked around for a 60 year award. Nothing. After much consternation and teeth gnashing, I have come up with a solution for all us old-old-old timers. I present this free option to all hams licensed 60 years ago or longer. You email me your name, call, and year you were first licensed, and I will send the .jpg certificate in an email and you can then print it out. It will be 3188 by 2550 pixels. That's decent resolution. You can reduce the size and put it on a website. If you are not well acquainted with the ins and outs of doing such things, seek help from a younger person, perhaps a much younger person. Since this is liable to go viral world-wide in the geriatric community, I think membership numbers should be included. I'll use the next number in the sequence and put your number on the certificate in blue ink. I'm going to be number one; don't you think that's only fair? I hardly need to add that this is using the time honored "Honor System." If you were licensed less than 60 years ago, don't submit. There may come a time when I will put the list of members on this website. If you cheat and have a number on your certificate that isn't valid, all your friends will eventually learn that you are a fraud. This is similar to claiming a degree from an institution that isn't true. It's hard to undo a fraudulent statement once it is in public view. Let's keep this certificate legitimate. When the smoke clears and you have received the certificate, you can then feel justified in using your OOOTC certificate in public, like maybe on QRZ.com. Is this cool or what? We might even have an event on the air sometime. It would be like a picnic for old people. We might even hear a bunch of AM rigs mixed in with current SDR technology. Ohhhh... imagine listening to all the heterodynes. And the CW folks, like me. I recently had a quadruple bypass so I plan on being around in 2035. Maybe I'll come up with something else for the 80 year point at that time. Stay tuned. [ 2023 update: In the excitement of preparing for my 70th year as a licensed ham and getting a QCWA-70 pin, I was just now corresponding with QCWA President VE6AFO OOOTC #53, and QCWA Office Manager WA2FRW, and decided to create this new award ahead of time for the 80 year point. I won't qualify for another 11 years for my 80th anniversary, but you can see it now: FSOTC. Maybe you know an old-timer who qualifies. ] Now, old-timer, let's get to sending me an email with your name, call, and first year of licensure, Then check your email. 73, Gary W4GAL OOOTC #1 gary@w4gal.com Certificate created by Gary W4GAL / VK6GAL Software and original website action by Dom W3DOM (SK) |