History of the Willamette Valley DX Club, Inc. (WVDXC)
The first history write-up was researched and written by Jerry C. Jewell, KW7M (WB7RUV) (SK) and edited by Bob Herndon, W7XN (K7GGY) in September 1983. This March 2024 update was done by Don Tucker, W7WLL and adds some new information and corrects some errors.
1955
An informal meeting of several Dx’ers held at the home of George Wise, W7GBW (later W7MB) sparked the first discussion about forming a local DX club. The first formal meeting was at the home of Lee Bates, W7HXG (SK) in early 1955 where the Willamette Valley DX Club concept was formed. Drawing on by-laws from the Northern California DX club, the WVDXC incorporated as the Willamette Valley DX Club, Inc. on December 5, 1955. The Charter Members were:
| Dick Crane, W7AC | Johnny Watson, W7GHB (W7MI) |
| Art Bean, W7AMX | Art Bertuleit, W7GJ |
| Joe Vogt, W7ASG | Herb Gilbaugh, W7HIA (W7LJ) |
| Bill Sanders, W7DAA | Lee Bates, W7HXG |
| Lloyd Street, W7DJY (KR7X) | Tom Renfro, W7MVC (N7OT) |
| Wally Hagestad, W7ENW | Milt Rice, W7PB |
| Lloyd Byerly, W7FB | Tony Carlson, W7QQN (W7TC) |
| Mac McNeil, W7FMX | Stan Griffiths, W7TML (W7NI) |
| George Wise, W7GBW (W7MB) | Joe Naemura, W7GXA (W7CG) |
The original WVDXC address of PO Box 55, Portland OR was obtained primarily so club members had a mail address to put on their cards re the Honorary Membership program. Later the USPS changed from PO Box 55 to PO Box 555.
The WVDXC logo, artwork for its Honorary Membership Certificate, stationary and first club QSL card (see below) was designed by Bill Sanders, W7DAA. Today, few, if any, of the old original QSL card formats (below) are in use, many members later establishing their own QSL card format.
1956
The first WVDXC Club Bulletin was published with Lee Bates, W7HXG, editing the first two issues. The following 13 issues were edited by Stan Griffiths, W7TML (W7NI). The next several issues were edited by Johnny Watson, W7GHB (W7MI). George Wise, W7GBW (W7MB) also spent time as a bulletin editor. The final issue was edited by Bob Wiscoff, K7UCH.
1959
This was the year of the Oregon Centennial Exposition and International Trade Fair. The members of the WVDXC established a unique QSL card for 1959 contacts containing the callsign of each member. This is what it looked like.
1960
The WVDXC was accepted as an ARRL Affiliated Club on May 29, 1960.
1965
The WVDXC took over the ARRL 7th call area Incoming QSL Bureau from the Salem Amateur Radio club in May-June. See History – ARRL 7th Area Incoming QSL Bureau.
1970
A club call, W7AC, was issued to the WVDXC in memory of Dick Crane, W7AC (SK). Dick was an avid DXer and Charter Member. 1X2 calls were rapidly being reissued as they became available and George Wise, W7MB, personally took the application and proof of Dick’s passing to the FCC in Washington, DC to ensure it was processed smoothly.
Trustees of the W7AC club call:
George Wise, W7MB (W7GBW) 1970 – 1975
Bud Fontaine, W7RS (W7GUI) 1975 – 1975 (SK)
Stan Griffiths, W7NI (W7TML) 1975 – 2016
Marc Willis, NC7M 2016-
1976
During the National Bi-Centennial year, the WVDXC Field Day call was AC7AC. Several members also used the AC7 as their call prefix (like AC7TDK)
A club repeater was installed at the KATU Channel 2 tower on Sylvan Heights with the antenna at an elevation approximately 1400 feet above MSL. The repeater was located in the TV transmission building below the tower. The initial repeater callsign was WR7AIB, but changed in 1983 to the WVDXC club call, W7AC. Unsubstantiated is if the repeater was at some point removed and transferred to Stu N7ZZ in Vancouver WA, then Ken K7IFG in Beaver Creek before being returned to the KATU tower site.
Repeater Trustees:
Bill Vandermay. W7ZZ (WR7AIB call) 1976 – 1983
Stan Griffiths, W7NI (W7TML) 1983 – ?
Marc Wills, NC7M 2016 –
DXCC and DXCC Honor Roll
During the pre-war years, an informal DX program was in existence and included an Honor Roll of the top 10 beginning in 1940.. The DXCC program, as we know it began in March, 1947, including a new method of listing those to be placed on the Honor Roll. A number of WVDXC members achieved the distinction of being Honor Roll listed. Additionally, several club members achieved other firsts.
TRIVIA – The first ARRL DX Countries List was initiated in the January 1937 QST.
TRIVIA – The first Honor Roll listing was limited to the 10 amateur radio operators with the highest confirmed country count.
The first DX pre-war (WW2) DX award to an amateur in the 7th Call Area was to Art Bean, W7AMX, number 26 in 1938. Post-war (WW2), Art was awarded certificate number 46, second in the 7th call area, behind W7BD (number 33).
The first 7th Call Area amateur to achieve Honor Roll status was also Art Bean, W7AMX, number 42.
The first 7th Call Area amateur to achieve the DXCC Phone certificate was Herb Gilbaugh, W7HIA (W7LJ)
The 5BDXCC award was established in 1968, The first 5BDXCC award to a 7th Call Area amateur was to George Wise, W7GBW (W7MB).
WVDXC and NW DX Conventions
The first informal gathering of DXers was hosted by the Western Washington DX Club (WWDXC) in Centralia WA in 1955.
The first official NW DX Convention was held in Seattle, WA in 1957, hosted by the WWDXC.
The next NW DX Convention was held in 1958 in Vancouver, BC, hosted by the Vancouver BC Radio Club. The third NW DX Convention, in 1959, was hosted by the WVDXC and held at the old Mallory Hotel in downtown Portland.
Today, the status of the convention is fluid, as costs have risen, and it’s not clear when or if future DX conventions will occur.
WVDXC Meeting Places
Over the years the WVDXC has had a number of meeting places, moving around as venues change and members weighed in. Today the use of ZOOM has seen use as more and more members joining are from distant locations. Some of the physical meeting places have been (are):
| Hung Far Low Restaurant | Pagoda Chinese Restaurant |
| Flower Drum Restaurant | Lani Louie’s Restaurant |
| KATU Annex | Round Table Pizza (Barbur Blvd) |
| Rogue Eastside Pub |
As of November, 2025 the club is currently looking for a new meeting location. All meetings will be virtual via Zoom until a new location is found.
WVDXC and 7th Area Incoming QSL Bureau Mail Addresses
The original WVDXC mail address was changed by the USPS from PO Box 55, Portland to PO Box 555. Later, when a new Bureau Manager was appointed, it became difficult to get to Portland and access the PO Box. So, the address was changed to one closer to the Bureau Manager, in Boring OR. The WVDXC mail address followed this change. In the more recent past, when a new Bureau Manager came aboard, they found it difficult to go to Boring OR from Battle Ground WA, so the Incoming QSL Bureau and WVDXC mail address was changed again.
Honorary Membership Certificate Program
The Honorary Membership program still exists, but has had little publicity..Club members used to print information on their QSL or use small sticky edge labels. Today, the information only appears on the club web site. Up to 1983 the WVDXC had issued 339 Honorary Membership Certificates to amateurs in 121 different countries. The writer does not know the current count nor who is responsible for the program.. The following is currently on the WVDXC web site:
DX Honorary Membership: The WVDXC will award a certificate of honorary membership to any DX station (excludes stations within the contiguous US) having 2-way QSOs with 10 or more WVDXC members after 1 January 1956. Contacts must be confirmed by QSL or Logbook of the World. Submit list of contacts (no QSLs) for verification to WVDXC P.O. Box 1288, Battle Ground, WA 98604, U.S.A
Foreign Visitors
The WVDXC has had MANY DX visitors attend its meetings. Some we know were:
| 7Z3AB | William Porter | Saudi Arabia |
| 9N1MM | Father Moran | Nepal |
| 9V1OI | Bud Whitney | Singapore |
| A9XDD | Gerry Kangas | Bahrain |
| A35MJ | Michael Downs | Tonga |
| AP2AD | Ahmed Ebrahim | Pakistan |
| CE3RY | Raoul Ortigas | Chile |
| DF1KG | Klaus Goertner | Germany |
| EP6DM | Javad Mesbahee | Iran |
| F6VU | Jean Brunner | France |
| FB8XV | Christian Conrad | Kerguelen |
| FW8RC | Robert Cleret | Wallis & Futuna |
| G2WYN | Ken Gibson | England |
| JA3CZY | Elvin Miura | Japan |
| JH1WDN | Masa Tada | Japan |
| HZ3TQY | Vic Crawford | Saudi Arabia |
| OA4RB | Carlos malaga | Peru |
| ON4UN | John Devoldere | Belgium |
| OH2BH | Martti Laine | Finland |
| VK4DA | Max Swaby | Australia |
| W4BPD | Gus Browning | Bhutan |
| ZL1WE | M Farrell | New Zealand |
| ZL2LH | Roy Sharland | New Zealand |
WVDXC Presidents
1955 Lee Bates, W7HXG
1956 George Wise, W7GBW (W7MB)
1957 Dick Crane, W7AC
1958 Herb Schoepflin, W7FZA
1959 Herb Gilbaugh, W7HIA
1960 Doc Dockhorn, K7GIE
1961 Wally Hagestad, W7ENW
1962 Bob Wiscoff, K7UCH
1967 Bill Bevan, K7ADL (K7US)
1973 John Barton, W7NG
1975 Mick Watson, K7AVZ (W7UZ)
1976 Stan Griffiths, W7TML (W7NI)
1977 Dick Zalewski, W7ZR
1978 Bob Herndon, W7XN
1979 Stu Hoar, N7ZZ
1980-81 Jim Sullivan, W7EJ
1982 Everett Helm, WA7CYP (W7EEH)
1983 Jerry Jewell, WB7RUV (KW7M)
1991 Dave Norton, AB9O
1995-7 Bob Norin, W7YAQ
1999 Vince Varnas K7REG
2005-8 Jim Cassidy, KI7Y
2015-18 Mike Ritz, W7VO
2020-Present Chris Rutkowski, NW6V
The following were also club presidents but their year of service is unknown:
Phil Anderson, W7SGN (W7GN)
Johnny Watson, W7GHB (W7MI)
Lloyd Byerly, W7FB
Charley Meador, K7BFY (W7FY)
Brick Sargent, K7BCX
Original History Information Sources
Stan Griffiths, W7NI
George Wise, W7MB
Helen Wise, W7RMV
Johnny Watson, W7MI
Bill Vandermay, W7ZZ
Wally Hagestad, W7ENW
Charley Meador, W7FY
Mort Toussaint, N7AKQ
Phil Anderson, W7GN
Updated History Information Sources
Don Tucker, W7WLL
Dan Howard, KA7FIP
Richard (Dick) Howard, K7DVK